Is Indiana more like Illinois or Ohio

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by ram2

Detroit has had continuous Democratic mayors since at least 1961. Do you feel the Democrats in Detroit have made their city one of the most progressive in the USA? Don't forget the last Democrat governor of Michigan, Granholm, who gave the citizens of that state the highest unemployment rate in the USA.

Gary is a Democratic stronghold in Indiana. Enough said.

San Francisco is one of the most liberal cities in the country and has a democratic mayor, does that make San Francisco an abysmal failure? It's more than just what party holds office. Cities like Detroit have decades of problems not caused by either party, and problems that neither party could fix in a few short terms. It took decades for Detroit to fall, it will take decades to recover.

[msamhunter]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

San Francisco is one of the most liberal cities in the country and has a democratic mayor, does that make San Francisco an abysmal failure? It's more than just what party holds office. Cities like Detroit have decades of problems not caused by either party, and problems that neither party could fix in a few short terms. It took decades for Detroit to fall, it will take decades to recover.

People tend to equate liberal and bad not taking into account circumstances around them. Take gary, 100 years of existence and two republican administrations in its early years and it was the same person both administrations. Yet gary flourished. It wasn't a democratic mayor that caused its downfall. It wasn't hatcher (indiana code for black mayor) that caused its downfall. When you are a one trick pony employing 100k people in its only industry and see that fall like a rock to under 20k, its going to hurt. Sure hatcher helped keep it down by not diversifying the economy along with a lot of help from ths state by doing things like banning advertising in gary, refusing infrastructure upgrades on the roads they are supposed to keep up and encouraging massive block busting which shelled the core followed by same persons torching their businesses for the insurance money as they fled south.

Despite its corruption, if the us steel industry hadn't tanked to cheaper foreign competition, it would still be a great city.

[i35vagabond]

I think they all look pretty much the same. I think if you put a blind fold on me and you drive me to the middle of one of those states, then u had me take the blind fold off, and then u told me to take a look around at the landscape and the corn and the soy bean fields, and then you asked me to guess if I was in OH, In or IL, I don't think I'd know which state I was in.

[i35vagabond]

quote=Arthur_Indy;27002665] As a side note, I've been perplexed my entire life as to how (it seems) that the entire nation sees us a cornfields and ignorance. [/quote]

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That's pretty much a typical Hoosier attitude that the rest of the country sees Hoosiers as cornfields and ignorance. It's that same attitude that 75% of all Hoosiers living in Indiana have inferiorty complex when being compared to other states. I been all around this country, and when ever I tell somebody I was raised in Indiana, nobody even flinches. They don't think nothing about the fact that I lived in Indiana until I was about 22 years old.

Now if you go around talking and acting like you're fresh out of the turnip patch, the natives might tend to think you're a hayseed, but that's not gonna make anybody think you're just a dumb old ignernt Hoosier because you're from Indiana. And if somebody does think that, well, that speaks more about that person than it does about you.

Lots and lots of Hoosiers share your attitude, and they see Kentuckians in the very same light that you believe Hoosiers are perceived by people from other states.

A side note, I don't know about now, but only a few short years ago, you could always tell the very moment you entered Indiana from Ohio, Ill, or Mich, beause all of a sudden the roads got rougher and bumpier, but the the sun is shining and the sky is bluer and the water tastes like wine.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by Arthur_Indy

Agreed. Indiana has 3 distinct topographical, linguistic, and cultural areas. Northern, Central, & Southern. This makes Indiana unique in the nation. These 3 areas have everything to do with how the state was formed and how the migration of the US population has moved across the country.

The state has its roots in being an utopian escape. Most of the early settlements (along the Ohio River) were established as "perfect" societies of living, independence, and devotion. (whatever the faith of the colony was) This "libertarian" sense of self permeates to this day. Most of the Southern Indiana immigration occurred via the Cumberland Gap. Northern Indiana was populated by tremendous waves of immigrants from New England states, Ireland, Poland and Germany. Most of the Irish were imported as laborers to dig the ditches for Chicago and the Indiana stretch of the Erie Canal. Central Indiana flourish because of railroads and highways.

Yet despite these 3 areas, there seems to be a uniquely "Indiana" quality to our sense of self. Also, Indiana is just now approaching parody between rural and urban. In other words, unlike Ohio & Illinois, Indiana hasn't had a large city dwelling population until the present. What this means is, yes, Indiana is a "red state" in so far as presidential politics. But, our cities are getting younger... our small towns and villages are getting greyer... times are changing. Does this mean that Indiana is turning "blue"? I have no idea. What I do know is that in our nearly 200 year history (as a state) Indiana is not a monolithic state. (politically, culturally, or otherwise)

As a side note, I've been perplexed my entire life as to how (it seems) that the entire nation sees us a cornfields and ignorance. The leading industry in the state (for over 40 years) has been pharmaceuticals followed by a range of manufacturing (auto, steel, etc), followed by mining. Now we are a Bio-Tech leader with Information Tech gaining momentum (then again, saying IT is a growing sector is like saying "hey, we have highways too."

What a fascinating post! What are the two other regions?

I know that there was a Friends presence in Indiana - Earlham College is there.

There does also seem to be an Appalachian influence.

Could you expound more on this?

[ram2]

Originally Posted by i35vagabond

A side note, I don't know about now, but only a few short years ago, you could always tell the very moment you entered Indiana from Ohio, Ill, or Mich, beause all of a sudden the roads got rougher and bumpier, but the the sun is shining and the sky is bluer and the water tastes like wine.

??? I thought Michigan had crappy roads?

[linicx]

IN and IL probably have more similarities than not as both have 3 sections, forests, coal fields, cornfields, and share a Great Lake and the Ohio River. The IL Plains is the center of the state with three large populated areas. Moving west of the plains the state is split in two by the largest river in the state, high cliffs, rolling hills and dense forested area that extend to the Mississippi River. Both are green and leafy, crop producing states. Politics don't have much to do with basic creature comfort found in both. .