[Dawn.Davenport]

When people talk about the Upper Midwest, Minnesota and Wisconsin (at least outside Milwaukee) are surely included, but is Michigan part of this region as well?

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport

When people talk about the Upper Midwest, Minnesota and Wisconsin (at least outside Milwaukee) are surely included, but is Michigan part of this region as well?

Michigan has always been considered part of the midwest.

[zthatzmanz28]

I always think of Michigan as being North Central with Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and most of Illinois. MID WEST for me has been the states that boarder the Mississippi and south of Minnesota / Wisconsin---north of Texas--western Colorado. That would be Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Western Illinois.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport

When people talk about the Upper Midwest, Minnesota and Wisconsin (at least outside Milwaukee) are surely included, but is Michigan part of this region as well?

I don't think the words "Upper Midwest" are used very often. I think of Michigan as Midwest but not compared to plains states like Nebraska or Iowa.

It's a Great Lakes State.

[Republic of Michigan]

The term "Upper Midwest" is not one usually used in the metropolitan Detroit area. Most people think of it as part of the Midwest or two peninsulas on their own with some cultural and economic links to Ontario, Ohio, Northern Indiana, Chicagoland, and Wisconsin. I think people in the Upper Peninsula have more of a bond with people in Wisconsin and perhaps Minnesota than people downstate.

[allbusiness]

In my opinion Michigan is part of the Great Lakes Region -- separate from the "Midwest" which I feel is more like Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas. "Midwest" is a lazy term slapped on everything between the coasts by the elite liberal snobs who live in NY and CA -- like "flyover" country". ;-)

The Great Lakes Region is an area sculpted by the lakes themselves and includes Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario Canada (and bits of Northern PA and Western NY). It has a lifestyle and heritage shaped by the water, maritime commerce, immigration (especially from Scandinavia and the Netherlands) and other factors.

[Dawn.Davenport]

Originally Posted by allbusiness

I
The Great Lakes Region is an area sculpted by the lakes themselves and includes Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario Canada (and bits of Northern PA and Western NY). It has a lifestyle and heritage shaped by the water, maritime commerce, immigration (especially from Scandinavia and the Netherlands) and other factors.

I'm not sure if Scandinavian immigration to the UP and Dutch immigration to Southwestern Michigan parallel the rest of the Great Lakes Region. Though there is the occasional Swede in Milwaukee or Chicago, good luck finding anyone of Dutch or Scandinavian extraction in Cleveland, Detroit, or Buffalo.

I'd say that the Great Lakes Region is defined more by African American, Irish, and Polish culture than anything from Protestant Europe.

[chiroptera]

I figured Michigan and neighboring Great Lakes states to be part of the Upper Midwest. The Great Lakes designation is a subset of that, much like the Great Plains states.

We're Midwest, we are Northern (upper), I don't see a distinction here. Michigan is upper Midwest.

[DubbleT]

Guess it depends on how far you want to break the midwest into smaller regions.
I usually go for just two, the great plains and the upper midwest (which includes MI) or sometimes three, when I break it down further to include the Great Lakes area as it's own region.

[Republic of Michigan]

Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport

I'm not sure if Scandinavian immigration to the UP and Dutch immigration to Southwestern Michigan parallel the rest of the Great Lakes Region. Though there is the occasional Swede in Milwaukee or Chicago, good luck finding anyone of Dutch or Scandinavian extraction in Cleveland, Detroit, or Buffalo.

I'd say that the Great Lakes Region is defined more by African American, Irish, and Polish culture than anything from Protestant Europe.

You will find some people in the Detroit area of Dutch and Scandinavian extraction. There are historical migration patterns from the UP down to the Detroit area during the 1900's when copper towns emptied out. There are people from the West Coast of Michigan who also resettled to the East Coast of Michigan. But in general, the UP is Finnish, the West Coast is Dutch, and the rest of Michigan is of Germanic ancestry. The Detroit area is a melting pot of people as you mentioned in your post of African Americans, Irish, and Polish as well as a huge Middle Eastern community.

Swedish Club

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