How do you define "southwestern?" (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: fit in, movies)
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"Southwestern" is a term that includes many overlapping regions. One thing I think anybody would agree with is New Mexico is "southwestern" to the core-- the "southwestern" most state in the southwest. Beyond NM, what is or isn't included can be up for interpretation.
Here's a rough mental map that I drew:
Opinions?
I have always thought that Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California were associated with the Great Southwest.
After doing some googling, I see that the southern part of Colorado and part of Arkansas could be included by definition, and possibly even Oklahoma.
I moved to New Mexico because I wanted to visit some of the archaeological sites, ghost towns, and historic sites, as well as partake in some southwestern delicacies it has to offer.
I have driven the mountains, canyons, valleys, and even river beds to look for the unusual. My next planned trip is to Aden Crater. After viewing the Butte, in Elephant Butte, Aden Crater should be a real treat for me. http://www.geo.utep.edu/loca/Volcanos/ADEN.HTML
I've also been to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and am awestruck by some of the natural beauty the state of New Mexico has to offer. The best part? It's right in my own back yard, and I do not have to hop a jetliner to go see it all, or plan a lenghty vacation either.
Petrified dung, dinosaur, reptile, etc. are usually called coprolites, pretty common in the west..errr, southwest..intermountain west, pacific southwest.. whatever
Fish fossils, less so.
Petrified dung, dinosaur, reptile, etc. are usually called coprolites, pretty common in the west..errr, southwest..intermountain west, pacific southwest.. whatever
Fish fossils, less so.
Yes, I know, but, I like to put things in simpler terms.
Colorado is a split between Southwestern, mainly in its Southeastern section (Trinidad, La Junta) with much of the rest being intermountain like Utah or Idaho. I wouldn't consider it Midwestern, except in its Easternmost areas near the Nebraska border.
I don't agree with your map whatsoever. You cannot tell me that the entire state of AZ is not part of the Southwest. We are not part of So Cal.
from the boards, people in PHX sure love to think they are part of So.Cal and many others from other states seem to think so too, I dont though, but i will admit, the PHX area does seem to get lumped in more with CA than with NM.
I have always thought that Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California were associated with the Great Southwest.
After doing some googling, I see that the southern part of Colorado and part of Arkansas could be included by definition, and possibly even Oklahoma.
I moved to New Mexico because I wanted to visit some of the archaeological sites, ghost towns, and historic sites, as well as partake in some southwestern delicacies it has to offer.
I have driven the mountains, canyons, valleys, and even river beds to look for the unusual. My next planned trip is to Aden Crater. After viewing the Butte, in Elephant Butte, Aden Crater should be a real treat for me. ADEN
I've also been to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and am awestruck by some of the natural beauty the state of New Mexico has to offer. The best part? It's right in my own back yard, and I do not have to hop a jetliner to go see it all, or plan a lenghty vacation either.
Would anyone believe me if I told them I know where there is petrified reptile dung? or, how about a fish fossil, a large one!
I dont think Texas has much in common with the Southwest other than El Paso, I dont find Lubbock,Amarillo,Dallas,Austin,Houston,Marshall to be Southwestern at all, or most of Eastern NM.
Totally agree with you, desert sun. My perspective is someone who has lived in Denver, Phoenix, LA, and now Reno... travelled all throughout the southwest my whole life. My definition of the various regions of the southwest in my mental map above is primarily cultural, not necessarily climate or geography, although the two often coincide.
Texas (with the exception of El Paso and extreme west Texas), Oklahoma, Arkansas... not southwestern, or western at all. Those are straight up southern states. Maybe the "western South," to use an expression from one of my favorite posters, TexReb, but the South nonetheless. Anyone who claims those states are part of the same region as New Mexico has obviously never spent a lot of time in both to know the difference. At one point in time in American history, those states were considered "the southwest," just as Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota were once considered the "northwest."
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