Ohio: The Northeast or Midwest? (Columbus, Cleveland: transit, metropolitan, accents)

[J'aimeDesVilles]

Definitely Midwest. Too conservative and slow-paced to be in the Northeast.

[Orwelleaut]

Midwest all the way. No part of Ohio is closer to NYC or Philly than it is to Chicago or Detroit, and Ohio cities have much more in common with Chicago than with East Coast cities. The proximity of Buffalo and Pittsburgh to parts of Ohio does not count, as those cities are very different from NYC, Philly, or Baltimore.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by J'aimeDesVilles

Definitely Midwest. Too conservative and slow-paced to be in the Northeast.

I don't think the OP was speaking in terms of culturally. In that case, Pittsburgh would fall into that category. I'm pretty sure they were speaking geographically.

[Daytonnatian]

Considering the fact that PA is really Mid-Atlantic (which is arguably the Atlantic coast's version of the Great Lakes States culturally.....)

The Northeast, IMO, is New England + Eastern NY.

[PhillytoCincy]

Depends, once again Ohio is very culturally diverse.

NE Ohio:
Northeast

NW Ohio:
Midwestern

SW and SE Ohio:
Southern

Overall, I would say too tough to call LOL.

[5Lakes]

Ohio is Midwestern, but is unique in that it is influenced from the other regions. SE Ohio is Appalachia, Cincinnati has a Kentucky influence (although it is similar to other river cities like Pittsburgh, Louisville, and St. Louis), and NE Ohio has a northeast influence. Columbus, Toledo, and the western half of the state are 100% Midwestern, and do not feel any different than Indiana or Illinois.

Although, growing up in NE Ohio I never really indentified myself as being a midwesterner. Maybe this is because I was in a bubble, but if someone asked what part of the country I was from I would have probably just said the North. Of course the two closest states to me at that time were PA and NY, so that might have had something to do with it. I will say that after living in Chicago for a while, the people I meet from states like Illinois, Wisconsin, or Iowa are a bit different than my fellow NE Ohio natives. Actually, I seem to relate better with people who are from the northeast than the heart of the midwest. Culturally I feel that NE Ohio, western PA, and western NY are very similar and are like a blend of midwest/northeast.

[JefferyT]

Driving around the countryside around Dayton you will quickly pick up on the Midwestern landscape of woodlots, cornfields, the road grid, etc.

However, the influence of the Appalachian South in speech and culture is undeniable..in Dayton proper and the nearby factory towns of Sprinfield and Middletown. One should note that this is a recent phenomenon due to the mass migration of southern mountain folk (Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Virginia) to the area in the 1940s, 50s, & 60s, as well as the "Second Great Migration" of rural southern blacks north.

Prior to this the place was pretty much Midwestern. The original settlers, the original population, came from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey mostly (Scots-Irish and Pennsylvania Germans, and those of English and Dutch ancestry), with a later German immigrant stream (plus the Irish). Unlike the Great Lakes cities of Toledo and Cleveland and Lorain Dayton and the nearby factory towns recieved very minimal immigration for Eastern & Southern Europe, and those that did are thoroughly assimilated.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by Beavercreek33

Depends, once again Ohio is very culturally diverse.

NE Ohio:
Northeast

I think the poster was speaking in terms of geographically, not culturally.

Also, I have family in up-state NY and even they go on about New Englanders looking down their noses at them ... so if New England sees itself (which I don't think anyone would argue against) as a separate entity from the Northeast, especially PA ... why wouldn't it from Ohio?! lol

[amIayankee?]

My dad is from Cleveland. If you heard him pronounce the word "taco" you would definetly say he's from the midwest

[WeSoHood]

Originally Posted by J'aimeDesVilles

Definitely Midwest. Too conservative and slow-paced to be in the Northeast.

Conservative? I disagree. It's rather independent in that regard.

Coming from Wash DC, I'd say Cleveland is more Northeast.