Why do many people consider BC "Pacific Northwest"? (home, vs)

[pdw]

This is something I find very odd. No one here calls Ontario part of the "Midwest" or Quebec "Northeast" or something like that. Shouldn't BC just be the "Pacific" since there's only one province that borders the ocean?

[TiredOfyycCold]

Originally Posted by pdw

This is something I find very odd. No one here calls Ontario part of the "Midwest" or Quebec "Northeast" or something like that. Shouldn't BC just be the "Pacific" since there's only one province that borders the ocean?

Because it is?:

The Pacific Northwest is a region in western North America bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Though no universally agreed upon boundary exists, a common conception includes the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

[arctic_gardener]

I think the cultural differences between BC and Washington state are minor. Quebec is of course very different from New England. As for Ontario vs the Midwest, they represent a microcosm of what is typically Canadian vs what is typically American, respecively, with some glaring difference there.

The only other similar comparison would be the rural Prairies and the rural Northern Plains. Both are very, very conservative.

[pdw]

I've never heard anyone from Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta identify with the "Great Plains", though. I just think it's odd, that's all. And if BC is considered part of the "Pacific Northwest" why isn't Alaska?

[TiredOfyycCold]

Originally Posted by pdw

if BC is considered part of the "Pacific Northwest" why isn't Alaska?

Pulling from Wikipedia again - it can be according to some (this is a continuation of the definition I posted previously):

Broader conceptions reach north into Alaska and Yukon, south into the coastal and mountainous regions of Northern California, and east into Idaho and western Montana, western Wyoming, and western Alberta, to the Continental Divide. Narrower conceptions may be limited to the Northwestern U.S. or to the coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains. The variety of definitions can be attributed to partially overlapping commonalities of the region's history, geography, society, and other factors.

[BIMBAM]

The PNW used to be united as the Columbia District (if you're Canadian) or Oregon Territory (if American) and the British and Americans both colonized it and fought to control it before dividing it up along current boundaries. It's one sort of biogeographical area with lots of related Indigenous cultures and ancient trade routes. Moreover, it's home to one isolated island of dense settlement running from Vancouver to Portland, and then that little island is surrounded by a vast sea of sparsely populated land far from any other major cities. This island effect and the history that was shaped by the land's geography and ecology naturally leads the people there to identify more strongly as a region then those other places. Basically, the American and Canadian sides need each other and trade with each other more so are closer in that respect.

[Natnasci]

Growing up in Vancouver we never heard or used the term Pacific Northwest to mean B.C. Today, I understand the term to include B.C. when articles or Americans talk about this area.
Canadians, at least the ones I know, don't say I'm going to the Pacific Northwest when travelling to Vancouver or area. However we don't say I'm going to the southwest to mean Vancouver either. It's either The coast, B.C. or Vancouver etc.

[TiredOfyycCold]

Originally Posted by Natnasci

However we don't say I'm going to the southwest to mean Vancouver either. It's either The coast, B.C. or Vancouver etc.

Or the lower mainland....

[Natnasci]

Originally Posted by TiredOfyycCold

Or the lower mainland....

It was included in my " etc "