Fly Over Country? (Chicago, Dakota, Cleveland: living, health, transit)

[raleightransplant]

Hmm...regarding the term "flyover country", that's just incredibly pompous and derogatory. I can't imagine even most coastal elitists using that term, as it just paints with too broad of a brush. I went to a B10 school with a number of NYers, and they were actually curious to see what was out there outside of the city...very complimentary of the midwest. You typically get derogatory talk like this from people who grew up in the midwest, hated it, left and now wish to tell everyone back home how important they are. There are some ignorant people out there, but I don't think that kind of term would be widely used by anyone with an ounce of logic or thought. Usually people are too busy knocking cities in closer proximity (NY v. Philly, or Boston in relation to NY).

As for regions, I think a lot of people are over generalizing. I grew up in the Midwest and now live in the South. Both are great in their own ways. I don't know...places like Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta all have very nice high paying jobs, are growing at a rapid clip, there are plenty of transplants both domestically and internationally, gorgeous mountains and beautiful beaches in close proximity. It gets hot as hell in summer, which is the rub...and also a lack of "real" cities...very suburban in nature. The Midwest on the other hand, doesn't get much publicity for it's natural beauty. However, a closer look reveals beautiful lakes, a varied topography, 4 beautiful seasons, a bonafide urban mega city in Chicago (something you won't find down south including Miami), a culturally exploding Minneapolis, etc. Every region in the country has it's charms as well as it's warts.

[tb4000]

When it comes to Chicago, there are a lot of commuters and transplants from surrounding areas as well, so the mentality kind of fluctuates depending on the person, from rush hour hustle and bustle types to casual suburbanite. I myself am from Northwest Indiana but work in the Loop, and my mom always says I'm always in an impatient state of mind because I spend so much time downtown.

[coldwine]

For the most part, power in this country is concentrated in two areas: LA and NYC. More generally, SoCal and the Northeast. Very important industries, hence very common national patterns that support those industries, exist to promote the movement of money and people between LA and NYC.

I don't see how it is feasible to deny this. This is increasingly no longer the case, as my friends who work in Chicago's financial scene (Chicago being the only other city in the United States to have a real "financial" district) have described Manhattan to me only from a plane. They're all flying to London these days. London, Singapore, Beijing and Hong Kong... Coastal cities are mostly flyover if you're in the derivative industry

[JerichoHW]

I don't like that term much, but it's okay if those people want to "fly over" because I would rather not deal with ignorant people like that in the first place. People seem to ignore the Midwest & Great Lakes (unless in NY state) as a flat boring country area.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by raleightransplant

Hmm...regarding the term "flyover country", that's just incredibly pompous and derogatory. I can't imagine even most coastal elitists using that term,

Yeah, I heard it used once in LA, but never heard it living in NYC or on the East coast at all. It's the sort of phrase you never hear in real life, but someone writes in a script for a character who is an a**hole of an LA producer or something.

[Avengerfire]

Do we have to talk about this garbage again?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by raleightransplant

You typically get derogatory talk like this from people who grew up in the midwest, hated it, left and now wish to tell everyone back home how important they are.

SO true. We've got a few of those knuckleheads hanging around these boards occasionally.

[neonwattagelimit]

I have never in my life heard the term "flyover country" used seriously by anyone outside this board and cable talking heads. And I'm originally from New York.

I'd also like to note that it's just as insulting to LA and NYC as it is to everyone else, because it implies that people in LA and NYC are snobs. I can tell you from personal experience, there are 20 million people in the NYC region, and the vast majority of them are, well, normal.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by neonwattagelimit

I have never in my life heard the term "flyover country" used seriously by anyone outside this board and cable talking heads. And I'm originally from New York.

I'd also like to note that it's just as insulting to LA and NYC as it is to everyone else, because it implies that people in LA and NYC are snobs. I can tell you from personal experience, there are 20 million people in the NYC region, and the vast majority of them are, well, normal.

The reason it is so discussed here is because of the very small minority of California and New York people that come on here and use the aforementioned absurd term.

I wish the wackos from all the coasts (this "third coast" included) would stop with the b.s. in attacking other regions or cities for no reason. F*&^(*& trolls.

[brinegar312]

Steve-O -- Nice list and I certainly will try and get out more, like you say. I have only been here 2 and a half weeks, so give me some time to see all of Chicago first...

Originally Posted by Steve-o

I could give an incredible list of gorgeous areas in the midwest. Its NOT boring if you know where to go! I lived down south and I found it to be incredibly boring. Not only was the weather God-awful most of the year, but they didnt have 1/10th of the stuff we have here. And I lived in a city of 100K + people in TN! Boooooooring.

There is much beauty to be found in the Midwest, too bad some people never choose to visit it.

Sawtooth Mountains
Porcupine Mountains
Lutsen Mountains
Starved Rock SP
Matthiessen SP
Buffalo Rock SP
Galena, IL
Red Wing, MN
Charlevoix, MI
Indiana Dunes SP
Sleeping Bear Dunes NP
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Browns County, IN
Shawnee National Forest
Garden of the Gods SP
Fults Hill Prairie
Mackinac Island
Door County
Devils Lake SP
Timms Hill
Delafield, WI
Madison, WI
Traverse City, MI
Mississippi Palisades SP
Nachusa Grasslands
Cimarron Grasslands
Badlands NP
Mount Rushmore
Black Hills
Lake in the Clouds
Lake Geneva
Flint Hills
Apple River Canyon SP
Braidwood Dunes
Ozark Mountains
Branson, MO
St. Louis
Indianapolis
Hocking Hills
Cypress swamps
sand prairies
tallgrass prairies
Bridal Veil Falls (and the dozens of other UP waterfalls)
Castle Rock SP



Thats just scratching the surface. You need to get out more often from the sound of it.