Western Cities: Most overrated and Least Overrated (comparison, bigger, airport)
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For the same reason parts of the Idaho panhandle are in the Pacific Time Zone. Ontario is more closely tied to the Idaho cities just across the border than to anywhere in Oregon, so is in the same time zone.
As for where the West starts ... I always feel like the West starts pretty much at the Continental Divide.
I somewhat agree that the Continental Divide is a good indicater of west vs. east. However, there are plenty of cities that are east of the divide that would be considered western. Let me start a list.
Great Falls, Montana
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Denver, Colorado
Albequerque, NM
There are others, but these come to mind at first glance.
Another interesting time zone phenomenon is that there are a couple of gambling cities in Nevada (which, as a state observes Pacific time), that operate on mountain time. Jackpot and Wendover in the northern section of the state observe mountain time to coincide with their customers preference. Jackpot attracts Idaho residents, and Wendover attracts Utah residents, both observing mountain time, and so they do to.
However, to get this somewhat back on topic, Jackpot, NV is somewhat overrated, and Wendover, NV is somewhat underrated, IMO.
I feel like Denver is only west from an east coast perspective, but from a west coast perspective, it's quite far away. To me, and this is apparently just me, Colorado feels like a central state.
I would say Denver does not feel "West Coast", but it still feels like a "Western" city.
One of the key feature for a "western" city is the lack of continuous green on the ground, and the distinctive dry to very dry/wet seasons. Whereas, central, southern, and eastern cities get an even amount of precipitation all year long. The grass is green all year long without having to water it, except for when it snows.
Portland and Seattle may be a slight exception to this rule, they look green all year long, but that is because of the abundance of evergreen at sea level, but they still have a clear dry/wet season. Although the dry season is very short.
Last edited by Chimérique; 03-01-2014 at 08:33 AM..
Also, Denver is located at the end (or beginning) of the great plains and flat as a surfboard.
Western cities can be 'flat" as long as LARGE mountains and/or their foothills are within 35 miles: Salt Lake City, Denver, Sacramento, Spokane, Bakersfield, Fresno, Redding, Stockton
Most Non-western cities do not have very LARGE mountains nearby.
I was being a bit cheeky when I said that New Mexico isn't western. Though in all honesty, I consider New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana mountain states. Yes, they're more western than the midwest, but they are too far east to be part of the west. IMO, Spokane, Boise, Vegas and Phoenix mark the beginning of the western cities. Again, just my opinion and obviously not a popular one, haha!
I get your distinctions, the "WEST" and "western" are pretty broad terms.
There's also "cultural" distinctions within "western" cities. For example, Las Vegas, culturally feels "West Coast" even though it's 300 miles from the ocean. Although Denver has "western" attributes and has always been considered "western"; it's definitely not "West Coast".
Last edited by Chimérique; 03-01-2014 at 08:43 AM..
So if Denver is too far east to be anything but eastern, then is Honolulu too far west to be western?
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