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As someone that grew up and spent most of their life in Ohio, but has also lived in Illinois and now Indiana I would say Illinois edges out Ohio as being most similar to Indiana. Even the shape of Illinois is more similar to Indiana than Ohio. Eastern Ohio has Appalachian vibes.
I think a majority of this forum only know Indiana as Indianapolis and points north, and does not realize southern Indiana is so much different. When you think about what passes as "knowledge" on this forum, such as just passing through on the interstate, most interstate traffic is via the toll road, 70, or 65 and misses the truly scenic areas in southern Indiana.
Ohio. Between Cincinnati, Dayton and Indianapolis. They’re all interchangeable on paper. I’d place Illinois next due to Chicago being so close along with the fact that they both share a coastline with Lake Michigan.
Ohio. Between Cincinnati, Dayton and Indianapolis. They’re all interchangeable on paper. I’d place Illinois next due to Chicago being so close along with the fact that they both share a coastline with Lake Michigan.
I have a hard time imagining anyone who has visited Cincinnati and Indianapolis considering the cities interchangeable. The natural setting and development patterns are extremely different. Dayton is in a smaller tier than the other two.
On the other hand there may be a better case for Columbus and Indianapolis. But the majority of both states are removed from their respective capital cities.
For those that have described mountainous eastern OH, don't you think that southern IN is quite similar but not as mountainous? Been to Marietta and Athens OH and it seemed pretty close to southern IN.
Both IN and OH have southern cultural influences in parts while being northern states but I don't think that is quite true for southern IL or not to that extent but I could be wrong. Both states have the OH river at their southern borders which also makes them quite similar but so does IL though it lacks a big city on that river. All three states get more industrial the more north one gets.
Actually, southern Illinois' counties do have some southern influences, to them. That area(mostly a little bit south of I-64) is sometimes nicknamed 'Little Egypt'. And it's bigger cities and towns aren't known well except for Cairo(which for a LONG time has lost population), and Carbondale(home of Southern Illinois University). The sports teams at SIU are called the Salukis, as Saluki is a dog breed that originated in Egypt.
I do know Metropolis is also a tad bit known, if just for the fact it has a Superman statue in town that often is photographed, and there is a casino in that town.
To be honest I'd say southern Illinois' culture isn't too different from southern Indiana, southeast Missouri and the 'bootheel' part of Missouri, or southern/southeast Ohio
I think a majority of this forum only know Indiana as Indianapolis and points north, and does not realize southern Indiana is so much different. When you think about what passes as "knowledge" on this forum, such as just passing through on the interstate, most interstate traffic is via the toll road, 70, or 65 and misses the truly scenic areas in southern Indiana.
Quite frankly, Indiana south of I-70 and Illinois south of I-70 feels the same...and even more so once you get south of US-50.
Southern cultural influence (thanks to all those Kentucky people moving north years ago) + hilly terrain.
The northern part sans Chicago is also similar - mid-size dying industrial towns/cities, flat and boring terrain...
Ohio simply has too many larger metro area in comparison - and the hilly part of OH feels more like WV than KY.
P.S. Lived in Bloomington for years...the southern part of state is definitely not well traveled as it's right between two major interstates (I-70 and I-64), and before I-69, there's not even a major highway that goes north-south through that region. Then most people from Chicago only goes through the northern peripheral of the state anyway (i.e. I-80/I-90) via places like South Bend.
It’s probably Ohio. Both states have a “middle American” vibe, respectfully. They’re Midwestern but they have a healthy mix of industry, suburban development, and agriculture. There aren’t too many areas in Ohio and Indiana that truly feel rural and isolated, there’s typically a developed area or large town within an hour’s drive of wherever you are. This is even more true for Ohio, which is an older state with lots of development.
Once you’re west of Indianapolis and you’re into the heartland of Illinois, it kind of feels like you’re entering a different region. It’s almost “too Midwestern,” with huge farms and less development. Take out Chicago and the state of Illinois is practically Iowa. Obviously, there are similarities shared between Illinois and Indiana, but I think Ohio shares even more with Indiana.
As someone that grew up and spent most of their life in Ohio, but has also lived in Illinois and now Indiana I would say Illinois edges out Ohio as being most similar to Indiana. Even the shape of Illinois is more similar to Indiana than Ohio. Eastern Ohio has Appalachian vibes.
Southeast Ohio has more than just Appalachian vibes. The entire part is in Appalachia (technically so is Youngstown/Warren and Ashtabula in the far NE part of the state, though, that's just due to economics not because it's actually in the mountains). But Southeast Ohio is as Appalachian as anywhere in SW Pa., the West Virginia panhandle and Eastern Kentucky.
But I agree with you, it's Illinois. Though Southwest/Central/Northwest Ohio and nearly the entire state of Indiana are nearly identical. The biggest difference there is that once you get past Toledo in Northwest Ohio (industrial Great Lakes city on Lake Erie) you go through about 100 miles of farmland until you hit Elkhart/South Bend and into Gary (industrial Great Lakes cities on/near Lake Michigan). The rest of the two states blend almost seamless, and the industrial northern Indiana blends right in to Chicago.
Just for the fact that roughly 1/4 of Ohio is in Appalachia and northern Indiana's industrial region is connected to Chicago (and separated from Ohio's by farm after farm), would tilt this toward Illinois.
OH is for sure more densely populated than IN and has more bigger cities.
OH is indeed more mountainous than IN or IL and more culturally similar to IN or vise versa. IL is not called the prairie state for no reason. Indiana is somewhere in between the two topographically with southern IN being rather mountainous too.
Asides from the native Indian population, IN was oddly mostly settled from the south. That does not include sporadic French fur traders and discoverers that named a few places such as La Porte, Terre Haute, De Motte, Vincennes etc.
The NE part of IN was settled by peoples from back east. NW Indiana being next to Chicago and being more industrialized later attracted many different ethnic groups such as those from southern and eastern Europe as did some cities in OH and IL.
I am leaning towards IN being more similar to OH than IL. Chicago alone with its statewide influence creates a good enough difference from IN. That is not to say IMO that any state is so much better than the others but there enough differences to set them apart.
There are also political differences which I am not about to get into this thread.
Last edited by WildWestDude; 01-09-2023 at 10:48 AM..
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