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The "midwest" isn't really consistently similar from one corner to the other.
I'd say the Great Lakes cities, from Milwaukee to Buffalo, have a lot in common culturally, and they share that with places like Pittsburgh and the industrial cities of the Northeast. They have also experienced a similar type of decline, with Boston and New York sort of pulling out of that in recent decades. East coast cities are older and more dense. Midwestern cities are still more dense than western cities, but are losing density through abandonment and demolition (San Francisco is an obvious exception!).
The Great Plains states and southern portion of the Midwest (away from the great lakes) has a lot in common with the west, with the exception of the mountains. This is the part of the midwest that gets heat for being boring. The farming rural culture of the Midwest is not exactly the same as the farming and ranching rural culture of the West, but they are cut from the same cloth. The rural midwest still has a much greater population density than the non-coastal western states, however. There is not as much space between towns, and midwestern small towns feel less isolated than their western counterparts.
Now, the West Coast is another thing entirely. But it's now filled with midwestern transplants. I was reading recently that the California residents who voted Ronald Regan into power in the 70s have largely died off or moved to other states (like the Pac NW and Colorado). Soon California will be filled with only immigrants and transplants from the rest of the country.
This Midwest is like neither, thank God. The Midwest is the manufacturing and breadbasket center of the nation. The people are friendlier and more 'real', the cost of living is more realistic, and Chicago is an awsome city. I never minded living in the Midwest. I lived in washington DC for a while. Nice place to visit but dont live there! Too much east coast hurryness and snobby people. I live in Phoenix now and the people are just like California. The Midwest is the best and I never minded the flat land either.
I would say the East Coast. I mean aside from most of the Dakotas and Nebraska and half of Kansas, the Midwest is in the eastern United States.
Culturally it is also, being it has accents, it's huge on sports, etc.
I tend to agree, so very generally; I would say the Mid West is more like the East Coast.
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