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It's difficult to define the 'Sunbelt' the further north you go. For example, San Francisco is located at 37'46 N while Washington DC is located at 38'53 N. In other words, if SF was on the East Coast, it would only be 60-70 miles away from DC! By all intents purposes, they are both located in the same latitudinal range, but they are typically classified differently (SF in the Sunbelt, DC typically part of the NE).
Portland and Seattle aren't Sunbelt cities, but they aren't Rust Belt either. They're a weird mix of growing areas with mild weather (temperature range is somewhat constant).
I personally consider SF and the rest of the Bay Area the sunbelt, since most areas get more than 65% sunny days/year, but most people would consider the sunbelt between 25-35'N (roughly corresponding to South Florida and South Texas northward to the border of SC/NC, border of TN and GA/MS/AL, MO/AR border, straight line northern border of OK/NM/AZ, northern border of Clark County, NV and straight line northern border of San Bernardino/Kern/SLO Counties in CA), with 35-36 N (roughly states of NC and TN) to be transition zones.
It's really hard to define it. We should have a poll on what the sunbelt is.
Before joining this site, I never heard the term 'sunbelt' in my life. So the question I pose to you is 'where exactly is the sunbelt?' or 'what qualities does an area need in order to be included in the sunbelt?'
Sun Belt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia's definition includes areas like Raleigh-Durham (which gets a regular snow and rain every winter), Greensboro, NC; Amarillo, TX (which probably has way more in common with other Great Plains cities than cities in the Texas triangle), Flagstaff, AZ, and a great many other areas that would be considered not the sunbelt where it anywhere else.
The greatest confusion, at least to me, is the inclusion of San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area. While most of the Bay Area really does look like the Sunbelt (especially the outer East Bay and South Bay), SF itself does not. In addition, whenever there is a warm, hot summer day, there is usually a really cool night (unlike anywhere else in the sunbelt) where it could be above 90 but also be below 50 on the same day.
I personally like the 'anything below 36'N latitude definition, because it pretty much includes every essential part of the Sunbelt. At least for the West Coast, while areas north of that line (such as Fresno, Sacramento, Redding, etc.) get extremely hot in the summer, they also don't get as much sunshine in the winter due to fog. Northern Arizona and Northern Texas is included as 'below 36'N' so I feel those areas should be omitted as well.
Hmm..I didn't realize that Las Vegas is barely above 36'N (in fact, its at 36'10 N), but I think we can make an exception for Clark County, NV. From the northern border of Clark County all the way east to the border of MO, there seems to be a straight line that that cuts all the way, separating UT, CO, and KS from its southern neighbors.
Maybe 36'30 would be better to accommodate all those lines. However, I'm having trouble picturing most of Oklahoma as part of the sunbelt. If Northern Texas counts, then I think OK should be...OK
To me, Sun Belt means the following states: South Carolina\ Georgia\ Florida\ Louisiana\ Alabama\ Mississippi\ Texas\ New Mexico\ Arizona\ Nevada & California. Basically the southern-most states & border states.
To me, Sun Belt means the following states: South Carolina\ Georgia\ Florida\ Louisiana\ Alabama\ Mississippi\ Texas\ New Mexico\ Arizona\ Nevada & California. Basically the southern-most states & border states.
I personally consider Southern CA (Santa Barbara & south) as the sunbelt and not Northern CA. Same with Texas- I wouln't consider Dallas & area as the sunbelt but the other parts more likely.
To me, Sun Belt means the following states: South Carolina\ Georgia\ Florida\ Louisiana\ Alabama\ Mississippi\ Texas\ New Mexico\ Arizona\ Nevada & California. Basically the southern-most states & border states.
It's short-hand for a group of cities that are okay to bash on the internet.
So true. We all know this too well.
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