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West of Fort Worth, it starts to look western but still feel Southern. West of Odessa, is the beginning of the West. Within 50 miles of I35 in Texas, you are in a transition zone topographical wise.
If you consider that at progressive times in our history, the West began at the Appalachians or Kentucky or Indiana or Missouri or Kansas, the question today is meaningless because there now is no West at all. You have to go back and pick a time in past history to define the west, so you are arbitrarily selecting a time, not a place, to define the West, and that time is not now..
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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I'd argue that the West starts in the far western portions of the Great Plains states.
States which are definitely without a doubt western include California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. The far western parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Dakotas all are more or less the West.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
If you consider that at progressive times in our history, the West began at the Appalachians or Kentucky or Indiana or Missouri or Kansas, the question today is meaningless because there now is no West at all. You have to go back and pick a time in past history to define the west, so you are arbitrarily selecting a time, not a place, to define the West, and that time is not now..
I'm pretty sure he means the West by today's standards. The Great Plains states can be debatable, though my personal opinion is for the most part they are "WEST CENTRAL", not western. Calling anything east of the Great Plains states western from a modern standpoint is just dumb.
I'm pretty sure he means the West by today's standards. The Great Plains states can be debatable, though my personal opinion is for the most part they are "WEST CENTRAL", not western. Calling anything east of the Great Plains states western from a modern standpoint is just dumb.
In that case, there isn't any "west" anymore, except to say that A is "further west" than B in terms of grographical coordinates and the times of sunrise and sunset. The historical concept in the USA of "The West" meant the area of the continent which had not yet been fully opened up to organized development. There now is no such place. Every part of the USA is equally economically developed, and all the expansion has taken place. In all respects, Roseburg Oregon and Ottumwa Iowa and Jamestown New York are pretty much indistinguishable from each other in terms of the basic amenities of life in those communities, and anyone walking up to the counter for a Big Mac would have no way to estimate how far west they are.
If there are any places in the USA today that call themselves "The West", that is only because the local people have chosen to identify with events and conditions that prevailed in their historic past, that they wish to cling to for flatulent reasons of civic pride and boosterism. Or maybe to emphasize their disappointment over the sad mess the nation has swirled down into. For that reason, if a town says "this is the west", well, than, that is the west. The West begins where people start wistfully saying This is the West, but they are speaking as ah historical anachronism. There are no other working criteria.
"The West" is a concept that arose during the continental expansion of America, which, for reasons too obvious to outline, took place with a progression going from east to west, and as this expansion was taking place, the east and the west had different characteristics. That is simply no longer the case. To call anyplace "West" from a "modern standpoint" is just dumb and does not take into account of the realities of what the modern standpoint is..
Where the rural population density drops. There's a strong east-west divide, around 97-100°W. Very closely follows a climatic shift from humid to arid (being west of the Gulf of Mexico is the cause).
The west dividing line IMO is the Rocky Mountain Range. The Great Plains begin east of the Rockies which is considered midwest. It seems to me the Census Bureau has it right even though half of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico is East of the Rockies.
I'm definitely in the minority here, but I would not consider ANY of the great plains the west. to me, the central united states begins at the rocky mountain front.
I'm right along with you my friend. I also agree the West ends at the Eastern front of the Rockies!
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