Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Im kind of confused on what some people think of the midwest. Someone has to explain to me what "conservative" means, because we must have different definitions. I am from the Cleveland area and I have been to a lot of different places (NYC, Jersey, Baltimore, DC, etc.) and I wouldnt consider the midwest (or at least the Cleveland area) conservative at all.
Also if you stay on the interstate or the highway the whole time obviously your not gonna like it. The interstate in the midwest is very boring(pretty much is everywhere), but thats because its not by anything. The rural areas and the major city areas are completely different. Also I dont really see whats so much better about an ocean compared to a huge lake. There is water for as far as you can see and there are beaches and it gets more than hot enough in the summer to use them.
Location: Originally Fayetteville, Arkansas/ now Seattle, Washington!
1,047 posts, read 3,947,333 times
Reputation: 382
For those of us who have been/lived by the ocean, I think its not hard to see and feel the difference....the Ocean breeze, the beautiful waves, endless coastline, the (sometimes) wonderful, refreshing smell...A lake, no matter how grand, cannot compare to the majesty of the mighty ocean! And Nebraska has some decent scenery(still nothing compared to many areas) but if you can't see it from/very near the city, then it doesn't have that much value when actually talking about how good a city's natural scenery is.
For those of us who have been/lived by the ocean, I think its not hard to see and feel the difference....the Ocean breeze, the beautiful waves, endless coastline, the (sometimes) wonderful, refreshing smell...A lake, no matter how grand, cannot compare to the majesty of the mighty ocean! And Nebraska has some decent scenery(still nothing compared to many areas) but if you can't see it from/very near the city, then it doesn't have that much value when actually talking about how good a city's natural scenery is.
I've lived by the ocean and it is nice. I have also lived by two of the Great Lakes (Michigan and Superior) and anybody that says they don't compare is absolutely 100% correct. The Lakes beat the ocean hands down. The only thing lacking is the salt air (on the good days that is, some days that "ocean air" can be downright nasty). Endless coastline is just an illusion because you can only see 13 or 14 miles in any direction anyway. Lake Michigan has 300+ miles of beautiful sand beaches and that is only on the Michigan side. Superior has the rocker coastline. My wife grew up on the ocean and was totally prepared to be VERY unimpressed with a "lake" the first time I took her to the Great Lakes. She never wants be away from them again after seeing them and living next to them for a couple of years.
Once again, Nebraska is mostly in the Great Plains -- not the midwest -- there IS A DIFFERENCE
The Great Plains are a subdivision of the Midwest as defined by the United States Government.
Geographically the Great Plains start just west of Lincoln, Nebraska and include parts of Texas, New Mexico and other places generally not considered part of them by the people that live there.
I'm not trying to argue, I just think it's odd that people want to redefine the major regional divisions of this country to fit their area-centric concepts.
Um, I was a geography major. In US Regional Geography, the Great Plains are a region, one of the 7 regions of the US. Not a subregion. I am not sure how the US federal government has created regions, I have worked for the federal government and it will somtimes, depending on the agency, divide the us into regions that work for that agency.
I think it is very sad that most media and people now think that everything in the 'middle' is the midwest. I am fighting a losing battle on this site because no one understands geography anymore, and one's opinion becomes more important than geography.
Um, I was a geography major. In US Regional Geography, the Great Plains are a region, one of the 7 regions of the US. Not a subregion. I am not sure how the US federal government has created regions, I have worked for the federal government and it will somtimes, depending on the agency, divide the us into regions that work for that agency.
I think it is very sad that most media and people now think that everything in the 'middle' is the midwest. I am fighting a losing battle on this site because no one understands geography anymore, and one's opinion becomes more important than geography.
I was also a geography major, but I don't think that matters. What I was trying to illustrate was that The United States defines four major census regions that break into sub-regions, geographically these are not always in alignment with the socio-political definitions.
My point was just that it's not fact that the Plains States are not Midwestern since the political and geographic boundaries are not mutually inclusive; but one interpretation. This is important because, for example, eastern Nebraska is like Iowa and northwestern Missouri, etc. I know you already touched on that and I agree with it.
I just think that people are simply being general when they make statements like that and the only reason people seem to get mad is because they have some crazy bias about an area and don't want to be associated with it. I am not accusing you of this.
Examples from this forum include:
The people that are adamant about Ohio not being the Midwest or the guy from Minnesota who wanted the Midwest to be Minnesota and it's bordering states, which I know you would say is totally wrong for more than one reason, I would agree.
This is getting tl;dr.
Basically, I was just trying to explain my opinion on why people say what they do. I don't think we disagree all that much.
Well, that is exactly my point. The census divides the US into regions that serve their purpose, while other agenies divide them differently. There ARE 7 major regions of the US -- and they are general and based on culture, climate, topo etc. The midwest is one and so is the great plains. Parts of Ohio and Nebraska are on the dividing lines so it can be confusing, but it is important because North Platte, NE is a world of difference from Indianapolis in terms of culture, geography, climate, topo etc. Its not just different from Northeast Ohio.
The Great Plains region faces a struggle quite different from Central Illinois and to compare them is really selling the other short.
The Great Plains is more extreme in terms of weather, has less water, and its not as easy of a life as the actual midwest in many ways. They are simply not the same region.
Central South Dakota has more in common with Central Kansas than either have with the midwest.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
And Nebraska has some decent scenery(still nothing compared to many areas) but if you can't see it from/very near the city, then it doesn't have that much value when actually talking about how good a city's natural scenery is.
