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Denver is the easternmost city within the mountain West region of the country, the only West that counts. The Great Plains are really the western Midwest, not the true West. Nobody in Denver would consider Oklahoma City, Dallas or Fort Worth a "western" city. Those are southern cities, IMO-- the western South, sure, but still fundamentally the south.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vagus
I'd say Eastern = faster paced, more hurried lifestyle, more "in your face" kind of personal interaction, more densely urban geographically, more liberal politically/socially, more culturally "highbrow."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vagus
Western = slower paced, laid back, quiet/polite/taciturn, more conservative/populist politically, more preference for spread-out, open spaces and outdoors-oriented activity.
I dunno...wouldn't those first few traits apply just as much, if not more so, to Southern cities?
Just food for thought...[/QUOTE, LancasterNative]
"Just food for thought . . ." so here's a thought. Maybe the South and West do share the general characteristics listed above for the West. Maybe the difference is that the South has an additional characteristic. Despite whatever differences between the South and the Northeast people might perceive, they're the oldest parts of the country. As such, they share an old culture, rooted in the rituals associated with 18th- and 19th-century old-money affected gentility. In the South today, you'll also have the new Sun Belt outlook, but that old upper-crust, socialite segment of society still carries some weight. Maybe that's not so much the case in the West.
When I think of Eastern cities, several things come to mind immediately:
Old
Dense
Row houses
Ghettos
Rudeness
High costs (for everything)
Most of the above does not hold for Pittsburgh.
Old? Yes
Dense? Used to be, not so much now
Row houses? Some
Ghettos? Yes
Rudeness? Not to hear them talk about it on their forum
High costs (for everything)? Among the lowest housing costs in the nation. Nothing there seems to cost more than here in Denver.
Easternmost city in the west-I've never been to the West Coast,but judging from pictures I'd say the Bay Area,more specifically San Francisco and Oakland.
I will add though that Atlanta is even more sprawled connected by freeways and resembles LA in many respects.
Yeah, forgot about Atlanta. The NC Triangle around Raleigh and Durham is also like that with decentralized growth, and also Hampton Roads area in southern Virginia (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, maybe even Richmond) are a large metropolitan area with lots of little and mid-sized cities but no big city. That phrase about LA used to being "a thousand suburbs looking for a city" is definitely true for Hampton Roads. But then Hampton Roads, Atlanta, and Raleigh are also southern.
The new development patterns of the South are very similar to the West, or at least the Southwest since they're all in the Sunbelt. I would say the Southeast and the SOuthwest have some parellels in regards to planning, lifestyle (the places mentioned above vs. Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson) while the Northeast and California/Northwest have their similarities, like the hippie/liberal culture in Boston vs. Portland and Seattle and San Francisco.
LA is its own place, a mix of everything, probably the most diverse place in America in every regard. Maybe this is why they film so many movies in LA and it can stand in for everywhere else.
I'd say that Kansas City would be the easternmost western city, St. Louis the westernmost eastern city.
Agreed, what is with this previous comment about Dallas being "Eastern"? What a hoot. There is a line, probably I-40, with everthing South of this should never be considered "Eastern".
Sf has no eastern feel what so ever. Not in politics,not in the climate, not in ethnicity, and certainly not in culture.
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The Great Plains are really the western Midwest, not the true West. Nobody in Denver would consider Oklahoma City, Dallas or Fort Worth a "western" city. Those are southern cities, IMO-- the western South, sure, but still fundamentally the south.
[/QUOTE, LancasterNative]
