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Which states have the strongest identities that isn't related to particular city or cities in that state. For example, Nevada's national and international identity is mostly because of Las Vegas. Take away Vegas and the state has considerably less identity. It still has some identity as 'desert' though. Other states like Colorado have stronger identities related to the state itself. If you took away Denver, Coloardo's identity would still be mostly in tact, imo moreso than Nevada.
Not sure I would include California..it is a very diverse state. It's identity is a collection of regional identities. Not the state as a whole.
I like the rest of your Tier 1 states and would replace California with Montana.
Cannot comment on Tier 2 states back east. Even though I lived in New Jersey for five years as a child I would rather forget that part of my life.
Arizona is tough, it is not a desert state anymore. All I can see is mile and mile of subdivisions. Sad to see a great landscape converted to homes.
States, not mentioned that I would include: Maine, the Dakota's, Wyoming, Iowa.
I'm trying to base it off what the average lay-person will think across the country or globe. For better or worse as well. Alabama or New Jersey don't exactly have stellar reputations but they certainly have reputations. California has a strong reputation and stereotype that's applied to it at the state-level by people who don't have or don't care about the actual nuances of the many distinct regions within the country-sized state.
I agree though Montana definitely belongs near the top. I would put it solidly in tier 2 myself. With Arizona, again I think it's more about what people think versus the reality on the ground. And even still most of Arizona is empty land. The 5% of the state that's developed might be changing, becoming overcrowded and overbuilt, but still the vast majority is uninhabited. Wymong maybe i would put in tier 3 but towards the top of it. Maine i havein t3 already. Dakotas I'm not sure. Iowa could be tier 3. One of those states where the lack of reputation IS the reputation in large part.Like Nebraska but I think even moreso for Iowa
I'd argue Mississippi's got a stronger identity than Alabama. Alabama's the mixing zone for all the Southern "zones" (Colonial south from the east, mixed Florida and Louisiana coastal, Appalachian from the northeast, Mississippi delta-ish from the west, piedmont from the northern east, Highland Rim/Pennyroyal from the north), so Alabama can easy just get everything southern, and it can overwhelm its unique traits.
Even though Cajun country gets associated with New Orleans, Lafayette is Cajun country's biggest city. New Orleans definitely dominates the discussion of Louisiana, but a lot of Louisiana's traits are incorrectly attributed as trait of the city itself (That said, traits of northern Louisiana would escape greater recognition if it weren't for the existence of Shreveport.).
I'd say Utah and Wisconsin are also tier one/two. New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, and Montana ought be pretty high, too (2 or 3).
I wonder, what are the states that have weak identities despite actually being fairly different from other states?
I've known two people from Maine, neither of them ever really brought it up. As a west-coaster Maine interests me and I see it as quite different from other eastern states: low population density, no major cities, mountains, dense forests, as well as a small but still-around French-speaking population.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Originally Posted by nadnerb
I would say New Mexico has a much stronger state identity than Arizona.
New Mexico is more in touch with its history and culture, and the local food scene is more palpable than Arizona. That said it's relatively unknown on a national scale. With the weak geographic awareness within the US, some are honestly completely unaware of its statehood. I encountered this when I moved out there (granted they weren't among the brightest).
I think for the average layman, when one visualizes the Southwest in their mind's eye if they haven't been, it's likely the Grand Canyon or a desert scene with lots of saguaro cacti which correlates with Arizona. The massive growth of the Phoenix metro also put it on the radar a bit more.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 05-06-2023 at 06:03 AM..
I've known two people from Maine, neither of them ever really brought it up.
Really?!
Maybe it's the smaller sample size, but I've had the exact opposite experience: without fail, every Mainer I've encountered makes their home state a huge part of their identity.
I guess that really gets to a point about this thread: are we talking about which states have the most identity to outsiders, or which states garner the most unified identity amongst actual residents? Those are probably two different answers.
I think a couple small and fairly homogeneous New England states have an edge here, like Vermont and Rhode Island.
Maybe it's the smaller sample size, but I've had the exact opposite experience: without fail, every Mainer I've encountered makes their home state a huge part of their identity.
I guess that really gets to a point about this thread: are we talking about which states have the most identity to outsiders, or which states garner the most unified identity amongst actual residents? Those are probably two different answers.
I think a couple small and fairly homogeneous New England states have an edge here, like Vermont and Rhode Island.
I am talking about which ones have the most identity to outsiders. I'm focused more on perceptions than reality. Which states have the strongest 'image', right or wrong, good or bad, to random,possibly ignorant people across the country and world. I think that is a fun contest because it leads to a different set of strong contenders than you see in most rankings,especially if you don't include city-specific images. Doing that brings down state like NY from tier 1 to middle of the pack
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