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T The same goes for the states up north, Iowa and Minnesota are quite green and tree covered and the have far more in common with the states of the old northwest like Wisconsin and Michigan (in both culture and climate) than they do with the dry west..
Culturally speaking there is a noticeable shift of Minnesota away from Michigan, a lot of the transplants in Minnesota are from the Dakotas. There is more of a rural, emphasis on hard work and toughness mentality in Minnesota while in Michigan (Detroit, but hey it's half the state) there is more of a blue collar, cover your butt, and work the system type mentality.
Maybe only when you leave the Detroit area are they similar, but that's sort of cheating.
The answer to this is the Great Lakes developed as a sort of life support for the East Coast. The development of resources of the Great Lakes supported the building of the East Coast (timber, water power, and farming). As an result, the Great Lakes is kind of a rural, hick version of the East Coast.
The Great Plains don't have that history, and while I'm not sure what their history is exactly, since most of that land was part of the Louisiana Purchase, they are more frontier states and part of the "West" to me. Going into the Dakotas, I don't even see any familiar topography as Michigan, and that's even in the most eastern part of the state.
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri are kind of middlemen. Straddling both regions, maybe in a sense the truest "midwestern" states.
The answer to this is the Great Lakes developed as a sort of life support for the East Coast. The development of resources of the Great Lakes supported the building of the East Coast (timber, water power, and farming). As an result, the Great Lakes is kind of a rural, hick version of the East Coast.
The Great Plains don't have that history, and while I'm not sure what their history is exactly, since most of that land was part of the Louisiana Purchase, they are more frontier states and part of the "West" to me. Going into the Dakotas, I don't even see any familiar topography as Michigan, and that's even in the most eastern part of the state.
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri are kind of middlemen. Straddling both regions, maybe in a sense the truest "midwestern" states.
I'm not so sure that's true. The Plains states themselves are pretty split. The eastern half of them is farm country - quite similar to much of Western Minnesota, Western Iowa, and Northeast Missouri. The western half of the Great Plains states are dry cattle ranching country - similar to Eastern Montana or Colorado.
Highway 183 is a good dividing line that separates the frontier West ranching area from the slightly more populated agrarian areas to the east. Little known fact: a large percentage all corn grown in Nebraska is irrigated. The Missouri River is a better dividing line for the Dakotas. West River= ranching East River= farming.
Culturally speaking there is a noticeable shift of Minnesota away from Michigan, a lot of the transplants in Minnesota are from the Dakotas. There is more of a rural, emphasis on hard work and toughness mentality in Minnesota while in Michigan (Detroit, but hey it's half the state) there is more of a blue collar, cover your butt, and work the system type mentality.
Maybe only when you leave the Detroit area are they similar, but that's sort of cheating.
Michigan is most like Wisconsin if you were to compare it to a neighboring Midwestern state. But yes Detroit is very different from the rest of that state. Detroit is somewhat similar to Chicago, only its not as nice and its half its size.
Michigan is most like Wisconsin if you were to compare it to a neighboring Midwestern state. But yes Detroit is very different from the rest of that state. Detroit is somewhat similar to Chicago, only its not as nice and its half its size.
To me, Michigan is more like Ohio. I spent part of my life in the Detroit and Detroit metro areas. Wisconsin is not exactly entirely dissimilar but it's not the best fit.
While Detroit area is a small subset of the geography of Michigan, it does compromise half the population. When we speak about culture, we speak about people not tracts of land, animals and so on as those cannot have culture. Therefore using Detroit as a proxy for Michigan is appropriate.
As for the other half of the population, I believe most of them are located in central Michigan (Huron-Saginaw-Lansing-Grand Rapids) which would be more similar to Wisconsin. Especially Grand Rapids.
Also I would say Detroit is more similar to Cleveland, even Buffalo than it's to Chicago. Part of this is just size (Chicago is way way bigger) but also the culture of Detroit is more sifted in that direction. Chicago has a lot of transplants from Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota (and also Indiana, Michigan) and it shows.
To me, Michigan is more like Ohio. I spent part of my life in the Detroit and Detroit metro areas. Wisconsin is not exactly entirely dissimilar but it's not the best fit.
While Detroit area is a small subset of the geography of Michigan, it does compromise half the population. When we speak about culture, we speak about people not tracts of land, animals and so on as those cannot have culture. Therefore using Detroit as a proxy for Michigan is appropriate.
As for the other half of the population, I believe most of them are located in central Michigan (Huron-Saginaw-Lansing-Grand Rapids) which would be more similar to Wisconsin. Especially Grand Rapids.
Also I would say Detroit is more similar to Cleveland, even Buffalo than it's to Chicago. Part of this is just size (Chicago is way way bigger) but also the culture of Detroit is more sifted in that direction. Chicago has a lot of transplants from Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota (and also Indiana, Michigan) and it shows.
I used to live up in Michigan, but not in the Detroit area. Your right half its population is in Detroit so I get why your saying what your saying. I do think Detroit is like Chicago, and its also like Cleveland. All three are prime examples of a Great Lakes large city. Detroit is the worst one of the three, but the culture of all three cities is quite similar. Chicago and Detroit are very different from the countryside around them, eastern Ohio and Cleveland may not be quite as dissimilar. I know in Michigan the Detroit area is viewed as almost another country, the people in that state distance themselves from Detroit in general. I guess that is why I would more compare Michigan culture with that of Wisconsin, because where I lived that made the most sense. If you were in Detroit I don't know, seems like its more like the other two Great Lakes big cities mentioned than anywhere else. Ohio in general is lower Midwest, more like Indiana.
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