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I've been to Grand Rapids before. I didn't note anything particularly Northern European feeling about it. I've also been to Staten Island, which is around one-third Italian. It didn't feel much like Italy even though it still has a fair number of Italian speakers.
How many people in the Grand Rapids metro speak Finnish?
Architecture-wise, GR looks like Milwaukee or the near West Side or near South Side of Chicago.
GR and Pgh are both hilly cities.
Hmm. I am not that familiar with Grand Rapids, but the parts of town I saw looked nothing like Milwaukee, much less south and west Chicago. Looked more like Omaha/Indy/Toledo/Minneapolis type built environment. And it was pretty flat, especially compared to Pittsburgh. Reminded me more of Des Moines than anything else I can think of.
Well when you drive from Detroit and reach Grand Rapids, it does...lol. If you go to the Upper Peninsula, the majority of the people are of Finnish decent, and some still speak it at home. People in Grand Rapids have a strong sense of community and there is a robust civil society.
Yeah but those are pretty much where the differences end. One thing that ties those people together is their heavy Calvinistic traditions and beliefs, not just their ethnicity. Such an idea is not to be found in the Netherlands.
Hmm. I am not that familiar with Grand Rapids, but the parts of town I saw looked nothing like Milwaukee, much less south and west Chicago. Looked more like Omaha/Indy/Toledo/Minneapolis type built environment. And it was pretty flat, especially compared to Pittsburgh. Reminded me more of Des Moines than anything else I can think of.
I said NEAR South and West sides. Sorry to cause confusion. The Near West Side and Near South Side are areas near the central business district. The more common housing stock on the FAR South and West Sides I agree is very unique and consists mostly of bungalows, two and three flats, and large brick condos.
Flat? GR is flat in some areas, yes. But there are definitely hills. Nowhere near Pgh level but more than Chicago.
Also I think Indy and Milwaukee's architecture is similar. Indy may not have the common two flats seen in Chicago and Milwaukee, but other than that, these cities all share architecture in common. Chicago stands out with its large collection of bungalows, and Milwaukee does to a smaller extent as well. These aren't as common in the GR or Indy areas. But if you go on interstates 90/94 in Chicago near downtown, or drive along 65 near downtown Indy, or 94 near downtown Milwaukee, or 96 near downtown Grand Rapids, and you look at the residential property types, they're all very similar.
Very accurate statement considering the highest HIV/AIDS rates of the nation are in Miami-Dade county.
Also, two official designations exist for armpit of America. Makes sense, as everyone would have two armpits. But, Ohio isn't one of them. In the West (the left armpit), Battle Mountain in Nevada is one armpit. The Eastern armpit is the entire state of New Jersey.
Well, at least it's not Belle Glade, FL. That's one town I'm too afraid to step in. Trailer park hell, with an extremely high HIV rate.
Western Ohio is nothing like the NE. Also, I have never heard Dayton locals say it 'dayon'.. Not at all. Maybe they were drunk if you ever heard it. Anyways, at least for western Ohio natives, there are no accents that come close to the northeastern speech including NJ or NY. Big, big difference. To me, distance doesn't have much to do with it but rather culture and the social differences. I cannot say much about eastern Ohio, maybe it is different I am not sure, only speaking for more central and western area. I much more identify it with the Midwest then NE.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Eastern Ohio has many similarities to western PA and western NY and northern WV.
In that regard it feels more northeastern-northern Appalachian. Honestly though, once you get west/north of the hills and out of Cleveland Ohio is clearly more typical of the Midwest.
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