Most stereotypical "Yankee" state? (incomes, living in, mold)

[TonyNY]

Hello everyone. New user here.

I've seen plenty of threads that ask for the the most stereotypical Southern or Midwest state. However, I don't think I've seen one for the most stereotypical northern state . That is, the first state that people tend to think of when the northeast is mentioned or the state that most represents the region.

So, which state do you think is the most culturally or stereotypically northeastern state and why?

[2nd trick op]

I don't know if it could be called the most "stereotypical", but I have to categorize Massachusetts as the most "out of touch" with regard as to how things are done in states more representative of the "real" America.

And I don't want to categorize it as simply a product of the nation's present polarization; Massachusetts generates a disproportionate share of its incomes from activities such as education and finance, which in turn require more education and the enlightened, but occasionally over-sensitized values and attitudes which go with them.

I grew up in a farming family, and have relatives and friends who work within the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture; I don't know how many times I've read, and heard firsthand, of well-insulated, sheltered suburbanites who simply have no idea of the less-than-perfectly-sanitary realities that go hand-in-hand with supplying us with our necessities, and I'm sure that the greater the proportion of people distanced from the grit and sweat of blue collar America, the bigger the disconnect.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

I'm gonna say Rhode Island. Even Mass and Connecticut have their country bumpkins. Rhode Island is so small that it has few rural areas with a mostly urban/suburban population to which a northern urban population is sort of synonymous with "yankee". The accent is like Boston meets Long Island (think Lois Griffin, or Good Will Hunting meets My Cousin Vinny). Politically the state is known for good old fashioned yankee corruption with strong mob echos of the past. .

[MsJ13]

As a current RI Resident (but transplant from another state) I agree with Desert_SW_77. Also, that accent you describe is detectable from a mile away and it's horrendous!

[danielj72]

Pilgrims, puritans, Kennedys, funny accents, Harvard, Cheers, Lexington and Concord and very strange place names. Yes Massachusetts is the ultimate Yankee state. It is the heart and soul of New England, the ultimate Northeast place.

[Bert_from_back_East]

If we apply to the classical meaning of the term, "Yankee" (i.e., >8th generation American of primarily British stock and a Mainline Protestant heritage living in an exurban or rural area of New England), then the answer is Vermont.

[canudigit]

If you are talking "Yankee" in the historical sense then I think Massachusetts fits the mold best; Boston, abolitionists, Plymouth Rock, whaling industry, Harvard theologians, etc.

If you are talking "Yankee" in terms of what modern day Southerners think of as a "Yankee" then I think people from New Jersey or Long Island fit that mold; rushed, talking about how things were done better back home, liberal, complaining how there's no place to get good NYC pizza or watch the Jets on TV, etc.

By no means do I think that everyone from LI or NJ fits those stereotypes, and I have met many wonderful, gracious, people from those areas, but somehow when discussions here on C-D or with actual Southerners that I have spoken to in person turn to describing "Yankees", this seems to be the stereotype that comes up over and over.

[qworldorder]

I voted New York not only because of the "New York Yankees" (though if we're all being honest, due to their success/popularity, that is the first image of "yankee" most people will have), but because I do find it the most stereotypical state. I actually find Rhode Island as the outlier in the Northeast in not having much of a rural population/identity. Every other state in the Northeast (to also include Delaware and Maryland, folks ) has both a city and rural split, minus Vermont (consequently, also an outlier for "yankee" identity). I thus find New York most accommodating of the stereotype, from funny accents to big city living to farm country to colonial identity, New York encapsulates everything the best. And I'd probably put either Massachusetts or Connecticut next--probably Connecticut due to "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (hey, pop culture/literature counts for a lot--see New York Yankees lol).

[TonyNY]

You can use whatever definition/parameter for yankee/northern you like

I do consider Maryland/Delaware northeastern, but they also have a lot of southern influence, and that sorta disqualifies them

[thedirtypirate]

Mass holes embody what southern's think of as "the Yankee". It's not a bad thing, Massachusetts people tend to be pretty smart. I honestly wouldn't include all of Delaware apart of the Northeast nor Maryland. Pennsylvanian's are only partial Yankee's too.