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Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,540,027 times
Reputation: 6253
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I have often considered the west to be divided into the Coast, the northwest, the southwest, the interior west, and the western plains.
The coast is a cultural zone in itself and kind of exists over-lapping the other regions.
The northwest to me is Northern California, Oregon, Washington
The interior west being Idaho, Utah, eastern Montana, eastern Wyoming and eastern Colorado.
The western plains being the remainder of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado where it melts into the Midwest/frontier strip.
The southwest being Southern/Central California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. I am of two minds on this because I personally consider New Mexico and Arizona the western most reaches of "the American south". They were confederate land claims and were settled largely by southerners and today share political culture with the south in general.
California/Nevada form what I consider the southwest as applicable exclusively to the west, without strong tie to an eastern region.
Of course there are so many definition of what is the west that it's a muddy topic. Some definition are large enough to include everything west of the Mississippi river. Others are so small that even Colorado is not wholly considered western. I have before met somebody on this very site who felt that most of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana were part of the Midwest.
I have often considered the west to be divided into the Coast, the northwest, the southwest, the interior west, and the western plains.
The coast is a cultural zone in itself and kind of exists over-lapping the other regions.
The northwest to me is Northern California, Oregon, Washington
The interior west being Idaho, Utah, eastern Montana, eastern Wyoming and eastern Colorado.
The western plains being the remainder of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado where it melts into the Midwest/frontier strip.
The southwest being Southern/Central California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. I am of two minds on this because I personally consider New Mexico and Arizona the western most reaches of "the American south". They were confederate land claims and were settled largely by southerners and today share political culture with the south in general.
California/Nevada form what I consider the southwest as applicable exclusively to the west, without strong tie to an eastern region.
Of course there are so many definition of what is the west that it's a muddy topic. Some definition are large enough to include everything west of the Mississippi river. Others are so small that even Colorado is not wholly considered western. I have before met somebody on this very site who felt that most of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana were part of the Midwest.
Arizona and New Mexico are not culturally linguistically or demographically anything like the Southern states. They are as Southern as Minnesota.
Minnesota was never claimed or occupied by the confederate south nor is MN highly republican and religious.
Ancient Civil war history has no bearing on what a state is today. And Arizona and New Mexico are not religious like the South. That is a flat out lie. You're the only person I've ever heard call New Mexico and Arizona Southern states. Ridiculous.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,540,027 times
Reputation: 6253
Quote:
Originally Posted by U146
Ancient Civil war history has no bearing on what a state is today. And Arizona and New Mexico are not religious like the South. That is a flat out lie. You're the only person I've ever heard call New Mexico and Arizona Southern states. Ridiculous.
"Ancient Civil war history has no bearing on what a state is today" <-- Unless it's convenient for your narrative?
I assure you I'm not the only person who feels that way, but, I am aware that the idea is a minority opinion.
I shared my opinion. I am not trying to convert anybody else on the matter.
I'll even back up a bit and say I am more conveying their ties to the south than the idea that they are southern today.
Also yes, the two states are highly religious... That's not a lie. I'm really not sure why you're so upset.
Minnesota was never claimed or occupied by the confederate south nor is MN highly republican and religious.
Indiana and Ohio are pretty religious states (for the north) and state legislatures are dominated by Republicans. Not too hard to find confederate flags in southern parts of the state either. Doesn't make them part of the south though lol.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,540,027 times
Reputation: 6253
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buckeye614
Indiana and Ohio are pretty religious states (for the north) and state legislatures are dominated by Republicans. Not too hard to find confederate flags in southern parts of the state either. Doesn't make them part of the south though lol.
Well you can find that stuff as far north as New England.
I think everybody is taking what I said too personally. I made a single passing remark about an opinion I hold that I don't expect people to agree with in a much, much, much longer post with far more relevancy to the topic at hand and yet here you all are zeroing in on that one sentence like I said something awful.
Holy crap, people.
Take a breath, Step back. Look at the bigger picture here. Realize that what I said has already been explained. Get over it. Return to the rest of what I said maybe? Or move on entirely. Come on.
I just don't understand the witch hunting here. It raises doubts in me about how many of you are actually adults and not snarky teen-agers pretending.
Well you can find that stuff as far north as New England.
I think everybody is taking what I said too personally. I made a single passing remark about an opinion I hold that I don't expect people to agree with in a much, much, much longer post with far more relevancy to the topic at hand and yet here you all are zeroing in on that one sentence like I said something awful.
Holy crap, people.
Take a breath, Step back. Look at the bigger picture here. Realize that what I said has already been explained. Get over it. Return to the rest of what I said maybe? Or move on entirely. Come on.
I just don't understand the witch hunting here. It raises doubts in me about how many of you are actually adults and not snarky teen-agers pretending.
I'm not taking it personally or mad. Just offering my opinion to why I thought your comment was inaccurate. It happens and I definitely am not always perfect in my commentary.
Anyway back to the og topic, the western states are so large geographically that its "cultural clusters" are more dispersed hence more diversity.
NYC is a mere 96 miles away from Philly and 190 miles from Boston (the next largest cities in the northeast). While these cities/metro areas exhibit some cultural/geographic distances they are still relatively similar.
Los Angeles to Phoenix is 372 miles, Los Angeles to Seattle is 1,135.5 mi, Los Angeles to San Francisco is 381 miles and Los Angeles to Albuquerque is 789 miles.
"Ancient Civil war history has no bearing on what a state is today" <-- Unless it's convenient for your narrative?
I assure you I'm not the only person who feels that way, but, I am aware that the idea is a minority opinion.
I shared my opinion. I am not trying to convert anybody else on the matter.
I'll even back up a bit and say I am more conveying their ties to the south than the idea that they are southern today.
Also yes, the two states are highly religious... That's not a lie. I'm really not sure why you're so upset.
Dude, take a massive chill pill.
Arizona ranks 27th for being highly religious. Phoenix ranks about 5th or so (as of 2015) when it comes to people who do not identify with a religion.
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