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Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
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Delaware has a strong split between Northern Delaware and Southern Delaware. Everything above the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is more urbanized, liberal, wealthier and more white collar than "Slower Lower". Nearly 60% of the state lives up North, which is a key cog of the Delaware Valley (Greater Philadelphia). Southern Delaware, in contrast, is more rural, conservative and poor than up North, though there are pockets of liberalism and wealth at the beach towns.
I'd say Illinois should take this pretty easily. All of the other states listed here with an urban/rural divide or cultural divide at least have other cities of note (Buffalo, Jacksonville, Grand Rapids, etc.). Illinois doesn't really have a second city that registers on the national radar, imo.
I won't vote because I genuinely don't know, but in California, while there is a big rivalry between NorCal and SoCal, I wouldn't say there is a big cultural divide. So I doubt it should win this one.
However, I've definitely heard from multiple people that South Florida and the rest of the state are very different places.
The Northern/Southern California split is a big thing with latino gangs in the state, generally split around Delano
Sure, it's a "thing" here but totally irrelevant to someone outside the state looking in. It's like two mirror images of each other.
Is the question related to which states' residents have their identities most strongly tied to the part of the state they live in, or which states have the two most culturally distinct halves? California might be an example of the former, but not really the latter. At least not along a north/south split.
If there is a case for Michigan it would look something like this. Let's pretend that the Upper Peninsula was never separated from Wisconsin to begin with. Divide the Lower Peninsula East/West with the US-127 Freeway as the line dividing counties. From a macro perspective Michigan is showing anemic population growth. When separated out the contrast is hard to ignore.
Eastern Michigan (I-75 corridor): Topographically more flat. Union Stronghold. Dominated by Automakers and full assembly production, emerging STEM R&D center. Peaked in population the 1990s. Fiscally liberal, socially more moderate-conservative. Northern Tourist areas less developed, dominated by visitors from the Detroit area. Stigmatized impression of Western Michigan: Podunk,forested,irrelevant,sparsely populated, a surprising number of natives have never been west of Lansing.
Western Michigan (US-131 corridor) Topographically more hilly. Anemic union presence, Dominated by smaller more diverse manufacturers, emerging biosciences center. Continued sustained growth patterns for decades. Fiscally conservative, socially conservative. Northern Tourist areas more developed, dominated by visitors from the Chicago area. Stigmatized impression of Eastern Michigan: Declining, over-populated, irrelevant, a surprising number of natives have never been east of Lansing.
Every state has a population center/outstate divide. Not as many are so completely misaligned on so many issues within the state. I cannot think of another state where the outstate side is carrying the population growth so dramatically. It seems like California is getting a lot of thought here. There is a pronounced North/South rivalry, it is more culturally and economically aligned than most other states even for it's huge size.
NorCal and SoCal were more divided culturally a few decades ago than they are today. Today it's coastal and inland California.
I would say one big one is Missouri. Southern Missouri is very much like Arkansas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. The northern two-thirds of the state are decidedly Midwestern. Kansas City might as well be on another planet compared to Branson.
You could also add Texas to the conversation. Far south and west Texas along the Mexican border don't share a lot of cultural similarities with most of Texas.
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