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I like that you put separated the Gulf Coast and Deep South. Best part IMO. I have read that Atlanta is more like the Upland South than the Deep South though.
GunnerTHB, hearing this from you means a lot, given how much your comments in other threads have shaped my thinking in several regions!
Quick clarification: You said Henderson County, TN, doesn't belong in Deep South, but if you look at full-zoom image, you'll I didn't put it in Deep South. Did you mean a different county?
Here's the same map from the original post, for convenience:
I agree with what you classified Henderson County as. My point was that it was a divided county in many ways, similar to my home of Cape Girardeau County in Missouri.
Madison County was the one that surprised me as being Orange instead of Red. You have a defined methodology to your map though, so if it comes out that way then maybe that way is correct. I know you mentioned keeping Metro Areas together, so is that the reason for Madison County being Orange because Chester County is also Orange? Just curious.
Jackson, TN (Madison County) seems to have more economic ties to Memphis than Nashville, but I don't have data in front of me so that may not be accurate.
As I said, my knee jerk reaction is that Madison County should be Deep South, but I may be letting culture influence that instead of the criteria that you specified. I don't know if Chester County would be Deep South or not. I've been there, but I haven't been there enough to know.
It's nice to see a map with regions that don't magically stop at a state line.
Last edited by GunnerTHB; 04-03-2018 at 03:21 PM..
To me, to be in a same region with another place means that you have more in common with that place than with a place from a different region. Map is relatively good (better than most I saw), but I dont see how, e.g., Fargo and Columbus have more in common than Fargo and Duluth, or Dallas and Billings than Dallas and Houston, or southern parts of upstate NY and estern OK than southern parts of upstate NY and northern parts of upstate NY or many other examples...
Madison County was the one that surprised me as being Orange instead of Red. You have a defined methodology to your map though, so if it comes out that way then maybe that way is correct. I know you mentioned keeping Metro Areas together, so is that the reason for Madison County being Orange because Chester County is also Orange? Just curious.
Jackson, TN (Madison County) seems to have more economic ties to Memphis than Nashville, but I don't have data in front of me so that may not be accurate.
As I said, my knee jerk reaction is that Madison County should be Deep South, but I may be letting culture influence that instead of the criteria that you specified. I don't know if Chester County would be Deep South or not. I've been there, but I haven't been there enough to know.
It's nice to see a map with regions that don't magically stop at a state line.
GunnerTHB, first, let me say that I have family near Jackson, TN, so my decisions there are based on multiple visits to that part of TN.
By my lights, Jackson is in the transition zone from red (Deep South) to orange (Appohzarka). And as you've noted, Jackson is a hub for much of western Tennessee. Placing it in orange instead of red (Deep South) is based in part on ecoregion and in part on my principle of "rural gravity": Many of the non-metro counties for which Jackson is a hub are in orange, which nudges Jackson itself toward orange. In addition, the line of counties that runs Hardeman-Madison-Caroll-Henry is, on the ecoregion map, the beginning of an ecoregion transition into the ecoregions that are definitely orange (i.e., the Interior Low Plateau that contains the Nashville/Bluegrass Basins and their associated rims).
This is also why Crockett County (part of Jackson metro area) is one of the very few counties (less than 1% of all metro counties) that was broken off from its metro area — because it's in a line of counties from Fayette to Weakley that is the edge of the clearly red ecoregion.
I like that you put separated the Gulf Coast and Deep South. Best part IMO. I have read that Atlanta is more like the Upland South than the Deep South though.
I appreciate this!
The Piedmont (which runs from Atlanta through Greenville, SC, and Charlotte, NC, to the Research Triangle) is the transition between the Appalachians and the Southern Plain that is the quintessence of the Deep South. So it has connections to both, but it's economic links are much more significant to the rest of the Deep South than to Appalachia. And for consistency's sake, I've put the entire Piedmont ecoregion in the Deep South.
GunnerTHB, first, let me say that I have family near Jackson, TN, so my decisions there are based on multiple visits to that part of TN.
By my lights, Jackson is in the transition zone from red (Deep South) to orange (Appohzarka). And as you've noted, Jackson is a hub for much of western Tennessee. Placing it in orange instead of red (Deep South) is based in part on ecoregion and in part on my principle of "rural gravity": Many of the non-metro counties for which Jackson is a hub are in orange, which nudges Jackson itself toward orange. In addition, the line of counties that runs Hardeman-Madison-Caroll-Henry is, on the ecoregion map, the beginning of an ecoregion transition into the ecoregions that are definitely orange (i.e., the Interior Low Plateau that contains the Nashville/Bluegrass Basins and their associated rims).
This is also why Crockett County (part of Jackson metro area) is one of the very few counties (less than 1% of all metro counties) that was broken off from its metro area — because it's in a line of counties from Fayette to Weakley that is the edge of the clearly red ecoregion.
Fair enough. I've lived in Crockett County for 3 1/2 years, but didn't realize it is considered part of the Jackson metro area. I'm about to move to Henderson County
I like the project and can't wait to see the final result.
This is overall a pretty good map. Although I do think that Alaska is distinct from the rest of the US in it's frozen tundras. I also think that Hawaii should also be considered it's own tropical region. You mentioned that the map is ecoregions rather than cultural. Despite that, the regions seem to conform to culture IMO.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logicist027
This is overall a pretty good map. Although I do think that Alaska is distinct from the rest of the US in it's frozen tundras. I also think that Hawaii should also be considered it's own tropical region. You mentioned that the map is ecoregions rather than cultural. Despite that, the regions seem to conform to culture IMO.
That's kind of a fascinating aspect of humanity. We are definitely colored by our environment both natural and fabricated.
Economics/technology aside, people are generally affected in similar ways by climate, terrain, and wild life regardless of even national borders.
Maritime culture, for example, is pretty much the same at its absolute basics no matter where in the world you go. Mountains, forests, and deserts are also very powerful influences on the local human populace.
Y'know, as a a resident of Austin, Texas, (specifically Williamson County, a suburb of Austin) I actually feel like it is quite annoying when people try to lump my county in with the "Great Plains" region. I have been to Dallas several times, as well as Houston and Beaumont and feel like Dallas is in more or less the same cultural region as Austin (obviously Austin is unique but, I feel like it mostly just feels that way because it's so blue in a red state. However, Texas is rapidly becoming more blue, and Austin is being filled with new immigration from California and New York, so it doesn't really feel so special to me anymore, honestly). The "Keep Austin Weird" campaign was mostly a failure, Austin is rapidly becoming just like any other city, it's honestly kind of sad, but whatever. My father was from Beamont, and I can definetely tell you he seems more like a southerner than anything. Everyone I know considers Houston and Beamont and Galveston "Deep South".
I lived a few years in Nashville, and I can definetely tell you that geographically and culturally, Austin and Nashville are very similar, except Austin is hotter. I also feel like Dallas belongs in that same cultural region- certainly not "Great Plains"-this area feels nothing like Kansas. I LOVE your Apphozarka region, I feel like it fits the attitudes and cultures of the regions perfectly, with a strong, individualistic attitude throughout the Upland South. Overall, I like Colin Woodard's definitions better https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...iuITE7sUlbr3M:
I feel like they better represent the region, and his explanations explain Austin culture perfectly, and our similarities with Portland-as Portland was formed from Yankee settlers trying to make a Utopia on the coast mixed with Appalachian individualism and self-expression, and Austin is Yankee hippies trying to make a Utopia in Texas mixed with Appalachian individualism and self-expression.
The OP specifically stated that he was not including cultural considerations in his regional groupings.
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