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The divide in California is definite wealthy coastal (and just a thin edge of it), decidedly urban and mostly liberal (huge population contained in the cities) and rural and conservative, (the vast swath and majority of the remaining state) in addition to a one way Northern-Southern rivalry.
It is echoed almost perfectly in San Diego County, except that the core of the city doesn’t over-represent the population of the county so succinctly as does the state’s major cities easily contain most of its population.
For Colorado, there dividing line is the south of CO Springs going east / west from there. South of that line in the mountainous west, it's more Texan. In the San Luis Valley, Pueblo, and the Arkansas River Valley it's very Hispanic; it's agricultural, green chile in everything, mariachi, and blue collar. It's also missed out on the boom that the rest of the state has, so it feels like a different economic region as well.
CO Springs is a mish mash of everything due to the military. Denver / Boulder is an island unto itself culturally. The North part of the state is part of the cowboy / oil and gas Rocky Mountain west culture that extends up into Wyoming and Montana.
As far as East / West in CO, well the eastern plains still feel like they are going through the dust bowl, the Front Range is where all the economic action is, and the mountains to the west are primarily tourist focused.
50% of the people in CO live in metro Denver; 80% live along the Front Range from Ft. Collins (basically the Wyoming line) to Pueblo.
Georgia is divided by the fall line, and the difference between north and south of the fall line seems to be increasing. Macon and Warner Robins are beginning to feel like a southward extension of far-greater Atlanta, as is Columbus to the southwest. Augusta is kind of off in its own area, though its ties to Atlanta have gradually increased with time. Savannah is the big city south of the fall line, and it's beginning to feel like an exclave in its own region, though still influential in its region.
Pennsylvania is NOT divided the way most people think it is. Instead, it's divided by Blue Mountain in the south and the Susquehanna River (West Branch) in the north. Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, Reading and Allentown/Bethlehem all feel like far-greater Philadelphia, and the Pocono Mountains are beginning to feel like far-greater New York, as is Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to a lesser extent. State College and Williamsport straddle the dividing line between east and west. Everything west of them feels like far-greater Pittsburgh, though Pittsburgh itself is beginning to feel like an exclave in the west, similar to Savannah south of the fall line in Georgia. Erie is kind of off in its own area, similar to Augusta north of the fall line in Georgia, though its ties to Pittsburgh are gradually increasing just as Augusta's ties to Atlanta are.
York feels more like Greater Baltimore than Far Greater Philadelphia.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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NY state is more divided into 5 than by half and half either way.
(1) Great lakes and southern tier (AKA Finger lakes/Western NY), (2) central/Oneida/tug hill, (3) downstate/NYC, (4) The capital region, (5) and North Country (AKA "true upstate" by snobs). Each area has its own flavor and within each area there lie even smaller sub regions.
NY is a state of many, many personalities.
But if you have to over-generalize it all, I'd say there's a greater north/south divide despite the state's greater east-west orientation. Upstate VS. Downstate.
People do not realize how far south NYC actually is, especially compared to the rest of NY state.
The dividing line between Northern and Southern California can be best explained in this article. A palm and pine tree planted right next to each other.
Southern Minnesota is more "typical Midwestern" with rolling prairie and farmland. Northern Minnesota is more "Canada light" with dense boreal forests and a lot of large lakes. The Twin Cities is a transition zone but leans more to the south.
50% of the people in CO live in metro Denver; 80% live along the Front Range from Ft. Collins (basically the Wyoming line) to Pueblo.
Correct. The Front Range dominates the economy, population, and perceived image of Colorado, but most of the state outside of that area are part of these larger regional identities, which aren't necessarily reflected in the Denver / CO Springs, due to the rapid influx of people to the big cities. It makes for a unique state with a lot of different flavors, which I think is cool.
I would imagine this scenario holds true in a lot of states with a fast growing large central metro area surrounded by a big areas of less populated regions.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fastphilly
The dividing line between Northern and Southern California can be best explained in this article. A palm and pine tree planted right next to each other.
I'm from Tennessee. I would say what's culturally eastern TN stops around Roane County. That's the last county in EST, and beyond that, you're getting more Cumberland Plateau/Middle Tennessee influence than east TN/Appalachia. Once you get beyond Cookeville, the land mostly levels out and it's much more agricultural than eastern TN.
I've only been through all of Tennessee on I-40 once. Western TN is mostly a no man's land.
No north and south division in my home state. Not an east and west difference either, except as a state-related version (not US-level).
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