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Have you ever been to this part of the country? Are you aware that there is more to the NE than just Boston, NYC and Philly?
No, I am not a fan of the fast-paced, crowded, hostile atmosphere that can be found in Boston, NYC and Philly. But if you think that all of, say, Pennsylvania or Maine is one big concrete jungle with rabid left-wing hipsters and yuppies, then you would be blatantly wrong. Go up to, say, Central Pennsylvania from Eastern Tennessee and, aside from the accent and climate, you won't see any tremendous differences. Travel to Aroostook County, Maine from Minnesota and THEN tell me that you just experienced a "culture shock". Rural Northern Minnesota has more in common with this part of Maine than it does with, say, SoCal.
I feel like the Northeast gets an unfair rep because folks tend to associate all of it with pretentious Ivy League snobs from southern New England. This is simply not true. And for everyone who claims that the Northeast is too frigid for their liking, I have some news for you: North Dakota gets snow too.
I get OPs point. As someone from the West Coast, most peoples reaction to people from the opposite coast is either NYC/Boston like energy which PNW people read either as high strung elite thinking bank apologist or someone with annoying taste in sports teams and acts as a member of the Wahlberg family. Little if any kids from around here apply for Universities as their considered old thinking and represent the world of "the good ol boys" of America.
Now I know better, I've visited Vermont and Maine before when I was looking at schools and even adventured Upper and Eastern New York which was my absolute favorite place so far in the East. OPs right when it comes to people mainly focusing on the major cities which in my opinion throws off the entire true representation of the Northeast. And I do see routinely people on CD refuse to even consider the Northeast because the perception and power of the big cities cloud peoples judgments of cities and towns hundreds of miles away from NYC, Philly, or Boston.
My recommendation for people wanting to get a true feel of the real Northwest (and not the influence of the major cities that are their own worlds in this matter) is to do what OP said and travel to Central Maine and down through New Hampshire, Vermont, and visit the little cities and towns along the way. Its much more authentically Northeastern and you get to see so much more of the true Northeast, the history and the real people who have been living there under the shadows of the big cities.
I get OPs point. As someone from the West Coast, most peoples reaction to people from the opposite coast is either NYC/Boston like energy which PNW people read either as high strung elite thinking bank apologist or someone with annoying taste in sports teams and acts as a member of the Wahlberg family. Little if any kids from around here apply for Universities as their considered old thinking and represent the world of "the good ol boys" of America.
Now I know better, I've visited Vermont and Maine before when I was looking at schools and even adventured Upper and Eastern New York which was my absolute favorite place so far in the East. OPs right when it comes to people mainly focusing on the major cities which in my opinion throws off the entire true representation of the Northeast. And I do see routinely people on CD refuse to even consider the Northeast because the perception and power of the big cities cloud peoples judgments of cities and towns hundreds of miles away from NYC, Philly, or Boston.
My recommendation for people wanting to get a true feel of the real Northwest (and not the influence of the major cities that are their own worlds in this matter) is to do what OP said and travel to Central Maine and down through New Hampshire, Vermont, and visit the little cities and towns along the way. Its much more authentically Northeastern and you get to see so much more of the true Northeast, the history and the real people who have been living there under the shadows of the big cities.
The northernmost portions of Vermont, Maine and to a lesser extent, New Hampshire really don't have much common with their neighbors to the immediate south.
Ancestry, politics, culture, friendliness, you name it. One thing I've noticed in far northern New England is that their attitudes and personalities are much less like the brashness of Boston or (especially) NYC, and more like the "soft-spoken and polite, but reserved and stoic" attitude of the Upper Midwest. The one thing that differentiates Vermont from, say, upper Wisconsin is the French Canadian presence. The Upper Midwest is more Swedish, Danish and German; Northern New England is more English, French and Irish.
But, I believe I've said this here before: Aroostook County, Maine has a sizable population of folks who claim Swedish ancestry, in addition to all the French and English influence. It's very agrarian too and relatively socially conservative so in many ways, it's culturally closer to North Dakota than it is to, say, northern New Jersey.
I grew up in northern New England (NH), and now live in Philly. It's the same Northeast region, but complete worlds apart from each other.
My small New England hometown has pretty much zero in common with the BosWash corridor. But to say that the cities aren't "authentically northeastern" is just a dumb comment, because the Northeast is far from being a monolithic region. It is hyper-diverse in so many ways.
Have you ever been to this part of the country? Are you aware that there is more to the NE than just Boston, NYC and Philly?
No, I am not a fan of the fast-paced, crowded, hostile atmosphere that can be found in Boston, NYC and Philly. But if you think that all of, say, Pennsylvania or Maine is one big concrete jungle with rabid left-wing hipsters and yuppies, then you would be blatantly wrong. Go up to, say, Central Pennsylvania from Eastern Tennessee and, aside from the accent and climate, you won't see any tremendous differences. Travel to Aroostook County, Maine from Minnesota and THEN tell me that you just experienced a "culture shock". Rural Northern Minnesota has more in common with this part of Maine than it does with, say, SoCal.
I feel like the Northeast gets an unfair rep because folks tend to associate all of it with pretentious Ivy League snobs from southern New England. This is simply not true. And for everyone who claims that the Northeast is too frigid for their liking, I have some news for you: North Dakota gets snow too.
Ivy League snobs are all over the Northeast, not just southern New England.
Philly has two Ivy League schools in their metro. NYC has two (three if you count the overap with Philly), New England has three, etc.
My recommendation for people wanting to get a true feel of the real Northwest (and not the influence of the major cities that are their own worlds in this matter) is to do what OP said and travel to Central Maine and down through New Hampshire, Vermont, and visit the little cities and towns along the way. Its much more authentically Northeastern and you get to see so much more of the true Northeast, the history and the real people who have been living there under the shadows of the big cities.
A small town does not have a monopoly on being considered the "real Northeast." My neighborhood in South Philly composed of white transplants, long-time black residents, and a variety of Asian and Latino immigrants and first generations is no less "real Northeastern" then my entirely white, small New England hometown. In fact, I'd argue that it is more representative of the Northeast because the region is powered by hyper-diverse, 21st century economy cities like Boston, New York, Philly, and DC.
Like I said upthread, there is a world of difference between rural New England and Boston, Pennsyltucky and Philadelphia/Pittsburgh, upstate New York and NYC, northeast Connecticut and Fairfield County, etc. etc. etc. It's ridiculous to say that just because it's a small town removed from any big metro makes it more "authentically" Northeastern. I've lived and traveled all over the Northeast for all of my 26 years, so I've learned a thing or two about the region.
Ivy League snobs are all over the Northeast, not just southern New England.
Philly has two Ivy League schools in their metro. NYC has two (three if you count the overap with Philly), New England has three, etc.
It does? Columbia and Princeton would be the 2, with Princeton being questionable. Yale is in the New Haven MSA and that would mean that New England has 4 Ivy League schools.
A small town does not have a monopoly on being considered the "real Northeast." My neighborhood in South Philly composed of white transplants, long-time black residents, and a variety of Asian and Latino immigrants and first generations is no less "real Northeastern" then my entirely white, small New England hometown. In fact, I'd argue that it is more representative of the Northeast because the region is powered by hyper-diverse, 21st century economy cities like Boston, New York, Philly, and DC.
Like I said upthread, there is a world of difference between rural New England and Boston, Pennsyltucky and Philadelphia/Pittsburgh, upstate New York and NYC, northwest Connecticut and Fairfield County, etc. etc. etc. It's ridiculous to say that just because it's a small town removed from any big metro makes it more "authentically" Northeastern. I've lived and traveled all over the Northeast for all of my 26 years, so I've learned a thing or two about the region.
This and you also have those small to mid sized cities/towns that are in between within the region that could appeal to both as well.
The thing is we are all people so to us what we look at first are the people where do majority of the people live in the NE that's what majority of people are going to judge it off of. They'd only be wrong if they only judged it off of these areas.
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