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Within the 13 colonies, Maryland, Virginia and NC have a lot of in-state divisions and differences. Virginia outside the DC area is actually very similar to NC. Pennsylvania also has clear divides between southeast PA and the rest of the state.
But despite in-state differences, West Virginia definitely has a cohesive identity and geographically the entire state looks quite similar, in the Appalachian Mountains. Of all the states WV has less geographical diversity within the state though its beautiful throughout.
Louisiana has many distinct cultural areas, and not the entire state was even part of the Louisiana Purchase and different parts were initially settled by different groups.
Virginia
Texas
Pennsylvania
Maine
California
Ohio
Maybe Florida and Arizona
Interesting how each of us have our own perceptions. Mine places Ohio in the other end of the spectrum, right up there with Missouri....
Cleveland is the most eastern like of midwestern cities and the one that most seems like a transition from midwest to northeast. A product of the northeast in the form of CT's western reserve
South West Ohio: Appalachia, far more like most of Pennsylvania that metro Philly is
Ohio River: border land between North and South, heavily settled by the first wave of immigration after the Revolutionary War where the Ohio was used as the route largely by Virginians to reach the west. The far southern ends of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois definitely are caught between two regions. Downtown Cincinnati is less than a mile from a former slave state.
Lake Erie: Industrial Ohio, rust belt (obviously Cleveland is in this category, too)
Northwest Ohio: the most midwestern part of the state, fits in nicely with neighboring Michigan (don't tell that to a Buckeye) and Indiana. Farm country.
Mid-Ohio: Focus here in Columbus: middle America, statistical America, part of the post WWII America in the sense of how it came of age than any midwestern city short of Indy with an economy probably more akin to Charlotte or Dallas than it is to Cleveland or Detroit.
This seems inclusive of states with the best brands.
I'm gonna throw TN in the bunch. Even Memphis/west Tennessee, which seems the 'odd man out' to a degree, fits in with the overall culture and ethos of the state.
I think MS also qualifies with so much of the state being Delta/Delta-adjacent.
I literally simply forgot to mention Louisiana, but I agree with another poster on that. I almost, almost mentioned Tennessee as a unique state with "it's own vibe."
Just my perspective - and I have never lived in Mississippi (it's one of the few southern states I haven't lived in) - Mississippi seems like Alabama and vice versa to me.
Interesting topic. I would respectfully disagree that places like Texas and California would fit here, as they are simply much too large to share a distinct culture. For example, Redding, CA likely shares much more in common with Oregon than LA or San Diego. The Central Valley feels worlds away from the Bay Area (even though geographically it's not.) After living 10 years in Dallas, I marveled at how different parts of the state felt. El Paso is gepgraphically closer to LA than Texarkana. The southeastern part of the state feels like the deep south, while west Texas is ranchlands and desert scrub and feels more southwestern to me.
I think Vermont fits this description pretty well (uniformly mountainous, with more live-and-let-live yankee values & liberalism), as does NJ which is mostly suburban (with half the lower half of the state associating with Philly & northern half NYC.) You could probably make an argument for other NE states, but feels a bit like cheating since they are obviously smaller and therefore higher likelihood to share a culture.
Utah probably fits here as it is loosely affiliated with the Mormon church (and the more restrictive laws like lower ABV beer, etc.) I think Louisiana as well with the franco-cajun culture there.
But hard to think of too many other large states where this would be the case.
I don't think Wisconsin and Illinois are distinct enough to qualify (if I were to add another Midwest state it'd be Michigan because of the UP). But it's true that the south/east and north/west Wisconsin accents are different and people often don't realize this - the former is more like the rest of the Great Lakes area and the latter is more like Minnesota.
LOL, I've lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and I couldn't begin to see why you would choose Minnesota (except that you post on Minnesota, often). Wisconsin has a MUCH more distinct identity than does Minnesota.
Either all of them are or none of them are. America overall has a very homogenized culture and most Americans live in some form of the same generic sprawltopia (just look at how generic and cookie cutter all the walkable, urbanist developments with apartments or condos look, looks the same in Seattle or Atlanta or Chicago).
LOL, I've lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and I couldn't begin to see why you would choose Minnesota (except that you post on Minnesota, often). Wisconsin has a MUCH more distinct identity than does Minnesota.
Southern Minnesota, sure. Northern Minnesota does stand out as there's less farmland, and more mining, logging, and tourism.
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