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I think one of the problems is that the Midwest is just "too big". While someone coastal might not consider the plains states to be "scenic". I'd have a hard time thinking they would consider the same thing about the more densely forested, water rich Great Lakes/Upper Midwest states. They have completely different feels, but are both the Midwest.
People tend to view the Midwest in an either/or scenario based on life experience. Either their experience centers around the plains/and agriculture heavy portion and that's how they define the entire region. OR their life experience has been more of the Rust Belt/Rustic forested areas around the Lakes.
There are two conversations lines going on here. "The Midwest is too flat/topographically uninteresting, and full of farms." and "The Midwest is beautiful, but the center of the Rustbelt and lacking desireability. " These narratives and themes don't overlap between these sub-regions, and the people pushing them are often unaware of the lack of nuance in their impressions.
The fact that "midwest" is a generally inaccurate descriptive term is a big reason some places get the disdain they do. Ohio is one state away from touching the Atlantic...."midwest." Colorado routinely gets designated western, how are they not midwest and Ohio is?
I agree with this assessment. Compared to other parts of the country it's just not as interesting overall and not as scenic or ideal weather wise.
The thing with the Midwest is the scenery isn't some permanent feature like Pikes Peak or a coastline, but there's times when whole areas become intensely scenic, like during a huge thunderstorm rolling off the plains or a giant sunset where you can see forever or the moment in spring where everything blooms. So certain days, especially in the winter, can be drab, but that same area could be a calendar photo some other time of year.
Weatherwise, people rave about Denver, but that same weather can be found all over the western plains, albeit with a little more wind and tornado chance.
The fact that "midwest" is a generally inaccurate descriptive term is a big reason some places get the disdain they do. Ohio is one state away from touching the Atlantic...."midwest." Colorado routinely gets designated western, how are they not midwest and Ohio is?
Its too many places lumped into one designation.
This constantly comes up on C-D. To me There's the Great Lakes and the Plains; 2 distinct regions bundled into this dumb term called the "Midwest".
This constantly comes up on C-D. To me There's the Great Lakes and the Plains; 2 distinct regions bundled into this dumb term called the "Midwest".
Meanwhile, there are entire agricultural huge counties in CA, where you can drive for 50 miles without seeing anything but sand and rocks yet "west coast" bro! We had an earlier post trying to push the idea that Phoenix and Vegas are "really west coast, culturally."
Meanwhile, there are entire agricultural huge counties in CA, where you can drive for 50 miles without seeing anything but sand and rocks yet "west coast" bro! We had an earlier post trying to push the idea that Phoenix and Vegas are "really west coast, culturally."
I think they are though their city builds and demographics, Higher Asian and Hispanic populations lower White and Black populations, generally more diverse in general, denser new McMansion filled Suburbia is more of a West Coast vibe or general Sunbelt (Including the West Coast and The South) than a Midwestern or NE vibe at all. Also the desert Vibe is completely West Coast, as inland empire region is part of Greater LA and is a "desert" or near desert. Not to mention Death Valley being within the state of California. To me Vegas and Phoenix scream West Coast/Sunbelt from weather to build completely.
On the topic why the Midwest get's hate, like I said it get's less hate than the South, but it's still growing slowly and generally has waning cultural influence, if your talking about everything from clothing, to music to general culture, last big thing out of the Midwest that had the Midwestern tag that I can remember is Chief Keef. I guess you could technically classify Drake as midwestern since he's from Toronto, but not really.
I honestly think the Mountain/Scenery thing matters that much. Non of the most influential cities in the world as heavily associated with Mountain scenery, in fact most cities are in plains or hilly areas near water, rather than nestled in Valleys, or the Foothills of Mountains.
The thing that "killed" the Midwest nationally was- Age, tends to be an older region, same with the NE, and rust belt decline again this effected the NE as well, which combined with the weather made it less attractive but the Midwest only had Chicago, to make up for it. NE has Boston and NYC and if you stretch it D.C. Outside of those 3 cities it's basically the Midwest as well for growth, and attractiveness and even then Philly area is equal or more attractive than MSP, New England is generally doing better, and NJ is carried by Northern New Jersey, although South Jersey isn't bad either, but as a whole New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania outside of the above regions are basically Midwestern states. It also got the ocean going for it, as well as mountains, but I think the Ocean matters infinitesimally more to culture than mountains do, i.e we talk about the Coastal elite and in many countries their are similar terms rather than the elite that live in the mountains. Perception though isn't just the big cities, as far as I know the only places where rural areas have a very prosperous image is Hawaii, Massachusetts/Northern New England and basically the entirety of the Northern Western half of the U.S i.e not rural California/NM/Arizona/NV (Not including rural California north of SF).
^^^Even with me saying the above, the South is still by a pretty large margin seen as more unattractive just because it contains rural WV, and rural MS as well as Louisiana which only rural Alaska could match in how depressing it gets in some of those places, and it's being hard carried by a combination of D.C, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Atlanta, Texas and Florida, while I don't think so the rest of the region has a neutral or negative perception.
Do people really hate on the Midwest? Seems cool to me. I always thought the standard midwestern accent was the one to have. Even here in Canada we have been influenced by it.
Provencial easterners deride it, westerners and Southerners forget about it. Hate is too strong of a word, but it’s certainly unappreciated. The Midwest built Chicago, one of the best big cities in the US. Outside of that, I find it generally clean and neat, and I find something efficient about their economy of words. People adapt to their surroundings, and from the Great Plains to the heart of the corn belt, there’s something hearty and earthy about these folks that I think we forget or dismiss at our own cost. Maybe they don’t do financial derivatives or tech so much, but they DO things most of us can’t. They farm, repair, deal with difficult finances and weather, and generally get on with their lives while having a dry sense of humor and a warm welcome to a visitor. I like the Midwest.
Provencial easterners deride it, westerners and Southerners forget about it. Hate is too strong of a word, but it’s certainly unappreciated. The Midwest built Chicago, one of the best big cities in the US. Outside of that, I find it generally clean and neat, and I find something efficient about their economy of words. People adapt to their surroundings, and from the Great Plains to the heart of the corn belt, there’s something hearty and earthy about these folks that I think we forget or dismiss at our own cost. Maybe they don’t do financial derivatives or tech so much, but they DO things most of us can’t. They farm, repair, deal with difficult finances and weather, and generally get on with their lives while having a dry sense of humor and a warm welcome to a visitor. I like the Midwest.
You're trying to be kind, but your comments are a "stereotypical" view of the Midwest. Most of us are not farmers, mechanics, and many of us have gone to college, have advanced degrees in IT, and, are a fairly smart group of people. We don't live behind the times, and financially, most of us are just fine, or thriving. I've never lived in the country, don't know any farmers, and my clothes are the same clothes anyone can order online, and have delivered in a day. Imagine that.
You're trying to be kind, but your comments are a "stereotypical" view of the Midwest. Most of us are not farmers, mechanics, and many of us have gone to college, have advanced degrees in IT, and, are a fairly smart group of people. We don't live behind the times, and financially, most of us are just fine, or thriving. I've never lived in the country, don't know any farmers, and my clothes are the same clothes anyone can order online, and have delivered in a day. Imagine that.
Yes, there are guys like yourself in the midwest but face it, if it weren't for the midwest... those stuffy easterners would starve.
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