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What about speech patterns? Do most people from Iowa have a stronger accent like someone from Minnesota or Wisconsin; or is it less pronounced like someone from Ohio or Indiana? I think that would factor into which side to group Iowa with.
Northern Iowans' accents and speech patterns are very similar to Minnesota.
Southern Iowans' are very similar to Missouri.
I feel that Iowa is an in between state that is neither upper or lower Midwest, much like the northern thirds of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, and the extreme southern parts of Michigan, like from Detroit and south.
There really isn’t the north woods culture of the north or the Ohio River culture found to the south, it’s more like it’s own thing
Upper Midwest: Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan
Lower Midwest: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio
You classify Illinois in the Lower Midwest? Granted it’s a big state that spans regions, but Chicagoland is the third largest metro in the US, and it is unequivocally Upper Midwest/Great Lakes region. So that would tip Illinois to upper Midwest.
This is the first time I’ve seen Illinois classified in the lower Midwest, especially since it touches the Great Lakes.
If those are the definitions, then I'd say Lower. Though IA has a split personality. North of I-80, more Catholics, more Germans, more Scandanavians, more Irish. South of I-80, more Evangelicals and Baptists, more Scots-Irish, more Welsh. Accents are different between the two areas, too.
More Scots-Irish, more Welsh while neither of these two groups exceeded 1% of the state's population. Did you mean British/Anglo ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQConvict
I voted Upper, mainly for the Scandinavian cultural presence and ties to Minnesota.
I just looked the number for the Scandinavian population and I'm actually surprise it's only around 12 percent combined.
If we go by demographic, I'd say Upper Midwest because the state has a very high German ancestry.
Iowa as a whole isn't really either, but if you split Iowa, I would say that it's 1/3rd Upper Midwest and 2/3rds Lower Midwest.
The northern 1/3rd of the state (everything north of Highway 20) has a more northern speech pattern and accent that is similar to Minnesota, the Dakotas, or Wisconsin. Within the northern third, you have an east/west split about Highway 63. To the east of Highway 63 (north of Highway 20) there are strong ties to Wisconsin both culturally and geographically. That's where the Iowa Driftless Area is located, and it generally has more in common with Wisconsin than the rest of Iowa. Southeastern Minnesota is included in the Driftless Area and has a similar "more in common with Wisconsin than the rest of Minnesota" vibe too. To the west of Highway 63, northern Iowa is very similar to southern Minnesota and eastern South Dakota. Open, treeless plains with endless windmills and cornfields. It's very much what people imagine Iowa to be. There is more Scandinavian influence in northern Iowa, too, with towns like Decorah and Lake Mills in particular having major Norwegian populations. The Vikings and Packers are far and away the most popular pro sports teams in Northern Iowa, and that's very much split on a geographic basis. The closer you are to Wisconsin, the heavier the concentration of Packer fans.
South of Highway 20, the state tends to veer much more "lower" Midwest. South of Interstate 80, speech patterns tend to resemble Missouri more than anywhere else and there's absolutely a noticeable twang or touch of what sounds like a Southern accent. The land is hillier, less productive, and the rural areas are generally less prosperous. It bears a strong resemblance to rural Missouri, eastern Kansas, southern Illinois/Indiana. Western Iowa south of Highway 20 is heavily tied to Nebraska and the Omaha metro, and the Quad Cities area in Eastern Iowa south of Highway 20 is heavily tied to Illinois. Des Moines is much more similar to Omaha and Kansas City than it is to Minneapolis or Chicago. In this part of Iowa, you see the Kansas City teams being the most popular pro sports entities.
Iowa is following national political trends of blue cities and red rural areas. It used to be that states like Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin had large swaths of rural Democrat voters. That is no longer the case. Minnesota and Wisconsin vote blue not because of rural Democrats, but because the urban areas in those states have such a disproportionate portion of the population. Iowa's cities aren't as large and it has a much more rural population base, which is why it's shifted red. There really isn't anywhere in the US outside of New England where rural areas vote blue any more. However, Iowa's growth is HEAVILY concentrated in the Des Moines/Ames and Cedar Rapids/Iowa City areas. As the pattern continues, Iowa will eventually cross that threshold that has happened in Minnesota and Wisconsin already, but for now it will stay pretty red, and will thus be more politically similar to Nebraska, the Dakotas, Kansas, and Missouri than it will be to Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan.
What about speech patterns? Do most people from Iowa have a stronger accent like someone from Minnesota or Wisconsin; or is it less pronounced like someone from Ohio or Indiana? I think that would factor into which side to group Iowa with.
People in northern Iowa, especially northeast Iowa, have strong accents that fit right in with Minnesota and Wisconsin.
You would think my wife came off the set of Drop Dead Gorgeous or Fargo if you heard her talk.
That dissipates quickly as you go south. By the time you get to say Waterloo, it's gone. Most of Iowa has that classic Midwest accent plainspokeness that you hear in Nebraska and Illinois too. Some real subtle tweaks that cement it. The easiest example for me is when you listen to a football game on the radio with an announcer from that part of the world, and how they pronounce "hashmark". The classic Midwesterner almost calls it a "hay-shmark".
Southern Iowa has a real similar accent to Missouri.
I'm no midwest expert but upper and lower midwest seem a bit too simplified. My midwest classification is Upper midwest (Minnesota, Wisconson, and most of Michigan) where it's more Candian influenced, Great Lakes/i-90 corridor (Northern Ohio, Northern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Southern Michiagin and Northern Iowa) It's the most urban part of the region since the rust belt was mostly concentrated in that area. The northern city vowel shift accent plays a big role in the area. The lower midwest (Southern Ohio, Southern Indiana, all of Missouri, Southern Illnois, and Southern Iowa) are all southern influenced and where evangelical culture plays a bigger role.
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