What state in YOUR opinion best embodies what America is? (neighborhoods, college)

[Tom Lennox 70]

Maryland is called America in Miniature. Its true in terms of demographics and lifestyles. In Maryland I've lived in or visited

- blue collar industrial areas based around shipyards, steel mills and auto assembly plants (Dundalk, Sparrows Point)

- urban liberal elite (Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, certain parts of downtown Baltimore)

- boomtowns with strip malls, subdivions, runaway growth (Frederick, Columbia, and increasingly Westminster too)

- The Eastern Shore is very Southern in its lifestyle, pace of life, culture appearance, demographics, civil rights history, pre Civil War history, etc etc (this is my fav part of Maryland)

- Other parts resemble Appalachia and some parts of Western Maryland are advertised by realtors as being close to Baltimore and DC but having the family and community values of the heartland

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by Chris19

Most Midwestern states. Take South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska (some of the Upper Midwestern states) for example of what best embodies America. Respectful people, clean communities, low crime, decent lifestyle (comfortable and reaonsble but not over the top and not austere) and good work ethic.

Maybe they don't "BEST embody America" as the OP asked, but they, plus the states of the South and the Mountain West, do embody the "best of America" as Sarah Palin stated. Family values, rugged individualism, independence are all very American.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

Maryland is called America in Miniature. Its true in terms of demographics and lifestyles. In Maryland I've lived in or visited

- blue collar industrial areas based around shipyards, steel mills and auto assembly plants (Dundalk, Sparrows Point)

- urban liberal elite (Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, certain parts of downtown Baltimore)

- boomtowns with strip malls, subdivions, runaway growth (Frederick, Columbia, and increasingly Westminster too)

- The Eastern Shore is very Southern in its lifestyle, pace of life, culture appearance, demographics, civil rights history, pre Civil War history, etc etc (this is my fav part of Maryland)

- Other parts resemble Appalachia and some parts of Western Maryland are advertised by realtors as being close to Baltimore and DC but having the family and community values of the heartland

I said Texas, but MD did enter my mind...I can understand the nickname, it really is America in miniature. I love that little state.

[ckhthankgod]

New York, now shut it down. j/k

[Widowmaker2k]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Lets see... if that type of "culture" wasnt so prevalent in CA, why the Hell on earth do you have tv shows, and entire TV channels devoted to it? OC? Dr. 90210? E-Entertainment? Girls Next Door? Etc, etc, etc.... And of course not everyone in CA is like that, but there are probably more people in CA who tune into that type of lifestyle than anywhere else in the states. Dont deny it!

By that reasoning, if science-fiction programs weren't real, there wouldn't be an entire network, several television/movie series, novels, ect. about the genre. Star Wars? Star Trek? Babylon 5? Battlestar Galactica? Scientology? Clearly, Klingons are real (in fact I am one).

[Tom Lennox 70]

Texas is also a good candidate being so diverse both geographically and otherwise. East Texas is the Deep South, you have Sunbelt like DFW, Houston, San Antonio, you have the border towns that resemble Mexico, and places like Amarillo in the Panhandle. Geographically you have deserts, mountains, plains, swamps, anything. I've always wanted to visit Texas though my only experience was a layover in Houston where I saw a lot of suburbs and freeways.

Maryland is just interesting sometimes in how short the distances are. I'm in school and live in downtown Baltimore because thats where my campus is. North of campus is the projects of the ghetto. South and east of campus is the downtown tourist and business district with towering skyscrapers and urban lofts with intellectual type people and yuppies. Drive to the first suburb past the tunnel and its like your in a post-industrial but surprisingly middle American area with parallels to parts of the Pennsylvania and Ohio rust belt. Including people's concerns about union jobs disappearing overseas and factories shutting down. The steel mill at Sparrows Point in Baltimore County is the largest steel mill in the world when it was fully operational.

If you look at politics too, yes, we do Democrat because a few counties carry the state (like Chicago, Northern Virginia this time around, New York City vs Upstate, etc) but in people's concerns its a wide spectrum. Concern about industry and blue collar jobs as mentioned above. Abortion and gay marriage being a tough debate on both sides. Concerns about overdevelopment, suburuban sprawl, limiting growth, loss of farmland. Cocnerns about illegal immigration (forgot to menton in the first post, there are a handful of towns near DC that resemble the Texas and CA border towns with Spanish everywhere).

I wish it was otherwise, but people here still tend to live in their separate worlds despite the geographic proximity. I wish there was not so much fear and misunderstand. But one place where everyone DOES come together is at the Ravens and Orioles games. In many ways, thsoe games are our state at its best, when everyone comes together despite their differences and feels a common sense of identity and local and regional pride. Where people of different races, different income groups, different occupatiosn who live in VERY different communities all sit together and cheer together. You can see a couple of steelworkers, a middle class black family, soem good ol' boys from the rural counties, college kids, etc all tailgating in one lot, talking to each other, sharing food and taking turns blasting their music. You truly see a cross section of society during a sporting event. Now some people criticize sports culture and how its commercial but I also see the good side of those games.

[Colts]

Ohio or Indiana

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

Maryland is called America in Miniature. Its true in terms of demographics and lifestyles. In Maryland I've lived in or visited

- blue collar industrial areas based around shipyards, steel mills and auto assembly plants (Dundalk, Sparrows Point)

- urban liberal elite (Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, certain parts of downtown Baltimore)

- boomtowns with strip malls, subdivions, runaway growth (Frederick, Columbia, and increasingly Westminster too)

- The Eastern Shore is very Southern in its lifestyle, pace of life, culture appearance, demographics, civil rights history, pre Civil War history, etc etc (this is my fav part of Maryland)

- Other parts resemble Appalachia and some parts of Western Maryland are advertised by realtors as being close to Baltimore and DC but having the family and community values of the heartland

While true, i feel you totally misplaced Frederick. Putting it with a fake town created not too long ago (columbia) is just wrong. While columbia is comprised of strip malls, Frederick is very constricting on strip malls (you will only find them near the highways)

[Chicagoland60426]

As for racial/ethnicity make up, I say Illinois fit this description best. The pop culture of America, its California hands down. So, Its between Illinois & California.

[CMDallas]

I would say California,
You have the ultra far left in San Fran, the moderates down my Los Angeles and San Diego, and the conservatives in the rural areas.
And while, the lefties out number the righties it is not THAT much of a strong blue state.
The area's diversity speaks out to the world that the US welcomes people of different nationalities.
The dense streets of San Francisco, and the sprawled Inland empire gives examples of American urbanity.
The terrain speaks out, we have deserts, beaches, forests, valleys, Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, and Cities...