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I'm well aware that Indiana isn't a Great Plains state, I included Indiana, Downstate Illinois, and Southern Ohio in my list because they are culturally more similar to the Great Plains and the Southern US. Indiana is technically a Great Lakes state but it sure as hell doesn't act like it IMO. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicagoland, NW Indiana, and Michigan are about as similar as you can be, but everything south of the Chicagoland area and south of I-80/90 in Indiana is like another universe to me. Much more conservative and rural than what I'm used to.
I disagree about there not being a big difference between the Great Lakes and Great Plains. To me they're like night and day. Milwaukee has had three socialist mayors in its history, I highly doubt that feat would have ever been possible in cities like Indianapolis or Cincinnati. Madison elected Tammy Baldwin, the first member of congress who was openly gay from the outset and wasn't outed or came out after being elected, I don't think that would be possible in college towns like Lawrence or Lincoln.
Night and day to you, perhaps. Here's a newsflash for you: rural Midwesterners, no matter where they are, tend to be conservative. Rural and southern are not mutually exclusive, same for conservative and southern, or big city and crime.
Fort Wayne isn't anywhere near a lake, but it's probably more midwestern than say, the UP of Michigan if judging by raw Midwestern-ness.
I mean, by your logic, Cincinnati may as well be the Deep South because it's conservative and not near a lake.
Indiana more in common with the South? LOL!!!! What are you basing that on exactly? Southern Illinois, Southern Missouri, and Southern Ohio I agree may be Southern influenced, but they are not more similar to the South than the Midwest. At most it's a 50-50 split. Conservative and rural does not equal Great Plains or Southern. There is a huge difference between those two. I-80 and I-90 are not the northern ends of Southern influence, the northern end of that is well to the South. Downstate Illinois is down-to-the-line Midwest outside of Southern Illinois.
Honestly ajf, I don't know why I even bother to try anymore.
It's funny how the people who say these things tend to think the same way and come from virtually the same areas. Perhaps conservative is a euphemism for stupid on these forums? Rural for unsophisticated? But hey--nothing gets the point across better than crude stereotypes!
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Far Southern Indiana is the only part of Indiana that may be more Southern than Midwestern.
Having lived here for so many years and driven through much of the state, I can honestly no part of Southen Indiana is more Southern than Midwestern. At best it's 50-50. I can say this because I went to school with kids from all over this state, and trust me when I say the Ohio River is still generally an accurate dividing line. Especially in the Evansville area.
Here's what Megan Fox, the co-star of the Transformer movies had to say about Middle America recently when being interviewed by Total Film UK:
"When asked how she would stop the ruthless Megatron from demolishing the world, Fox first said that she would “barter with him.” She then, however, went on to say, “... and instead of the entire planet, can you just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beatingpeople in Middle America?"
Lawrence, KS is super liberal, and it is not in the Bible Belt. Most people there judge on performance and qualifications over sexual orientation.
Super liberal... Perhaps by Kansas standards. Actually, Lawrence and a good deal of the State of Kansas are located in the Bible-Belt.
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Originally Posted by Colts
Night and day to you, perhaps. Here's a newsflash for you: rural Midwesterners, no matter where they are, tend to be conservative. Rural and southern are not mutually exclusive, same for conservative and southern, or big city and crime.
Now you're the one who's generalizing here. I know plenty of people in small towns all over Wisconsin who aren't the slightest bit conservative. In fact, places like Stevens Point, Superior, and Viroqua are full of super-liberal hippies. All the Scandinavians and Northern Europeans who inhabit the Upper Midwest states are generally very secular and very progressive. Organized labor also has a huge presence in this part of the Midwest and makes for a much less conservative populace.
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Originally Posted by Colts
Fort Wayne isn't anywhere near a lake, but it's probably more midwestern than say, the UP of Michigan if judging by raw Midwestern-ness.
Exactly, it's typically Midwestern. Unlike the Great Lakes states that are more Canadian/Northeastern in terms of culture and appearance.
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Originally Posted by Colts
I mean, by your logic, Cincinnati may as well be the Deep South because it's conservative and not near a lake.
It might as well be. Haven't you ever noticed that people in Cincinnati and Indianapolis have southern accents?
would argue the bad rap comes from being so isolated in the middle of no where..no ocean...no real mountain ranges...very caucasian-ey....many corn fields(illinois)....bad weather...the overall hokeyness(beer guzzlin, cheese eating broad shouldered "sports fans"),no good driving roads to test out ones 100,000 dollar plus sports cars on the way to the air conditioned garages beneath ones office...ya know
The Midwest is just the vanilla ice cream of regions with that one tasty looking bit on Lake Michigan. Whereas lots of other regions are vanilla too, but they at least have Neapolitan parts.
And it's not even just an ethnic thing. Hokey is a word that describes it pretty well, IMO. It's hard to put the finger on exactly what it is that makes the region much less remarkable than the others. It's a blend of things.
But if you like that Middle America thing...go head..
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