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It's still a bit dubious to consider anything south of the Northern Virginia suburbs of D.C. to be the "East Coast". As much as there might be a rapid influx of northerners to North Carolina, the perception is that it's still a southern state (although as an Illini fan, we like to chalk up ESPN's obsession with Duke and the ACC as "East Coast bias", even though that really isn't geographically true). The exception is the Miami-Palm Beach area of Florida, which is very much influenced by its New York/New Jersey transplants.
LittleMissSunshine, how do you figure? I've never, not once, heard a southerner say they were from the "east coast". How does it include NC, SC, and Georgia - and no, I don't mean geographically.
I doubt that I'm considered a Southerner still (grew up in NC, been on the West Coast for 15+ years... moving back to NC this summer) but since living on the west I coast I say "from the east coast" all the time. Because the house I grew up in is literally less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean. I figure that's more East Coast than most of NJ & NY.
So yeah, I'm from the East Coast. But when I first moved west I use to say I'm from the Southeast and then when people found out I was from NC they (westerns) would all say... well tha'ts East Coast. When they think of SE they think of Mississipi, Alabama, etc. So thats where my "from the East Coast" thing came from.
It seems to. Especially since I've seen states that don't border the ocean at all, like Pennsylvania and Vermont, included in the "East Coast." And I also hear people from Atlantic-bordering Southern states use the terms synonymously.
How do you define the "East Coast"?
If speaking geographically I mean Maine to Florida. If speaking about the economic powers, I mean DC to New York. In general when I think or hear East Coast I think Northeast. But that is most likely due to the fact that I live in the Northeast. We don't usually think or talk about the South East Coast... unless to envy the weather.
As to PA and all that, it's on the East Coast because where else is it? I went through the schools in PA for the lower grades and teachers would teach you that you're on the East Coast. Also because it is within the Eastern Standard Time Zone. I'd say once you get past PA, say, to Ohio, you're approaching the Mid-West.
If speaking geographically I mean Maine to Florida. If speaking about the economic powers, I mean DC to New York. In general when I think or hear East Coast I think Northeast. But that is most likely due to the fact that I live in the Northeast. We don't usually think or talk about the South East Coast... unless to envy the weather.
As to PA and all that, it's on the East Coast because where else is it? I went through the schools in PA for the lower grades and teachers would teach you that you're on the East Coast. Also because it is within the Eastern Standard Time Zone. I'd say once you get past PA, say, to Ohio, you're approaching the Mid-West.
Pennsylvania is split. The Philadelphia area is definitely considered to be part of the East Coast even though it's not on the ocean, per se. (Boyz II Men was part of the "East Coast Family" and they were from Philly - that's empirical evidence!) However, Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania have much more in common with the Midwest. It's similar to how the D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia would be considered part of the North while the rest of Virginia is arguably the South.
Pennsylvania is split. The Philadelphia area is definitely considered to be part of the East Coast even though it's not on the ocean, per se. (Boyz II Men was part of the "East Coast Family" and they were from Philly - that's empirical evidence!) However, Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania have much more in common with the Midwest. It's similar to how the D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia would be considered part of the North while the rest of Virginia is arguably the South.
I agree about PA. I just didn't think of splitting it in the last post. But yea, Philly is East Coast.
Geographically, East Coast can be from Florida to Maine, but I've heard of another term that suits NC to FL; "South-Atlantic Coast."
There are other reasons to name it that besides cultural differences.
The Gulf Stream passes by here keeping the sea temps radically warmer than even neighbouring southern VA. The water comes from the Carribbean while the coast north of Cape Hatteras NC gets water coming from the north; the cold Labrador current. Different fish species live on either side of Cape Hatteras. Hurricanes strengthen in the south Atlantic but always weaken as they pass Cape Hatteras.
Geographically, East Coast can be from Florida to Maine, but I've heard of another term that suits NC to FL; "South-Atlantic Coast."
There are other reasons to name it that besides cultural differences.
The Gulf Stream passes by here keeping the sea temps radically warmer than even neighbouring southern VA. The water comes from the Carribbean while the coast north of Cape Hatteras NC gets water coming from the north; the cold Labrador current. Different fish species live on either side of Cape Hatteras. Hurricanes strengthen in the south Atlantic but always weaken as they pass Cape Hatteras.
Yea you can't really call it the Southeast as whenever I hear that term I think of India or Indonesia, etc. Looks like those Southerners are slippery folks, even down to what to call them!
Yea you can't really call it the Southeast as whenever I hear that term I think of India or Indonesia, etc. Looks like those Southerners are slippery folks, even down to what to call them!
Southeast the term can be used anywhere. It all depends on what you are talking about. The province Ontario has a southeast portion. Apparently we also have a "Mid-Western" part of Ontario too.
How about "southeastern California," near the Arizona border?
What I was making reference to was a map of the lower 48. However, the southeastern U.S. can also be geographically considered the southeatern part of North America.
When I lived in upstate NY and FL while growing up, I thought of upstate NY as definitely Northeast, but not East Coast. When I moved to the midwest, I heard people use the terms Northeast and East Coast interchagably, so I started doing the same (when ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!) So one day when I made a new acquaitance in Milwaukee, he asked me if I grew up there. "Nope", I said. "East Coast" Where? he asked. "Western NY." He just laughed. What's so funny, I asked. Turned out he was from Rhode Island. "Upstate NY is NOT East Coast", he scolded me!
Not to diverge too far off topic, but how come the East Coast is often referred to as the "Eastern Seaboard", but you never hear any talk of a "Western Seaboard" in CA, OR, WA?
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Seaboard?
