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This question was posted in the OH forum and I was curious to see what NY'ers thought about this - since there isn't a "Northeast" or "New England" thread available.
The midwest is such a large region and one can't really lump any state that happens to fall within the U.S.'s boundary lines into that category since there is a clear difference between Great Lakes, Great Plains, and Upper & Lower Midwest.
So, from a Northeasterner's opinion, how would you classify OH?
Having been born and raised in NY and also spent some years in MI, I would say that the NE ends in Pennsylvania. That would definitely make OH midwest.
While it is definitely Midwest there are strong Eastern and Appalachian regional influences around the state; Cleveland has a lot in common with the Northeast and there are even some strong 'Eastern' influences in the southwest corner of the state. In fact, there are large swaths of Pennsylvania that are more Midwestern in look and feel than parts of Ohio near Cincinnati. In fact I would say that from Cincinnati up to Dayton seems almost Mid-Atlantic in landscape and architecture.
Ohio is the midwest, to *this* central New Yorker. I think the Northeast is NY state, geographically, but culturally, I'd say that the midwest starts in western NY... starting somewhere around Rochester. My reasons for this may seem somewhat silly but-
the terrain is different as I head west, toward Rochester, away from Syracuse. It gets flat and more wide open feeling, which I very much dislike. I avoid going to Rochester, Buffalo or anywhere further west whenever possible, because of it. There's something about that wide open space, especially in Ohio (omg the Cleveland>Toledo stretch), that makes me feel like a sitting duck. I get so restless west of Syracuse. Heading east or south, I don't have this problem.
Rochester is the start of a cultural difference as well... a lot of people there say "pop." lol There's just a different feeling there and again, I don't feel at home, as I do when *in* and east of Syracuse. That one hour drive feels so much longer, especially when the culture seems so starkly different. Heading an hour east... heading 5 or 8 hours east... doesn't make me feel as far away as that one-hour drive to Rochester. I would rather drive to rural Vermont than Rochester or Buffalo.
I'd say the Northeast splits New York right down the center, heads south through Pennsylvania, along I-81, and fans north to the Canadian border and east to the Atlantic Ocean.
[LEFT]Apparently you've seen little of western NY. Like the rest of NY, the only major flat areas are along the perimeter of Lake Ontario (Lake Erie is different, it is hilly on the NY shore almost right to the lake). Immediately south of Roch, Buff, Syracuse, the dominant area of western NY, it is very hilly and rural.
[/LEFT]
I'm used to going from one series of mountains... or foothills that look like mountains... to another. The general feeling, "very hilly and rural" or not, is too wide open for *my* comfort, which is why I choose to live in central NY.
The Adirondacks and the Catskills and their foothills meet at the eastern half of the Thruway... continue down to the Poconos and east to the Green and White Mountains in New England. It's not a harshly critical judgement about Rochester or points west, just a personal statement about what *I* have observed and *my* feeling about those areas, while driving through them. There are evidently MANY people who prefer to be in those other environments... I'm just not one of them.
Proul, not all of Ohio is flat. Much of southeastern Ohio is part of the Allegheny plateau*, just like our Southern tier is. Not sure if the mountains are as high or wild as in New York but they are still there. The Hocking Hills area is supposed to be very nice.
Proul, I'm not criticizing your preferences, which isn't the subject here by the way, I'm criticizing the accuracy of your statements. You're making statements about places you obviously don't know (I would bet you're making judgements just by an expressway view), and you've got a touch of a snobby attitude too.
By your method, I would classify NY's north country as flat because it is flat along the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence shorelines. And by the way, I love the Adirondacks, but outside of the high peaks area and with exception to its abundance of lakes, it very much resembles NY's southern tier and PA's northern tier. Ohio, just like NY and PA, is flat along its Great Lake shore, though it extends further out. Like LIN pointed out, OH is pretty hilly in the south. In fact, Cincinnati reminds me a little of Pittsburgh. You haven't seen flat until you've seen the world-class flat of Iowa, pretty interesting to see actually.
I live in OHIO and I still can't figure out what it's called Midwest. I have lived in KS - right smack in the middle of the country. I would consider that more mid-west than Ohio.
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