Wiscy continually tries to prove you right LOLUh, don't you realize that alcohol is a proven treatment for seasonal depression. Note I said treatment and not cure.
Which state is most Midwestern?
- Thread starter qwerty
- Start date
Central Illinois native here with time spent living in Iowa, Chicago suburbs, Kansas, Wisconsin and Houston.
Iowa and Central Illinois are really comparable and quintessential midwest imo. Biggest difference is John Deere vs Caterpillar for the major manufacturing employer in the area.
Iowa and Central Illinois are really comparable and quintessential midwest imo. Biggest difference is John Deere vs Caterpillar for the major manufacturing employer in the area.
Minneapolis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Omaha, Des Moines, and Sioux Falls are the most Midwest feeling cities.
Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Duluth, Detroit, and Cleveland are all Great Lakes cities which make them feel different than the Midwest in a variety of ways. St. Louis, Louisville, and Cincinnati are all a combination of Midwest and Southern.
You go much farther north from Minneapolis and it doesn't feel like the Midwest anymore. You start to go west from Sioux Falls, Omaha, or Kansas City and it doesn't take that long to feel like you are out of the Midwest. And if you go south or east from Indianapolis you get outside the Midwest.
This would be my rough map for places that feel distinctly Midwestern. An actual map wouldn't have quite as smooth of lines and would have a few places cut out. If nothing else Iowa is definitely the only wholly Midwestern state. Now if you wanted to argue about if the southern half of Minnesota is the most Midwestern place or if Kansas City is the most Midwestern big city or if large parts of Illinois or Indiana are the most Midwestern places, those are arguments that can be reasonably had.
Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Duluth, Detroit, and Cleveland are all Great Lakes cities which make them feel different than the Midwest in a variety of ways. St. Louis, Louisville, and Cincinnati are all a combination of Midwest and Southern.
You go much farther north from Minneapolis and it doesn't feel like the Midwest anymore. You start to go west from Sioux Falls, Omaha, or Kansas City and it doesn't take that long to feel like you are out of the Midwest. And if you go south or east from Indianapolis you get outside the Midwest.
This would be my rough map for places that feel distinctly Midwestern. An actual map wouldn't have quite as smooth of lines and would have a few places cut out. If nothing else Iowa is definitely the only wholly Midwestern state. Now if you wanted to argue about if the southern half of Minnesota is the most Midwestern place or if Kansas City is the most Midwestern big city or if large parts of Illinois or Indiana are the most Midwestern places, those are arguments that can be reasonably had.
I’d agree with your first list, but I would drop Minneapolis off of the Midwest feel.
Truth. I got caught in a torrential downpour just east of Lexington Ky and by the time I got to Evansville I said enough is enough.
There was a pizza place with a bar adjacent to my hotel. I would have thought I was in Alabama or someplace.
This 100%. Agree with all points about the periphery regions being similar but with distinct differences.
This outline has the quad cities at the rough center which feels right. Peoria, IL and DSM & Ames are also near the center which also checks out (somewhat biased as I lived a big chunk of my life between those places).
Really? I feel like MSP, KC, DSM and Omaha are quintessential Midwest cities. Great Lakes cities along with StL have a bit of rust belt feel to them.
Not sure what other region/feel MSP could have. Way more like the MW feel than Great Lakes/Rust Belt.
How can anyone argue with your map not showing the heart of the "Midwest" in the Midwest States?
Somehow we’ve landed on “big city I don’t like” = not Midwest.
Twin cities are absolutely big city vibe, but still Midwest in character. Most people there either grew up in Minnesota or Iowa/surrounding state.
Just as New York is a Northeastern city, Atlanta is a Southern city, Phoenix is a Southwestern City, Seattle is a Pacific Northwestern City…and so on.
I may be out my league arguing cities. Whenever we had this discussion we, rightly or wrongly, focused on Midwestern as to being non-metro/rural. Your take is valid as cities have flavors and it'd be hard to separate them from the state they are in.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
I have always considered the Midwest to be Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, the Dakotas, Wisconsin and Indiana. Minnesota is a beautiful state and I love it, but they don't have enough cornfields. Southern Minnesota is Midwest but anything north of the twin cities is not, imo. I consider Wisconsin to be Midwest because of all the farms all over the state.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
The Minnesota accent could have its own thread. Interesting topic. It's weird that some areas of the state have it and some do not. When I was in my early 20s I dated a girl from Warroad, way the hell up in the northern part of the state, and she had the accent big time. It freaked me out when she would talk dirty during... well, you know.
It sounds kinda like a redneck speaking Canadian, eh.
I will never forget when our farm help went to college at SIU and came back with a goddamn southern accent. We lived closed enough to Wisconsin to spit on it.
I feel MSP is a Chicago wannabe. The other cities mentioned I would agree are what you think of when Midwest is mentioned.
If you're a multi-generational Illinoisan wanting to know where you land on the north/south cultural divide, it's worth figuring out who your ancestors voted for.
1860 United States presidential election in Illinois - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Whoo hoo voted for the good guy but they were probably actually on the boat at that point and hadn't voted.
Not only that, the Great Lakes and Rust Belt cities have a distinct look and vibe, and it’s not MSP at all. MSP feels a hell of a lot more like Denver or a western city than Chicago or any of the Rust Belt industrial cities.
Generally I don’t share Iowans’ opinions of cities though. Iowans seem to think DFW is awesome, which I don’t understand at all.
