The Detroit area feels the same way. It is the most Canadian of American cities, yet there is a slight southern element on account of the massive influx of migrants from the south to the region for auto jobs. There is also a “friendly directness” that I have found in both Buffalo and Detroit that doesn’t exist in other midwestern cities. |
| What Canadian city has lost 2/3 of its population since 1950 and is filled with vacant lots and urban prairie? |
Niagara Falls CN |
Also, Winnipeg |
|
Niagara Falls, ON population
1951 22,874 2021 94,415 |
Winnipeg is more similar to Kansas City or Omaha than Detroit. |
I like the way you put this! I have a few friends/colleagues here in the DMV who grew up in Buffalo. Friendly directness is exactly how they communicate. |
| It’s too far from the Northeastern corridor to be the Northeast. Some element of a Midwestern accent, but there’s a bit more to it than the Midwestern stereotype suggests. It’s a Western New York border town. An earlier poster suggested that people are not as nice as in the Midwest, but they are authentic and interesting, and other than the blue bloods who think they own the city, do not have sticks up their butts. |
| Parts of MA, NJ & CT are very rust belt-y. Worcester, Bridgeport, Danbury, Camden, Trenton, Paterson, Newark. |
| Eastern parts of the rust belt = low COL while still being close to lakes, beaches, mountains, Amtrak routes & amenities. Lots of Rust Belt cities have bus public transportation systems & all the big box stores you’d need. |
AKA Pennsyltucky. |
Really? I think Seattle is the most Canadian of US cities. Detroit may feel Canadian because there are lots of Canadians in the area, and many commute over the border every day for work. |
This. In what world does upstate or western New York become the Midwest? It's got nothing to do with Midwestern culture, unless you decide that industrial small towns everywhere are Midwestern. I took the bar exam in Buffalo. From there, it's an easy 2.5 hour drive to Toronto. We went there for a week after the bar exam. Calling it a "border town" makes Buffalo seem more mysterious and exciting than it is though. The border officials barely glanced at our passports and gave restaurant recommendations in Niagara Falls. |
Nah that’s the rural red parts |
This. No midwesterner considers them to be Midwest. |