Is the Midwest one region or two?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest city in PA is definitely mid-Atlantic.

Kansas and Nebraska and the Dakotas are not the midwest.

Kansas and Nebraska are pretty much the definition of the Midwest imo.

No. The definitive Midwest is Ohio/Michigan/Illinois/Indiana.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest city in PA is definitely mid-Atlantic.

Kansas and Nebraska and the Dakotas are not the midwest.

Kansas and Nebraska are pretty much the definition of the Midwest imo.

No. The definitive Midwest is Ohio/Michigan/Illinois/Indiana.

Sometimes I think of Ohio as being more East Coast. It probably has to do with time zones.

I grew up in Kansas City, MO. The Midwest to most of us was Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska.

We tended to think of ourselves as the Heartland of America.

Fun fact: Kansas City, Missouri is second only to Rome, Italy for number of fountains in the world. We are known as the City of Fountains. The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri is modeled after Seville, Spain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it one region or are the two halves (Great Lakes and Great Plains) fundamentally different?

Great Lakes states (East North Central division): IL, IN, MI, OH, WI

Great Plains states (West North Central division): IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD

I have lived in the mid west for many years and never considered the dakotas a part of it.

I did too, but I do consider the Dakotas part of it. South Dakota turns into the West at some point, though.

what is Colorado Or Oklahoma considered?

OK is the Plains.
Most of CO is the Mountain West. Of course 1/3 of the state's area is Plains, but few people care about that part.

Denver is a plains city

Not entirely. Most people in Denver recreate in the mountains, not the plains. One sports team is called the Rockies. Another is called the Avalanche.

[Anonymous]

Grew up on a family farm in Western Nebraska, nothing but prairie grass for hours. I've always considered KS/NE/SD/ND and the eastern parts of CO/WY/MT part of the Great Plains. When you actually see and experience the terrain (and wide open spaces), you'll know why.

[Anonymous]

It's two. There was an old video game I played in the 80s that divided them into "Industrial Midwest" and (I think) Plains Midwest. There was a book called "Our Fifty States" that had the "Industrial Midwest" in the "Great Lakes States."

The "Great Lakes States" and "Industrial Midwest" is basically the old Northwest Territory.

[Anonymous]

good roundup here: https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Blog/Posts/106/Illinois-History/2021/2/What-is-the-Midwest/blog-post/

i'm a gen xer who grew up in illinois. back when i was growing up, conversationally we considered the midwest to be illinois, indiana, ohio, michigan, wisconsin. the rest we considered to be the great plains. this is the map we "lived" by:



i've also lived in Pittsburgh and by god, NO, that is NOT the midwest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:good roundup here: https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Blog/Posts/106/Illinois-History/2021/2/What-is-the-Midwest/blog-post/

i'm a gen xer who grew up in illinois. back when i was growing up, conversationally we considered the midwest to be illinois, indiana, ohio, michigan, wisconsin. the rest we considered to be the great plains. this is the map we "lived" by:



i've also lived in Pittsburgh and by god, NO, that is NOT the midwest.

I grew up in Iowa and agree that this map covers the all of the Midwestern states. Western Pennsylvania and western New York ARE NOT the Midwest, though they may be classified as "cow country."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest city in PA is definitely mid-Atlantic.

Kansas and Nebraska and the Dakotas are not the midwest.

Kansas and Nebraska are pretty much the definition of the Midwest imo.

No. The definitive Midwest is Ohio/Michigan/Illinois/Indiana.

Sometimes I think of Ohio as being more East Coast. It probably has to do with time zones.

I grew up in Kansas City, MO. The Midwest to most of us was Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska.

We tended to think of ourselves as the Heartland of America.

Fun fact: Kansas City, Missouri is second only to Rome, Italy for number of fountains in the world. We are known as the City of Fountains. The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri is modeled after Seville, Spain.

The Future Farmers of America National Convention was held in Kansas City from 1928-1998. The "blue jackets" would be everywhere at places like Crown Center. They moved the convention to Indianapolis in 1998. The for a few years it was in Louisville, KY, then back to Indianapolis. As a Kansas Citian, I always thought they moved the FFA convention out of spite, that we were too "dangerous" or too progressive of a city for them. I graduated high school in 1987. I remember being told to be especially polite to the blue jackets, so they wouldn't think we were a dangerous city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest city in PA is definitely mid-Atlantic.

Kansas and Nebraska and the Dakotas are not the midwest.

Kansas and Nebraska are pretty much the definition of the Midwest imo.

No. The definitive Midwest is Ohio/Michigan/Illinois/Indiana.

Sometimes I think of Ohio as being more East Coast. It probably has to do with time zones.

I grew up in Kansas City, MO. The Midwest to most of us was Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska.

We tended to think of ourselves as the Heartland of America.

Fun fact: Kansas City, Missouri is second only to Rome, Italy for number of fountains in the world. We are known as the City of Fountains. The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri is modeled after Seville, Spain.

T[b]he Future Farmers of America National Convention was held in Kansas City from 1928-1998.[/b] The "blue jackets" would be everywhere at places like Crown Center. They moved the convention to Indianapolis in 1998. The for a few years it was in Louisville, KY, then back to Indianapolis. As a Kansas Citian, I always thought they moved the FFA convention out of spite, that we were too "dangerous" or too progressive of a city for them. I graduated high school in 1987. I remember being told to be especially polite to the blue jackets, so they wouldn't think we were a dangerous city.

Even on the Future Farmers of American website, this is labeled as the "1980s-1990s: THE URBAN FFA." A trip to Kansas City, MO was considered an "urban" experience. LoL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grew up on a family farm in Western Nebraska, nothing but prairie grass for hours. I've always considered KS/NE/SD/ND and the eastern parts of CO/WY/MT part of the Great Plains. When you actually see and experience the terrain (and wide open spaces), you'll know why.

I grew up in Kansas City, MO. I've never been to Nebraska. My family and I used to watch the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom show every Sunday. And then we were excited when Nebraska Furniture Mart opened in Kansas City, KS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up on a family farm in Western Nebraska, nothing but prairie grass for hours. I've always considered KS/NE/SD/ND and the eastern parts of CO/WY/MT part of the Great Plains. When you actually see and experience the terrain (and wide open spaces), you'll know why.

I grew up in Kansas City, MO. I've never been to Nebraska. My family and I used to watch the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom show every Sunday. And then we were excited when Nebraska Furniture Mart opened in Kansas City, KS.

Wild Kingdom reminds me of that "Leisure Suit Larry" line, ""while Jim wrestles with the enraged female rhinoceros in heat, I'll slip into my tent with these two native girls and this pitcher of mai-tais."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up on a family farm in Western Nebraska, nothing but prairie grass for hours. I've always considered KS/NE/SD/ND and the eastern parts of CO/WY/MT part of the Great Plains. When you actually see and experience the terrain (and wide open spaces), you'll know why.

I grew up in Kansas City, MO. I've never been to Nebraska. My family and I used to watch the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom show every Sunday. And then we were excited when Nebraska Furniture Mart opened in Kansas City, KS.

Wild Kingdom reminds me of that "Leisure Suit Larry" line, ""while Jim wrestles with the enraged female rhinoceros in heat, I'll slip into my tent with these two native girls and this pitcher of mai-tais."

Watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and the Magical World of Disney on Sunday nights was a great family time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:good roundup here: https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Blog/Posts/106/Illinois-History/2021/2/What-is-the-Midwest/blog-post/

i'm a gen xer who grew up in illinois. back when i was growing up, conversationally we considered the midwest to be illinois, indiana, ohio, michigan, wisconsin. the rest we considered to be the great plains. this is the map we "lived" by:



i've also lived in Pittsburgh and by god, NO, that is NOT the midwest.

I grew up in Indiana. The Midwest is the Orange area of the map which was the Northwest Territory, established in 1787, and consisting of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin (parts of MN too). The midwest has a lot of common cultural background with significant German settlement in the early 1800s for farming after access expanded with the opening of the Erie canal. There is also a lot of common geography due to glaciation, ancient mountains, and the great lakes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territory

Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri can be considered midwestern in character because a lot of settlement from the Midwest shifted over the Mississippi river and there is still a lot of common geographical and cultural commonality.

North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas are not midwestern at all. They are plains states. Very different geography, settlement patterns, and cultural background. It doesn't matter what the census bureau currently defines it to be. The idea of the "middle" of the country kept changing as borders moved westward. Midwest isn't a current geographical description, it's a historical and cultural region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:good roundup here: https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Blog/Posts/106/Illinois-History/2021/2/What-is-the-Midwest/blog-post/

i'm a gen xer who grew up in illinois. back when i was growing up, conversationally we considered the midwest to be illinois, indiana, ohio, michigan, wisconsin. the rest we considered to be the great plains. this is the map we "lived" by:



i've also lived in Pittsburgh and by god, NO, that is NOT the midwest.

I grew up in Indiana. The Midwest is the Orange area of the map which was the Northwest Territory, established in 1787, and consisting of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin (parts of MN too). The midwest has a lot of common cultural background with significant German settlement in the early 1800s for farming after access expanded with the opening of the Erie canal. There is also a lot of common geography due to glaciation, ancient mountains, and the great lakes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territory

Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri can be considered midwestern in character because a lot of settlement from the Midwest shifted over the Mississippi river and there is still a lot of common geographical and cultural commonality.

North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas are not midwestern at all. They are plains states. Very different geography, settlement patterns, and cultural background. It doesn't matter what the census bureau currently defines it to be. The idea of the "middle" of the country kept changing as borders moved westward. Midwest isn't a current geographical description, it's a historical and cultural region.

PP you quoted. yes, thank you for being more succinct than me! totally agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest city in PA is definitely mid-Atlantic.

Kansas and Nebraska and the Dakotas are not the midwest.

Kansas and Nebraska are pretty much the definition of the Midwest imo.

No. The definitive Midwest is Ohio/Michigan/Illinois/Indiana.

Sometimes I think of Ohio as being more East Coast. It probably has to do with time zones.

I grew up in Kansas City, MO. The Midwest to most of us was Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska.

We tended to think of ourselves as the Heartland of America.

Fun fact: Kansas City, Missouri is second only to Rome, Italy for number of fountains in the world. We are known as the City of Fountains. The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri is modeled after Seville, Spain.

Michigan, Ohio, and most of Indiana are in the same time zone.