Contentious issue I know, but recently I’ve encountered a number of people who believe that Ohio (and sometimes Indiana and Michigan) is not truly part of the Midwest. Which to me is preposterous since I’ve always considered Ohio the most quintessentially Midwestern state. Midwest to me has always been very nearly synonymous with rust belt, but it seems there are a fair number of people who place the Midwest more in what I’d call the Great Plains, or Greater Minnesota. So I’m wondering where do you all place the Midwest.
The "Midwest" would more accurately be named the "Middle East" and the "Middle East" would be more accurately named "West Asia."
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"Europe" would be more accurately named "West Asia" and the "Middle East" would be more accurately called the "Midwest".
That nickname is reserved for the exclusive economic use of Mr. T should he decide to
It was named that in the 1800s, before all the actual western states joined the country
This is exactly why I can't fucking stand the term. Tho I guess it is better than "heartland"
The U.S. Census Bureau's definition consists of 12 states in the north central United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
so that's the official answer. yes, it includes ohio.
but the real answer is that it's wherever people call carbonated beverages "pop" instead of "soda" or "coke", which means it actually extends eastward to buffalo, ny and definitely still includes ohio.
I'm definitely a midwesterner, born in MO, lived all over the place, and now live in MN.
I've called it "soda" my whole life. "Coke" was definitely confusing in the southeast. "I'll take a coke." "What kind?" "Wtf?"
I think the real lexicological definition is "ope"
Do you ope? If so, you are a midwesterner, there are various flavors of midwesterner, but that is one important characteristic.
"I'll take a coke." "What kind?"
i know a poor soul who moved from the north atlantic seaboard to rural deep southern appalachia and then once worked a drive thru at mcdonald's and had to parse "errinj coke" into a sensible order for an increasingly impatient customer
Do you ope?
as a kind of semi apologetic interjection, right? like "ope! look at the time!"
as a kind of semi apologetic interjection, right? like "ope! look at the time!"
That's pretty much it. Although it can also be used like a less aggressive "hey!"
Nearly bump into someone in the hall? "Ope!"
Someone examining the spices for 5 minutes when you just need to grab the salt? "Ope, scuse me, just gotta sneak by ya there."
Etc.
Having spent some years in the south, clearly "errinj coke" is a fanta orange, or Sunkist if you're lucky.
Do you ope? If so, you are a midwesterner, there are various flavors of midwesterner, but that is one important characteristic.
I ope, when in trouble
An interjection that can mean something along the lines of "Oh, sorry, excuse me" or "Hey, you ran into me!" Etc. depending on context.
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I'm definitely a midwesterner, born in MO, lived all over the place, and now live in MN.
I've called it "soda" my whole life. "Coke" was definitely confusing in the southeast. "I'll take a coke." "What kind?" "Wtf?"
I think the real lexicological definition is "ope"
Do you ope? If so, you are a midwesterner, there are various flavors of midwesterner, but that is one important characteristic.
"The Midwest" are the sacred lands where his holiness St. bhagavan shree Matt Christman (PBUH) was born one glorious day.
Ohio is the leaky reactor core of the midwest, I have no idea what those people are talking about
people who place the Midwest more in what I’d call [...] "greater minnesota"
Those people are perhaps just minnesotans, I think. Also minnesotans actually already use that exact term inside MN because people who aren't from the twin cities get offended when referred to as "outstate" or "rural" minnesota.
I've taken to calling that area, (MN, WI, IA, MI, maybe a couple more if I'm feeling generous) Upper Midwest so as to not confuse anyone who thinks ohio is the epitome of midwest. The only time I've really spent in Ohio was in steubenville of all places so maybe that's partly why I don't think of Ohio as being particularly midwestern.
yeah there's absolutely an appalachian/western pennsylvania part of ohio that I wouldn't necessarily consider 'midwest'.
I've been to Youngstown (far east OH) and it felt Midwestern. Are you talking SE OH?
Oh hey I've been to Wheeling, WV and that also felt Midwestern. So to me Ohio = Midwest.
Midwest is outdated, imo. More meaningful is to roughly split it into Great Lakes (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota) and Great Plains (the other ones). But really even that's insufficient. We can get a lot more detailed doing cultural mapping of the US. Like, Ohio is Great Lakes (the north), Appalachia (southeast), upper South (southwest), and great plains (Columbus and west). Most of the other states cross a few different distinct vibes: Southern Illinois is more like Missouri than it is Chicago, but St Louis is more like Chicago than it is the rest of Missouri!
You really gotta think in terms of cities, not just states. The best places are probably Minneapolis, Chicago, and Cleveland, imo. Detroit has a really unique appeal all its own, too; I just dock it for really bad transit. Minneapolis is the best biking city in the country, Chicago might just be the best American city flat out, and Cleveland is really cheap for the quality of urbanism you get. You'll find good small towns all over the place; Ohio and Michigan are packed with them.
Eastern MI has Detroit and a lot more diverse population, western MI is like ~60% chuds (and Dutch chuds in the south 🤮).
Agreed on Chicago though. Basically the cities that chuds whine and scaremonger about constantly, Detroit and Chicago especially, are pretty cool.
I live an hour-ish outside of Minneapolis, even for being a more conservative area of Minnesota it is miles better than any of Missouri IMO.
I've visited MI and OH, I can't endorse Ohio given the experience of friends there, but MI has a certain appeal to me anyway. The growing season is definitely better than what I've got now depending on your proximity to the lakes.
They named the state "Misery". There is no reason to want to live there and even travelling through is unsafe. It's a hell of ruthless right wing reaction, racism, and unspeakably brutal social violence.
You will never make friends in Minneapolis. You will think you have friends, but over the years you'll realize you've never met their families, they never show up when you need help, they never let you in to their inner lives.
There's a joke that "Minnesotans will give you directions to anywhere but their home". It's not a joke. They (at least the white ones) are a cold, cruel people.
I could never live in the Upper Midwest states like Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Too cold for too much of the year. Chicago gets crazy cold sometimes but winters are getting milder thanks to climate change. The more Western Midwest states are too boring for me. There are small cultural enclaves like Lincoln Nebraska or Lawrence Kansas, but they are more remote out there than in the eastern part of the region. Instead of a couple hours drive to see a cool concert you'd need to get a hotel.
I like Cincinnati although I've never lived there. Good mix of culture and affordability plus a drive towards more bike and transit infrastructure. If I weren't concerned with having a career I'd live in a blue city in the South, like Asheville North Carolina or Lewisburg West Virginia. Great weather, good culture, and nice people. Just a lot of poverty and few jobs.
I have never heard anyone describe Lincoln as having culture. I have never heard anyone describe Lawrence at all.
Chicago is okay. In the rest of them you will quickly learn that 'nice' does not mean 'kind".
I mean culturally, it more resemble those cities. But it's also got a weird bit of silicon valley to it too
At every latitude, the line has to move accordingly. It also includes all overseas territories and military bases
If they don't like it, they can lobby the US to get rid of military bases as needed
alright from lake itasca to la push is the West, the middle of these is located around Havre Montana. Havre is the MidWest. if you wanted to spread the range a bit and count by longitude you could maybe swing Salt Lake City and Phoenix
I’ve met people from Oklahoma who were mortified to learn the rest of the country considers them part of the South and not the Midwest
They will be happy to know I don’t consider them the Midwest
but the real answer is that it’s wherever people call carbonated beverages “pop” instead of “soda” or “coke”,
Your definitions seem inconsistent here with the commenters...
oklahoma has its own kind of barbecue, it's indubitably southern
Death to America
The US Census Bureau defines the Midwest like this, but I think the Dakotas and most of Kansas and Nebraska are Great Plains, not tha Midwest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States#/media/File:Map_of_USA_Midwest.svg
Upbear because I want to know more US lore as an ameriboo
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