It would be interesting to see this broken down by county. Far western New York State feels more Midwestern than Northern Atlantic to me. Here in my home state of Colorado the northeastern Great Plains have a very Midwestern culture as opposed to the San Luis Valley or the Western Slope.
Northeast Ohioans, particularly Clevelanders, don’t identify as Midwestern for a historical reason, but it’s not the one you think (though the abolitionist and Underground Railroad history in the region is plenty important too). Locals still think of the area as the “Western Reserve” (of Connecticut, originally), and therefore as part of the original 13 colonies.
Also, it’s just super close to Pittsburgh and Buffalo. People convinced that Ohio is Midwestern might be shocked to hear that within the Western Reserve, “the tri-state area” means Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York
I grew up in Sioux City Iowa and currently live in Omaha, NE. I've also lived Las Vegas and Seattle for roughly a decade. I've gained some insight into regional American differences and your analysis of Midwesterners, Midwest identifiers is one of few descriptions of the Midwest that's accurate and not condescending.
I have a college education and checked the white box on the census.
Side note rant my wife checked "non-white Hispanic" box, she was born in Oaxaca Mexico and 6 months old when her parents moved to SoCal and she naturalized at 27, her 3 younger siblings were born in the US. Yeah, I have a bit of a problem with the census. Identity shouldn't be measured via check box-
Anyway, good work on not being dumb unlike the Harris campaign picking Tim Walz. I'm a registered Independent and voted for Harris in Omaha- I didn't like Harris then and still don't, but I didn't want Trump and his sycophantic idiots, pretty sure I was correct- One can argue the rural urban divide thing, which is real, but there are in fact democrats in the hinterlands.
The problem with Tim Walz is that he was picked because he's a "white guy from small town Nebraska" and apparently a more Midwestern white guy than JD Vance... Sigh... The dems have this problem with condescension. The stereotypes of white people in the Midwest or south along with most stereotypes aren't necessarily wrong. I've met plenty of people who match the description but those people are still more than that, or rather, are individuals with their own thoughts. They're also assholes and idiots who I don't like sometimes either, but that's why practicing toleration is important. I'm liberal but still have the "get the fuck out/fuck you" attitude that runs through the Midwest.
Tim Walz as a Harris' vp pick is a near perfect example of coastal dems/elites condescending attitude towards the Midwest. At the end of the day, I still think both parties ignore or forget that we're individuals not defined by the boxes we check or whatever group dems/rep try to affiliate us with.
Great article. As an IA born and AZ raised (partially) and then Boston Educated and 25 year resident of NYC and NJ - I am once again a midwesterner after moving to Chicago. I wanted the perfect urban walking environment (without moving to Europe) and interestingly, Chicago is about as close as you get. It took me 5 months to adjust to people saying hello or making eye contact and nodding as we walked by each other. Btw - never understood Ohio as Midwest. I think it is the Jan (Brady bunch) of the states. Not Midwest and not northeast.
Is this a comment on my cooking?-Midwestern mother in law.
Haha. Not until I get some (special, non-generic) hot dish samples to analyze!
It would be interesting to see this broken down by county. Far western New York State feels more Midwestern than Northern Atlantic to me. Here in my home state of Colorado the northeastern Great Plains have a very Midwestern culture as opposed to the San Luis Valley or the Western Slope.
Yes absolutely. The data aren’t weighted or adjusted to the county level, but those are basically the kinds of pockets you see.
Northeast Ohioans, particularly Clevelanders, don’t identify as Midwestern for a historical reason, but it’s not the one you think (though the abolitionist and Underground Railroad history in the region is plenty important too). Locals still think of the area as the “Western Reserve” (of Connecticut, originally), and therefore as part of the original 13 colonies.
Also, it’s just super close to Pittsburgh and Buffalo. People convinced that Ohio is Midwestern might be shocked to hear that within the Western Reserve, “the tri-state area” means Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York
I grew up in Sioux City Iowa and currently live in Omaha, NE. I've also lived Las Vegas and Seattle for roughly a decade. I've gained some insight into regional American differences and your analysis of Midwesterners, Midwest identifiers is one of few descriptions of the Midwest that's accurate and not condescending.
I have a college education and checked the white box on the census.
Side note rant my wife checked "non-white Hispanic" box, she was born in Oaxaca Mexico and 6 months old when her parents moved to SoCal and she naturalized at 27, her 3 younger siblings were born in the US. Yeah, I have a bit of a problem with the census. Identity shouldn't be measured via check box-
Anyway, good work on not being dumb unlike the Harris campaign picking Tim Walz. I'm a registered Independent and voted for Harris in Omaha- I didn't like Harris then and still don't, but I didn't want Trump and his sycophantic idiots, pretty sure I was correct- One can argue the rural urban divide thing, which is real, but there are in fact democrats in the hinterlands.
The problem with Tim Walz is that he was picked because he's a "white guy from small town Nebraska" and apparently a more Midwestern white guy than JD Vance... Sigh... The dems have this problem with condescension. The stereotypes of white people in the Midwest or south along with most stereotypes aren't necessarily wrong. I've met plenty of people who match the description but those people are still more than that, or rather, are individuals with their own thoughts. They're also assholes and idiots who I don't like sometimes either, but that's why practicing toleration is important. I'm liberal but still have the "get the fuck out/fuck you" attitude that runs through the Midwest.
Tim Walz as a Harris' vp pick is a near perfect example of coastal dems/elites condescending attitude towards the Midwest. At the end of the day, I still think both parties ignore or forget that we're individuals not defined by the boxes we check or whatever group dems/rep try to affiliate us with.
Great article. As an IA born and AZ raised (partially) and then Boston Educated and 25 year resident of NYC and NJ - I am once again a midwesterner after moving to Chicago. I wanted the perfect urban walking environment (without moving to Europe) and interestingly, Chicago is about as close as you get. It took me 5 months to adjust to people saying hello or making eye contact and nodding as we walked by each other. Btw - never understood Ohio as Midwest. I think it is the Jan (Brady bunch) of the states. Not Midwest and not northeast.