Perceptions of the Midwest

[loftguy]

The Boston Society of Architects is putting up an exhibit curated by the Sasaki Group, about the midwest. Perceptions of the midwest are surveyed on this link and are quite interesting. The exhibit includes displays of midwest work by Sasaki, which also interestingly does not include Kansas City.

http://bsaspace.org/exhibits/reinventio ... n-midwest/

[chaglang]

That's interesting, and a little bit funny. I wonder if the BSA is planning on sponsoring an expedition to the Midwest.

[bbqboy]

I couldn't get results. What is the midwest, legally, morally, and intuitively?

[pash]

.

[bbqboy]

"I've never been able to understand why, when there's so much space in the world, people should deliberately choose to live in the Middle West."

I don't know who said it, but tis true. And yet I'm contemplating moving back there.

[shinatoo]

"I've never been able to understand why, when there's so much space in the world, people should deliberately choose to live in the Middle West."

Sounds like Garrison Keller or Mark Twain.

[shinatoo]

Very cool map, but I would like to see what everyone universally agreed was in the midwest, 90 percent, and so on.

[bbqboy]

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighb ... -map/6208/

the comments are almost worthy of a youtube fight

[AllThingsKC]

A Google image search will show all kinds of Midwestern maps. Including maps that DON'T include Missouri or Kansas as being in the Midwest.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Including maps that DON'T include Missouri or Kansas as being in the Midwest

Much like Kansas City's 'Eastside' is not the Eastside of Kansas City now what is considered the 'Midwest' has changed over the years. From what I can tell through most of the 1800's the West was the part of the country west of the Mississippi River. The Midwest was between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.

[chingon]

From what I can tell through most of the 1800's the West was the part of the country west of the Mississippi River. The Midwest was between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.

Incorrect. The original usage of the term middle west was the middle belt of everything west of Appalachia so west VA, Kentucky , Tennessee , Missouri , and Kansas (which then went all the way to Denver )..

[aknowledgeableperson]

From WIKI:

The term West was applied to the region in the early years of the country. In 1789, the Northwest Ordinance was enacted, creating the Northwest Territory, which was bounded by the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Because the Northwest Territory lay between the East Coast and the then-far-West, the states carved out of it were called the "Northwest". In the early 19th century, anything west of the Mississippi River was considered the West. The first recorded use of the term "Midwestern" to refer to a region of the central U.S. occurred in 1886, "Midwest" appeared in 1894, and "Midwesterner" in 1916.
...
The most common definition currently used colloquially is that the Midwest proper includes, for the most part, only the East North Central States of the Great Lakes region, specifically Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota, and in addition Iowa and Missouri are also usually understood to share the same regional characteristics.

Iowa and MO are the only states listed that are west of the Mississippi and are basically an add-on.

[bbqboy]

But it the Midwest a geographical area, or a cultural area, similar ethnic heritage, food likes?

[brewcrew1000]

From WIKI:

The term West was applied to the region in the early years of the country. In 1789, the Northwest Ordinance was enacted, creating the Northwest Territory, which was bounded by the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

This is why Northwestern University in Chicago is called what it is.

[chingon]

From WIKI:

The term West was applied to the region in the early years of the country. In 1789, the Northwest Ordinance was enacted, creating the Northwest Territory, which was bounded by the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Because the Northwest Territory lay between the East Coast and the then-far-West, the states carved out of it were called the "Northwest". In the early 19th century, anything west of the Mississippi River was considered the West. The first recorded use of the term "Midwestern" to refer to a region of the central U.S. occurred in 1886, "Midwest" appeared in 1894, and "Midwesterner" in 1916.
...
The most common definition currently used colloquially is that the Midwest proper includes, for the most part, only the East North Central States of the Great Lakes region, specifically Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota, and in addition Iowa and Missouri are also usually understood to share the same regional characteristics.

Iowa and MO are the only states listed that are west of the Mississippi and are basically an add-on.

Again this is incorrect, which is one of the flaws with Wikipedia. The original usage of the words middle west and Midwestern are the states I listed. It's an etymological fact. I be seen the linguistic research. The states wiki lists as the commonly accepted definition are actually states that were called northwestern but have been "added on" mostly due to cultural and economic trends.

[mean]

I be seen the linguistic research.

Sentence of the week award!

[warwickland]

Where does the midwest end in Missouri, then? I've often seen the cutoff vaguely striking through southern MO. Charleston, MO north of the bootheel where my mother is from is NOT midwestern, it's 100% delta, and is around 50% African American (or more). There is a hill (called Benton Hill) that descends into the Mississippi Valley flood plain on I-55 that I generally regard as the gateway to the south. I think it's just south of Cape.

Ozark culture is a little harder to pinpoint as you move into the hills away from the Mississippi River - it's more Appalachian like...a culture you can find in areas that are regarded as "northern." Southeast MO, in the flatlands, is distinct from this, even in accent. People in far SEMO speak like they are from TN.

Conversely, I have detected midwesternisms in Tulsa, which is south of the Missouri border. It almost feels like a relative of KC at times. I've heard Oklahomans refer to themselves as midwesterners.

[smh]

Where does the midwest end in Missouri, then? I've often seen the cutoff vaguely striking through southern MO. Charleston, MO north of the bootheel where my mother is from is NOT midwestern, it's 100% delta, and is around 50% African American (or more). There is a hill (called Benton Hill) that descends into the Mississippi Valley flood plain on I-55 that I generally regard as the gateway to the south. I think it's just south of Cape.

Ozark culture is a little harder to pinpoint as you move into the hills away from the Mississippi River - it's more Appalachian like...a culture you can find in areas that are regarded as "northern." Southeast MO, in the flatlands, is distinct from this, even in accent. People in far SEMO speak like they are from TN.

Conversely, I have detected midwesternisms in Tulsa, which is south of the Missouri border. It almost feels like a relative of KC at times. I've heard Oklahomans refer to themselves as midwesterners.

My fiance's grandfather tells me regularly that there is no reason to ever go south of Highway 54. Therefore, I think that is the line. Also, I'm from Branson.

[chrizow]

spending 7 years in columbia, i detected what seemed like a pretty clear "mason dixon line" of sorts going to jefferson city and beyond. it wasn't just the relatively urbane nature of columbia vs. insular jefferson city, either. i can't really explain it. i'm not saying that the entire southern half of MO is "the south," but there is definitely a gradient that starts around the mid-line and seems to increase as one goes south. springfield feels like pure south to me, to say nothing of SEMO.

i would even say that STL feels more "southern" to me than KC for whatever reason.

[aknowledgeableperson]

The original usage of the term middle west was the middle belt of everything west of Appalachia so west VA, Kentucky , Tennessee , Missouri , and Kansas (which then went all the way to Denver )..

If that is the case shouldn't the St. Louis Arch be in Denver then? The Arch is to be the Gateway to the West.