How Do You Divide The States?

[thspfc]

Four regions and eight sub-regions:
Northeast
New England: ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI
North Atlantic: NY, PA, NJ, MD, DE, DC

Southeast
Near South: VA, NC, SC, WV, KY, TN
Deep South: GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, AR

Midwest
Plains: ND, SD, NE, KS, IA, MO
Great Lakes: MN, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH

West
Southwest: OK, TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, HI
Northwest: CO, UT, WY, MT, ID, WA, OR, AK

[JayhawkCO]

Four regions and eight sub-regions:
Northeast
New England: ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI
North Atlantic: NY, PA, NJ, MD, DE, DC

Southeast
Near South: VA, NC, SC, WV, KY, TN
Deep South: GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, AR

Midwest
Plains: ND, SD, NE, KS, IA, MO
Great Lakes: MN, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH

West
Southwest: OK, TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, HI
Northwest: CO, UT, WY, MT, ID, WA, OR, AK

I think this is pretty right on for me. Except I don't say Southeast, just South.

Chris

[webny99]

Kentucky is definitely not "Deep South." And no part of Kentucky, except possibly portions of Boyd and Greenup counties, give off any "Rust Belt" vibes. Neither does West Virginia, save the northern panhandle generally and Weirton specifically.

Also, I reject any assertion that Kentucky is part of the Midwest. Even the more midwestern-like parts of the state, the Purchase area and other portions of the western part of the state, have more in common with the South or Southeast than the midwest.

Well, if it's not Deep South, not Rust Belt, and not Midwest (which I agree with), then what is it?

Typically when you hear "Deep South" you think Alabama/Mississippi. I struggle to justify including any states on the Atlantic as part of the Deep South; to me it's just as much an east/west axis as it is a north/south one. That is, it's only "deep" if it's far enough away from both the "North" (Northeast/Midwest) and the Atlantic Ocean.

Kentucky and Tennessee certainly share some characteristics of traditional Deep South states like Alabama; there are some key differences, too, but I'm just not sure what other sub-region to put Kentucky under.

[webny99]

Rust Belt

MN and WI are just as rusty as MI and OH.  Also PA.

The Twin Cities metro, which is over half of MN's population, is not rusty.

The Iron Range is.  Literally.

I didn't necessarily mean that MN/WI/IA cannot be considered part of the Rust Belt. Certainly the areas near the Great Lakes are.

I could've just called the whole works the Great Lakes region instead of the Rust Belt, but then that leaves the question of what to do with IA/MO. Iowa could possibly fit in with the Great Plains region. Missouri is similar to Kentucky in that it's hard to classify. It seems too far north to be part of the Mid-South, but it's not really a Plains state, either.

[texaskdog]

We've so done this before.

Yeah, it always devolves into Midwesterners being ignored trying to set east coasters straight who insist ND/SD/NE/KS aren’t part of the Midwest.

My Texan friends just call Minnesota "Canada"

[Rick Powell]

To me, the Rust Belt seems to be defined by old industrial areas near the Great Lakes, and tough to assign it to state borders. Lake and Porter counties of IN, sure. Indianapolis, not so much. Cleveland and Akron, OH, sure. Cincinnati, maybe, maybe not. Racine and Milwaukee, WI, of course. Hayward, WI or the UP of Michigan, more woodsy than rusty. Chicago/Rockford/Peoria/Decatur, IL, sure. Carbondale, IL? Nope.

[thspfc]

To me, the Rust Belt seems to be defined by old industrial areas near the Great Lakes, and tough to assign it to state borders. Lake and Porter counties of IN, sure. Indianapolis, not so much. Cleveland and Akron, OH, sure. Cincinnati, maybe, maybe not. Racine and Milwaukee, WI, of course. Hayward, WI or the UP of Michigan, more woodsy than rusty. Chicago/Rockford/Peoria/Decatur, IL, sure. Carbondale, IL? Nope.

I agree, the Rust Belt is not a region, it's a coastline. Though the upper peninsula is definitely part of the Rust Belt.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

To me, the Rust Belt seems to be defined by old industrial areas near the Great Lakes, and tough to assign it to state borders. Lake and Porter counties of IN, sure. Indianapolis, not so much. Cleveland and Akron, OH, sure. Cincinnati, maybe, maybe not. Racine and Milwaukee, WI, of course. Hayward, WI or the UP of Michigan, more woodsy than rusty. Chicago/Rockford/Peoria/Decatur, IL, sure. Carbondale, IL? Nope.

I agree, the Rust Belt is not a region, it's a coastline. Though the upper peninsula is definitely part of the Rust Belt.

In my experiences in the UP, US 41 seems to form a pretty neat dividing line between the Rust Belt part and the non-Rust Belt part.

[Scott5114]

...
Moderator: florida
...

Hmm... I've never heard of that region before 

Florida is the state that moderates the Southeast.

[hobsini2]

As a meteorology major, we always had these kind of arguments as to what constitutes "Mid Mississippi Valley" and "Intermountain West" among my colleagues.
Personally, for the states, I do 8 regions that go like this:
New England: ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT
Mid Atlantic: NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, DC
South: NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, TN, LA, AR
Midwest: OH, KY, WV, IN, MI, IL, WI, MO, IA, MN
Great Plains: ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX
Mountain: NM, CO, WY, MT, UT
Northwest: WA, OR, ID, AK
Southwest: AZ, CA, NV, HI

As for the Mid MS Valley, I always argue that it is from Memphis to Davenport.

[Takumi]

Northeast
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont

Thank you.  Anyone saying NY, NJ and PA is Mid-Atlantic is just looking at Wikipedia...or updating Wikipedia themselves.

Scott5114 wasn't replying seriously. (Look carefully; something slipped by in the copy and paste.)

Yeah, but no one in NJ considers NJ a Mid-Atlantic state.

Nor does anyone in the Mid-Atlantic.

[webny99]

...
Moderator: florida
...

Hmm... I've never heard of that region before 

Florida is the state that moderates the Southeast.

Nicely done.

Yeah, but no one in NJ considers NJ a Mid-Atlantic state.

Nor does anyone in the Mid-Atlantic.

Nobody except for Wikipedia:

The Middle Atlantic states, commonly shortened to Mid-Atlantic states, is a region of the United States generally located in the overlap between the Northeastern and Southeastern States. Its exact definition differs upon source, but the region usually includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia.

To me, it's a subset of the Northeast. Thus it's possible for New Jersey to be part of both the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Into counties.

Now on what the topic actually is, from what I've read I'd put Kentucky and West Virginia on their own, undefined transitional region, especially the former.

[cb98]

I divided mine with subcategories as well.

Northeast:
Upper NE/New England - ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, NY
Mid-Atlantic - PA, NJ, MD, DE, DC, VA, WV

South:
Southeast - NC, SC, GA, FL, TN, AL, KY
South Central - LA, AR, OK, TX, MS

Midwest:
Great Lakes - IL, IN, WI, MI, OH
Great Plains - ND, SD, NE, KS, MO, IA, MN

West:
Mountain West - AZ, NM, CO, UT, NV, WY, ID, MT
Pacific West - AK, HI, CA, OR, WA

[Rothman]

WV is Northeast?

Um.  No.

[cb98]

WV is Northeast?

Um.  No.

It's one of those states that's hard to place for me. It's not Midwest and its position makes it not in the South (I had a hard time placing Kentucky in the south. For me the south really begins at the KY/TN and VA/NC borders but Kentucky isn't a Midwest state either...). Plus, though culturally different, it looks much neater when visually dividing the states on a map. WV fits real nice on a map with the mid-Atlantic states, especially with the panhandle being wedged between MD and VA. I'd make a 9th category but I'm not fond of odd numbers

[texaskdog]

In 2021, red and blue

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Ohio Region
Ohio

Non-Ohio Region
47 other states

Beyond Non-Ohio Region
Alaska & Hawaii