As far as regions: as a Bostonian living in Rochester, NY, I definitely consider the city midwestern. It follows basically the same historical patterns as anywhere else in the Rust Belt. However, most locals don’t consider themselves either Midwesterners or Easterners. We also don’t consider ourselves “Upstate” New York. We are Western New York, which is distinct from Upstate. Likewise, people in Syracuse call themselves “Central New York”. As you can see on the map, Syracuse is a “Soda” city and Rochester is a “Pop” city.

I’m not surprised that the Kansan above calls himself Midwestern. My experience is that Americans from Ohio to Colorado (at least!) like to think of themselves as Midwestern, and like to draw the lines of their region so they are close to the middle of it, and so it shares their cultural/geographical characteristics. Hence, a Kansan thinks Midwest means plains and fields, whereas most Midwesterners would identify it more with rusting cities and old river ports.

BTW, Virginia is definitely in the South, but I am not so sure about Northern Virginia…

And his family name was Sodabottlepopbottlewallah.

If this is in any way offensive, don’t blame me, blame Nury. He’s used to it.

St Louis and Columbus are many times more similar to each other than Long Island (and Metro NYC) is to either Columbus or St Louis.

And if he considers Lake Tahoe to be part of “Ecotopia” then it should extend to Bend, Spokane, and most of Idaho. Plus Seattle has always been the de facto capital.

PS – our constantly bubbling water fountains here in Portland are called “bubblers!”

Kele- I don’t think the Dakotas have enough people to be classified in any region.

Though European, i´ve had the chance to travel in almost of american and chinese “nations” and i must say that i found these maps quite accurate.

As a Minnesotan near the Western edge of the Midwest, I don’t really consider states like Ohio or Indiana as a part of “my region.” I generally perceive the Midwest as MN, WI, MI, IA, and the Dakotas. However, my perspective could be further skewed by the fact that I have lived in St. Paul/Minneapolis my whole life and the farmlands are just foreign to me and so find I have little in common even with Iowa. There is definitely more of a Minnesota-Wisconsin kinship than with other states, although eastern Wisconsin probably does not feel close to Minnesota. This is evidenced by the two separate NFL rivalries: MN Vikings vs GB Packers, and GB Packers vs Chicago Bears. There is not much of a Vikings-Bears rivalry.

To be honest though, St. Paul/Minneapolis just feels more or less like an island. Other cities and states just don’t enter the mind much here, I don’t think.

Also, I’m a Minnesotan who says pop. I went to Milwaukee once and when I ordered pop I got very strange looks…