Reflection of a Two Year Transplant (For Outsiders) (Chicago, Cicero: live, suburbs)

[chet everett]

Anybody can submit edits to Wikipedia. That is sort of the point. It is "crowd sourced".

Get a little perspective / keep some humor! The thread was started by someone that was only in Chicago for two years. Others are trying to help flesh it out. It makes sense to consider the "wisdom" of folks that are TRYING TO HELP...

Too many "recent transplants" never get to know the NW or SW side and even fewer understand the south side let alone the heart of the west side, misappropriating terminology won't help.

[Drover]

Yeah, forgive me if I don't trust sources with maps calling Roseland and Morgan Park "Far Southeast Side" whatever the hell that is.

[Heyooooo]

I have no idea why anyone is talking about Chicago and Philly longitude.

I was referring to Utica being as far east as Philly. Thats it.

[trailblazer33]

Zzzz...

[Heyooooo]

Originally Posted by PA Born

Did you even read my post? I said west of Utica, not east of Utica.

Obviously Utica to Albany feels very New England/East Coast. I totally agree that the Mohawk Valley feels very different from the Midwest. Syracuse might be a better dividing point than Utica, but somwhere between those two would probably be the cutoff.

My point is that Western/Central Upstate NY (and Western PA, for that matter) is culturally closer to the Midwest than to the East Coast. The accents are the same, the ethnic backgrounds are the same, the regional quirks, the religious backgrounds, etc. The economic base is also basically the same.

Once you get closer to Utica (and definitely once you're closer to Albany), the feel is completely different, and more like NYC/Boston (different ethnicities, accents, economic base, etc.). All of Eastern Upstate NY is basically New England.
Yes, there are some differences too, and some exceptions. Ithaca and the Finger Lakes feels far more Northeast/New England, for example. But overall, Buffalo feels much more like Cleveland or Detroit than like NYC or Boston, and same goes for Western PA. I mean, Buffalo is almost as close to Chicago as it is to NYC. It wouldn't make any sense for it to have an NYC/Boston feel.

False.

Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse are ethnically and culturally tied to the Northeast. Its significantly Italian. (as much if not more % wise than NYC, Philly, Providence, Boston) Also Irish and Puerto Rican.

Religious backgrounds? No.

Its pretty well studied that the accents you get in Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland came from those who originally settled along the Erie Canal. Upstate NY doesnt have their accents, its the other way around.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Heyooooo

False.

Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse are ethnically and culturally tied to the Northeast. Its significantly Italian. (as much if not more % wise than NYC, Philly, Providence, Boston) Also Irish and Puerto Rican.

There is a significant Italian and Irish presence throughout the entire Great Lakes area. (Puerto Rican, too, at least in the case of Chicago.) If that's what it takes to be "culturally tied to" the Northeast, then Milwaukee, Chicago, South Bend, Kalamazoo, and Toledo qualify as much as Buffalo does.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Heyooooo

Its pretty well studied that the accents you get in Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland came from those who originally settled along the Erie Canal. Upstate NY doesnt have their accents, its the other way around.

Does it matter where it started? It's the same accent (google Northern Cities Vowel Shift) either way. It exists throughout entire Great Lakes area, including Upstate NY, but not on the East Coast (except arguably Rhode Island and rural Massachussetts). I believe that was the point being made.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by Drover

Wicker Park and Bucktown are considered Northwest side. And they're getting a bit more B1G-ish with each passing year. Still nothing like LV though.

Maybe it's because all the hipsters aren't wearing their college gear this year. Give it time though, they'll get out of the skinny jeans, button down flannel and be right back to the khakis and college sweatshirt get-up.

[PA Born]

Originally Posted by Heyooooo

False.

Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse are ethnically and culturally tied to the Northeast. Its significantly Italian. (as much if not more % wise than NYC, Philly, Providence, Boston) Also Irish and Puerto Rican.
.

Sorry, I disagree.

And I'm not really getting your "evidence". Louisiana has some of the highest proportion of Italians, by county, in the U.S. Therefore Louisiana is part of Northeast/New England?

And Northeast Ohio is very heavily Italian, higher than Upstate NY/Western PA. Why is this your criteria for "Northeast/New England"?

Chicago has a higher proportion of Puerto Ricans than Buffalo, Rochester, or Syracuse. So Chicago is Northeast, based on this?

Montana has a higher proportion of Irish than New York State. So Montana is Northeast?

Originally Posted by Heyooooo

Its pretty well studied that the accents you get in Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland came from those who originally settled along the Erie Canal. Upstate NY doesnt have their accents, its the other way around.

I don't care where it started; the fact is that the accents are similar. People in Buffalo sound like people in Cleveland or Detroit, they don't sound like people in Boston or NYC.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by lenniel

Maybe it's because all the hipsters aren't wearing their college gear this year. Give it time though, they'll get out of the skinny jeans, button down flannel and be right back to the khakis and college sweatshirt get-up.

OK.