Does Chicago "feel" Midwestern? (Oregon, Cairo: baptists, location, steel)

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

I understand the distinction between the older cities like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Chicago and newer cities like Columbus and Indy. But I'm still wondering what makes St. Louis so much more culturally different than those other older "Great Lakes" cities. St. Louis absolutely embodies urban grit, maybe even more so than some other typical "Great Lake" cities. It's more on the periphery of the Midwest than say Cleveland, but it's still very Midwestern - Rust Belt Midwestern - way more similar to those Great Lakes cities even than to places elsewhere in Missouri.

The same way Chicago is linked to New York via the Erie Canal. The Illinois river connects St. Louis to Chicago this way.

[compactspace]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

Not true. NYC has very close connections with the eastern half of Upstate NY. Places like Albany, Ithaca, the Hudson Valley are very New York-influenced.
..

But everything from the Finger Lakes eastward has very strong NYC influence, and everything within about 150 miles of NYC is basically the city's backyard.

What the hell? No.

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Northern NY state is more New England influenced than NYC.

Yes.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

Not true. NYC has very close connections with the eastern half of Upstate NY. Places like Albany, Ithaca, the Hudson Valley are very New York-influenced.

Now Western NY is another world. Buffalo is more like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland than NYC. It's a Great Lakes City. But everything from the Finger Lakes eastward has very strong NYC influence, and everything within about 150 miles of NYC is basically the city's backyard.

Actually this is somewhat true. Although they are much more bucolic & small-city / small-town in nature, the Albany / Schenectady, NY corridor stretching south to NYC along the Hudson River (about 140-150 miles or so in distance) is actually quite influenced by NYC. The Hudson River towns serve almost like distant bedroom communities & vacation home communities for the NYC area, while Albany itself is the capital city of NY. Chelsea Clinton held her wedding in one of these beautiful Hudson River vacation towns (Rhinebeck, NY). Notice that Amtrak runs numerous, speedy trains every day between Albany (Rensselaer, NY) & NYC.

Once you got a bit west of the Albany area you are a bit outside of NYC's sphere of influence. Also, Albany is kind of like a gateway from NY to New England as well. Notice that it isn't a very long drive east from Albany to Boston, MA (only about 170 miles or so, so it's almost equidistant to NYC).

[U146]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Rust Belt isn't necessarily a culture nor a specific unified region. West Virginia is very Rust Belt in some areas yet nothing like any of the Midwest. Pittsburgh is a Rust Belt city and not much like Chicago (except maybe in ethnic groups). Heck, Baltimore is Rust Belt and is practically...nothing like the Great Lakes (though I hear some Detroit comparisons but these are based on the large Black influence and poverty not anything else). Even Blacks from Detroit aren't terribly similar to Baltimoreans.

But St. Louis is more like Chicago than Indianapolis is for sure. Even the St. Louis accent is considered the Southernmost Northern accent (outside of New Orleans lol). St. Louis to me is kind of Great Lakes, Midwest, and to a small extent Southern rolled into one.

One of the quintessentially Rust Belt states, Pennsylvania, is not very comparable to Chicago even in its largest urban centers. Rust Belt is a status, not a culture. In FACT, one could argue that most of the Midwest is actually NOT in the Rust Belt at all. In this way, Chicago still stands out. There's a region other Midwest cities don't have a very gritty, urban feel the same way the Great Lakes do. Even a small city like Grand Rapids has a very Rust Belt character despite the fact it's surrounded by a lot of woods and rural areas.

If we must consider the Great Lakes Midwestern, then Chicago is that brand of Midwest. But not the Cincinnati or Indianapolis brand. There are definitely cities in the Great Lakes that could be smaller Chicagos like Milwaukee.

St. Louis isn't Southern at all.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by U146

St. Louis isn't Southern at all.

I think there's a hint of Southern feel in the Ohio River/Mississippi River cities.

Places like St. Louis, Louisville and Cincy feel more Southern than other Midwest cities. You hear the accents, there are a lot of Baptists and Methodists, lots of people have family from the South, a bit more of a conservative/religious vibe, and you're a bit more likely to see stereotypical redneck types.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

I think there's a hint of Southern feel in the Ohio River/Mississippi River cities.

Places like St. Louis, Louisville and Cincy feel more Southern than other Midwest cities. You hear the accents, there are a lot of Baptists and Methodists, lots of people have family from the South, a bit more of a conservative/religious vibe, and you're a bit more likely to see stereotypical redneck types.

St. Louis and Cincy don't have the same accent. Also, both cities are heavily Catholic. Sure, there are "lots of Baptists and Methodists" mixed in, but there are lots of baptists on the south side of Chicago, too. Doesn't mean Chicago has "a hint of Southern feel."

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

St. Louis and Cincy don't have the same accent. Also, both cities are heavily Catholic. Sure, there are "lots of Baptists and Methodists" mixed in, but there are lots of baptists on the south side of Chicago, too. Doesn't mean Chicago has "a hint of Southern feel."

The ST accent is very Northern sounding except for a few quirks. I feel Cincy has a very Midwest/neutral sound.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

St. Louis and Cincy don't have the same accent. Also, both cities are heavily Catholic. Sure, there are "lots of Baptists and Methodists" mixed in, but there are lots of baptists on the south side of Chicago, too. Doesn't mean Chicago has "a hint of Southern feel."

Louisville Kentucky is also a heavily Catholic city, is it not southern? It's also located along the Ohio River.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Louisville Kentucky is also a heavily Catholic city, is it not southern? It's also located along the Ohio River.

But like New Orleans, it IS an outlier when it comes to being culturally like the rest of the South.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

St. Louis and Cincy don't have the same accent. Also, both cities are heavily Catholic. Sure, there are "lots of Baptists and Methodists" mixed in, but there are lots of baptists on the south side of Chicago, too. Doesn't mean Chicago has "a hint of Southern feel."

I never claimed they have the same accent. But both cities have plenty of Southern accents. Chicago doesn't.

And I never claimed they weren't Catholic. But both cities have lots of Baptists and Methodists. And no, Chicago doesn't have many Baptists or Methodists (unless you're couting the black AME church, which isn't mainstream Methodist, and which has nothing do with the South; the AME church is as typical in black neighborhoods in Massachusetts or Oregon as in Mississippi).

Whites in the South tend to be Baptist or Methodist, while cities like Chicago and Detroit are much more Catholic, and cities like Cincy and St. Louis are kind of "in between" with a mix of both.