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Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna
I'm still going with Ohio
Then California.
New York, Maryland and Virginia (if you include DC) are also potential contenders
The only way that Missouri can represent America in miniature is that it is almost smack dap in the middle of the USA. Illinois would be a better representation.
How is that? Missouri in terms of topography, religious demographics, culture, dialect, climate, etc. comes the closest to representing the U.S. as a whole. While I still think it leans more toward the Midwest than anyplace else, it comes the closest to being a microcosm of the nation as a whole...looking back at its history certainly reflects this.
How is that? Missouri in terms of topography, religious demographics, culture, dialect, climate, etc. comes the closest to representing the U.S. as a whole. While I still think it leans more toward the Midwest than anyplace else, it comes the closest to being a microcosm of the nation as a whole...looking back at its history certainly reflects this.
I wouldn't pick any state that doesn't border the ocean or Great Lakes considering over half of the US population lives in a coastal county. I think the beach is kind of a big part of American culture and I don't see how MO has anything that remotely resembles that.
I wouldn't pick any state that doesn't border the ocean or Great Lakes considering over half of the US population lives in a coastal county. I think the beach is kind of a big part of American culture and I don't see how MO has anything that remotely resembles that.
Exactly.
Ohio fits the bill. It is a bit more diverse than MO.
The entire shore line can easily be mistaken for any given east or west coast beach. The beach towns can easily match anything given beach community.
It has the mountains and culture in the south and along the WV that can match the southern and appalachian cultures. The western part of the state is thoroughly midwestern while the eastern part of the state seems like Western NY and PA. This geographic diversity also creates a much more culturally diverse population.
California's various regions might mimic parts of the nation, but if it comes to actual representation, I honestly think that Texas is a top contender. You literally have the Eastern US and the Western US in one state, and the extremes that come along with it:
Texas obviously has no real proximity to the NE, and the most northeastern thing about this state is the transplants here, so that one we don't have. If we did have a large, European-style city, though, that would just be the icing on the cake.
Homerism aside, I think my state takes the cake anyway.
California all the way. It has things that places like Missouri, Texas (and some other states mentioned) just don't. Most importantly (to me) is, it has real mountains. It has flat sandy beaches and wild rocky beaches. It has a wide variety of climates. It has, in San Francisco, a dense urban city that those states don't. And with Los Angeles it has the spread out major city that Texas has.
California all the way. It has things that places like Missouri, Texas (and some other states mentioned) just don't. Most importantly (to me) is, it has real mountains. It has flat sandy beaches and wild rocky beaches. It has a wide variety of climates. It has, in San Francisco, a dense urban city that those states don't. And with Los Angeles it has the spread out major city that Texas has.
Well, like I said, California mimics aspects of certain regions, but that isn't the same thing. Having a dense urban city isn't really a true attribute of any specific region, since every region has atleast one.
California is like its own compact nation, but I don't think it can be argued that it represents the major regions of this country the best.
Well, like I said, California mimics aspects of certain regions, but that isn't the same thing. Having a dense urban city isn't really a true attribute of any specific region, since every region has atleast one.
California is like its own compact nation, but I don't think it can be argued that it represents the major regions of this country the best.
Considering its size (land area and population) CA basically is its own region.
TX can't mimic Redwoods, glaciers or active volcanoes. CA can mimic Amarillo.
Then what attribute(s) does CA lack that would preclude it?
And if CA is effectively its own region ("compact nation"), how are its constituent features represented in TX?
The OP does not seem to be looking for states with the most areas that can mimic others, nor is he asking about which state has the most varied set of landscapes.
California having a city that looks like it could possibly be in the northeast doesn't mean it's a representative of it.
I'm not really saying CA lacks anything, except a cultural representation and physical placement across the most major regions of the entire country. Texas can claim to posess this, because of its large size and central location.
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