The Midwest vs. The South (best cities, living in, moving)

[Champ le monstre du lac]

First thing, boosters may show up but there is no clear winner or be all and end all as both regions have strengths and weaknesses. This thread discussion and poll is based only on preference so lets keep it civil. Lets compare the South (VA/NC/SC/KY/TN/GA/FL/AL/MS/LA/TX/AR with a little OK and WV mixed in)
and the Midwest (OH/IN/IL/MI/WI/MN/IA/MO/ND/SD/NE/KS and a little OK mixed in).

Here is some criteria.....

-Best cities and urban areas
-Best small towns and rural areas
-Best outdoor recreation and geographical features
-Culture/Diversity/Festivals
-Friendliness
-a discussion on people, live and let live elements, originality, characteristics etc..
-Food
-The arts (music, museum endowments, artist colonies, creativity)

.....and anything else you can think of that I missed. If in one category you feel its impossible to sum it all up into one region (likely) discuss overall the region you would lean more towards and elaborate on why or if it's a neutral draw (especially in terms of people) and chime in on what you appreciate about both regions.

[jayp1188]

Cities: The Midwest, mainly because of Chicago. The rest of the Midwest and the South are pretty even when it comes to cities.

Small Towns and Rural Area: The Midwest. Small towns and rural areas in the South are bit more backwards than those in the Midwest.

Outdoor Recreation and Geographical Features. The South. The Atlantic and Gulf and the Great Lakes more or less cancel each other out, but the South has much prettier mountainous regions and more warm months to enjoy the weather.

Culture: The Midwest. Cities in the Midwest are generally older, and thus, have longer traditions, older institutions, and more developed art/cultural scenes.

Diversity: The South. Chicago is really the only hyper-diverse place in the Midwest. The South has Miami, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta which are all extremely diverse. Other Southern cities are becoming more diverse at a quicker rate as well, due to receiving more immigrants than most Midwestern cities. outside of metropolitan areas, both regions have very little diversity.

Festivals: The Midwest. In my experience, festivals occur nowhere near as often as they do in the Midwest. There also seems to be a much larger variety of festivals in the Midwest in cities and towns of every size.

Friendliness: Tie. They're both pretty friendly. Southerners are more forwardly friendly, hospital, and polite, but I've found Midwesterners to be more helpful.

Food: The South, due to the local cuisines. I'd give the Midwest a bit of an edge though when it comes to ethnic food and contemporary food in big cities.

The Arts: Tie, oth regions have creative hubs. The Midwest has Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Madison, Columbus, St. Louis, Ann Arbor...The South has Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Austin, Nashville, Savannah, Memphis...

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by jayp1188

The Arts: Tie, oth regions have creative hubs. The Midwest has Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Madison, Columbus, St. Louis, Ann Arbor...The South has Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Austin, Nashville, Savannah, Memphis...

Very objective, open minded, and well rounded post. Only thing I'd expand on is where are the smaller cities and towns in the South and Midwest that harbor a lot of arts, creativity, and culture as most big cities in any region have a lot already. I'll let somebody from either region speak to that though.

[PortCity]

The south has more older cities and out side of Chicago and St.Louis maybe the south has more culture and festivals.The Gulf Coast has a different culture by it self.

[Jason_show]

I think population growth supports the fact that people are moving South in droves. They're moving out of the MidWest

[fezzador]

Cities: The South. Chicago is the best city out of both regions (IMHO), but the South has more to offer. Atlanta has white-hot growth, Miami has its famous beaches, Charleston has its famous Southern charm, New Orleans is well, New Orleans, San Antonio is Tex-Mex at its finest, and Nashville has its music. The general vibe about Midwestern cities is, aside from Chi-town, you've seen one, you've seen them all.

Small towns/rural areas: The South. The rural areas are more scenic, no comparison. Trees, mountains, pastures, you get a little bit of everything. The Midwest rural areas are mostly farmland. And Southern small towns tend to have a bit more history (for good and bad) to them as well.

Culture: The South, if only because it's so unique and instantly recognizable. Midwestern culture isn't exactly unique - for example, if you go to Washington and Oregon you can definitely tell there's some Midwestern influence there.

Diversity: The South, if only due to the substantially higher African-American population. The Midwest is rapidly becoming a bastion for Latino immigrants, especially in small and medium-sized communities.

Festivals: The Midwest, by far. States like Iowa and Minnesota take great pride in their state fairs, and even some county fairs put other states' fairs to shame.

Friendliness: The South. I think the friendly Midwesterners are more friendly than Southerners, but the Midwest also has way more jerks.

Food - The South. Three letters. BBQ.

The Arts - the Midwest. Of course Chicago is famous for its art, but Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Detroit have world-class art museums.

[RC01]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

First thing, boosters may show up but there is no clear winner or be all and end all as both regions have strengths and weaknesses. This thread discussion and poll is based only on preference so lets keep it civil. Lets compare the South (VA/NC/SC/KY/TN/GA/FL/AL/MS/LA/TX/AR with a little OK and WV mixed in)
and the Midwest (OH/IN/IL/MI/WI/MN/IA/MO/ND/SD/NE/KS and a little OK mixed in).

Here is some criteria.....

-Best cities and urban areas
-Best small towns and rural areas
-Best outdoor recreation and geographical features
-Culture/Diversity/Festivals
-Friendliness
-a discussion on people, live and let live elements, originality, characteristics etc..
-Food
-The arts (music, museum endowments, artist colonies, creativity)

.....and anything else you can think of that I missed. If in one category you feel its impossible to sum it all up into one region (likely) discuss overall the region you would lean more towards and elaborate on why or if it's a neutral draw (especially in terms of people) and chime in on what you appreciate about both regions.

Cities: I'm probably going to go with the South on this one. The Midwest does have plenty of nice ones and I really do love living in the Twin Cities, but the South just has more options that are growing fast! Then again, the South doesn't have anything like Chicago, but I'm still going to give it the edge.

Small towns/rural: Can't speak much besides on stereotypes, so I won't

Outdoor Rec/Scenery: Probably the South. Not by a lot. I like the mountains.

Diversity: The South.

Festivals: The Midwest! I'm already waiting for the fair next year!

Friendliness/people: People in the South are generally more friendly and outgoing when making friends, but people in the Midwest (and I may have a warped view from being mainly around MN, SD, and IA) are more polite and reserved rather than friendly if that makes sense (just in my experience). Way too many people fail to understand that. Southerners also seem to have a "loud and proud" kind of attitude, where Midwesterners are taught not to brag or talk yourself up because it's rude. I can't speak too much for the more Eastern part of the Midwest on those traits though. One last thing, the Midwest tends to be more liberal in areas than the South. You can decide for yourself whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Food: Really not my area of expertise I just eat at chains

Arts: Probably the Midwest

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

Very objective, open minded, and well rounded post. Only thing I'd expand on is where are the smaller cities and towns in the South and Midwest that harbor a lot of arts, creativity, and culture as most big cities in any region have a lot already. I'll let somebody from either region speak to that though.

The south:
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Lafayette
Little Rock
Natchez
Mobile
Huntsville
Savannah
Charleston
St Augustine
Rome
Chattanooga
Asheville

More on the culture aspect of things ^

[Columbuskidd92]

The South.

More original than any other region in the United States.

[InTheZona]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

The South.

More original than any other region in the United States.

No, no, no.

That distinction, my friend, belongs to New England.