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I nominate Mississippi as one state with little political and cultural difference between its rural and urban areas. Of course, our largest city may be considered a mid-size town in other states.
Massachusetts seems a bit low, though Boston is a bit of its own world, I don't think there's any dramatic cultural clash. Of course, the state isn't that big.
Maybe Vermont? Burlington is kind of urban for such pretty small city of like 40,000(basically a large town) but it's still a small city that once you get out of the little central area near downtown turns into sort of rural country pretty quickly... There's maybe one area of Burlington around downtown and to the north that feels a little more city-ish(even slightly rundown, though it's still Vermont). Even Burlington International Airport feels like the coziest little airport in the country--there's even a little area in the skyway with old fashioned rocking chairs looking out on the runway.
Maybe Vermont? Burlington is kind of urban for such pretty small city of like 40,000(basically a large town) but it's still a small city that once you get out of the little central area near downtown turns into sort of rural country pretty quickly... There's maybe one area of Burlington around downtown and to the north that feels a little more city-ish(even slightly rundown, though it's still Vermont). Even Burlington International Airport feels like the coziest little airport in the country--there's even a little area in the skyway with old fashioned rocking chairs looking out on the runway.
I think I've seen some Vermont posters or somewhere on the internet claim Burlington isn't "real Vermont", but yea, doubt there's much difference.
I think I've seen some Vermont posters or somewhere on the internet claim Burlington isn't "real Vermont", but yea, doubt there's much difference.
Yeah just about every state has that main city that people claim isn't the real____. But I didn't feel all that much difference between Burlington and then driving out into the rest of Vermont. Considering as well that rural Vermont seems more liberal on average than a lot of other rural parts of the country. I thought it was funny though how Burlington is sort of the "big city" of Vermont, and it's like 40,000 people. And there's UVM there which gives it a college town feel, but it seems like almost every other town in Vermont has a college.
I don't know much about Cheyenne, Wyoming, perhaps that could be another one. But for all I know maybe all the cowboys in Wyoming look down on Cheyenne and their high falutin' cityfied ways...
I'd also nominate Maine and New Hampshire. There's a bit more of a split between Portland and rural Maine, but it's a matter of degree. And in New Hampshire, the biggest cities (Nashua and Manchester) are actually more right-leaning than a lot of the small towns in the western part of the state.
There isn't a huge difference between Charleston and rural West Virginia either. I haven't spent much time in them, but from what I gather the differences between the cities and the rural areas in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Iowa are pretty minor.
West Virginia definitely. Even the people who live in the sprawling subdivisions and cul de sacs between Charleston and Huntington would regularly go hunting, fishing, a 4 wheeling on their free time and have deer heads above the fireplace. I think urban and rural co-exist very peacefully in West Virginia and even people in the biggest cities of Charleston and Huntington do not look down on or talk disparagingly about "rednecks" because it seems even that guy who wears a suit and tie to work has an inner redneck that comes out on his free time. This is in contrast to even other smaller cities like Lynchburg VA or Cumberland MD where people would always look down on the 'stupid hicks" from the surrounding rural areas who went there to shop and eat.
Colorado is another state where the urban-rural divide is less in that many urban and suburban residents are still very outdoorsy and are well connected to nature. This is definitely not true when I lived in the DC area. You will NEVER see a yuppie from DC or New York going hunting with an assault rifle like you might see a suburban person in WV. HOWEVER, there is a political rural-urban divide in Colorado as the liberal elite in Denver loves to push gun laws, growth restrictions, and natural gas and oil drilling restrictions on the rest of the state.
Politically the urban areas in West Virginia are also conservative and its not like Colorado or Maryland where urbanites like to force their liberalism on the rural areas, in fact Charleston is more Republican than the southern coal towns where most of the Democrat base is located now. Obama did manage to lose every single county in WV. People in all parts of West Virginia respect the right to bear arms and know not to challenge it. Everyone in West Virginia also understands the importance of coal and natural gas to our state economy and with a small exception of transplants in the Eastern Panhandle near DC all West Virginians support the coal industry that feeds so many families here. Even the liberals and Democrats here, even the ones who support Obama, know not to do anything to hurt the coal industry. Those who go against coal and guns do so at their own risk. So people in the coalfields do not have to worry about liberal laws and nanny state regulations being pushed by the CHarleston and Huntington electorate the way Colorado's miners and natural gas workers are under attack by the Denver elite, or how Pennsylvania faces liberal laws and regulations pushed by liberal voters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that harm rural areas and their economies.
Yeah just about every state has that main city that people claim isn't the real____. But I didn't feel all that much difference between Burlington and then driving out into the rest of Vermont. Considering as well that rural Vermont seems more liberal on average than a lot of other rural parts of the country. I thought it was funny though how Burlington is sort of the "big city" of Vermont, and it's like 40,000 people. And there's UVM there which gives it a college town feel, but it seems like almost every other town in Vermont has a college.
I remember stooping at a convenience store in Vermont and one of the staff called Burlington "a big city". I think she was trying to play up her ruralness to the out of towners.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
I'd also nominate Maine and New Hampshire. There's a bit more of a split between Portland and rural Maine, but it's a matter of degree. And in New Hampshire, the biggest cities (Nashua and Manchester) are actually more right-leaning than a lot of the small towns in the western part of the state.
The small towns and rural areas near the coast may be similar to Portland, but further out it's somewhat different. As to New Hamsphire, nearly half the state's population is in exurbs of Boston, so it's a bit different from typical northern New England.
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