Which state is the most "American"?

[600West218]

Originally Posted by IraGlacialis

It was a toss-up for me between Arizona and Utah. I picked Utah because
Monument Valley in Utah was the first place that came to mind. But in retrospect, as Arizona also has that plus the other attractions, so yeah it would be a better fit.
There was also a toss-up between Mississippi and Alabama for the idea of the Deep South, but Sweet Home Alabama and Forest Gump sealed the deal.

Oh yeah, thanks to John Hughes, I would add this as well:
Illinois*: The Suburban** Commuter America

*Really just Chicagoland; the state south of Kankakee and west of LaSalle might as well not exist
**Old tree-lined suburbia, not postwar-to-modern day cookie-cutter suburbia.

Unless I'm having a senior moment (definitely possible) isn't Monument Valley in Arizona?

If indeed it is in Utah then I would agree with you that tips the scale towards that state, but I believe it is in Arizona.

[600West218]

Interesting map:

http://www.americansouthwest.net/uta...alley/map.html

It appears it is right on the border, though the Navajo Nation park is on the Arizona side.

I wonder which side the "mittens" are on? That would do it for me.

[600West218]

Originally Posted by CNB30

no, most of the US is brick

I didn't find a definitive source, and maybe it is closer than I thought, but the sites I've found seem to agree that the most common type of residential structures in the US are wood frame homes.

I may be biased by where I grew up where wood was totally dominate (Rochester NY) but it still seems like there is more wood in most parts of the US.

At the very least, there is a much higher level of wood usage in most parts of the US than in NYC.

[bayviews]

Originally Posted by 600West218

I didn't find a definitive source, and maybe it is closer than I thought, but the sites I've found seem to agree that the most common type of residential structures in the US are wood frame homes.

I may be biased by where I grew up where wood was totally dominate (Rochester NY) but it still seems like there is more wood in most parts of the US.

At the very least, there is a much higher level of wood usage in most parts of the US than in NYC.

Buffalo's probably even more wooden than Rochester.

Owes to the unlimited supply of logs from the huge 19th century lumber yards in the Tondawandas.

Quite a contrast with those brick rowhouse cities in Pennsylvania!

Brick cities tend to be a lot more durable than wooden frame cities!

[IraGlacialis]

Originally Posted by 600West218

Unless I'm having a senior moment (definitely possible) isn't Monument Valley in Arizona?

If indeed it is in Utah then I would agree with you that tips the scale towards that state, but I believe it is in Arizona.

It's at the border of Utah and Arizona. So both states.
There is also Valley of the Gods, which also has the characteristic buttes, mesas, and cliffs that westerns conjure up. That's solely in Utah, as well as the Canyonlands and Bryce Canyon, among other places.

Pretty much, the Colorado Plateau is where all of that stuff, including the Grand Canyon, is located, and the majority of that region is in both Arizona and Utah. Hence the toss-up.
Then again, while Arizona has a ton of other stuff to back up its claim, Utah also has Promontory Point (can't discount the element of the railroad) plus a more appreciable portion of the Rockies.
I guess one can say that Utah represents the Old West of the western, while Arizona represents the New West of the tourist destination.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by 600West218

New York is about as unrepresentative of the United States as you can get. To mention a few things:

I think you get the point.

Now, having said all that, I am not saying that New York is UN-AMERICAN. Quite the contrary - New York is a big factory that recieves immigrants and churns out new Americans. Living in upper Manhattan I get to see it first hand and it is quite amazing.

That's how I see it as well. People are confusing their admiration of New York and what it has accompished with it being representative of the United States.

Some city of around 200,000 in Missouri is easily more representative of mainstream USA. New York, San Francisco, Boston, etc. These are wonderful examples of urbanity, but most people in the US don't live like that or live in places that look like that.

When I think of your country, I think of cities like New York. When I think of a typical US place, I think of some town in Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, etc.

[NovaWolverine]

Originally Posted by isaidso

When I think of your country, I think of cities like New York. When I think of a typical US place, I think of some town in Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, etc.

This is like saying, "When I think of Canada, I think of St. John's or Yellowknife." It's already established how many people live in the metropolitan areas of the Northeast Corridor, California, Florida, Texas, Chicago, and others, so why are Iowa and the other places you mentioned typical US places for you?

[600West218]

Originally Posted by NovaWolverine

This is like saying, "When I think of Canada, I think of St. John's or Yellowknife." It's already established how many people live in the metropolitan areas of the Northeast Corridor, California, Florida, Texas, Chicago, and others, so why are Iowa and the other places you mentioned typical US places for you?

This is the problem with how the question was originally put. There isn't a typical state per se.

What could be seen as being more typical is type of area where one lives - rural, urban or suburban.

The most common place Americans live are in suburbs - single family homes or garden apartments, cars as the primary means of transportation, shopping in surburban indoor malls, kids going to school on a yellow bus, etc. etc.

That will be found in suburban New York, suburban Kansas City, suburban Atlanta, suburban Chicago, suburban Dallas, suburban Omaha.... you get the point.

That is what I would say is most typical of the US - not a given state but suburban living in general.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by spencer114

To anyone not a Texan, Texas is a dreary backwater with poor health, labor and education outcomes. I guess that's pretty typically American.

But it does have jobs and nothing is hipper than jobs right now.

[CNB30]

Originally Posted by 600West218

I didn't find a definitive source, and maybe it is closer than I thought, but the sites I've found seem to agree that the most common type of residential structures in the US are wood frame homes.

I may be biased by where I grew up where wood was totally dominate (Rochester NY) but it still seems like there is more wood in most parts of the US.

At the very least, there is a much higher level of wood usage in most parts of the US than in NYC.

Its probably 50/50

Im bias too. RVA is pretty much brick, brick and brick

[600West218]

Originally Posted by CNB30

Its probably 50/50

Im bias too. RVA is pretty much brick, brick and brick

It is interesting that it varies significantly from city to city. I wonder why? Other than obvious reasons (like termites) I can't think of a reason.

[NovaWolverine]

Originally Posted by 600West218

It is interesting that it varies significantly from city to city. I wonder why? Other than obvious reasons (like termites) I can't think of a reason.

How about the styles of architecture that are popular in certain regions and the respective eras in which various cities started rapidly developing? Those are reasons.

[musiccity]

To me Texans are among the least American. They have way too much state pride and I think they're hardly representative of Americans as a whole. Also Southern states too because of too much regionals pride. To me, the most American state is a state where the people consider themselves American before anything else.

[Dale]

That's one of the things I like about Texans and Southerners.

[musiccity]

Originally Posted by Dale

That's one of the things I like about Texans and Southerners.

I like it too. I'm a Southerner myself and there's no denying we have Southern pride, I even have some of it.

But I wouldn't consider the South the most "American" region.

[Dale]

I don't even want to be a good American anymore. I just want to be a good Southerner.

[Dale]

Kidding aside, while there are Southern cultural distinctives, there is a sense in which Southerners have been the 'most faithful Americans.' As far as I can see, no one waves an American flag like Southerners do. It's highly ironic when you think about it.

[Cal_Escapee]

Originally Posted by Dale

I don't even want to be a good American anymore. I just want to be a good Southerner.

In that case, you should move to the South (like, say, north of Gainesville).

[Dale]

Originally Posted by Cal_Escapee

In that case, you should move to the South (like, say, north of Gainesville).

This ought to inflame some forumers, but I'm strongly considering moving to the decidedly more Southern city of Charlotte.

*runs away*

[600West218]

Originally Posted by Dale

Kidding aside, while there are Southern cultural distinctives, there is a sense in which Southerners have been the 'most faithful Americans.' As far as I can see, no one waves an American flag like Southerners do. It's highly ironic when you think about it.

I guess you could say Southerners have been the "most faithful Americans" as long as your overlook the whole secession, civil war, we want out of the U.S. thingy

I agree Southerners have tried to present an ultra-patriotic image for some time now. I think that can be chalked up to them knowing that they are or have been viewed as being very disloyal, out to destroy the country, and disloyal and disobedient to the central government right up through the civil rights movement. Their way of compensating is to wave the flag a lot.


One good thing I think I've observed over the past 30 years or so is that a lot of that stuff has evened out and regional disputes and loyalties have really been reduced. I think part of that is the civil war and even the civil rights struggles fading into distant memory, huge migration between regions, and finally 9/11 which I think brought about more unity within the country. I know prior to 9/11 people who lived in New York City were viewed by many as almost being foreign. 9/11 really changed that.