Which state is the most "American"?

[Dale]

Originally Posted by 600West218

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.

Aww, butthurt that Southerners of old didn't cotton to your nationalistic fervor.

Well, they do now! (sadly).

[isaidso]

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?

No, it's not because I said I think of New York first when I think of the US. I'd agree with you if you said you thought of Toronto first when you thought of Canada, but Yellowknife, St. John's, Winnipeg, Lethbridge, Fredericton, Gatineau when you thought of typical Canadian places.

Dallas, Houston, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, etc? Yes, those are places I think of when I think of a typical US place in addition to those myriad small towns scattered about.

New York, San Francisco, Boston, etc. No, I never think of these places as typical of the US. I may think of them first, but I never consider them typical. I view them as US anomalies.

[NovaWolverine]

Originally Posted by isaidso

No, it's not because I said I think of New York first when I think of the US. I'd agree with you if you said you thought of Toronto first when you thought of Canada, but Yellowknife, St. John's, Winnipeg, Lethbridge, Fredericton, Gatineau when you thought of typical Canadian places.

Dallas, Houston, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, etc? Yes, those are places I think of when I think of a typical US place in addition to those myriad small towns scattered about.

New York, San Francisco, Boston, etc. No, I never think of these places as typical of the US. I may think of them first, but I never consider them typical. I view them as US anomalies.

So, you're trying to say that that Yellowknife, etc. are cities more symbolic of Canadian culture than Toronto, and places like Tampa are more symbolic of American culture than New York, etc.?

I disagree with you here. I agree that there's a distinction between cities that represent the subjective image of a country or whatnot of a country rather than the place people actually live, but you can't generalize a country as large and diverse as the US. It just seems ridiculous to me to consider places like New York, San Francisco, Boston, and other places where the majority of the country lives, as being anomalies.

[spencer114]

Thank you NOVA. How can NYC be less typical than Ohio when more Americans live in NYC?

[musiccity]

Dale, where are you originally from?

[JJG]

Why did it not surprise me that there was a big "Let's shit on Texas" thing just a few pages ago?



Anyway, it's hard to pick out a state that's most "American" since every state has its own flair and identity and small part of a WHOLE country.

[diablo234]

Originally Posted by spencer114

Thank you NOVA. How can NYC be less typical than Ohio when more Americans live in NYC?

Actually more Americans live in Ohio compared with NYC according to the 2010 Census.

Population (2011 United States Census estimates):
Ohio: 11,544,951
New York City: 8,244,910

http://factfinder2.census.gov/legacy/aff_sunset.html

[spencer114]

NYC metro area is 22,000,000. Nearly twice the size of Ohio

Not that is really matters, 8 million is close enough to 11 million to illustrate that a whole lot of Americans live in New York City ( thus it must be pretty darn American).

[Dale]

Originally Posted by musiccity

Dale, where are you originally from?

Gainesville, FL

[weava]

Originally Posted by spencer114

NYC metro area is 22,000,000. Nearly twice the size of Ohio

Not that is really matters, 8 million is close enough to 11 million to illustrate that a whole lot of Americans live in New York City ( thus it must be pretty darn American).

Well 40% of NYC is foriegn born so you can't really say there are 8 million americans in NYC when a big chunk of them are not US citizens.

[diablo234]

Originally Posted by spencer114

NYC metro area is 22,000,000. Nearly twice the size of Ohio

Not that is really matters, 8 million is close enough to 11 million to illustrate that a whole lot of Americans live in New York City ( thus it must be pretty darn American).

New York Metro does not "equal" New York City.

Most of Northern New Jersey, Long Island, Southwestern Conneticut, and even Staten Island are essentially suburban in nature and are world's apart from Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx in many different ways from culture, to political influences, and voting patterns.

Not that it means that New York is any less "American" but still (however it can be argued that New York is about as American, as London is British, or Paris as French, even though those three cities are not entirely representative of their respective countries either since they are global cities as well with a significant immigrant population relative to other cities within their own countries).

[NovaWolverine]

Originally Posted by diablo234

New York Metro does not "equal" New York City.

Most of Northern New Jersey, Long Island, Southwestern Conneticut, and even Staten Island are essentially suburban in nature and are world's apart from Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx in many different ways from culture, to political influences, and voting patterns.

Not that it means that New York is any less "American" but still (however it can be argued that New York is about as American, as London is British, or Paris as French, even though those three cities are not entirely representative of their respective countries either since they are global cities as well with a significant immigrant population relative to other cities within their own countries).

I don't know of many cities that are entirely representative of their respective countries.

And Ohio is not uniform, either.

[CNB30]

Originally Posted by weava

Well 40% of NYC is foriegn born so you can't really say there are 8 million americans in NYC when a big chunk of them are not US citizens.

are most of them US Citizens?

[1Filipe1]

Originally Posted by weava

Well 40% of NYC is foriegn born so you can't really say there are 8 million americans in NYC when a big chunk of them are not US citizens.

ok being forgein born doesn't mean your not american.. so your saying 40% of the population of nyc is illegal? IF you become a american citizen on papers, then your american, doesn't matter where you were born your american.

[Dale]

Let me just say this about the notion that NYC is most prototypically American:

BWA-HA-HA!

[weava]

Originally Posted by 1Filipe1

ok being forgein born doesn't mean your not american.. so your saying 40% of the population of nyc is illegal? IF you become a american citizen on papers, then your american, doesn't matter where you were born your american.

I never said they were illegal, but green cards, work visas, students visas =/= US Citizens. I have seen a statistic that 60% of foreign born people in the US are not citizens, so if that ratio holds true to NY, then close to 2 Million of NYC's 8 million people are not US citizens.

[diablo234]

Originally Posted by NovaWolverine

I don't know of many cities that are entirely representative of their respective countries.

And Ohio is not uniform, either.

I am well aware of that however cities like NYC, London, and Paris take it to another level compared with cities like Chicago or Detroit. Even many people who have lived in London tend to agree with that statement since London in many ways does not accurately portray life in the UK, even though it is the first city that comes to mind for many foreigners when they think of the UK.

And yes I am aware that Ohio itself has many differences since Cleveland has a great lakes/rust belt feel to it similar to Chicago, Milwaukee, or Buffalo while Cincinnati is a river town with midwestern/southern influence similar to Louisville or St. Louis.

[blakeaustin]

Kansas, because it's in the heart of America. What's more American than corn, fat people and tornadoes? <.<

[CNB30]

Originally Posted by blakeaustin

Kansas, because it's in the heart of America. What's more American than corn, fat people and tornadoes? <.<

very stereo typically true

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by NovaWolverine

So, you're trying to say that that Yellowknife, etc. are cities more symbolic of Canadian culture than Toronto, and places like Tampa are more symbolic of American culture than New York, etc.?

I disagree with you here. I agree that there's a distinction between cities that represent the subjective image of a country or whatnot of a country rather than the place people actually live, but you can't generalize a country as large and diverse as the US. It just seems ridiculous to me to consider places like New York, San Francisco, Boston, and other places where the majority of the country lives, as being anomalies.

Yellowknife is a bit of an obscure place as less than .3% of the Canadian population live in the territories, but cities like Halifax, Winnipeg, London, Sherbrooke, Kelowna, etc. are certainly more the Canadian norm culturally than Toronto.

Toronto is an international city where more than half the population were born outside of Canada. Canadian culture is considerably watered down here as the influences from offshore often supplant long held domestic pursuits/interests. If you want mainstream Canadian culture, Toronto is the last place you should go.

New York, Boston, and San Francisco may be large, but only represent about 9% of the US population. Far more people live in smaller cities like Charlotte, Boise, or Tulsa. These cities also tend have a smaller % foreign born, and are to be far less influenced by foreign culture. New York is an international city.

Btw, 23% of Canadians weren't even born in Canada. The US figure is about 13%. Politically, Canadians have far more choices. Culturally, the spectrum is just as wide north of the border as south. Generalizations are exactly that, generalizations. Diversity exists everywhere. No one is suggesting that all people in the US are the same, but that's not what the thread question asked.