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The stereo type of "Coastal Elite" did not materialize from no where. Personally my impression is this narrative has gotten worse not better of the last few de
by syshum 5y ago
The stereo type of "Coastal Elite" did not materialize from no where.
Personally my impression is this narrative has gotten worse not better of the last few decades as the political divide between "red states" and "blue states" have deepen, even if you live in a midwest "blue state".
Also by "are there buildings there" I would assume that a person on the east coast would be referring to Skyscrapers not just generalized building, which are quite rare in the mid-west.
My encounters with Coastal people generally result in them believing that the midwest is just farming and retail, Tech Jobs or other high income white collar jobs like Finance are not associated with the mid-west region...
- ericmay 5y ago> Skyscrapers not just generalized building, which are quite rare in the mid-west. If you ignore cities like: Chicago, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Minneapolis, etc. So no not really quite rare by any measure. And if you want to take a look at economic output as well, Illinois (5) and Ohio(7) are heavy-hitters, with states like Michigan(14) and Indiana(17) rounding out the top 20 and Minnesota(19), Missouri(22), and Wisconsin(21) not far behind. As an aside (not targeted toward you) we gotta stop the “Midwest” as a geographic representation. It makes no sense. Make it Great Plains and Great Lakes after the major geographic features of the regions and what uniquely define them.
- syshum 5y agoWhen ever possible I try to ignore cities... I firmly believe high population density is the root of most societal problems. That aside, I never said there were no skyscrpers I said they were rare compared to area's like NYC... Chicago is probably the closest, but a skyscraper is generally defined as building over 100m, indy has like 9 of them over a pretty large foot print, so ...
- ericmay 5y agoI agree with you w.r.t density. Skyscrapers are on the opposite end of the spectrum from suburbs. Probably better overall, but not great. Medium-density, mixed-use development is the sweet spot and how farming humans eventually lived.
- scruple 5y agoAn aside to your aside. I had quite an argument once with a man, who I learned after the fact was autistic (I wouldn't have engaged him on this point if I had known...), that was from New York City who was beyond adamant that Ohio, where I grew up, couldn't possibly be in the "Midwest" because it's not near the literal geographic center of the country. I eventually had to walk away from the guy because he would not let it go.
- Izkata 5y agoOn that note, why isn't it called the Mideast?
- rsj_hn 5y agoJust historical usage, as the nation settled on the East coast and headed West.
- syshum 5y agoHistorically "the west" referred to west of the Mississippi river. "Midwest" was the Territories mid way between the eastern colonies and the western plains west of the Mississippi
- bart_spoon 5y agoBecause it used to be the western frontier, with everything west being Spain/Mexico/France.
- bee_rider 5y agoThat seems like the opposite of what I'd expect. As an unrepentant coastal elite, I know that the Midwest starts in upstate NY and goes to... uh, IDK, eastern Oregon or something?
- bart_spoon 5y agoIt stops at Montana. Anything west of the Dakotas, Nebraska, or Kansas is either the “West”, “Mountain West”, or “Southwest”.
- SamPatt 5y agoEven smaller cities like Grand Rapids have skyscrapers. They're not rare in the Midwest at all. I agree that Great Lakes and Great Plains are good to distinguish. The Great Lakes has a long history of industrial development, you can't lump in Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Detroit along with vast expanses of farm land.
- _ktx2 5y ago> Personally my impression is this narrative has gotten worse not better of the last few decades as the political divide between "red states" and "blue states" have deepen, even if you live in a midwest "blue state". Honestly it goes beyond state lines. A liberal in Texas is a radically different liberal than one that's enjoyed coastal luxuries. Now living on the coast I feel it because it's almost as if some coastal liberals go out of their way to be exclusionary to life I've lived or the experiences I've had.
- syshum 5y agoI would image that a liberal in Texas is more closely defined as a classic liberal almost libertarian Where coastal liberal have been transform into more authoritarian "progressive"
- _ktx2 5y agoIn my experience, some progressives are authoritarian-ish, but the same can be said of conservatives. I don't think it's a property of the political belief itself as much as some people have an innate character trait that makes them very all or nothing and probably not just about politics. Those kind of people are probably fairly intolerable to begin with, but the last few years we (both liberals and conservatives) have given a pass to people with nightmarish personalities for some reason.
- Jun8 5y agoIt’s interesting to note that the first skyscraper is generally accepted to be built in Chicago (10 floors) and the steel frame technology was developed here, too. Although nowadays NYC has become synonymous with high buildings, this was not the case in early days: “New York trailed behind Chicago, having only four buildings over 16 stories tall by 1893.” [1]. An early jewel of a building from this ear still stands, The Rookery. If you’re ever in the Windy City I suggest you visit this building. Other large Midwest cities I’ve visited, Indy and St Louis don’t really hold up, I’ve got to admit. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_skyscrapers#The_first_skyscraper https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_skyscrapers#The_first_...
- pfranz 5y agoThe mentality in Los Angeles is that nobody is from LA--it can be surprisingly true within a lot of social circles. My suspicion is that coastal elitism comes from people who chose to leave those center states. There seems to be waves of comedians that have affection or derision.