[urbanactivist]

I've lived for brief stints in two of the vastly different midwest areas-- Kansas City, MO and Traverse City (Interlochen), MI. By geography alone, these places are in many ways like night and day-- one area is landlocked, one is defined as a "coastal town". The cultural differences are no less striking... one a large metropolis with sprawl and open land that is criss-crossed by freeways, the other a quiet dignified fishing village that serves as a corporate hub for the bay... defined by snow pack in the winter, and beautiful days by the beach or on the dunes in summer.

Yet still in both places, I feel the tiniest tinge of "Midwest" in common-- maybe from some common attitudes among the people. It is one of humbleness and dignity. As a born Southerner, it was kind of easy to see the connection between the two.

It's also kind of ineffective to try and apply a differnt region to either city. Many people try to loop some of Michigan with the east coast b/c of it's heavy industrial attitudes, but in my mind any link of that kind only extends to the eastern half of the LP (Flint would be the terminus, with Detroit being the strongest representative of "eastern flavor"). Same thing with Kansas City in relation to the Southwest or the West, but they just don't apply very well. Midwest is the closest mega-region that can identify both areas. Obviously the sub-regions of Great Lakes and Heartland over-rule.