Similarities and differences between each end of your state/province

[xzmattzx]

What are the similarities and differences between each end of your state?

How similar or different are the east and west ends of Massachusetts, for example? How similar or different are the east and west ends of Ontario? How similar or different are the north and south ends of California? How similar or different are the east and west ends of South Dakota?

It seems that some places are considered by others to have many differences within a state, while other places are written off as the same from one end to the other. But how true is that? Is northern Idaho very similar to southern Idaho? Is eastern North Dakota very similar to western North Dakota? Is eastern Nova Scotia very similar to western Nova Scotia?

For Delaware, there are actually quite a few differences between the northern end and the southern end of the state. Most people would not realize that northern Delaware and southern Delaware are more different than they are the same. Here are some examples:

~ The northern end is rocky and hilly (Piedmont Plateau), and the southern end is sandy and flat (Atlantic Coastal Plain)
~ The northern end has trees like beech and sycamore, and the southern end has trees like pine
~ The northern end is largely liberal, and the southern end is largely conservative
~ The northern end likes Philadelphia sports teams, and the southern end like Baltimore sports teams (Washington sports teams much less so)
~ Stone and brick were common building materials in early times at the northern end, and wood was the common building material at the southern end
~ The northern end is developed, more urban, and industrial, and the southern end is more rural and agricultural
~ Common agricultural crops in the northern end (where there is agriculture left) include hay and mushrooms, and common agricultural crops in the southern end include corn, soybeans, and melons


Here are some similarities:
~ Holly trees grow in both the rocky woods in the north and the swamps and marshes in the south
~ Very similar accents
~ Affinity for University of Delaware football
~ The state is largely centrist; there are liberal Republicans in the north, and conservative Democrats in the south
~ Most of the state has historical ties to the Delaware River/Delaware Bay (only the southwest corner is connected to the Chesapeake)

[JManc]

West Texas...



East Texas...

[pj3000]

Pennsylvania is usually divided in half, Eastern vs. Western... but I find that to be far too general for any meaningful comparison of similarities and differences in a major founding state with such an old, rich, varied, and nationally important history.

Looking at PA through the lens of: Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast are far more accurate, and therefore, informative. I would actually assert that Northern PA vs. Southern PA is a better division of the state for comparison than the very common Eastern PA vs. Western PA.

It's pretty simple... with I-80 being the dividing line, Southern PA is more like southern New Jersey, northern Maryland, and northern West Virginia. Northern PA is more like the Southern Tier of NY State.

[bilbao58]

El Paso at Sundown by Neil Noland, on Flickr


Foggy Houston Morning by Kyle Schriner, on Flickr

[10023]

I don’t have a state or province so I’ll do Illinois:

Northeastern Illinois is Chicago. Southern Illinois is the rural South. The end.

[MolsonExport]

Quebec is larger (by 4.6%) than Alaska, and has an extremely varied topography and climate. The Saint Lawrence lowlands are where at least 70% of the population lives (from Ontario boundary to Quebec City), are on either side of the lower and middle St. Lawrence river (this extends westwardly into Ontario and comprises the basins around the southern Great Lakes, and thus, most of Ontario's population). South of this lies the Montegerian mountains/hills (near Montreal) and the Appalachians (to the East, all up the Gaspe Peninsula). Immediately north of the St. Lawrence lowlands lies the Laurentian mountains, from the Outaouais valley to Labrador. North of that, and you have an extremely sparsely populated subarctic and arctic climate zones, with rolling hills in the West, and mountain peaks in the East along the Labrador border. There are also islands that are a part of Quebec in the gulf of St. Lawrence.

Northeast Quebec:

lpcdn

Southwest Quebec:

wookiepedia

[hauntedheadnc]

The differences -- terrain, climate, flora, fauna, soil composition, and water softness.

Eastern North Carolina:


Source.

Western North Carolina:


Source.

The similarities -- tourists.


Source.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Quebec is larger (by 4.6%) than Alaska, and has an extremely varied topography and climate. The Saint Lawrence lowlands are where at least 70% of the population lives (from Ontario boundary to Quebec City), are on either side of the lower and middle St. Lawrence river (this extends westwardly into Ontario and comprises the basins around the southern Great Lakes, and thus, most of Ontario's population). South of this lies the Montegerian mountains/hills (near Montreal) and the Appalachians (to the East, all up the Gaspe Peninsula). Immediately north of the St. Lawrence lowlands lies the Laurentian mountains, from the Outaouais valley to Labrador. North of that, and you have an extremely sparsely populated subarctic and arctic climate zones, with rolling hills in the West, and mountain peaks in the East along the Labrador border. There are also islands that are a part of Quebec in the gulf of St. Lawrence.

Northeast Quebec:

lpcdn

Southwest Quebec:

wookiepedia

Montreal is the same distance from the northernmost tip of Quebec as it is from the border between Florida and Georgia.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Northern Ohio: Rust Belt.

Southern Ohio: Appalachian.

Central Ohio: The Ohio State University.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Montreal is the same distance from the northernmost tip of Quebec as it is from the border between Florida and Georgia.

Wow. That's really insane.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Wow. That's really insane.

Bing monnervugger.

[memph]

Southern end

Big cities, temperate forests, vineyards



Northern end

Above the tree line, peatlands and tundra, polar bears, a few remote Native communities only accessible by air or by winter road

[muertecaza]

Geographically, I'd give Arizona three rough regions.

Southern Arizona where most of the people live, including Phoenix and Tucson metros, is the Sonoran desert:


https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...esert-lie.html

North of that (colloquially 'Northern Arizona,' but it's really in the middle) is Ponderosa Pine forest:


https://www.knau.org/post/coconino-n...ildfire-danger

Northern Arizona is the Grand Canyon and the Colorado Plateau:

https://www.triptipedia.com/tip/o9Kq...lorado-plateau

While the regions can look quite different, they are all desert or high desert. Even the Ponderosa Pine forests are relatively dry, getting ~20" rain a year.

Culturally, I view Arizona as fairly unified. There are obviously some differences--an easy one is that Tucson and Flagstaff metros voting Democrat in 2016 national elections, while Phoenix metro and the rural counties voted Republican--but I view the differences mostly as differences of degree.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by JManc

West Texas...



East Texas...

Oklahoma is similar. Dry Mesa country at over 4,000 ft elevation next to New Mexico and Colorado in the Panhandle and forested cypress swamps at just over 200 ft elevation in the Gulf Coastal Plain in the far southeast corner.

[jtown,man]

I'll do Arkansas. To keep it short:

East is poor and flat as hell. West is poor and hilly. Northwest is richer.

About an hour outside of Memphis on the Mississippi Delta:



A typical town in the area:



One of the better views in the Ozarks:


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/EarthPorn/c..._mountains_of/

And downtown Fayetteville:

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Wow. That's really insane.

Yeah. It's also quite big in an east-west fashion as well.

When people from other countries are surprised that about 60% of French-speaking Canadians speak only French (given where they live), I always explain that the area of Canada where you can easily get by for pretty much anything by speaking French only takes two long full days to drive across - basically all of Quebec plus some neighbouring areas of Ontario and a good chunk of New Brunswick too.

That's equivalent to driving from Brest on the Atlantic coast of France across multiple European countries, to Brest in Belarus (which borders Russia).

There are just under 10 million people in this area, which is very vast geographically.

[Shawn]

I'd post pics of two opposing corners of Rhode Island, but without labels, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways. Because there aren't any worth noting. Still, such an awesome state.

For Mass, there's an obvious geographical difference (coast vs. "mountains"), but not much of a cultural difference. Mass is one of the few areas of the country where the urban and rural counties don't differ much in culture, voting patterns, stuff like that. You hear PA described as "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between." MA doesn't have that type of split. It's basically the same accent, ethnic admixture, and political inclinations throughout. Definitely the same pro sports allegiances.

[softee]

Northern Ontario: 88% of the province's land area with 6% of the population (approx. 780,000 people). Wilderness, lakes, sporadic small cities and towns.

Southern Ontario: 12% of the land area with 94% of the population (approx. 14 million people). Farmland, cottage country, many small towns and cities, several midsized to large cities and one ginormous city and urbanized region.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Shawn

I'd post pics of two opposing corners of Rhode Island, but without labels, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways. Because there aren't any worth noting. Still, such an awesome state.

One of my favorite states. The only differences are some of the architectural styles particularity north and south of Providence.

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by JManc

One of my favorite states. The only differences are some of the architectural styles particularity north and south of Providence.

Right? Such a great state. Providence is criminally underrated, even on this forum. And I know you and I both love Colt State Park.

You're right, too: South County vernacular has that Swamp Yankee feel, almost Mid-Atlantic / Tidewater. Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls etc. have lots of archetype triple-deckers. Bristol County feels like the natural extension of Cape Cod half of it actually used to be before Mass and RI traded a few towns.

But to people outside New England, I'm sure this all looks the same: postcard New England seaside.