What is the Upper Midwest?

[Docere]

There seems to be two different conceptions of what constitutes the Upper Midwest.

The more common one seems to be centered in Minnesota and is characterized by its large Scandinavian/German and Lutheran presence

The other definition seems to be defined by Yankee culture and lakes.

Pretty much every definition I think includes Minnesota and Wisconsin. The "Yankees and lakes" definition obviously takes in Michigan, while the "Greater Minnesota" one would take in the Dakotas and perhaps Iowa.

[LMich]

From my geographical perspective, it basically means the part of the Midwest on the lakes, maybe minus those states which only kiss the lakes (Illinois and Indiana) or two far east (Ohio), as these states have large regions whose climate, culture and history differ quite a bit from the stuff on the lakes. I'd say it always includes Minnesota, Wisconsin Michigan and probably the Dakotas (definitely culturally), geographically. In my mind, though, the Dakotas are much more defined by being in the Great Plains. My definitition is really heavily weighted geographically and politically, so the "center" in definition would really be more Wisconsin than Minnesota, where the river splits the state.



Whatever it is, it's definitely not a hard-set definition.

[Docere]

Is Michigan more similar to Ohio or Wisconsin overall?

Demographically it's more similar to Ohio. If you use emphasize geographic area, probably more like Wisconsin, but the population is concentrated in the southeast of the state, closer to Ohio.

[SacSFChi]

Born & raised in Chicago. We called ourselves as "Midwest." Never heard the term "upper midwest" until I moved to California.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by SacSFChi

Born & raised in Chicago. We called ourselves as "Midwest." Never heard the term "upper midwest" until I moved to California.

Illinois isn't really an "upper Midwest" state but I'm surprised it isn't used at all. A lot of Chicagoans vacation in Wisconsin and Michigan.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

Illinois isn't really an "upper Midwest" state but I'm surprised it isn't used at all. A lot of Chicagoans vacation in Wisconsin and Michigan.

when us chicagoans invade wisconsin and michigan en masse every summer, we simply just call it "going north", as in "i'm headed up north for labor day weekend".

because chicago lies in the border region between the upper and lower midwests, we tend to just think of all of it simply as "the midwest".

if there's a more nuanced aspect to chicago's regional identity that many chicagoans might identify with, it's the "great lakes" banner.

[Chef]

In the Twin Cities people never think of Michigan as part of the upper Midwest (maybe the UP). Here it is basically intended to mean the Twin Cities sphere of influence plus the parts of Wisconsin that are in Chicago's sphere - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa down to Des Moines and the Dakotas.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by Chef

In the Twin Cities people never think of Michigan as part of the upper Midwest (maybe the UP). Here it is basically intended to mean the Twin Cities sphere of influence plus the parts of Wisconsin that are in Chicago's sphere - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa down to Des Moines and the Dakotas.

That is incredibly strange. What do you consider Michigan?

[north 42]

I think both Detroit and Chicago are on the border of the lower and upper Midwest, and as a result have similarities to both regions!

[dodeca]

The Great Lakes watershed + Minnesota - Ohio east of Toledo. To me it's the heavily glaciated regions that feature a lot of lakes and marshland, and weather influenced by the Great Lakes.

[north 42]

Ohio is not the upper Midwest! It borders the bloody Southeast!

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Docere

There seems to be two different conceptions of what constitutes the Upper Midwest.

The more common one seems to be centered in Minnesota and is characterized by its large Scandinavian/German and Lutheran presence

The other definition seems to be defined by Yankee culture and lakes.

Pretty much every definition I think includes Minnesota and Wisconsin. The "Yankees and lakes" definition obviously takes in Michigan, while the "Greater Minnesota" one would take in the Dakotas and perhaps Iowa.

Minnesota, Wisconsin the UP and dakotas

Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska Iowa, Missouri Kansas Are Cote Midwest

Michigan, Ohio, parts of Pennsylvania and maybe even some upstate New York are the “rust belt” Midwest

There is some debate weather Oklahoma northern Texas and Arkansas are Midwest but to me they are really not, they are too southern and too Texan to be like the Midwest

[LMich]

You can't just mix proximal/geographical and cultural/historical definitions. "Upper" Midwest is very clearly a geographical definition defining it in relation to other parts of the Midwest. So, something could be both Rustbelt and Upper, or Great Plains and Upper. This isn't an either/or proposition.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by LMich

You can't just mix proximal/geographical and cultural/historical definitions. "Upper" Midwest is very clearly a geographical definition defining it in relation to other parts of the Midwest. So, something could be both Rustbelt and Upper, or Great Plains and Upper. This isn't an either/or proposition.

Sure you can, Rust mixed with upper = Duluth Upper Mixed with Plaines = Dakotas

[subterranean]

Any definition that includes Wisconsin and doesn’t include the entirety of Michigan is bunk. They occupy nearly the identical latitude. So arbitrary.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by subterranean

Any definition that includes Wisconsin and doesn’t include the entirety of Michigan is bunk. They occupy nearly the identical latitude. So arbitrary.

It has nothing to do with latitude the UP and Wisconsin are very similar, the Mitten and the UP/Wisconsin are very different.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by Obadno

It has nothing to do with latitude the UP and Wisconsin are very similar, the Mitten and the UP/Wisconsin are very different.

So is just about everything south of about I-69/96 with the rest of Michigan.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Minnesota, Wisconsin the UP and dakotas

Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska Iowa, Missouri Kansas Are Cote Midwest

Michigan, Ohio, parts of Pennsylvania and maybe even some upstate New York are the “rust belt” Midwest

There is some debate weather Oklahoma northern Texas and Arkansas are Midwest but to me they are really not, they are too southern and too Texan to be like the Midwest

Calling part of Pennsylvania and upstate New York part of the Midwest is a bit of a stretch, even if there are similarities between, say, western New York and northeast Ohio. But Arkansas and north Texas as the Midwest? Seriously? Does anyone really wonder if Oklahoma City, Dallas, Little Rock, or Memphis are Midwestern cities?

[Centropolis]

as i understand it: upper midwest = chicago, detroit, minneapolis...lower midwest = st. louis, cincinnati, kansas city...

beyond that is the northwoods on one end and the ozarks/kentucky on the other.

[msisrael]

I think it's reasonably well accepted that the Upper Midwest is five states: MN, ND, SD, IA, and WI.