United States Mega-Regional Map | Cultural/Geographic Influences | OPINION not fact | V.6 | Lower 48 | Let me know where I can improve the map

Posted by Asleep_Bluebird18

45 Comments

  1. TheMooseIsBlue on

    Solid job. I’m not sure about “Pacific” for the Central Valley in California but I don’t know what else you could call it and you can’t really separate areas that small at this level.

    I’d probably go with “West Coast” though because “Pacific” isn’t often used for land. I mean we have the Pac10/12/8, but not much otherwise.

  2. That NW corner of Arkansas that sits in the “great plains” is fairly mountainous. Also, all those people in Fayetteville and Bentonville will likely be pretty amused at being told they aren’t in the south lol

  3. One qualm is that a huge section of the Ozark Mountains in Missouri and Arkansas is under the Great Plains region.

  4. i live in that northwestern bit of massachusetts tat is labeled “northern new england” – i think that psycic border might be a bit higher, to people around here northern new england would begin somewhere in vermont …

  5. My thoughts:

    * East Texas is culturally much closer to “The South” than “Texan”, in my opinion
    * The Central Valley of California is more “Western Interior” than “Pacific”
    * “Deseret” should push into northern Arizona a bit further

    All in all, a great job!

  6. East Texas I’d group with the south. Very south Texas, the rio grande valley, is kind of its own thing separate from mainline Texas or southern culture.

  7. The big bend area doesn’t really seem much different to other parts of texas, maybe even more texan than some other parts of the same state. But it has more mexican cultural influence. What defines the South-West here?

  8. BoPeepElGrande on

    “Mid-Atlantic” should only extend about as far into Virginia as you’ve made it extend into South Carolina (?!) here.

  9. “North central” doesn’t make any sense to me. Northwest Minnesota has no similarities at all with western North Dakota/North eastern Montana.

  10. Please remove Oklahoma from the Texas category, that is heresy of the highest order.

    Also, advice for Texas, the South could probably move a bit more into East Texas towards towns like Vidor and Jasper, but keep it out of North Texas.

    And Cajun could probably extend a bit more West than it does.

    The Great Plains should also definitely include most of the Texas Panhandle.

    Edit: like this:

    [Example 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/texas/s/Xk9YzwigWG)

    [Example 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/s/SHeqRf8XR7)

    Notice how they treat the South/Texan division.

    ^(Imo Example 1 is the most accurate with its Southwest/Great Plains/Texan/The South distinctions. Example 2 gives a bit too much of Texas to the Plains.)

  11. Pretty good. I’ve lived in several of these regions – when I was with the Army. I’m from NC. A bigger swath of NC is still part of “The South”, and more of central VA south of Richmond is still culturally “The South”. I saw more Confederate flags in the rural areas southwest of Richmond- but still nowhere near the mountains – than I’ve seen in southeastern NC. But then, a LOT of Civil War battles were fought in that region, and the people treated pretty poorly. Their descendants still live in that area. Certainly, some family memories were handed down. Kentucky is an odd place, with respect to how to place it. Missouri was culturally “South” leading up to and during the Civil War. I wouldn’t know where to place it now.

    Still – a pretty good rendering.

  12. EquityDiversity on

    You need to separate the Great Lakes and the Midwest. The rustbelt lakeshore cities like Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, as well as mainland Michigan and NE and Southern Wisconsin have practically 0 in common with southern Illinois/Indiana.

  13. Idaho mormon land would go all the way to Fremont county and to Teton county. Teton county is a mix of mo’s and rockies.

  14. The Midwest goes too far south and east. I would probably divide it into an Upper Midwest of MN/WI/IA/most of MI/the eastern bits of the Dakotas/a bit of northern Illinois, a Chicagoland region (it’s really just its own thing), and a Lower Midwest stretching from the edge of the Appalachian Plateau in Ohio to Kansas City.

    I don’t know exactly what Erie/Buffalo/Rochester NY are, but they’re not Midwestern. Maybe an “Inland Northeast” or “Northern Appalachian” region?

    Then maybe split the Plains between an eastern NE/KS (Omaha-Lincoln-Topeka-Wichita) and the High Plains to the west? If you look at population density there’s a huge drop-off there.

  15. The only part of KY in the Midwest is the three counties that are part of the Cincinnati metro. And maybe the immediate surrounding counties but that’s a stretch.

  16. makawakatakanaka on

    The “low country” consisting of the southern coast of S.C. and Georgian coast is a major subject of southern culture, similar to how Cajun is

  17. South and North New England aren’t distinct enough to be separated from each other, and it makes more sense to include North Appalachia and Upstate NY to the Great Lakes. Still a nice map

  18. The region in south Louisiana makes some sense but please pick a name other than Cajun. That’s a very specific cultural group, and both Cajuns and non-Cajuns dislike it when people use it as a catch all term.

    Maybe consider something along the lines of Gulf South and expand it a bit further?

  19. I have trouble with the mid-Atlantic designated area. I don’t know how to fix it, but I think North Carolinians might take exception? I live in Virginia. If you divided the mid Atlantic portion of Virginia in half, east to west you would find two very different world views, generalities being what they are. An interesting effort and brave openness to challenge! KUDOS!

  20. My opinions below.

    If you’re gonna do North v. South New England you could get away with breaking up the South too.

    AR, TN, MO, KY…Mid South. LA, MS, AL, GA, north FL….Deep South. Coastal Carolinas and what you call Mid Atlantic should all be “Tidewater South”. Metropolitan should be Mid Atlantic.

  21. OpportunityGold4597 on

    I’d say that maybe the Cascadia part has too much of Northern California. I’d include Siskiyou, Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte counties (maybe Mendocino) in the Cascadia region but that’s it.

  22. If it’s a cultural thing, the “South” needs a Black Belt from SC across GA and AL and up the Mississippi River.

  23. That little bit where the rockies region extends into Oregon is… a desert basin. You could move the offset north towards to border where the Wallowa mountains are.

    NW Jersey will probably fight over being lumped in with Upstate NY, but be ok with E. PA. Likewise The west shore of Champlain won’t like being grouped with New England.

  24. You got it right with the eastern stretch of the Midwest towards Buffalo. Same culture as Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Detroit. 

  25. thedragonpolybius on

    My only real complaint is that no part of Missouri is in the Great Plains, the state of Kansas isn’t entirely within the Great Plains either (the east looks virtually the same as Missouri). Also the plains do extend down into northeastern New Mexico.

  26. Electrical_Slip_8905 on

    As an Oklahoman, I am vehemently upset at this map calling me a Texan…. uh no thanks. Lol

  27. St_BobbyBarbarian on

    Peninsular FL isn’t one cultural area. Miami is basically north Cuba/latin America, Palm Beach is lower NY, SWFL is lower Michigan, and interior central Florida that’s not part of any metro areas is Deep South (think Okeechobee, Clewiston, Frost Proof). The I4 corridor shares a lot of similarities and I’d generally lump both Orlando and Tampa as one cultural area