Quote:
Originally Posted by lio45
Though now that I've typed this, there's an even more obvious grey zone within New York State which is certainly itself a continuum between "squarely Great Lakes" in its westernmost parts and "squarely Northeast/BosWash" in its extreme southeastern parts. Basically, these two so-called megaregions inevitably have some vaguely-defined contact areas where they touch or overlap.
|
For sure. Rochester and Buffalo are squarely within the midwest, and they've got the nasally "Northern Cities Vowel Shift" accent to prove it (like in Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis). But once you hit Ithaca you really do feel like you've left the midwest and have entered the northeast. My sister teaches at Ithaca College, we make regular trips there, and it's fascinating how different it feels from anything in New York north and northwest of it.
Actually, it's also fascinating how it feels just a tiny bit less alien to southern Ontario than Buffalo or Detroit do. While I'm certainly not suggesting that New England is similar to southern Ontario culturally, I do think you really would have tons of cross-border romances and cultural activities, more of a Vancouver-Seattle thing going on, if it were Boston that were two hours away from Toronto and not, argh...fucking
Buffalo.
I have no patience for Buffalo. Or the rust belt personality in general, characterized as it is by a nasty accent and a tetchy, passive-aggressive dourness.
Da Bears.