The "last eastern city" and "first western city"

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Crawford

What about Europe? Vienna? Prague? Berlin?

The Cold War really messed with the old conception of Central Europe...

[YVR_Future]

Originally Posted by SHiRO

Istanbul

Geographically speaking, really one of the only cities that could objectively meet that moniker.

[pdxtex]

the east ends at pittsburgh and the west begins at denver. terr durrrrrr.

[dc_denizen]

By east, do we mean countries with heritage of eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium? Or Islamic world?

[goat314]

St. Louis is the last Eastern City. Northern most Southern city and Southern most Northern city. A true border town.

[ue]

In the European context, I find it strange that Eastern Europe is considered by many on here not Western or even European. Places such as Russia and Poland and Hungary have plenty of influence from the richer, traditionally democratic Western European countries. And how isn't Byzantium apart of the West? Istanbul could work as a borderland, however.

In the American context, I'm not sure. The Midwest is a gradual transition zone that makes it hard to pin down the actual delineation. Somewhere like Minneapolis seems more 'Western', even if it's not cowboys and ranches Western. St Louis and Chicago, however, aren't really Western at all, and although I think stylistically, they're more Eastern than Western, I don't think anyone in New York or Pittsburgh or Baltimore would consider either to be Eastern cities. The "East proper" seems to start in Michigan or Ohio.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by ue

In the European context, I find it strange that Eastern Europe is considered by many on here not Western or even European. Places such as Russia and Poland and Hungary have plenty of influence from the richer, traditionally democratic Western European countries.

It wasn't uncommon for people in say, Budapest, to get irate when you referred to Hungary as eastern Europe. They're sophisticated central Europeans.

(Of course given the depressing state of affairs in Hungary these days they're really in no position to look down on anyone!)

[Docere]

Originally Posted by ue

In the American context, I'm not sure. The Midwest is a gradual transition zone that makes it hard to pin down the actual delineation. Somewhere like Minneapolis seems more 'Western', even if it's not cowboys and ranches Western. St Louis and Chicago, however, aren't really Western at all, and although I think stylistically, they're more Eastern than Western, I don't think anyone in New York or Pittsburgh or Baltimore would consider either to be Eastern cities. The "East proper" seems to start in Michigan or Ohio.

W and K call letters?

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by Ex-Ithacan

I have a feeling if you asked native New Yorkers, most would say the east ends at the Hudson River and the west starts at Jersey City.

You're joking, but that's not too far from the truth. One time a friend and I were talking to a couple girls from Manhattan at a bar in the East Village. We got onto the topic of where they went to school, since we were in college, and they said they went to school "down South". We guessed and guessed and guessed: University of Georgia? Vanderbilt? UNC? Virginia? LSU? It turns out they went to school where we were going, at the University of Delaware. Northern Delaware, only 2 hours away and north of the Mason-Dixon Line, was "down South" to them.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by ThePhun1

Okay, semi-scratch everything I just wrote. It's not totally invalid but here's my new criterIa that popped into my head. The west starts west of the Rockies and the east starts east of the Mississippi. We have three contenders in St. Paul, New Orleans and Memphis. None seem really eastern so we move a little further east and there's Chicago. As for the west, it seems like a tie between Salt Lake and Phoenix. To break it, we move further west and the answer is Las Vegas.

Las Vegas and Chicago. Okay, that's not what I really believe but I at least tried something more scientific.

Denver is east of the Rockies but very much a Western City. You were right the first time. Billings, Cheyenne, Ft Collins, Denver, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, El Paso, are probably the eastern fringe cities of the West in the US.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

It turns out they went to school where we were going, at the University of Delaware. Northern Delaware, only 2 hours away and north of the Mason-Dixon Line, was "down South" to them.

Maybe Delaware doesn't have a strong Geography curriculum.

[ThePhun1]

Originally Posted by dktshb

Denver is east of the Rockies but very much a Western City. You were right the first time. Billings, Cheyenne, Ft Collins, Denver, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, El Paso, are probably the eastern fringe cities of the West in the US.

It's still on the Plains. I'm right, you're wrong. Accept it, I just have to be right.

[dc_denizen]

Originally Posted by Docere

It wasn't uncommon for people in say, Budapest, to get irate when you referred to Hungary as eastern Europe. They're sophisticated central Europeans.

(Of course given the depressing state of affairs in Hungary these days they're really in no position to look down on anyone!)

They're the descendants of barbarian Magyars that were pagans who roasted their enemies as late as 1300. Hardly western.

[goat314]

I think the problem with this thread, like many others, is that we don't really have clear definitions for what somebody means when they say "East" or "West" outside of broad geographic designations. Do we mean aesthetically, culturally, historically, economically, etc.? Also, what would be the archetypal Eastern or Western city? Boston is very different than Baltimore. Seattle is nothing like LA. So let's get some parameters then it gets fun.

[ThePhun1]

While not perfect, I think the geographic boundaries are best. West of Tornado Alley or the Rockies for the west and east of the Mississippi or Appalachians for the east.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

They're the descendants of barbarian Magyars that were pagans who roasted their enemies as late as 1300. Hardly western.

Most of the Budapest cultural, intellectual and scientific elite in the early 20th century was Jewish (and to be fair Hungarian Jews - or those in post-Trianon Hungary at least - were more more like western-type German Jews than eastern-type Polish or Russian Jews).

[dc_denizen]

indeed, hungarian jews of the early 20th century were some of the most stellar intellectuals of all time.

but it doesn't change the cultural background of the vast majority of hungarians, which is from a barbarian people that was a latecomer to western civilization.

[pico44]

Kansas City

[dc_denizen]

in the US, there are four regions in the country: east, midwest, west, south.

Pittsburgh is at the dividing line between east and midwest.

Kansas city is at the dividing line between midwest and west.

DC is at the dividing line between south and east.

St Louis is at the dividing line between south and midwest

Dallas is at the dividing line between west and south.

[Capsicum]

A part of Alaska, Semisopochnoi Island, is so far west, when you reach there, you end up in the eastern hemisphere, so you could argue that it's the easternmost part of North America.

But it's uninhabited.

Using the more conventional view of "east vs. west" from a North American perspective, the easternmost part of North America would be somewhere in either Newfoundland or Greenland.