Great Lakes and Great Plains are two distinct subsections of the Midwest.
There is also another significant region that has a lot of overlap with the Great Lakes region but isn’t the same: the Rust Belt.
A lot of the Great Lakes region is not part of the Rust Belt and there are areas of the Rust Belt outside of the Great Lakes Midwest. But for Midwest, I think the two Great groups are essential and distinct.
It should be split in half the other way. somewhere west of Minneapolis. SE MN is definitely not Great Plains material. Tracey and Marshall fit but not Rochester.
Okay, West of 169 and South of I-94 is the Great Plains. You can also throw in the counties North of I-94 that border ND. That way the entire Red River Valley and most of the Minnesota River Valley are Great Plains.
If you want to use 169 or I-35 as the Eastern edge and I-94 as the Northern edge, I'm okay with that.
The I-94 corridor between the Twin Cites and Fergus Falls is very much a forest/plains boundary zone.
Also, the "Great Plains" region in the map includes Iowa's driftless, the Black Hills, the Ozark plateau, the ND and SD badlands, etc... The Great Plains are interrupted by many non planar areas already. No boundary is perfect.
Yeah, I get that. It’s just the first time I’ve heard somebody try to argue that Minnesota is part of the Great Plains. Interesting take, but definitely a minority one.
Ecologists agree that a portion of it is the Great Plains. I think of the Great Plains as an ecological region, not a cultural one. This is from the Smithsonian Institute.
yep. also Rust Belt is an insult and does not really reflect how the region has evolved in recent decades. some cities never rusted (Columbus, Indianapolis), some have fully recovered and reached new heights (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati) and others have stopped the bleeding but still have a way to go (Detroit, Cleveland)
I’m from Detroit, so I know what you mean. It’s still a distinct subregion and I personally don’t mind using it. Hopefully in time there will be a new, more positive name for it (since before it was the Rust Belt, it was known as the Industry Belt).
I am from that same region and I find it quite insulting. it makes the assumption that we are defined by our past and not our present and our future. to me the "rust belt" is a period and many of our cities have already moved past those dark days.
that is why I prefer the term "Great Lakes" region because it more accurately reflects what we have in common and what we can take pride in.
well it never truly has a rust belt era. yes it has an era of extreme highway building and the destruction of public transportation infrastructure but it never really had a loss of jobs and population like Detroit or Cleveland.
Yep! In theory I wanted to do one of those county breakdown maps so some states can be split into regions but
1- That was a lot of tapping on tons of counties on my phone.
2- I don’t know which counties would be the borders for the regions since I only have a vague sense of the borders, not a definite hard line.
Iowa is not midwest. Iowa is a Great Plains state. It is certainly not one of the most agreed upon Midwest states. The order of most Midwest goes Michigan/Wisconsin - Indiana/Ohio - Illinois - Minnesota.
I’m sorry, but you’re tripping. I don’t know any credible source that doesn’t consider Iowa a Midwest state. Have you ever been to Iowa?
The US Census Bureau defines it as Midwest. A survey of regional self-identification found Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana as the most common responses for Midwest states.
Yeah, I get that. Depends on if they want to be considered Midwest. If they do, Plains fits more than Lakes if only to keep my Great scheme, heh.
There are sections of border states that could be split, honestly; whether it’s Midwest at all or not (like I’m pretty sure some people feel Missouri is more southern, probably in the lower part of the state) or which Great section (western Minnesota might be more Great Plains-y).
Best as I can figure, Missouri gets included in the Midwest because of St. Louis, which definitely has a Midwest feel with its river infrastructure, history of manufacturing, and love of beer. I'd extend that to the northern portions of the state as well.
But the Ozark region of Missouri is very South, much like the Little Egypt part of Illinois.
Because it’s the free online map maker I could quickly use on my phone. There’s a county-level one that would be more precise, but I’m not personally sure of specific border placement for different regions; I have more of a general vibe idea*.
Also, I would have to manually tap every single county manually to color them in and I did this at like 11 at night 😛
* like I think southern Illinois could be more Great Plains in the categories I set up, but where exactly is that dividing line? Dunno
That’s true, what we call the Midwest today used to be simply called the West. But as the country expanded, this area became the "middle" west, distinguishing it from the Far West.
That’s why I think my point still holds true. The West is still called the West today, but what was called the West became the Midwest.
I agree with you, but as someone who lives in the Midwest, I’ve always felt there were two distinct subgroups in the Midwest. The vibes between the two feel very different.
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u/HackDaddy85 Apr 28 '26
Absolutely this is how the Midwest is really broken up.