that Maryland is, for purposes of geography, dialect, accent, and culture, really at least four distinct entities.
I think that's true of most states. Certainly Cambridge and Revere aren't really the same state. And I grew up in NJ, which is at least three wildly-different regions. (The Industrial Wasteland, the Pastoral Middle, and the Pine Barrens.)
You still call Six Flags America "Adventure World", or even "Wild World"
As opposed to MA, where you still call Six Flags "Riverside", or NJ, where you still call Six Flags "Great Adventure". *Sigh*...
*nod* It's a big country, and even if you discount the "city/suburb/rural" cultural differences (which I'm basically doing), even the smallish states are kind of big. Maryland strikes me as, well, not necessarily being more diverse overall than other states, but having rather a lot of diversity for its size. (I'm not claiming that it's at the top of the list in that regard, because there are too many states I just don't know to compare it to.) I think VA is at least three (maybe four) distinct regions; PA is at least two (but I don't know it well enough to say how many more than that).
I wonder to what extent geographical diversity affects the number of distinct cultural regions in a state. Certainly what I see in MD and VA is a mix of geography and urbanization/politics. (VA: Northern Virginia, Tidewater, the rest of the state, right? Do the mountains count separately from the middle? MD: Southern Maryland, Eastern Shore, Western Shore/Bay Area other than Baltimore and Southern Maryland, Anne Arundel county/Prince George's county inland farmland, Balto-Wash (sort of a V-shape with the wide end on DC and the point just north of Baltimore, minus Baltimore itself), Baltimore and its closest suburbs, rural/small-town central Maryland (west and north of Balto-Wash), and Western Maryland. Not sure whether to count the foothills separately from the mountains or not. Not sure whether to include Frederick with rural-central or Western.)
This is while resisting the urge to get picky over differences like those between Bowie and Rockville which I'm both lumping into Balto-Wash.
But I did wonder, as I wrote my comments, what states this sort of meme does work for.
I think VA is at least three (maybe four) distinct regions; PA is at least two (but I don't know it well enough to say how many more than that).
PA is at least three: metropolitan Philadelphia, the rich farm country in the middle, and the manufacturing/mining region in the southwest. You could advocate for the steel region (Scranton/Bethlehem) and the Main Line being two more distinct zones.
(no subject)
I think that's true of most states. Certainly Cambridge and Revere aren't really the same state. And I grew up in NJ, which is at least three wildly-different regions. (The Industrial Wasteland, the Pastoral Middle, and the Pine Barrens.)
You still call Six Flags America "Adventure World", or even "Wild World"
As opposed to MA, where you still call Six Flags "Riverside", or NJ, where you still call Six Flags "Great Adventure". *Sigh*...
(no subject)
*nod* It's a big country, and even if you discount the "city/suburb/rural" cultural differences (which I'm basically doing), even the smallish states are kind of big. Maryland strikes me as, well, not necessarily being more diverse overall than other states, but having rather a lot of diversity for its size. (I'm not claiming that it's at the top of the list in that regard, because there are too many states I just don't know to compare it to.) I think VA is at least three (maybe four) distinct regions; PA is at least two (but I don't know it well enough to say how many more than that).
I wonder to what extent geographical diversity affects the number of distinct cultural regions in a state. Certainly what I see in MD and VA is a mix of geography and urbanization/politics. (VA: Northern Virginia, Tidewater, the rest of the state, right? Do the mountains count separately from the middle? MD: Southern Maryland, Eastern Shore, Western Shore/Bay Area other than Baltimore and Southern Maryland, Anne Arundel county/Prince George's county inland farmland, Balto-Wash (sort of a V-shape with the wide end on DC and the point just north of Baltimore, minus Baltimore itself), Baltimore and its closest suburbs, rural/small-town central
Maryland (west and north of Balto-Wash), and Western Maryland. Not sure whether to count the foothills separately from the mountains or not. Not sure whether to include Frederick with rural-central or Western.)
This is while resisting the urge to get picky over differences like those between Bowie and Rockville which I'm both lumping into Balto-Wash.
But I did wonder, as I wrote my comments, what states this sort of meme does work for.
(no subject)
PA is at least three: metropolitan Philadelphia, the rich farm country in the middle, and the manufacturing/mining region in the southwest. You could advocate for the steel region (Scranton/Bethlehem) and the Main Line being two more distinct zones.