Exactly. Trump clearly sees Biden as his biggest threat but he's also showing his age. I would take any of a number of the top Dems but I agree that Biden and Bernie both need to drop out -- not that either will. But I agree that once one passes 75 that is way too old for the presidential office. It is an exhausting job assuming you are doing it.
Also thanks for the link to the article on Midwesterners. My SO is one by birth and we've now both been here for 16 years but I would have no better opinion on what the Midwest is like. Like many places, I suspect, it all depends on where in the Midwest you live. For example, college towns are very similar all over the U.S. Some are more upscale than others, but it depends on how close it is to a large city and how big the town is vs. where I think.
Especially with the chain-ification of U.S. retail and entertainment, I think that there are local traditions and celebrations but otherwise daily life is probably pretty similar depending on your immediate area rather than location in the country. I've lived in metropolises, large cities and small cities (though never in a rural area) in the South, West Coast, and now Midwest (and I visited often in the Northeast). I think someone once asked about moving to places sight unseen and I told them that if you live in a nice apartment/neighborhood it doesn't really matter what part of the country you're in. I have nothing to offer regarding its culture or distinctiveness.
Its landscape is, of course, relevant in marking it from other geographical spaces. I remember someone commenting soon after I got here about how flat everything is. But I grew up in Florida. Many people live in desert states. There's a lot of flat going around, frankly.
What it does not have are a lot of trees. It has some forests and parklands but anything south of Chicago is a lot of farmland. But when I grew up in Orlando, it was also a city surrounded by farmland and citrus groves. Some of the nearby counties are still heavily agricultural but the last 50 years have been an example of urban sprawl building over former groves and farmland.
In short, I think rural and small towns everywhere are more alike than disinctive, as are large cities.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2019-10-02 02:15 am (UTC)Also thanks for the link to the article on Midwesterners. My SO is one by birth and we've now both been here for 16 years but I would have no better opinion on what the Midwest is like. Like many places, I suspect, it all depends on where in the Midwest you live. For example, college towns are very similar all over the U.S. Some are more upscale than others, but it depends on how close it is to a large city and how big the town is vs. where I think.
Especially with the chain-ification of U.S. retail and entertainment, I think that there are local traditions and celebrations but otherwise daily life is probably pretty similar depending on your immediate area rather than location in the country. I've lived in metropolises, large cities and small cities (though never in a rural area) in the South, West Coast, and now Midwest (and I visited often in the Northeast). I think someone once asked about moving to places sight unseen and I told them that if you live in a nice apartment/neighborhood it doesn't really matter what part of the country you're in. I have nothing to offer regarding its culture or distinctiveness.
Its landscape is, of course, relevant in marking it from other geographical spaces. I remember someone commenting soon after I got here about how flat everything is. But I grew up in Florida. Many people live in desert states. There's a lot of flat going around, frankly.
What it does not have are a lot of trees. It has some forests and parklands but anything south of Chicago is a lot of farmland. But when I grew up in Orlando, it was also a city surrounded by farmland and citrus groves. Some of the nearby counties are still heavily agricultural but the last 50 years have been an example of urban sprawl building over former groves and farmland.
In short, I think rural and small towns everywhere are more alike than disinctive, as are large cities.