[LeiraHoward]

On this forum, the divisions of what states go in which categories seems rather unique... I have never seen "Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming" called "Mid West" before. Most of those states are rather what I have heard called "the Rocky Mountain Region"

"Midwest" normally refers to states including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin etc.

This difference in labeling has led to confusion over where things should be posted. Currently on the midwest forum, there are many posts from traditional Midwest states (OH, MI), even though that forum is supposed to be for Colorado, Nevada, etc. I would say this is most likely due to the fact that people who live in the midwestern states are so used to being "Midwest" that they don't even consider that they might be in another category. You can also see that there is a sticky on the MidWest forum for Indiana, even though, technically, it should be in the East Central forum. The forums don't seem to be checked for this sort of overlap, and moving threads from one forum to another would be a full-time job. It doesn't seem likely that people will change the forums they post to, either.

The simplest (for the administrators) solution to this would be to rename the region currently called "Mid West" (Nevada, etc.) to "Rocky Mountains" (or another suitable name suggested by inhabitants of the area) and the regions currently called "East Central" (Wisconsin, etc.) and "West Central" be renamed "Midwest" to eliminate this confusion.

I would suggest that either the current "East Central" and "West Central" forums be merged into one forum called "Midwest" or else they be renamed to "Eastern Midwest" and "Western Midwest" (which, I'll admit, sounds rather clunky).

Just a suggestion, which I hope makes it into the hands of the appropriate people.

Thanks!

[JudisStang]

Hi Leira!

Great post!! Thank you for taking the time to put this into words for our site owner!

I have asked that very same question... several times...

I'll be looking forward to an answer!!

[LeiraHoward]

No problem.

For comparison, a list of some of the divisions commonly used, and maps depicting them (you can see that there is some overlap):
Regions of the United States: Regions Defined
I. Map of the Regions: (East/West)
II. Map of the Regions: (Northeastern, Northwestern, Southwestern)
III. Map of the Regions: (Atlantic, Midwest)
IV. Map of the Regions: (Northwest, New Southwest, South)
V. Map of the Regions: (New England, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, Old Southwest, Rocky Mountains, Pacific)

[DROPTOP STANG]

to say ohio is "midwest" is not geographically correct.

utah, is midwest. if you look at it on a map. ohio should be more like "mideast"

i say we break the section down by states if anything

[JudisStang]

I agree... I love the state idea... less confusing and I think it might get used more??

[LeiraHoward]

Originally Posted by DROPTOP STANG

to say ohio is "midwest" is not geographically correct.

utah, is midwest. if you look at it on a map. ohio should be more like "mideast"

Yeah, I know, I know... It's a remnant from back when Ohio *was* part of the west (before there were states west of the Mississippi River). And while, yes, if you want to be technical and look at the map, Utah is in the middle of the west, Nevada and Arizona would be in the south part of west, and Montana would be in the north part of west... Gets pretty confusing.

Anyway, my point is that rather than making up new divisions, this forum should use established ones to eliminate confusion. (Just Google "Midwest United States" and see what comes up). The current system is obviously quite confusing to a lot of people, as evidenced by the many posts being put in the wrong forums.

To change the forums to be by states might be a good idea, though. It would definitely get long. Fifty separate forums, plus ones for places like American Samoa, Guam, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico

[PhoenixSheriden]

+1 on that. when i went looking for indiana i had the devils own time finding it and didnt even bother to go back to the forum after that. most hoosiers will tell you that indiana has always been considered part of the heartland, not the east. we had enough trouble with that sorta thing when lawmakers wanted to change our timezone to eastern...what sense does it make for indiana to be in the same time zone as the state of maine???