At a time when it can seem Americans have never been more divided, one issue stirs up passions like no other. I speak, of course, of the definition of “the Midwest.”
Delineating that great vast middle of the country—interior but definitely not Southern, west of the Northeast, but not the West—isn’t just a matter of parochial concern to the tens of millions of Americans with ties to the region. It also speaks to an abiding fascination of our current political moment: trying to pin down some romanticized “Heartland.” CONT.
David Montgomery, CityLab