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Comment by outside1234 | Hacker News Reader

I grew up in Saint Joseph unbelievably (which is one of the zip codes that qualify).

AMA if anyone is interested in this option (now live in California because of beforementioned soul crushing winters and love of mountains).

Great option for families primarily. Saint Joseph and Stevensville schools are extremely good (like at least private school in the bay area good). Beach life is great in the summer and the fresh water lakes are great if you are into sort of the fishing sort of outdoors. Houses are cheap with a huge amount of lawn (this can be viewed as a downside too).

That said, it is the midwest. You should like watching football and basketball. You should be ok hanging out with Republicans but it is only R leaning, not a crazy MAGA area. There is not a ton of bars and restaurants and church is a major factor in a lot of people's social lives. (But kids soccer games, super bowl parties, etc. are too.)

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It sounds like you're saying all of the midwest is like that, which it definitely is not. Madison, where I live, is highly liberal, church is definitely not core to the social fabric, and we have a passionate soccer community (point being: hardly as limited as made out to be).

Madison? A capital city and a college town? Highly liberal?

I don't think people define the midwest by the midwests' Urban cores. They define it by fields of food and suburban sprawl.

I think you'd want to at least consider defining it by where most people actually live in the Midwest, no?

Regardless, generalizations about the Midwest don't make any sense because it's so varied depending on where you live.

I am not, I am only talking about the five or six zip codes this applies to.

Sheesh, you’re painting “the Midwest” with a HUGE brush that’s not fair and not even accurate in many cases for a region of the country as large and disparate as this one-aren’t you?

I’ve lived in, worked in, or visited lots of the Midwest. It’s fair to generalize about the Midwest- the region has a distinct group of related cultures. Same is true of the west coast. Sure, it exists on a spectrum and is far less true of the cities than of the exurbs and smaller towns, but I don't think the GP was being unfair.

I don't think the GP was being unfair.

Ok, you're allowed to think that. I just think saying "it's the midwest" and then bringing attention to a list of social-indicators that aren't really specific to or even unique about the Midwest is by my definition a very incomplete portrait of the region and the people (like me) living here.

I’m talking about five zip codes that this policy extends to and I grew up there and visit often. I’m pretty sure this pretty accurately is the centroid of the culture - not saying there aren’t other subcultures.

St. Joseph is a quaint tourist town. But Ann Arbor, Lansing, and other towns are fun too. I haven't lived in MI but visited often. Lake effect snow is a bitch :(

My understanding is that AA, Lansing, and beyond don't qualify. It's basically Berrien county.

Is Benton Harbor getting better or worse?

I wish I could report it was getting better but my perception is that it is not.

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