In NYC/SF you have insane homeless people screaming at you for ...whatever they are screaming at you for.
I think the important question is - what percentage of the population in any of these areas is really shitty to live around, and how often does a person have these types of experiences. In either case, it's hard to avoid some form of unpleasant shitty people.
All that being said, that really sucks and I hope the world changes for the better soon.
Cincinnati Pride is a week-long LGBT event that most of the city gets into.
The west coast is very conservative outside of major metros.
Minnesota, the state being discussed in the article, hasn't gone red in a presidential election since 1972 - longer than any other state. (Only DC has a longer blue streak.) We were also the first state in the midwest to legalize gay marriage via legislation rather than a court order.
Yes, the rural parts of the state are very conservative. (The district just north of me was Michele Bachmann's.) But this is true nationwide - just look at rural California or Washington.
Secondly, Minneapolis specifically is very cosmopolitan. I live here, and there's a vibrant progressive culture.
I've seen far more Trumpling culture recently on a drive through Illinois and Indiana than in my last ten years of living in Minneapolis.
I will repeat - do not _ever_ call "the Midwest" one culture again.
He's overreacting I think, but he's not entirely wrong. The midwest is by no measure more diverse than other parts of the US, and is therefore less tolerant, in general, than those other parts.
For example, Missouri and Minnesota are both in the Midwest. However, Minnesota is influenced heavily by Scandinavian culture, and Missouri is born of French and German roots. Minnesota is more interested in social engineering and a trust in government, and Missouri is more interested in social independence and religious authorities.
I'm not saying that the original commenter's experiences are invalid, but blanket statements like theirs get under my skin.
Also: nowhere did I say that the Midwest is more diverse than the rest of the United States. I'm saying that the Midwest is more than one culture and cannot be considered a single entity.
It isn't a new idea, to group large parts of what you're calling "the midwest" together culturally.
The "culture" here is called "midlands" by Colin Woodard.
Maybe the lines don't go where he drew them, but the lines absolutely exist, and cultural anthropologists have been plumbing these depths for wisdom for decades, well before Woodard arrived.
Anyone who's travelled to two places in the US will be able to immediately observe the differences.
That article said Minnesota is Yankeedom and Missouri is Greater Appalachia and Midlands.