Which cities are most representative of their Census Regions?

[Del Tachi]

As in, when you think of a "Northeastern" city, with no other qualifiers or descriptors attached, where does your mind tend to go?

For me I think it's the following:

Northeast:  Philadelphia, PA.
New York City is much too unique and global to stand-in for a generic "northeastern" city.  Philadelphia seems like a better fit than Boston since it lacks the cultural specificity of New England.

Southeast:  Atlanta, GA
Fairly obvious.  Does a good job of combining the "Old" South with the New, and that duality is key to understanding the contemporary South.

Midwest:  Chicago, IL.
Also seems quite obvious.  I feel like Chicago specifically prides itself on being generically "American" (read: Midwestern.)

West:  Denver, CO
The West has a lot going on:  California, the PNW, Rocky Mountains and the Latino Southwest.  I think Denver combines elements of each in a way Los Angeles or San Francisco does not.

[Mr. Smith]

Northeast: Boston
South: Atlanta
Midwest: Detroit
West: Denver

[Sol]

Atlanta feels like the right answer, and probably is, but it's not as representative as it seems. It would be perfect if the South dropped TX/OK/FL, but those have cities that are pretty different from Atlanta and have a lot of people.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I've always seen Chicago (where I am now) as like a coastal city that happens to be located in the Midwest.

The most Midwestern city I would actually consider to be Des Moines. And this is similar to how the accent there is considered a "generic" American accent because of the lack of any notable distinctive features even though it's really just an Omaha/Iowa/central Illinois accent. Des Moines' lack of distinctive features means there's nothing notably un-Midwestern about it.

[Sol]

I've always seen Chicago (where I am now) as like a coastal city that happens to be located in the Midwest.

How so? It seems to me to be the epitome of the urban Midwest, like a large version of Milwaukee or Peoria.

[Santander]

Yeah, sorry BRTD, but you are very wrong on Chicago. Just because it's a cosmopolitan, fly-to place doesn't mean it doesn't epitomize "middle America", or at least the Midwest.

Atlanta is another obvious choice and hard to argue against.

[Crumpets]

Dang, the West varies so much - and even includes Alaska and Hawaii. Most of the population is on the coast, but the coastal cities are also at one extreme end of the cultural spectrum. I'll say Bend, OR as a mid-size city that has both a lot of coast people and inland people and really exemplifies the cultural crossover of rich techies, hippie granola types, and rural conservatives.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The reason I don't see Chicago as very Midwestern might be a "very BRTD" reason but it's because "ethnic whites" actually are a thing there, as is "cultural Catholicism". Pretty stark contrast to like Des Moines or Madison or of course right here Twin Cities.

[Sol]

The reason I don't see Chicago as very Midwestern might be a "very BRTD" reason but it's because "ethnic whites" actually are a thing there, as is "cultural Catholicism". Pretty stark contrast to like Des Moines or Madison or of course right here Twin Cities.

Bit cherrypicked, doncha think? Des Moines and I think the Twin Cities were underrepresented in the most recent waves of European immigration in the early 20th century, and the same applies to Madison which is very much a "new economy" city. Meanwhile I think just about everyone would call St. Louis, Milwaukee, or Cleveland Midwestern.

[wnwnwn]

Albany?
Memphis
Indianapolis
Sacramento?