Which state has the most distinct regions represented?

[Ancestral Republican]

The big ones like Texas and Cali could be argued, but I'll hazard a guess at Pennsylvania. Northeastern state, with Philly fitting a lot of the characteristics and history of a big East Coast city. West from there around the capital of Harrisburg and Gettysburg is in the Chesapeake watershed and is similar to the Mid Atlantic region. The Susquehanna Valley in the Northeast begins a roughly diagonal portion of the state reflecting the Appalachian mountains with coal mining, agriculture (especially dairy and wheat) and other industries. Parts of the Pittsburgh metro area fit this description, but it also has a Midwest/Rust Belt feel with an aging population and a former hub for heavy industries. The northwest with Erie has been a prime spot for shipping, military, and tourist activities on Lake Erie on the Great Lakes, so Erie has a lot in common with Cleveland and Buffalo.

Thoughts?

[Roll Roons]

Illinois is another contender. You have a massive city, its suburbs, old industrial areas, farm country, and a slice of Appalachia.

[bagelman]

Illinois is another contender. You have a massive city, its suburbs, old industrial areas, farm country, and a slice of Appalachia.

No part of IL is Appalachia instead it's more of the MS delta. The ruins of Cairo wouldn't be terribly out of place down in MS or LA.

[Roll Roons]

Illinois is another contender. You have a massive city, its suburbs, old industrial areas, farm country, and a slice of Appalachia.

No part of IL is Appalachia instead it's more of the MS delta. The ruins of Cairo wouldn't be terribly out of place down in MS or LA.

Far Southeastern IL (think John Shimkus' district) definitely feels Appalachian.

[bagelman]

Illinois is another contender. You have a massive city, its suburbs, old industrial areas, farm country, and a slice of Appalachia.

No part of IL is Appalachia instead it's more of the MS delta. The ruins of Cairo wouldn't be terribly out of place down in MS or LA.

Far Southeastern IL (think John Shimkus' district) definitely feels Appalachian.

Not quite



Far southeast IL, further away from the MS delta, is part of the Ohio Valley along with south IL, west-central KY, and up to Cincinnati OH. If we consider Appalachia to include northern Alabama then this region also includes the Nashville metro. This is the region it belongs to, it might feel Appalachian because it has more in common with Appalachia than any other region of IL does.

This map is a very liberal and broad definition of Appalachia, but no part of IL counts.

[Ancestral Republican]

Illinois is another contender. You have a massive city, its suburbs, old industrial areas, farm country, and a slice of Appalachia.

No part of IL is Appalachia instead it's more of the MS delta. The ruins of Cairo wouldn't be terribly out of place down in MS or LA.

Far Southeastern IL (think John Shimkus' district) definitely feels Appalachian.

Not quite



Far southeast IL, further away from the MS delta, is part of the Ohio Valley along with south IL, west-central KY, and up to Cincinnati OH. If we consider Appalachia to include northern Alabama then this region also includes the Nashville metro. This is the region it belongs to, it might feel Appalachian because it has more in common with Appalachia than any other region of IL does.

This map is a very liberal and broad definition of Appalachia, but no part of IL counts.

He's not saying it's literally in the Appalachian mountains, he's saying it culturally resembles Appalachia, which could very well be true.

[Figueira]

The big ones like Texas and Cali could be argued, but I'll hazard a guess at Pennsylvania. Northeastern state, with Philly fitting a lot of the characteristics and history of a big East Coast city. West from there around the capital of Harrisburg and Gettysburg is in the Chesapeake watershed and is similar to the Mid Atlantic region. The Susquehanna Valley in the Northeast begins a roughly diagonal portion of the state reflecting the Appalachian mountains with coal mining, agriculture (especially dairy and wheat) and other industries. Parts of the Pittsburgh metro area fit this description, but it also has a Midwest/Rust Belt feel with an aging population and a former hub for heavy industries. The northwest with Erie has been a prime spot for shipping, military, and tourist activities on Lake Erie on the Great Lakes, so Erie has a lot in common with Cleveland and Buffalo.

Thoughts?

You seem to be double-counting regions here. The "Mid-Atlantic" is a subregion of the Northeast that includes Philly, and the "Rust Belt" includes Cleveland and Buffalo.

You can theoretically divide any state into a million different regions. If you wanted to answer this question in any meaningful way, you'd have to define the regions first, and then find where they intersect. If we're going with the four main regions that are often talked about, then I'd say Texas (West/South/Midwest) definitely counts. I'm not sure where the Northeast, Midwest, and South intersect, but I'm guessing somewhere around Pennsylvania or West Virginia.