<p>In the Reagan years every kid coming out of college had good job prospects. Hardly just the rich. The midwest had a major recovery for all the working people in that region compared to the Carter debacle.</p>
<p>'Is the northeast really that full of atheists? And if so, why?"</p>
<p>I guess I meant just the part of Maryland I was from. I don't know about other places. I just knew that no one I knew went to church regularly when I lived in MD.</p>
<p>Not going to church regularly doesn't make someone an atheist.</p>
<p>I've lived in Southern California my whole life, but both my parents are from the Midwest (Iowa and Nebraska) and all of my family still lives there, so we visit at least once a year. I am sorry, but I am always so BORED whenever I have to go visit. There are always so many different things to do in California and the midwest just cannot compare. I would definitely agree that the Midwest is more conservative, as well. Not just politically, though. When it comes to family values, I have noticed the the Midwest is extremely different from California. As a person who has lived in CA her whole life, I would have a hard time going to school in the Midwest.</p>
<p>After visiting Boston during college visits over the summer, one of the things that struck me the most about the city was how friendly the people were there. There was one point where my dad and I were on a street corner looking at a map and someone came out of their way to give us directions even though we hadn't asked her for help. We noticed how friendly and helpful people were in several other instances, as well.</p>
<p>Ronald Reagan pwns all.</p>
<p>Your just a liberal and what you know is wrong</p>
<p>California is Liberal? You mean parts of it look at this
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/US_presidential_election_2004_results_by_county.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/US_presidential_election_2004_results_by_county.jpg</a></p>
<p>that is farms and stuff in poopyfornia</p>
<p>Maryland is south</p>
<p>
[quote]
California is Liberal? You mean parts of it look at this
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...y_county.jp%5B/url%5D">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...y_county.jp</a> g
[/quote]
Still, the majority of the population happens to reside in those blue districts.</p>
<p>I said that poopyland was actually California, because people smell like poop there.</p>
<p>People always turn to liberalism in the end. Previously liberal ideas like abortion, civil rights, welfare, public school funding, increased religious freedom, environmental regulations, workers' rights, etc. are now the status quo. Stem cell research, gay marriage, tighter fuel standards, etc. are the way of the future. Like it or not, but in the long run, liberal ideas win out. Today's cons are almost like yesterday's liberals.
Oh yeah, the Clinton years demonstrated the greatest state in which our economy has ever been. Reagan can't compare. He's also dead.</p>
<p>Cordova, your description of where you live now is EXACTLY what we're experiencing, to the point where we considered sending both kids to boarding school until they can get out for college. I've told them both that under no circumstances will they be staying around here for college. (and I'm a white, Republican WASP....practicing Episcopalian and its still too narrow minded for me!)</p>
<p>I came from Long Island, New York and am a freshman at North Carolina State University. I'm a hard core liberal but found no problems with the transition. It opened my eyes to new ideas and helped me really figure out my views on certain subjects.</p>
<p>I came from a suburb of Boston. I was devoted to the city, but I wanted to see something different, something that seemed far away to me. I went to Lawrence University, a small school in a city of about 60,000 people in Wisconsin. The differences were fascinating. I grew to love the Midwest, the wide open spaces, the stories and speech and friendship of the people there, being welcomed into the homes of friends in several states, Chicago and its music, and all that Madison offered students.</p>
<p>The only difficulty that I had was in the first semester. The environment seemed flat and empty and unchanging; though the truth is that I was too busy to think about it much. I knew that I had changed when I got home at Christmas and felt all hemmed-in by the city; I recall clearly the feeling of claustrophobia that I had.</p>
<p>The truth is that Wisconsin has an interesting political history. It's possible that I would not have been as welcome in every part of the country as I was in the upper Midwest. Since then I have traveled in much of the country, and have observed some pretty nasty regional prejudices. (To be fair, a southern friend of mine here in NJ hasn't always felt welcomed here).</p>
<p>But as for my time in the Midwest - I am grateful. And amazed that I could have been so lucky as to have made the choice to go there.</p>
<p>i believe it would be more difficult for a southerner to adjust to all the *******s up north than someone from the northeast coming to the south</p>
<p>This is the silliest thread I have ever read.</p>
<p>Yes. You are right tsdad. Let's talk about what is the better school -- Harvard, Yale or Stanford.</p>
<p>Stanford cause its NOT on the East Coast. lol.</p>
<p>"Not going to church regularly doesn't make someone an atheist."</p>
<p>I'm aware of what an atheist is but I'm just trying to say that all or most of my friends were atheists, or agnostics. I don't want to generalize Maryland, because there is the "southern" side of Maryland. I lived in the Baltimore-ish area though, so it was a little different.</p>
<p>From reading some of the posts on here it seems like people are genralizing the midwest as ultra conservative and all farms with people that cant adapt to the northeast. I live in kansas and moved here from massachusetts. There are liberal people and most people dont actually live on farms. Also, someone said most hadnt left there homestate, that is def not true, i dont think ive met anybody that hasnt. If someone can't adapt to the northeast, its prob someone that either cant adapt to beign away from family or just someone really weird. I think most people coudl adapt just fine and I think its the same way comeing from the northeast</p>
<p>My Portland, Oregon son went to Drew in NJ and came back within a week. Not sure whether it was the geographical culture shock, the size and composition of the student body or just living in a dorm environment, but he was absolutely miserable to the point that he couldn't even contemplate staying through a single term. All the schools he considered, with exception of Whitman in Washington were in Northeast. For the time being he's back in Portland, attending Portland State. He'll spend at least a semester or two studying abroad, might transfer to a different school and will probably go somewhere in the NE for grad school. But for now, he's just ecstatically happy and relieved to be here and not there. Ya just never know...</p>