Talk:Mid-Atlantic (United States)

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Coastal area only, NEC minus Mass[edit]

I'm pretty sure the Mid-Atlantic especially because it includes the term Atlantic for the ocean is understood to refer to the coastal area from Virginia to New York City if not Southern Connecticut which is much more Mid-Atlantic than upstate New York or West Virginia or Western Virginia. It seems to be elusive 20th century term. B137 (talk) 07:11, 13 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Mid-Atlantic is not a real region or metro area, and it keeps changing. PA is not even on the Atlantic and here in the NY, NJ, CT METRO area - our news NEVER talks about our being in the mid-Atlantic when the weather part comes on, they seem to always point toward South Jersey on down. VA does not like being called MA because they want to be called the south, which they are. I also recall seeing truck labeled 'mid-Atlantic' in VA when I was out there once. NY and CT are NOT, ever called mid-Atlantic. 69.125.232.58 (talk) 04:59, 19 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Article wrong about clarity of definition[edit]

I agree with the two comments above that the term's definition is "elusive," particularly with respect to whether or not New York City and New York state are in the "mid-Atlantic." I think the article should better indicate that elusive nature of the term. Examples of internal contradicions in the article:

  • Lede, para 1, sentence 2 - MA "*typically*" includes five states, including [all of, presumably] NY state
  • Infobox, map, caption, "U.S. states *always* considered Mid-Atlantic states are indicated in dark red," including all of NY state
  • "Composition" section cites three example of definitions of MA:
    • example 1, USGS definition of MA, includes certain watersheds of NY state, which exclude New York City and, eg, Ithaca (though elsewhere the article says Cornell is in the MA region).
    • example 2, "sometimes" "nucleus" "considered to be" sentence, defines MA in a way that does not include NY state at all.
    • example 3, census bureau defines region as NY, NJ, and PA.
    • So two of the article's three examples contradict the statements quoted in the first two bullets.

Bottom line, this article is internally inconsistent. I think the more emphatically certain ("typically" and "always") definitions of MA in this article are wrong, as are the many parts that rely on a rigorous definition of a phrase that is, in fact, totally amorphous and poorly defined. I mean things like the list of top universities and electoral college voting records etc.

Fwiw, I suspect it would be very rare to find someone from Buffalo who said she was from the mid-Atlantic, and unusual to find someone from NYC who would, and I think UVA is far more "mid-Atlantic" than Cornell is. Sullidav (talk) 05:33, 31 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with you about how nebulous the term "Mid-Atlantic" is. I totally don't agree with the article that Maryland is one of the states that is sometimes considered part of this region. Rather, I think it is one the states that is nearly always considered part of the Mid-Atlantic, with Pennsylvania and Delaware being the other two, and Virginia having more emphasis on being seen as part of this region over New York and New Jersey. (West Virginia is somewhere in Virginia and the New York-Jersey grouping. 24.49.45.218 (talk) 19:34, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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