The Regions Project has mainly been developed by me - Alex Dean, most recently of Prescott, Arizona.
I grew up in South Dakota, and still think of that as my home. Growing up I always heard that we were part of 'the Midwest'. From time to time, I heard this label applied to places as far away as Ohio or Colorado, and I wondered what 'the Midwest' really was. As time went on, I started to think that 'the Midwest' to some people was anywhere in the US without a coast or a mountain range. I really started to hate the term, because I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to mean. I loved where I was from, and wanted a label which described it more fully.
I've had lots of interesting conversations with people over the years about where 'the Midwest' is. I've wondered about where 'the West' begins, or if Texas is part of 'the West' or 'the South'. A year in Scotland, where I learned not just about the differences between England and Scotland, but about the differences between different regions within each country, left me wondering why we in the US don't spend more time discussing this kind of thing.
It was questions like this which got me thinking about this project. The Web offers a great way to ask lots of you what you think, and to be able to compare your responses and see if any kinds of patterns emerge.
Above all, I've wondered how the places where we live affect the kind of people we become. Our country seems bent on constructing a kind of bland sameness, where every city looks like every other city, and cities are seen as the only places to be. I've always been from the places between the cities, and I've always looked for the things which make places different and unique. I wonder if you all do the same.
I have to thank a lot of people for helping me with this project. I'm singling out only two, but countless others have helped me in conversation, in suggesting books, in testing this site, and in just being interested. To all my family and friends who fit this description, thank you.
Thank you Sara. For encouraging me, for helping me find time to work on this, and for telling me it could be done when I was sure it couldn't.
Thank you Pete Nekola. For helping me to think about this stuff, for arguing with me about it, for sending me books about the subject, and for always being the one I wanted to call when I wanted to talk regions.