Middle America
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- For other uses, see Middle America (disambiguation).
Middle America is an American colloquialism used—in contrast to "coastal America"—to describe a region of the United States that, geographically, comprises the bulk of the nation.
Similar to the phrase, "Third World", the term "Middle America" is often disdained because it assigns a large set of culturally, geographically, and socially quite different regions a vague and unflattering label.
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As a Cultural and Geographical Label
Geographically, the label "Middle America" refers to the territory between the East (particularly the Northeast) and West coasts of the United States, and may refer to the inland portions of coastal states, especially if they are rural. Much of the California Central Valley and inland Pennsylvania, for example, are typically considered to be "Middle American". Alternatively, the term is used to the describe the midwestern United States.
"Middle America" can also be used as more of a cultural than a geographical label, suggesting a small town or suburb where most people are middle class and White ,and is often caricatured in the same way as is the American 1950s decade. The idea of "Middle America" may exclude such locations as Chicago (the third-largest city in the United States and one of the world's ten Alpha world cities) and the very wealthy Aspen, Colorado. On the other hand, the coastal regions of the Southern United States are often implicitly included.
Other, more derisive terms with similar cultural and geographic meaning include "flyover country" and "white-bread America", and depict its citizenry as uncosmopolitan, anti-progressive, bland, and lacking in culture and ethnic diversity when compared with bicoastalites.
Economy
The economy of "Middle America" is, traditionally, agricultural, though presently most "Middle Americans" live in suburban locales. Compared to coastal America, home prices tend to be low (because land is abundant) and economic disparities are less pronounced. Housing prices in "Middle America" tend to be significantly less volatile than those on the coasts, and houses tend to appreciate in value more slowly within Middle America.
Politics
The phrase "Middle American values" is a political cliche, which like "family values", is ill-defined. For example, said values usually involve conservative politics, yet a comparison of Madison, Wisconsin against East Palo Alto, California refutes this stereotype.
Many of the political battleground states are situated in "Middle America".
"Middle America" in fiction
The Kurt Vonnegut novel Breakfast of Champions is set in "Midland City" a satirical Middle American City.
In The Simpsons, the titular family inhabits a town called Springfield, usually considered to be a parody of stereotypical "Middle America". This depiction is satirical, though not maliciously so in that it lampoons an idea, a "dinner at 6" suburban America that does not exist and never did.
The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes portrays "Middle America" as a "magical world" of lazy summers, snowy winters, open land, and abundant wagon rides. However, the desires of Calvin for instant self-fulfillment can be seen as a satire of the personality of one who is raised in that area.
American Beauty also satirises Middle America, specifically as a suburban, middle-class family.