Mizzou

[Grizzled_Jack]

Re: Mizzou

actually, from what I've been told by the natives (and also what experience I've had here), the "Miz-ooo-rah" is mostly rural, eastern, and southern. "Miz-oo-ree" is probably more urban, western, and northern. Locals in Kansas City know they're listening to a "foreigner" when somebody comes in and tries to sound like a local by saying "Miz-ooo-rah."

Missouri has a bit of a "West-River/East River" thing going, but it's Kansas City and the north/west vs. St. Louis and the south/east. That pretty much makes Kansas City the Rapid City of Missouri, and St. Louis the Sioux Falls of the state. It's not quite as drastic as the fundamental SD division, but it's definitely a dynamic going on in the state.

Missouri is actually seven states: St. Louis, Little Dixie, the Iowa border township counties, Kansas City, Southwest Missouri, the Central Ozarks, and the Bootheel. St Louis, KC and the northern strip are Missouree. Each of these areas are completely different from each other--Little Dixie is Kentucky and tobacco--Columbia is the southern, civilized edge, the Bootheel is the Mississippi Delta --drained swamp converted to cotton. KC and StL are nothing alike. That's why nothing EVER gets done politically.

[Grizzled_Jack]

Re: Mizzou

I should have added that suburban KC is much more Democratic on the Missuri side than StL because most of the Republicans live in Johnson Co. Kansas. This effectively lessens cooperation between the state's biggest cities and keeps the place Springfield+rural dominated. AND StL is one of the few places where, when they ask you where you went to school they mean high school. This one question tells them everything they need to know about you, but works only in a place where people never move in from outside.