A geography question for you: I'm formulating a regional study, and I'm trying to decide what areas to include as "Northwest Ohio". Do you know of official designations by the state? What do you consider to be the boundaries of NW Ohio?

 

In this terribly unscientific wikipedia map:

Core Counties: Williams, Fulton, Lucas, Ottawa, Defiance, Henry, Wood, Sandusky, Paulding, Putnam, Hancock, Van Wert, Seneca

Possible Counties: Erie, Huron, Crawford, Wyandot, Hardin, Allen

Unlikely Counties: Mercer, Auglaize, Marion, Morrow, Richland, Ashland

 

What are some other designations I might consider? Media markets? Trade areas? Area codes?

 

I appreciate your suggestions!

I suppose I consider anything west of Sandusky to be NWO..... going south to maybe a county or so beyond BG.  JMPO.

I was going to suggest the 419 area code, but that doesn't include Marion (which I think of as NW) and does include Mansfield (which I wouldn't include as NW). Defining NW Ohio depends on how you define the rest of the state. Are you thinking in terms of quadrants? Or into nine sections (such as central, NC, SC, EC, WC)?

I was going to suggest the 419 area code, but that doesn't include Marion (which I think of as NW) and does include Mansfield (which I wouldn't include as NW). Defining NW Ohio depends on how you define the rest of the state. Are you thinking in terms of quadrants? Or into nine sections (such as central, NC, SC, EC, WC)?

 

Most of the graphic representations of Ohio I've seen are divided into 5 sections: NW, NE, Central, SW, SE; I've not seen it divided into nine. I'm tempted to go with a larger regional definition based on five state divisions. I'm still curious if there's any 'official' designation, though... 

 

Having lived in the region for a few years, I would tend to include Mercer, Auglaize (the two very light blue counties to the lower left) but not Marion, Morrow, Richland or Ashland counties (the four very light blue on the lower right). Marion and Morrow seem closer to Columbus than Toledo, and Richland/Ashland seem closer to Cleveland. The 419/567 area codes don't quite seem to fit most definitions of the region.

The Catholic Diocese of Toledo might be a good place to start. I'd say Lima is the southern border of NW Ohio - I think Wapak is more Greater Dayton than connected to Toledo. Going east is the hardest part, where Cleveland has moved west over time and Toledo decline has shrunk it connection to counties along the lake.

I was going to suggest the 419 area code, but that doesn't include Marion (which I think of as NW) and does include Mansfield (which I wouldn't include as NW). Defining NW Ohio depends on how you define the rest of the state. Are you thinking in terms of quadrants? Or into nine sections (such as central, NC, SC, EC, WC)?

 

Most of the graphic representations of Ohio I've seen are divided into 5 sections: NW, NE, Central, SW, SE; I've not seen it divided into nine. I'm tempted to go with a larger regional definition based on five state divisions. I'm still curious if there's any 'official' designation, though...

 

Having lived in the region for a few years, I would tend to include Mercer, Auglaize (the two very light blue counties to the lower left) but not Marion, Morrow, Richland or Ashland counties (the four very light blue on the lower right). Marion and Morrow seem closer to Columbus than Toledo, and Richland/Ashland seem closer to Cleveland. The 419/567 area codes don't quite seem to fit most definitions of the region.

 

Mercer and Auglaize are in Dayton's media market and I view them more as the edge of SW Ohio and NW Ohio.  Lima (Allen County) is where NW Ohio starts for somebody from the Dayton area but for UrbanOhio purposes, I put Mercer and Auglaize in NW Ohio since they share more visual attributes with that region than, say, Darke or Miami County.  Marion and Morrow are without question Central Ohio; Richland and Ashland are without question Northeast Ohio.

Here's how the Plain Dealer divided Ohio into the Five Ohios during the 2004 election season:

 

http://www.cleveland.com/fiveohios/images/0704a.gif (copyrighted image)

 

I would have lumped Columbiana, Carroll, Tuscarawas and Holmes into NE Ohio. 

 

Shelby seems more SW than NW, and Logan could go SW but also Central due to Honda's presence in both Logan and Union Counties. 

 

Someone more knowledgeable than me can comment about where the divide between SW and SE should be - I just don't know that part of the state all that well.

I like ColDay's suggestion about the change in terrain. A defining characteristic of NW Ohio for me is the flatness. Same goes for the Findlay-Marion transition between NW and Central Ohio. The terrain changes ever so slightly around Marion, plus it is clearly in Cols' media market. The E-W divide with NE Ohio is harder for me; Sandusky feels transitional, and while the terrain changes, the architecture and dialects don't vary much, at least compared with the southern reaches of NW Ohio. The line probably runs south (along SR 4?) toward Bucyrus, then maybe a few miles south of US 30, between Lima and Wapakoneta, then turning sharply south to about Fort Recovery. County lines are a clunky way to define the regions.

 

 

You got it!

Many consider Lima/Allen County to be the southern border, but it is not part of Toledo's market. Erie County is considered the eastern border and it is part of Toledo's market. This creates some problems when you consider the fact that Toledo is the only major city in the region, and thus gets to define things how it pleases.

 

Lima's independence from Toledo suggests a region of its own- West-Central Ohio. There actually is a distinct accent there too (Toledoans talk like Clevelandars, Lima people talk like Daytonians). Toledo has nothing in common with anything south of it, ditto with the Lake Erie area. The cultural/political divide is incredible, one of the most pronounced in America. The Toledo media market reach is not as much as some people think. It is roughly 1 million people, but about 250,000 of that is in Michigan. So the Toledo market in Ohio is mainly just the metro area (Lucas, Ottawa, Wood, Fulton) plus Sandusky/Erie County and Fremont/Sandusky County. Sandusky is closer to Cleveland suburbs, but it is claimed as Toledo market, plus there is the 419 area code. Not much attention (alright, no attention) is paid to the counties outside of those six in Northwest Ohio and three in southeastern Michigan (Lenawee, Monroe, Hillsdale), plus there is serious overlap with Detroit. The Toledo coverage area is distinct from the rest of Northwest Ohio. Lima being its own market creates a second region. Call it what it you want, but it is very different. Toledo and Sandusky are Rust Belt. Lima is Corn Belt.

 

The problem with Northwest Ohio is that there has always been this divide. In some ways (and more pronounced ways since Toledo's economy collapsed), Toledo is more Michigan than it is Ohio. The same thing does not exist in Southwest Ohio because Cincinnati has more market pull to anchor and define the region. Toledo is pulled into Detroit, the second largest market in the Midwest by a big margin. Detroit has a lot more influence than the average person gives it credit for. That causes problems when coming up with these regional dividers, and I've always argued the Great Lakes are distinct from the rest of the Midwest. How deep that culture penetrates from the water varies by region- very deep in Michigan, not very deep in Ohio. The accent alone speaks volumes. It drops off so fast. In BG, the Great Lakes accent is extremely weakened. By Findlay, it's gone. A similar thing also plays out in Northeast Ohio. Clevelanders have it bad (as bad as Toledoans), Akron has a weakened version, and it's mostly gone by Canton. Something led to these very different cultural and linguistic outcomes in northern Ohio. I'd say this divider line in northern Ohio is pretty damn accurate:

 

 

County lines are a clunky way to define the regions.

 

I agree, especially when talking about mostly rural or metro border counties, but that is how metro areas and markets are measured. It's a stupid system, but no one wants to go in and subdivide the counties.

I was going to suggest the 419 area code, but that doesn't include Marion (which I think of as NW) and does include Mansfield (which I wouldn't include as NW). Defining NW Ohio depends on how you define the rest of the state. Are you thinking in terms of quadrants? Or into nine sections (such as central, NC, SC, EC, WC)?

 

Most of the graphic representations of Ohio I've seen are divided into 5 sections: NW, NE, Central, SW, SE; I've not seen it divided into nine. I'm tempted to go with a larger regional definition based on five state divisions. I'm still curious if there's any 'official' designation, though...

 

 

I think it's a USDA designation, but there are nine Resource Conservation & Development Councils in Ohio, and OSU Extension has recently reorganized into nine Ohio regions, following the RC&D model.

I'm with you on that map CDawg.  I hate the traditional American regional definitions - east, south, midwest, west.  Way too broad.  If I had to peg Cleveland and Toledo into a region, it would be the Great Lakes Region.... very similar to the shaded area on your map.  Properly termed "regions" IMHO (off the top of my head) would be New England, the East Coast,  Appalachia, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Southeast, SoFla, the Bayou, Ozarks, Southwest, SoCal, NoCal, Northwest, the Rockies, the Great Plains... and the catch-all, "Kentucky USA"

Thanks UrbanSurfin for the clarification on the nine divisions in Ohio.

 

@CDawg, I agree that the cultural boundaries go beyond the Ohio state boundaries, but for my purposes, I'm only looking at regions within the state of Ohio. Because "NW Ohio" encompasses Toledo, Fremont, Sandusky and other Great Lakes Cities, but also includes a couple that are at the very northern reaches of southern influence (Lima?) and large rural areas, it's a good region to study.

 

 

What's your study? As somebody who travels around the state promoting farmland preservation and local-food systems, I'm getting more interested in regional differences within Ohio.

 

Someone more knowledgeable than me can comment about where the divide between SW and SE should be - I just don't know that part of the state all that well.

 

As someone who grew up in Jackson County but has lived in Hamilton County for 15 years, the Plain Dealer map is actually pretty accurate.  You could argue that Brown County should be grouped with the SE counties, but it's so close to Hamilton Cty it would be hard not to put it in SW Ohio.  Clinton County is much more SW Ohio than SE Ohio.  I think the only one I might move would be Pickaway to SE Ohio from Central, but I do not know how that has changed since I was a kid.  I am guessing it is much more connected to C-Bus than before.  (By the same token, Fayette might more properly be grouped with the SW or SE counties.) 

 

I am clueless on where the dividing line between NW and SW should be, though. 

Now that I look at it, though, it's hard to put a county immediately adjacent to Franklin in SE Ohio.  I'd leave Pickaway where it is.