Northeast - Mid-Atlantic Forum?

x-posted in northeast and southeast

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Since the Mid-Atlantic members list has grown to over 100 (southeast and northeast combined), with many more from this area who have not put themselves on the list, it's probably time to talk about a separate Mid-Atlantic forum. As much as I enjoy reading about biking in New York, Boston, Miami, Knoxville, etc. I don't feel particularly connected to these areas. With the DC area split in two, I don't think that we are adequately represented in either the northeast or southeast forums.

Do you want to have a separate Mid-Atlantic forum?

What is the Mid-Atlantic region? I think of Mid-Atlantic as Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, but I could see it extending to Philadelphia and North Carolina.

Any thoughts?

+1

Sounds like a good idea to me!

This would rock for folks like me moving to the area. I know the area (lived in N. VA for 6 years) but didn't cycle there much. Moving back to the mid-atlantic in December and am looking specifically for MD/DC/VA/DE info.

I think I asked about this in the Forum Suggestions forum about 6 months ago and didn't get a single reply from a mod. Who knows, maybe the new ownership will listen to reason?

PA as well- we tend to not like getting grouped with the 'northeast'

+1

x-posted in northeast and southeast

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What is the Mid-Atlantic region? I think of Mid-Atlantic as Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, but I could see it extending to Philadelphia and North Carolina.

Any thoughts?

Last I checked, Philadelphia was actually part of Pennsylvania :rolleyes:

Beth

PS Good idea, btw

Last I checked, Philadelphia was actually part of Pennsylvania :rolleyes:

Beth

PS Good idea, btw

Philadelphia is only technically part of PA... ;) Just kidding... I like Philadelphia, and wish I could hang out down in that corner a little more.

As far as the region goes, there are people that draw hard lines when the term "New England" is used, and much softer lines when the term "Northeast" is used. Some states are labeled as either Northeast or Mid-Atlantic depending on the conversation... even by people living in the states.

So maybe to avoid confusion the 6 states of "New England" should be split off and renamed New England, and NY, NJ and PA could all join the Mid-Atlantic covering everything down to and including VA.

Of course, this kind of defeats the purpose of the original post... Dividing up by regions is always a tough one because people near one side are always too far from the other side...

But I think it is good to shake things up a little... Maybe we need to divide it up a little more... I certainly wouldn't mind checking a couple of different regional forums.

Sounds good - at least include PA and NJ. If you're in VA you could go to PA for a ride and vice versa. N.C. is definitely southern though.

I've always grown up thinking PA was a Mid-Atlantic state, and all of the AAA stuff my dad used to get for our summer vacations confirmed it.

x posted to SE

I always thought of PA as a split state. (just my opinion so please don't take offense)
Philadelphia out to the Harrisburg area with mid-Atlantic
Pittsburgh to Erie with Ohio and the Great Lakes
Allentown to North-central PA with New York and Northeast

NJ also splits between Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Probably somewhere around exit 6.

VA splits between north and south somewhere around Fredericksburg, but I'd consider the whole state Mid-Atlantic (conveniently forgetting about Roanoke and the west :p )

NC and southern VA have a lot in common, but I think of NC as firmly south, with SC and GA.

I wonder if the mods would allow a split-state?
Maybe a Mid-Atlantic forum consisting of the states along the Chesapeake Bay and lower Delaware River - Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, SE Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey.

I don't mean to add confusion to this idea but New Jersey and New York are Mid-Atlantic states. They are not part of the New England region. The North East is from Va to Maine.

Thinking aboout it, I think it makes sense to:

1) Leave the current groupings

2) Add a Mid-Atlantic with the appropriate states.

Add others as appropriate, like "Gulf Coast" or "Ohio Valley" or "The Rockies" or "New England" or whatever becomes a natural geographic area with great enough interest.

There are obviously multiple ways to subdivide the states, and the only way to accomodate that is to have some cross-over or subdivisions.

x posted to SE

I always thought of PA as a split state. (just my opinion so please don't take offense)
Philadelphia out to the Harrisburg area with mid-Atlantic
Pittsburgh to Erie with Ohio and the Great Lakes
Allentown to North-central PA with New York and Northeast

NJ also splits between Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Probably somewhere around exit 6.

VA splits between north and south somewhere around Fredericksburg, but I'd consider the whole state Mid-Atlantic (conveniently forgetting about Roanoke and the west :p )

NC and southern VA have a lot in common, but I think of NC as firmly south, with SC and GA.

I wonder if the mods would allow a split-state?
Maybe a Mid-Atlantic forum consisting of the states along the Chesapeake Bay and lower Delaware River - Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, SE Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey.

Wow- what a mess that would be! In any case PA and NJ have traditionally been included in mid-Atlantic groupings, not northeast. I would agree, though, that there is definitely a difference between Eastern PA and Western PA, heck, there are some mountains in the way... :p

I think at the end of the day the natural selection of the group would occur and people would congregate to where they feel most appropriate.

For instance, while many NYC residents might consider themselves more "midatlantic," I just wouldn't get that. That might be because I was born and raised in the tip of the Adirondacks where the Atlantic was 5 times as far away from me as Canada.

Like has been posted, the current delineations don't allow for any overlap which I understand logistically - but in a world where creating a new subforum takes about 3 minutes of effort and would also reduce double postings and thus forum traffic, allowing for common sense overlap doesn't seem out of the question.

With all of these splittings it feels like the civil war:eek: What if West Virginia wants to split again(like they did during the last CW). We would have to call them West-West Virgina. Or we could call them More West Virginia. We need Honest Abe back. He can solve this dilemma. I guess w/ a Mid Atlantic forum, the 'Where are all the MD bikers' post will be a thing of the past:( I'll go w/ the flow. I'm not hard to please. Charlie

I used to folllow and post to the 'Where are all the MD bikers' thread. Seemed to get very Baltimore area focused so I stopped looking at it. I'll check it out again to see if it's changed.

A split has to happen somewhere. And any regional scheme won't be perfect.
My problem with the current regional structural is that the DC area, which has a lot of members on the BF, is split in half and neither NE nor SE froums serves our needs. Putting Maryland and Virginia back together into the same region would fix the problem. And since Mid-Atlantic is a distinct culture from either south or north, makes sense to me to have a Mid-Atlantic forum.

++ for a Mid-Atlantic Forum!!!

count me in! ++++++++

Sounds like a great idea. I would also like to hear about and participate in activities in areas closer to my region.

However, if "we are [not] adequately represented in either the northeast or southeast forums" how will splitting off solve that problem? Is the lack of representation because of non-participation or from being blocked by the other areas mentioned?

Just a thought. I'm with you on this subject.

cross-posted to northeast and southeast

Just wanted to let everyone know.

I wrote to the head moderator requesting a separate Mid-Atlantic forum.
Brian's response seemed positive. He said that he would give some thought to how to add a new forum into the existing structure.

If this is going to happen, we should confirm what the boundries are make a recommendation to Brian.

Hmm... I'm sorry if this seems horribly un-inclusive, but maybe what we really need is a Metro DC forum. As you've noted, the problem arose b/c under the current set-up, the DC area is split into 2 forums, NE and SE. I haven't checked this, but my guess is that this makes us about the only major metro area to be divided up in this manner. This is, of course, a problem, b/c DC area riders might be riding in DC, MD, and VA (perhaps all on the same ride) and want to connect w/riders from each of these locations, and it's inconvenient to have to check multiple forums to do this.

Again, I mean no insult to riders from Philly, NJ, NY, WV, southern VA, Baltimore, etc. I certainly have no inherent objection to sharing a forum w/any of those folks. But it seems to me that the primary purpose of these regional forums is to provide an easy way to connect with people near you who you might want to ride with, share information about local routes, etc. (Obviously that may not be the *only* purpose, but if, e.g., I'm going to be in So Cal on vacation, I can check that forum and get relevant information if I want to. But otherwise, I'm pretty much sticking to the forum for my region.) Everyone in, say, New Jersey, or metro NYC, or metro Philly can already do that w/in the confines of one forum. If we create a metro DC forum, we'll be able to as well.

And once we get that accomplished, I'm sure getting congressional representation for DC will be equally easy... ;)

+1: I live in Maryland, work in Va, ride several times a year in PA. DE and even WV are within 2 hours of my house -- let the people choose to define themselves!