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Full-Text Articles in Human Geography
The Perceptual Northwest, James Lowry, Mark Patterson, William Forbes
The Perceptual Northwest, James Lowry, Mark Patterson, William Forbes
Faculty and Research Publications
Our goal is to survey cultural perceptions defining the U.S. Northwest region. As geographers, we should concern ourselves with mental constructs of regions, as they can easily impede or facilitate communication. Assumptions of others’ regional boundaries and images may be erroneous. Over the past several decades, a handful of geographers have begun to examine these perceptual (or vernacular) maps and regions. Students at 21 colleges and universities were asked to identify: (1) boundaries of the U.S. Northwest region; (2) Northwest regional characteristics and symbols; and (3) what cities or other places best represent the Northwest.
Nationally, student respondents largely followed …