I've gone back and forth on this with many people. I get your point but let me explain. I view western Pennsylvania, the Ohio River Valley parts of West Virginia and Kentucky, the southern thirds of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and Missouri south of St. Louis and Kansas City as a north-south transitional zone. This region, which I've called the Midland Valley, definitely has a very different history, culture and economy than the Great Lakes metros, even distinct from the Heartland region that stretches from central Ohio westward into northern Missouri and Iowa. It's neither North or South to me; the region is hard to fit neatly into either the Midwest or the South. However I do believe places in the Ohio Valley, upper Mississippi Valley and Missouri River Valley west of St. Louis deserve to be in the same region, whether Midwest or South. I just chose the broadest definition of Midwest I could.
I've gone back and forth on this with many people. I get your point but let me explain. I view western Pennsylvania, the Ohio River Valley parts of West Virginia and Kentucky, the southern thirds of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and Missouri south of St. Louis and Kansas City as a north-south transitional zone. This region, which I've called the Midland Valley, definitely has a very different history, culture and economy than the Great Lakes metros, even distinct from the Heartland region that stretches from central Ohio westward into northern Missouri and Iowa. It's neither North or South to me; the region is hard to fit neatly into either the Midwest or the South. However I do believe places in the Ohio Valley, upper Mississippi Valley and Missouri River Valley west of St. Louis deserve to be in the same region, whether Midwest or South. I just chose the broadest definition of Midwest I could.
Cincinnati and Louisville are not the Midwest. They have very different histories, cultures, and economies from Great Lakes metros.