What do you consider coastal?

43 comments

1. A lot of times the term coastal is applied to the states that touch the coast. Aside from the it’s the areas (usually 10 or so miles) that touch the coast.

2. We also have the Gulf coast, the Hawaiian coast, and the coast of Alaska. There’s also 4500 miles of coastline with the Great Lakes.

   I think most Americans understand it by its literal definition of land near a shore or land near the sea.

   East Coast and West Coast is just a light rivalry between New York and Los Angeles, I believe.

3. “West Coast” would include all of California, for example, but “coastal California” would include only the counties that reach to the Pacific Ocean. Some will argue that more inland areas of those counties aren’t coastal at all. There’s some nuance to how the word is used.

4. Personally: the state. For example; Virginia is East Coast whereas West Virginia is not.

5. I would consider that if your state touches the cost then you’re coastal.

6. Uppercase “Coast” tends to refer to the entire states that are a part of it, which is really only West Coast, East Coast, and Gulf Coast – anything more specific and you’re talking about relatively near the shoreline. “North Coast” in California, for example, is pretty much everything on the ocean from Point Reyes to the Oregon Border, but also up to 25-50 miles inland (until a local corrects me).

   If someone said “I’m going to the coast,” I’d only have a vague idea that they meant “of the Pacific ocean” until they narrowed it down.

7. If I’m in the middle of the us in a landlocked state any state on the ocean is coastal. If I’m in Florida then communities that are actually on the ocean are coastal. If I’m in one of those communities then the neighborhoods that are actually within a .5 mile of the beach are coastal. It’s relative and depends on context.

8. > But the USA is large and I hear about people being on the “East coast” and “West coast”. How far does this reach?

   Depends on the context.

   When speaking about the US on the whole, I’d say “the east coast” is roughly any state that touches the Atlanta. So in general terms that’s like as far as ~500 km inland… in a country that’s ~4500 km wide.

   When speaking locally, like here in North Carolina – granted as a single state we have more land area than all of England – “the coast” is literally right by the water. Like 30km.

9. When used in that way in general is New York Vs California.

   Although I’m almost literally on the East Coast I’m not included in the East Coast when used in that way. Because I’m in Florida.

   And to add to the confusion. You could be from the east or west coast of Florida.

10. If saying you live “on the coast” then my presumption would be you can see the ocean from your home or neighborhood.

    If saying you are “from the east coast” then my thought would be a state that has a coastline with the atlantic ocean

11. Folks that are truly coastal can make a day trip to the beach.

    Coastal means a lot of different things from a state that touches ocean, regions next to those states, even design or culture.

12. Not very far past the areas that actually contact the water IMO. Washington has a lot of coastline, but Yakima isn’t coastal. North Carolina has coastline, Raleigh isn’t coastal. Albany isn’t coastal, neither is Richmond or Columbia or Hartford.

    For me it’s basically the metro areas that are actually on the water, with economies that are driven by the water.

13. If the state touches the or is near (like vermont) Atlantic Ocean, East coast state. West coast is just California Oregon and Washington IMO. other people have pointed out the gulf coast etc.

    That’s not to say those are coastal states, they’re just the ones on the edges. I wouldn’t really say an area is coastal unless that town is on the coast

14. For property sale, right on the waterfront.

    For vacation purposes, anything within short drive of the beach or within a contiguous city on the beach if it takes longer to drive across the city. So anywhere in Miami is coastal, but some places inland in Hawaii with long transportation times would not be).

15. Certain types of folks call basically call anyone who lives in a state bordering an ocean (except the conservative states) the “coastal elites”.

    It doesn’t matter if they live in a dessert or the mountains 2-4 hours away, just living near the coast is enough.

    But I’d say if you are within 1-3 towns of the ocean? It’s pretty coastal.

    I live in Massachusetts and ocean has been a pretty big part of my life (and my ancestors were sea captains and ship builders) but I’m a good hour away so I don’t feel coastal at all.

    But considering some people in the country are like a 20 hour drive to get to an ocean, it’s all relative and I’m pretty coastal.

16. Coastal states are just states along the coast. But our states are big so I think there’s a big difference between someone living along the coast vs someone in a state bordering the coast but is a couple hours away from the beach. Personally, if someone can drive a bit starting at like 8AM, stay a 3-4 hours at the beach, and be home for a late dinner, I’d consider that coastal enough to count. But when you’re thinking “coastal” I think you’re thinking more like “not in the middle of the country” which is a different bar.

17. Usually encompasses the entire state if it touches the ocean. It’s a bit of a funky definition if you really dig into it but that’s usually what people mean.

18. Coastal states and living on a coast are two different things and context matters.

    Saying East Coast or West Coast its a larger region that is on each side of the country. “He lives on the East Coast” could mean they live 100 miles from the ocean, but to somebody in Nevada you get the idea that they are on the other side of the country.

    When somebody says, “When I lived in South Carolina I lived on the coast,” they mean they were in a coastal or beach town and the ocean was the definining characteristic of the immediate geography.

19. The Coast vs West Coast

    The Coast I would say is the actual coast, like 1 mile or less from the open ocean. Not things like The Puget Sound, which is salt water but not open coastline.

    West Coast is a regional term. Depending on context clues it could mean the states bordering the coast, or speaking of weather/climate being west of the Cascade and Sierra mountains.

20. West Coast and East Coast just refer to regions and what side of the country they’re on.

    Portland or Sacramento, for example, are West Coast cities, but they’re not _coastal_ cities.

    I don’t even really consider Los Angeles to be a coastal city tbh. (Santa Monica is, Long Beach is, LA isn’t except San Pedro but they’ve basically gerrymandered themselves to the coast.)

    To me, coastal means right on the ocean, or close enough that you could go to the ocean very quickly and easily. Maybe a good metric would be, if the wind is coming in from offshore, you would notice a sea breeze.

21. I live in North Alabama. Alabama is a Gulf Coast state but I don’t live on the coast.

22. Pacific Coast, Atlantic Coast, Gulf Coast.

23. I used to live 15 min from the ocean but obviously couldn’t see it from where I lived. However I did consider myself to live on the coast.

24. In the broadest sense, “coastal” implies that a border that includes a coast. If a region has a coast but a subdivision within that region does not, that subdivision may be considered not coastal. For example, Georgia is a coastal state, but Atlanta is not a coastal city.

25. Saying west or east coast generally means the states that actually have coasts. The west coast is California, Oregon, and Washington – the mainland west coast. Saying something is coastal usually means their weather is coastal weather. I live in SW Washington, but coastal Wa is on the other side of the coastal mountains from me.

26. Depends on context.

    California is a coastal state because the state is on the coast, but Sacramento is not a coastal city despite being in California. San Fransisco is a coastal city. Within the SF City if your home is in say… *looks at map* Diamond Heights: your home/neighborhood is not coastal, but if your home is in… Sea Cliff district then it is.

    “East Coast”/”West Coast” are… Regions. They are poorly defined as to where the borders are exactly and I feel are more cultural than physical in their definition of where they end.

27. Anywhere on the coasts, as in there’s water, would qualify as coastal for me. I’m in New York.

28. Anything further than I’d say over 20 miles from the coast line is not coastal and that’s stretching it

29. This has probably been said before but “East Coast” and “West Coast” refer to large geographic regions. E.g. California, Oregon, and Washington are the “West Coast.”

    But “coastal” means you’re close to the ocean, and large swaths of states on the East and West Coasts aren’t really close to the ocean at all.

    Personally, I grew up in a seaside town so I consider “coastal” to mean anywhere within less than a 30 minute drive to the ocean. So, for example, I don’t consider Orlando, Florida to be “coastal” even though it’s in the middle of the most coastal state, Florida. It’s still about a 45 minute drive to the beach, so it’s inland.

    It’s important to note that, in the US, being near the ocean is kind of a cultural thing and you’ll see people who spend a LOT of time on the beach and the ocean even if they don’t live right next to it.

30. Where the water (ocean) is. Although I’m not sure we call the top of Alaska the “north coast”

31. Like all geography, it’s relative.

    If I’m in St. Louis, Sacramento is “near the coast.” If I’m in Sacramento, Oakland is “near the coast.” If I’m in Oakland, the Outer Richmond of San Francisco is “near the coast.” If I’m in the Outer Richmond, the Cliffhaus is “near the coast.”

    If I’m at the Cliffhaus, well, then I guess I’m near the coast.

32. Well, I’m in a state on the coast but in the middle of the state. I consider those cities or towns on the ocean or bays coastal. That’s like two hours away.
    As a side note, my state had coastal ocean areas, southern swamp lands, mountain ranges to the west, and major metro areas to the north. I can get to all of it within a few hours.

33. Most people won’t say they live by the coast unless they can actually see/walk to the water. East Coast/west coast are just shorthand for geographical areas like deep South or Midwest.

34. I am in San Diego County, I considered the city I am located to be coastal. I cannot see the Pacific Ocean from my house due to the houses and hills, but I do get the marine layer (May Gray, June Gloom, No Sky July, Fogust). Last year, I had a comfortable summer because of the marine layer while everyone who’s inland were suffering from the summer heat.

35. I live in San Diego about 9 miles from the ocean.

    To my friends in Michigan, I live on the coast; to my friends in San Diego, I do not.

36. I’m from Kansas so I just assume everywhere that touches the ocean is coastal.

37. I suppose for me, East Coast is the whole Northeast megalopolis from Washington DC to Boston and West Coast is California and the Western portions of Oregon and Washington.

    This is a little weird as there is a lot of Atlantic Coast south of Washington DC, but in my mind places like Norfolk, Virginia, Wilmington, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida are all “Southern” and not “East Coast” despite all of those cities being on America’s Eastern Coast, and a place like Miami, Florida is just its own thing

38. There are different definitions of coast or coastal depending on the context.

    There is the literal definition of “coast” that just means the immediate area of the beach or the shoreline. If you want to be really specific that you mean right by the ocean, you could speak of a beach house or a beach town, etc.

    Then there is the definition of “coast” or “coastal” that refers to all of a state that borders an ocean like the Atlantic or the Pacific. East Coast in that context would refer to states touching the Atlantic like New York and New Jersey. While West Coast would refer to those states that touch the Pacific in the continental US: California, Oregon, and Washington.

39. East Coast and West Coast are the big broad terms. In reality, East Coast refers to the northern states that were part of the original 13 colonies, so like Maryland to Maine. Virginia and South to FL is considered “The South.” West Coast is California, Washington, and Oregon. It has more to do with culture. East Coast thinks West Coast is a bunch of lazy hippies. West Coast thinks East Coast is too uptight, rude, and needs to relax.

    Coastal is usually defined as having a border with a body of water (ocean or lake). I’d say anything 50 miles or less from the coast is coastal because the effects of salt water can be seen that far inland.

40. I’m in Massachusetts, 10 mins from the beach I consider that coastal. I think anything 20-30
    Mins from the coast is “coastal”

41. When you look at the map of the United States you will notice two sides. On the side closer to Europe and Africa is the East coast. Then if you look in the other side that’s closer to asia is the west coast.

    East coast is usually New York but also includes the states from New York to Florida

    West coast is usually California but also includes Washington state and Alaska.

    Every other state in between including the ones between Alabama to Texas doesn’t count. Those other states show how vast the difference is between the two coasts.

42. 20 miles from the coast or less than 10 feet elevation.

43. States with coastlines, that generally don’t vote GOP in presidential elections.