# Florida’s “big bend” region **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433 "2023-08-31T22:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/1 "2023-08-31T22:45:04Z")
When did that area start being called by that name? I’d never heard that expression before despite having lived in Florida (not that part) throughout the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/2 "2023-08-31T23:47:56Z")
I’ve only heard that term used for Texas, the part in the west where the Rio Grande lurches north for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/3 "2023-09-01T00:22:09Z")
I can’t say where, offhand, but I’ve heard Texas’ Big Bend refer to the Gulf coast from Brownsville to Galveston. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/4 "2023-09-01T00:32:44Z")
Great question. I never heard the term before coverage of Idalia. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/5 "2023-09-01T00:35:25Z")
Never heard it before, but there are lots of informal names for various stretches of coast. I’ve always heard of that section referred to as part of the [Nature Coast.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_Coast) [This link](https://myfwc.com/recreation/lead/big-bend/history/) says the Big Bend Wildlife Management Area was created in 1987. So the name’s been around a while. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/6 "2023-09-01T00:51:47Z")
To further add to the confusion, I guess the “Big Bend Region” and the “Big Bend Coast” are two different geographical areas. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/7 "2023-09-01T00:57:51Z")
To further _further_ add to the confusion, I’ve never heard the “Big Bend Coast” extend south to St. Pete, only to Cedar Key, plus, it goes west to Apalachicola. Florida has a lot of “coasts,” and they overlap depending on who you’re talking to. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/8 "2023-09-01T01:17:34Z")
Tallahassee native here. The Big Bend has been used for as long as I can remember which puts it into the early 1970s at least. Usually in the “proudly serving the Big Bend since…” in print/tv ads, but also in weather forecasts, sports, etc. Most of the folks around here would consider Taylor County (where Idalia made landfall) as the southern-most BB county. It basically marks the transition from the Panhandle to the Peninsula and wraps around Apalachee Bay (not Apalachicola which is further west). There’s also the Nature Coast and, confusingly, the Forgotten Coast much of which overlaps with the Nature Coast, but those are more tourism/marketing terms rather than “regions”. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/9 "2023-09-01T01:37:49Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I can’t say where, offhand, but I’ve heard Texas’ Big Bend refer to the Gulf coast from Brownsville to Galveston. It’s the Coastal Bend, not Big Bend. That’s in west Texas. To be more precise, the Coastal Bend is the area around Corpus Christi. ETA. I didn’t mean my reply to sound snarky. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/10 "2023-09-01T01:43:30Z")
Not at all. Coastal Bend makes a lot more sense. I’m pretty sure I got my misinformation from Yankee weather people. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/11 "2023-09-01T02:31:00Z")
So why not a massive number of people living on the coast–like elsewhere in Florida? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/12 "2023-09-01T03:46:23Z")
A few reasons: one, very few real beaches along that stretch of the coast, it’s mostly tidal swamp, so fewer tourists. Two, there just aren’t as many people in North Florida although the condos are slowly taking over, again, mostly where there are beaches. Finally (and partially the cause of 2), that stretch lacks any deep-water ports. If you look at Florida, the big cities (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach, Tampa, Jacksonville, and, to a lesser extent, Pensacola) all have deep-water ports (or deepish, at least). The only real exception is Orlando which has other reasons for being a major city. Everything else that’s decent size is either tourist or retiree-focused. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/13 "2023-09-01T12:26:34Z")
I found a reference in newspapers as far back as 1957, so, yeah, it’s been around a long time. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/14 "2023-09-01T16:32:14Z")
Those who are less enchanted with the area refer to it as “the armpit of America”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/15 "2023-09-01T18:26:36Z")
Homer: “Florida? But that’s America’s wang!” ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/16 "2023-09-01T23:53:39Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Those who are less enchanted with the area refer to it as “the armpit of America”. That seems unnecessarily harsh. I’m now sure that wherever you’re from or currently live has it share of assholes too. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/17 "2023-09-02T02:06:01Z")
The Big Bend area has darn near zero people in it. It’s unrepresentatively under-populated compared to the rest of FL. SO if someone is bent out of shape about Florida Man or maybe a certain couple of politicians, the Big Bend is not where your problem lies. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/18 "2023-09-02T03:14:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > the Big Bend is not where your problem lies. Thank you. Hence my second point above. There are no US Senators or Florida Governors currently serving from the Big Bend. You’d have to ask the Peninsula about that. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/19 "2023-09-02T06:32:52Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > That seems unnecessarily harsh. I’m now sure that wherever you’re from or currently live has it share of assholes too. _I’m_ not calling the area the armpit. I am quoting numerous posts I have seen on other forums that used that description. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433/20 "2023-09-05T15:19:42Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I’ve only heard that term used for Texas, the part in the west where the Rio Grande lurches north for awhile. Nitpick: It’s the part where the Rio Grande lurches _ **south** _ for a while. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-s-big-bend-region/989433.md?page=2)