“The Tidewater Area” seems to collectively refer to coatal and estuarine VA-NC (at least as far south as the Pamlico sound).
There’s The Carolinas and The Dakotas too.
There’s also the counties that call themselves “West Virginia”. (As once stated in a public speech by Virginia Governor George Allen.)
Flora-bama
Tennessee + Arkansas + Mississippi= “Tam”.
Not sure if people around Memphis are called TAMs or what, but I know there was an ABA franchise, the Memphis Tams that was named after this acronym.
the Four Corners area
Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico
My least favorite? Kentucky + Indiana = Kentuckiana. Ugh.
NW Indiana and SE Illinois. Illiana.
But why not Indiois. Why Texahoma? Why not Oklas? Why Michiana? Why not Indigan?
I believe there’s nothing controversial about New England as the name for the area covered by the 6 northeasternmost states.
Although my part of New York is often included in New England, although New York State is supposed to be Mid-Atlantic. When you’re this close to Massachusetts physically and culturally, and NYC, Jersey, etc are so far away you tend to forget you can get there in just three hours…
The inclusion of bits of NY in New England is controversial, I suppose. 
Any other panhandles out there? (I know NM has one, but it’s too damn small to support the rest of the state!)
West Virginia has two panhandles. The Northern and Eastern Panhandle
Wow, this topic has drifted neatly, hasn’t it.
Anyway…
The broadcasting area for Pittsburgh television stations encompasses southwestern Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio and all of the northern panhandle of West Virginia and that too is known as a tri-state area.
This is mostly a television weatherman convention, however, and completely ignores the fact that Pittsburgh stations are regularly seen in the far western portions of the Maryland panhandle too (Garrett County and environs) which would make it a quad-state area.
Speaking of quads, there are the Quad Cities: Moline and Rock Island, Illinois and Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa.
Mountain ranges offer up some good regional names to go along. “The Ozarks” is a catch-all for not just the mountain chain but the area around them in Missouri and Arkansas. (Oklahoma too, maybe? I’m not sure on that.) Appalachia, with all the baggage that the name contains, can be applied to portions of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas. The Carolinas can also wear the “Piedmont” label. And there’s always the Rockies.
Is there a clever name for the Philadelphia sprawl which encompasses much of southern Jersey and northern Delaware? Does “Chicagoland” now include some of the area Wisconsin south of Milwaukee?
There is when people describe New England as “liberal” or “urban” or “anti-gun”. :rolleyes:
They’re talking about southern New England. Northern and Southern New England are as different as night and day.
re: Is there a clever name for the Philadelphia sprawl which encompasses much of southern Jersey and northern Delaware?
The Delaware Valley (watch Channel 6 news)
New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are called the Tri-State Area around here. I’ve heard Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and (I think) Delaware referred to as the Key State Area.
I’ve heard the local weathercaster call up here the Tri-State Area, too, encompassing New York and Massachusetts - I think the third state is Vermont.
The Bible Belt.
Can’t find a direct reference but generally refers to Southern states from SC to TX.
There is also The Sun Coast from around Clearwater down to Ft. Myers, Fl.
Western KY + Northwest TN = Tuckassee.
I’m serious.
Just to claify, the Tri-State Area typically refers to Northern New Jersey, Eastern Connecticut and Southern New York (including Westchester and NYC of course) and not the whole of those 3 states. IMHO. Basically it’s NYC and suburbs, broadly defined.
(Those folks from the NY-MA-VT area are mere interlopers, I assure you. )
And then there’s thePacific Northwest, encompasing Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
And one my late father used to use as a spoof, “Pensyltucky” an unlikely combination, since the don’t share a border.
It was used as a made-up place name in the same way he’d answer “two hundred and plenty” when asked his weight, or talk about the month of “Septober,” but I remember it foldly.