I’ve got an itch I need to scratch. It’s bugged me since I first moved to Chicago in the summer of 2012. It’s that word in the headline up there (duh): Downstate. What do people mean when they say “Downstate Illinois?” Where are they actually talking about?

As the engagement reporter at ProPublica Illinois, this is a serious question. Because, as I wrote this week about our plan to put people, and community, at the start of our reporting, it’s important to understand basic geographic terminology about the state we’re reporting in. And, if “Downstate” contains certain connotations, it’s important for our reporters to understand them, so we can better choose our words both in how we write and how we talk.

So, naturally, and maybe naively, I Googled: “Where does downstate Illinois start?” And right away, I realized that not only was that probably a dumb thing to do, but also that the internet just made everything more confusing, as it often does.

From Wikipedia: Downstate Illinois is all of Illinois south of the Chicago metropolitan area.

From the Encyclopedia of Chicago: “Downstate” defies any single definition.

¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯

This is clearly a problem worth unpacking. So, now, I turn to you for help with the same question: Where does “downstate” Illinois start for you? And how do you feel about that term?

The conversation’s already generated a little bit of a Twitter buzz, but we would like far more people across the state to weigh in. And to be clear: I’m not just asking you this because of that itch I have. Your input will actually inform the words we use in our reporting.

So, tell me what you think. You can email me directly at [email protected]. And you can always tweet me @loganjaffe.

I’ll follow up with the results over the next few weeks. But if you need some help to get you going, you’ll definitely want to read what people are already saying:

it's a way Chicagoans try to minimize us; in my case, my house is exactly due west from the Loop. Not exactly 'down' geographically

— 2017 NLCS Sloth (@TheUncouthSloth) October 18, 2017

If anything, it's divisive. Very us vs. them. And it's unfair and inaccurate to lump everyone not in Chicago metro with each other.

— Sherry Skalko (@sskalko) October 17, 2017

As a Chicagoan I take "Downstate" to be anywhere in Illinois outside of the city and suburban counties

— matt, from chicago (@mateodechicago) October 17, 2017

I'm sure there's somebody in Rockford or the Quad Cities who don't appreciate that but *shrug*

— matt, from chicago (@mateodechicago) October 17, 2017