How "Southern" is Charlottesville? (Richmond, Hampton: shopping center, suburbs, gay-friendly)
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C'ville is what I would call high southern meaning it is more educated and wealthy and they value thinks like good horses, polo, beauty in homes and dress (conservative), and manners. They go to nicer more upscale churches, drive nicers cars, and don't drink beer or watch Nascar. They do love good liquor, fine food, and their college sports.
This sounds like Westchester county New York as well.
Hey, c'mon out to Oxnard. The weather is better here than anywhere else in the USA and the people are really nice. LA is an hour's drive to the east along the coast, Santa Barbara maybe 40 minutes NW up the coast, "Sideways" country north of SB, etc. So much sun, wine, laughter, bougainvillea spilling all over the walls. Stars at night and guitars by day. Beaches, Los Padres National Forest, Lake Casitas, Ojai not far either. We even have a governator--at least for a bit longer.
Hmmm... I love how open-minded you Northerners are... so free from prejudice and so objective.
This is why Southerners find you so full of yourselves (and other unmentionable matter) . You judge the book without having read a single page. Talk about bigots.
I guess you've never read the extensive race coverage in the NY Times concerning Crown Heights, Brooklyn - just one lovely example of the uneasy releationship between cultures in the oh-so-sophisticated and broad-minded North.
And I'm assumng you're well read - after all you're a New Englander. Pffff.
I grew up in the South and lived 16 years in Brooklyn, NY. Ignorance is everywhere. North & South. I've been in upstate NY and thought for a split second I was below the Mason-Dixon. A community is what YOU make of it.
Frankly, I wouldn't want YOU for my neighbors - be it Portland, ME or Little Rock, AR. Your comments reek of self-righteous superiority and incredible ignorance.
Oh, by the way, I'm so poorly educated that I hold a Bachelor's degree in Journalism & a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. But, that's just a fluke because we Southerners can barely scratch our names in the dirt with a stick.
Wow.... I'm from Maine, and I would never even consider posting a query like this. I've lived in Maine... let's see... wow, almost 20 years now! Married a Mainer, raised a child here, and I really think that I can say with authority that we have a heaping helping of racism (sometimes I wonder if there's a single person in this state that's not white) and ignorance, ye Gods, we've got that by the boatload! Why educate yourself when you can work in the paper mill or cut wood for a living?
So really, before you make degrading or derogatory comments about another part of the country I think it would be wise to take a good, long, hard, unbiased look at where you live. You might be surprised.
I'm not trying to create an argument, please do not read it that way; I merely want to point out that it's unfair to assume that just because the southern part of the US is different, it's not bad. I personally can't wait to get down to a place where people come in all different colors, shapes and sizes!
(Oh, and I want to just say I didn't read all five pages previous to posting; if I missed something relevant please feel free to point it out)
What she said - exactly. Inbreeding is universal. lol
"A few people I know have recommended Charlottesville, Virginia -- but from what I can tell, Charlottesville is a lot more conservative/Bible Belt than Portland & New England more broadly speaking. Now, I'm not a knee-jerk liberal. But I am looking for someplace where, on average, people are tolerant and open-minded, and where the populace is generally well-educated. If we start a family, I don't want my children exposed on a daily basis to overt racism, sexism, and religious bigotry as part of the culture. I have lived in the South before, and, unfortunately, have found far, far more of those ugly characteristics than in New England"
Wow! I do not think I have read anything more narrow minded and bigoted in a long time. Where do you get the right to lump all "Southerners" into one negative category? Is that the kind of tolerance and open-mindedness you have learned as a northern liberal? You are very much lacking in the very attributes you are looking for in neighbors.
Let me "educate" you a little about Virginia. Virginians are very proud of our 400 years of history here. We are proud that not only did settlers establish a colony here in 1607, we are also proud that today, our Commonwealth is still home to new immigrants from all over the world. Virginia is the top in immigrations from a large and varied group of people. Virginia has always stood firm on religious freedoms, fought for by our founding fathers and included by them in our governments proclamations and laws. We have a history of tolerating each other's beliefs and individualism.
Lastly, I would like to educate you on a few short facts about Virginia that should cover your concern that Virginians are uneducated, racist and bigots. According to the Federal Government, Virginians with a Bachelor's Degree or higher make up 29.5% of the population as apposed to Maine, where the percentage is 22.9%. As the percentage of those with at least HS education is about the same, I would say you are more likely to have "well-educated" neighbors here than in Maine. Also, the percentage of White non-Hispanic residents in Virginia is 67% as apposed to that figure being 95.5% in Maine. Thus, you would certainly be among a much more diverse and tolerant populace. As for the sexism statement, I have no idea why Virginia would be thought of as sexist, but going back to the stats, women own 29.7% of the businesses in the Commonwealth as apposed to 24% in Maine. Finally, I want to clear up the racism and bigotry statement, once and for all. Twenty years ago, the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia elected as their Governor, Douglas Wilder, the First African-American elected to that office anywhere in the USA. By the way, Governor Wilder was a liberal Democrat. Virginia has been fairly evenly split over the politics of its governors in the last 25 years, so I would say were are either are either Liberal Conservatives or Conservative Liberals.
Hmmm...agitation???...not hate????..I wouldn't want to see you when you were being hateful then!...geeesh!!!
Unfortunately, exactly what you expressed about "your" experiences up North...some Northerners have experienced down South...so are their opinions or concerns less valid than yours? I have lived in Massachusetts for most of my 57 years and have never seen or heard what you are talking about regarding Southerners being treated so harshly. I've had southern friends and acquaintances and if I did see or hear this going on..I would certainly defend them against it...but like I said...not in my 57 years have I seen it. It makes me wonder what town or city you were in when you say these things were said to you/about you?...perhaps it was an area that was considered "white trash" to begin with, by us!...and being a Baptist???.....I've never, ever, heard anyone, ever, concern themselves with another person being a Baptist....I think you exaggerate a bit, my guess is, your 1 year in MA. was tainted by preconceived prejudices. As a matter of fact, Northerners already understand this hostility (prejudice) Southerners have towards us, call it: "the post Civil War resentment", if you will. We stole your dreams of succession, imposed our will on you and freed your slaves...it makes absolute sense that you'd still be resentful...the thing is..we (Northerners) don't still live the Civil War era like some Southerners do, we just realize where this hostility towards us comes from....hence the reason Northerners ask.."is it safe, will I be treated well"...when considering a move or visit down South.
if you think there was no slavery in the North, you are a victim of your own self-righteous delusions. Here's a little history for you -
[SIZE=2]"Roughly speaking, slavery in the North can be divided into two regions. New England slaves numbered only about 1,000 in 1708, but that rose to more than 5,000 in 1730 and about 13,000 by 1750. New England also was the center of the slave trade in the colonies, supplying captive Africans to the South and the Caribbean island. Black slaves were a valuable shipping commodity that soon proved useful at home, both in large-scale agriculture and in ship-building. The Mid-Atlantic colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) had been under Dutch rule before the British conquered them in 1664. African slavery in the middle colonies had been actively encouraged by the Dutch authorities, and this was continued by the British..."[/SIZE]
Wow.... I'm from Maine, and I would never even consider posting a query like this. I've lived in Maine... let's see... wow, almost 20 years now! Married a Mainer, raised a child here, and I really think that I can say with authority that we have a heaping helping of racism (sometimes I wonder if there's a single person in this state that's not white) and ignorance, ye Gods, we've got that by the boatload! Why educate yourself when you can work in the paper mill or cut wood for a living?
(Oh, and I want to just say I didn't read all five pages previous to posting; if I missed something relevant please feel free to point it out)
Um....you say you live in Maine, but have never heard of the influx of several thousand Somali Africans to Lewiston, Maine, which has been covered in stories by the N.Y. Times, Washington Post, New Yorker magazine, Time Magazine, and network news? Lewiston, Maine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
native south carolinian here. just got back from Charlottesville this weekend. very pretty place.
i am torn as to whether it is southern or not. there is not one "southern", there is really more of two southerns: a coastal southern and an appalachian southern.
it looks to me like Charlottesville has the bones of an old appalachian town, but the meat is comprised of a lot of hippies, free thinkers, and urban intellectual types posing as rural intellectual types. Google "SWPL" and this is the demographic i am talking about.
I got the impression that there is a TON of wealth in Charlottesville, but probably not a lot of ways to earn a good income. Any place with such a wealth/income divide is usually the result of an influx of people from higher-wage urban areas.
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