What State do you think has the most unigue culture? (food, metro)

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by TheCity

Having a lot of immigrants makes NJ unique because it's a huge mixture of culture from all over the world brought together in a small space.

NYC and Philly do have them and even more than NJ, atleast I am assuming. However, NYC and Philly are not states, they are cities. So, the cultural uniqueness of NYC and Philly does not spread throughout the whole state, but in NJ it does because NJ is sandwiched between the two.

I agree, there are many immigrants in California and Florida. However, they don't have the diversity of NJ. For example.....

California/Texas is known for a mexican population and Florida is known for Haitian and Cuban populations. Whereas, NJ is known for having a sample from around the world.

The above sentence was completely my opinion. I am looking up stats to back it up, but can't find anything.

Once again, cultural diversity does not equal unique culture, it is the opposite.

Besides, I believe Minnesota is more diverse that Jersey.

New Jersey
* Europe - 23.9%
* Asia - 27.8%
* Africa - 4.1%
* Oceania - 0.2%
* Latin America - 43.0%
* Northern America - 1.1%

Minnesota
* Europe - 16.8%
* Asia - 40.4%
* Africa - 13.2%
* Oceania - 0.5%
* Latin America - 24.0%
* Northern America - 5.1%

Minnesota also had 9 born at sea compared to 0 for Jersey

[J'aimeDesVilles]

Reading through these posts I see some confusion regarding what I believe was the intent of the OP.

I think too many of us are confusing unique culture with diversity of culture. The latter refers to breadth of culture, the former refers to depth and individuality of a culture.

Also interpolating one city to the entire state is a mistake. A state's cultural uniqueness stems from more than one locale and generally before that city was even of significance.

Lastly physical geography is not cultural geography. Saying a state is unique because of mountains, volcanoes, swamps, etc. may make it unique but not in a cultural definition. Yes the physical characteristics of an area may influence how a human population lives but it is not cultural in and of itself. Also the impact of the physical landscape on the human landscape takes a great time, generally hundreds if not thousands of years, to strongly influence a population. The United States has not been in existence long enough or the population stationery enough for the physical environment to have a great influence on the cultural society.

[TheCity]

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

Once again, cultural diversity does not equal unique culture, it is the opposite.

Besides, I believe Minnesota is more diverse that Jersey.

New Jersey
* Europe - 23.9%
* Asia - 27.8%
* Africa - 4.1%
* Oceania - 0.2%
* Latin America - 43.0%
* Northern America - 1.1%

Minnesota
* Europe - 16.8%
* Asia - 40.4%
* Africa - 13.2%
* Oceania - 0.5%
* Latin America - 24.0%
* Northern America - 5.1%

Minnesota also had 9 born at sea compared to 0 for Jersey

The title of the thread says "what state do you think has the most unique culture?".

How a person defines "unique" culture is completely their opinion. One person sees unique culture by different ethnicities (cultures), another may see unique as specializing in one particular culture, it's all an opinion.

In my opinion, unique culture is having an abundance of culture from all over the world and not one particular area in general. For example....

Texas is well known for specializing in Latin American culture, which is unique. However, in my opinion New Jersey and Minnesota has even more of a unique culture because they are both more well rounded.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I don't blame you...it's not all Jersey Shore up there. Thank you, MTV.
In the case of Miami, you should know that the Hispanic and Caribbean population there is far more diverse than just Cubans and Haitians. During my tenure there, I met Puerto Ricans, Bahamians, Mexicans, Hondurans, Belizeans, Guatemalans, Costa Ricans, Nicaraguans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Guyanans, Brazilians, Argentinians, Chileans, Bolivians, (a great many) Peruvians, Ecuadorans, Jamaicans and people indigenous to about every island of any significance in the Caribbean. Miami really is about a perfect cross-section of the Latin American populace.

Exactly, it has the most diverse group of Latin Americans in the US.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

UNIQUE culture is not the same thing as MANY cultures.

Right; a lot of posters don't seem to be getting that. Having lots of immigrants in northern NJ is not comparable to the indigenous Cajun culture of southern Louisiana. Apples and oranges.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by TheCity

The title of the thread says "what state do you think has the most unique culture?".

How a person defines "unique" culture is completely their opinion. One person sees unique culture by different ethnicities (cultures), another may see unique as specializing in one particular culture, it's all an opinion.

In my opinion, unique culture is having an abundance of culture from all over the world and not one particular area in general. For example....

Texas is well known for specializing in Latin American culture, which is unique. However, in my opinion New Jersey and Minnesota has even more of a unique culture because they are both more well rounded.

Multicultural, which is what you are describing is the exact opposite of a unique culture but the same has been stated by many in this thread and only a couple of posters want to insist that diversity equals a unique culture.

I won't bother further though.

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by TheCity

I can read perfectly fine. The title states "what state do you think has the most unique culture?".

Culture = diversity among ethnicities.

I agree 100% with you about NJ's diversity among ethnicities and that most people don't know or realize this about NJ.

However, I think this is different from NJ's "unique culture". I think it is behind a lot of NJ's unique culture, but it's not the same as NJ's unique culture.

Here are some aspects of NJ's "unique culture"
- We are the only state where Taylor Ham is wildly popular, usually part of the Taylor Ham, egg, and cheese sandwich, a very common breakfast; and we also have the "buttered roll" as a cheaper, lighter substitute. Our food culture in general is unique as we have not only great pizza and bagels but are the originators of the "fat" sandwich, we are known for our subs and sandwiches (e.g. Jersey Mike's subs), our hot dogs are deep fried and served as "texas weiners" which (despite the name) are unique to NJ, as are Italian Hot Dogs, and we have some of the best seafood in the naton as well - we have a very unique food culture
- Offensive or not, we all grow up and/or live here knowing the term "guido" as well as the full stereotype; meanwhile, most of the nation knows little to nothing about it, other than what they're learning from the "Jersey Shore" show, eating it up as it's all some strange new discovery to them.
- Our NJ driving culture involves lots of parallel parking, Jughandles, Circles, and never pumping your own gas - I don't think any other state has that combination, or that extent of any of those.
- We are the only people in the nation that know we say "JER-zee", while everyone else thinks we say "JOY-zee", which we know that nobody in NJ says
- Part of our culture is going "down the shore" and everything that goes with it, and our shore is rather unique - no other place in the nation has as many beach options in such a contiguous stretch of beach, options for every person from natural, secluded beaches to casinos to boardwalks with games/entertainment/rides, etc. It's also part of our culture and experience of being NJ'ans to take day trips as well as full vacations to this unique "shore".

There's more, I'm sure you can think of it, but we have a lot in NJ that isn't shared with other states, making our culture and lifestyle one of the more "unique" ones in the USA. I think a lot of it stems from the mix of people we have, as you were talking about, but the cause is separate from the result even though they are in a causal relationship. For example, our Taylor Ham/egg/cheese on a kaiser roll was a result of our European heritage but it was created by a NJ'ans and is uniquely NJ'an.

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

Once again, cultural diversity does not equal unique culture, it is the opposite.

Besides, I believe Minnesota is more diverse that Jersey.

New Jersey
* Europe - 23.9%
* Asia - 27.8%
* Africa - 4.1%
* Oceania - 0.2%
* Latin America - 43.0%
* Northern America - 1.1%

Minnesota
* Europe - 16.8%
* Asia - 40.4%
* Africa - 13.2%
* Oceania - 0.5%
* Latin America - 24.0%
* Northern America - 5.1%

Minnesota also had 9 born at sea compared to 0 for Jersey

Umm....pretty sure that stat proves nothing. Europe has 50 different countries. Asia has 47. Latin America has 20. Some countries have similar customs, but most are very unique from one another. A state could be 100% European, and it could still be more diverse than a state which is 25% Euro, 25% Asian, 25% Latin American, and 25% African.

Anyway, let's get back on topic. While I don't know if New Jersey is the most unique culture in the country..I understand where TheCity is coming from. Jersey is an extremely unique state, and very multicultural. It's tiny, yet seems to have as diverse a landscape as a state like Texas (Hills/Mountains in the Northwest, city in the Northeast/Southwest, Cape Cop-esque beach etc in the Southeast, urban beach along the Northern coast).

Culturelly New Jersey is unique due to the fact that it's sandwiched between New York City and Philadelphia. This results in two distinct cultures of major cities located a mere 90 minutes away from one another. Even Princeton acts independently. Its culture is highly influenced by one of the finest universities on the planet.

What adds to the multiculturalism of New Jersey is the fact that it spans two regions. The New York City/Philadelphia region of the state are very "Northeast" in character, but the Southern part of the state is very much Mid-Atlantic (Cape May/Delaware Bay Area). What I find to be unique about New Jersey isn't that it has all these multicultural traits. Places like California, Florida, and Texas all are very multicultural. What sets New Jersey apart from the other states for me is the fact that it does all this in such a tiny area.

Square Mileage:

Florida: 54,017
California: 156,002
Texas: 262,100
New Jersey: 7,428

That's what makes New Jersey so unique to me. Other states are just as--if not more--multicultural as New Jersey...but they're much bigger. Each region of New Jersey has its own distinct culture, but it only takes 2 1/2 hours to travel the state from top to bottom

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by tmac9wr

Umm....pretty sure that stat proves nothing. Europe has 50 different countries. Asia has 47. Latin America has 20. Some countries have similar customs, but most are very unique from one another. A state could be 100% European, and it could still be more diverse than a state which is 25% Euro, 25% Asian, 25% Latin American, and 25% African.

Anyway, let's get back on topic. While I don't know if New Jersey is the most unique culture in the country..I understand where TheCity is coming from. Jersey is an extremely unique state, and very multicultural. It's tiny, yet seems to have as diverse a landscape as a state like Texas (Hills/Mountains in the Northwest, city in the Northeast/Southwest, Cape Cop-esque beach etc in the Southeast, urban beach along the Northern coast).

Culturelly New Jersey is unique due to the fact that it's sandwiched between New York City and Philadelphia. This results in two distinct cultures of major cities located a mere 90 minutes away from one another. Even Princeton acts independently. Its culture is highly influenced by one of the finest universities on the planet.

What adds to the multiculturalism of New Jersey is the fact that it spans two regions. The New York City/Philadelphia region of the state are very "Northeast" in character, but the Southern part of the state is very much Mid-Atlantic (Cape May/Delaware Bay Area). What I find to be unique about New Jersey isn't that it has all these multicultural traits. Places like California, Florida, and Texas all are very multicultural. What sets New Jersey apart from the other states for me is the fact that it does all this in such a tiny area.

Square Mileage:

Florida: 54,017
California: 156,002
Texas: 262,100
New Jersey: 7,428

That's what makes New Jersey so unique to me. Other states are just as--if not more--multicultural as New Jersey...but they're much bigger. Each region of New Jersey has its own distinct culture, but it only takes 2 1/2 hours to travel the state from top to bottom

I've got an idea. Someone can start a thread about which state is more multicultural. Then others can go in and post about states that have a unique culture.

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

I've got an idea. Someone can start a thread about which state is more multicultural. Then others can go in and post about states that have a unique culture.

What state has one uniform, unique culture? I've never heard of it.