[mrcoolmrcool28]

I'm sure "Milwaukee City" of a few pages back would agree with me here. Trying to categorize Florida as southern or not is like comparing Milwaukee and Madison to northern Wisconsin. (another place where you have to go north to get "southern")
On our first visit to the Keys, I arrived wearing what I assumed people in Florida wore. Imagine my surprise to find the people (NOT in Key West of course) looking more like northern 'sconnies!! Flannel abounded!! In the years we have been visiting, we were surprised to run across people who did consider Florida "southern", we never have. But then we've never been to the panhandle.

[sange77]

I can only speak for the Tampa Bay area which is definitely more Southern than I expected when moving here 3 years ago.

[RangerDuke08]

I like to call it the "Deep North", but I mean it's certainly different from the panhandle versus that of Miami. I'd say the panhandle is Southern and the rest is well FL.

[dave w]

I've been reading the florida threads for a while and this the best one todate.2 intellegent black guys arguing about whats perceived as the south,plus a little civil war history.This is great keep up the great dialogue

[Fnix]

Cesspool can pretty much sum it up

[rogercobb]

Some people try to lump Tampa together with Orlando. I've lived in both places and Orlando feels more southern while Tampa definitely has more of a midwestern feel.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by RangerDuke08

I like to call it the "Deep North", but I mean it's certainly different from the panhandle versus that of Miami. I'd say the panhandle is Southern and the rest is well FL.

Exactly! (See highlighted above). Like I said in my earlier post, North Florida is "Southern" and South Florida is..."Floridian" or "South Floridian" (its own unique culture).

[Mrs. P]

Originally Posted by adam.g.harpool

People who say that Florida is "Southern" generally don't know anything about the state, and are also the types of people who would probably call Maryland Southern just because it is south of some arbitrary line. In any area you choose - accent, ethnic composition, ancestry, religion, politics, cuisine, etc. etc. - nobody with half a brain could seriously consider Florida in the same category as Georgia. I'm a Floridian, but I am certainly not a Southerner.

Like you said, people who live here know the truth, though most of us frankly could care less about how we're labeled by people in the Northeast or West Coast.

I kinda agree with you. I lived in Ohio, North Carolina, and now South Carolina. I do not consider Florida "Southern" by any means. Least not the areas I've been to.

[tallrick]

In the south you can afford a home, but in south Florida you cannot. It is like the worst of Latin America mixed with New York City and a few rednecks thrown in the mix for entertainment.

[TMAN24]

I grew up in the Tampa Bay area,

It always seemed to me that aside from orlando,
the more towards the middle of the state you were the more southern you were and seemed,
which also means more rural and country at the same time as the Coastal areas are much more developed/populated.

I am not sure what classifies Southern aside from geographic location,
but when i think Southern Culture,
i think of a few things,
I THINK rebel flags, trucks, bitterness from good ol boys and black people towards each other.
gun racks,
people who eat friend chicken and cat fish,
swamps and bayou's ,
a high concentration of Black folks as compared to national demographics,
good mannered people for the most part,
people that live in a much less cosmopolitan state,
stuckeys gas stations,
high school football,
and certainly a few other things.