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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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By that I mean not the standard American accent, as obviously that is an accent too.
Certain cities are known for accents, but in which cities are those accents that prevalent? I found the Boston accent more prevalent in that city than I expected (I expected to hear only working class/older people speak it). I only heard the classic New York accent a few times in Manhattan. I'm guessing cities like Chicago might actually have a high proportion if you consider the way they speak to be a distinct accent. What would be your estimates for each city? Say if Chicago was 70%, and New York maybe 40% (just to give an example)? Maybe Charleston or Virginia Beach more like 15-20%?
Outside of Manhattan the New York accent is heard all over the boroughs and even different degrees of it in Long Island and North Jersey but it is still can be found in Manhattan. Definitely one of the strongest along with Boston and Philly.
The Philadelphia accent seems to be one of the biggest of any city proper because outside of Center City the native population is still very high for such a large city. The Philly accent can also be heard in South Jersey, PA suburbs and even Delaware and the South Jersey Shore
Boston accent is definitely big all over the Boston area, maybe even covers the largest area of any "distinct" accent, although I would guess not as much in the city itself due to gentrification.
Chicago accent wasn't as prevalant or distinct as I expected, same for most other cities.
In cities that do not lie within the "General American English" zones of the Midland or West, distinct regional accents are going to be most pronounced in those places that have the lowest percentage of highly educated people and transplants.
Manhattan has so many transplants and wealthy, highly educated residents that it's probably the part of the NYC metro where you are the least likely to hear the native accent.
You won't hear the Boston accent much around the universities, in part because many students are either transplants or come from well-educated families, but also because the regional dialect has been gravitating towards the features of General American English for some time now. The only young people with noticeable Boston accents usually come from urban working class backgrounds.
This trend towards General American English has affected almost every region of the country, with one possible exception. The region that seems most resistant to this change (in part because of its own competing vowel shift) is that of the "Northern Cities" of the Great Lakes; and for that reason I would estimate that the major cities with the highest percentage of residents with distinct local accents include Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee, among others.
By that I mean not the standard American accent, as obviously that is an accent too.
Certain cities are known for accents, but in which cities are those accents that prevalent? I found the Boston accent more prevalent in that city than I expected (I expected to hear only working class/older people speak it). I only heard the classic New York accent a few times in Manhattan. I'm guessing cities like Chicago might actually have a high proportion if you consider the way they speak to be a distinct accent. What would be your estimates for each city? Say if Chicago was 70%, and New York maybe 40% (just to give an example)? Maybe Charleston or Virginia Beach more like 15-20%?
The Chicago accent is more hype than anything on the ground these days. If you wander through the metro area you're going to hear it spoken very rarely, and probably then in older more established neighborhoods. I never hear it on the north side, and there are different accents that I pick up from different races as well. I wouldn't really say I hear the Chicago accent spoken by blacks or hispanics as it stereotypically heard. I don't hear it in the burbs, and the city is only 33% white.
The Chicago accent is more hype than anything on the ground these days. If you wander through the metro area you're going to hear it spoken very rarely, and probably then in older more established neighborhoods. I never hear it on the north side, and there are different accents that I pick up from different races as well. I wouldn't really say I hear the Chicago accent spoken by blacks or hispanics as it stereotypically heard. I don't hear it in the burbs, and the city is only 33% white.
I'd say it's a very small %
I've definitely heard Hispanics (and even some Asians)with the Chicago accent. Alot. Not too many black people unless they're cops lol. It's more common in the burbs.
I've heard more NYC accents in North Carolina and Florida than Manhattan but in Long Island, and Queens you definitely hear it.
The Chicago accent is more hype than anything on the ground these days. If you wander through the metro area you're going to hear it spoken very rarely, and probably then in older more established neighborhoods. I never hear it on the north side, and there are different accents that I pick up from different races as well. I wouldn't really say I hear the Chicago accent spoken by blacks or hispanics as it stereotypically heard. I don't hear it in the burbs, and the city is only 33% white.
I'd say it's a very small %
What is the Chicago accent to you? When I typically think of it, I think of the accent you'd hear all around the Great Lakes. Like the way Bonnie Hunt and Suze Orman talk. All the people I've met from Chicago have this type of accent. It's still an accent. It's not General American English.
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