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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Inkpoe
I have traveled internationally... I was not even born in the states. And I can still see the differences between all the states and its respective cities. Of course there's bound to be similarities-- we are still one country that do share lots of common threads.
If however, after visiting WA and FL, you still don't see any difference between the two... Then just wow, I guess we know who really has the myopic view.
I didn't say there was NO difference, I just said they were exaggerated. Like some people who say (I've heard this on CD), 'why bother to travel to different countries when the US is so diverse?' Sure it's diverse, but nothing compared to other places, and more the same than different IMO.
I often hear how the US is very culturally diverse - how the South is a totally different country, etc. Having visited the US for about 2 months, I actually didn't notice much difference between regions except for landscape and (and this only applies to some people) accents. Same old shops.etc of course, but also the people just behaved pretty much the same, at mostly the same food. GRANTED I haven't lived there so my comments are somewhat uninformed and just from skirting over the surface, but I often feel a lot of Americans like to make a big deal about how culturally diverse the country is because that's all they know. Coming from another country, I just felt the US was even more generic than most nations, especially for it's size. Only Australia and Canada seem more homogeneous in terms of culture over so large an area (possibly Russia too). The UK is smaller than Pennsylvania yet has more of a variety of accents than the entire US. Just my two cents.
Of course a country is going to have some level of a common culture, I mean Mississippi and Massachusetts are going to have way more in common then they do with Russia. But I would ask you were did you go in the US, and do you understand the culture and history of the places you were going.
Giving a history lesson comparing the regions of the US is going to be complicated. The British, The French, The Dutch, The Spanish, and Mexico after it's Independence all once claimed different parts of the US. In addition states and cities develop at different times, As well as cities have different demographics. And of course different cities and states have different heritages they have pride themselves with.
This is all very broad you have different cities with different smaller sub cultures. You may have a sub culture in one city that another person with in the same city nothing about. For instance I listen to hip hop music, Houston and LA are nothing alike... music, slang, dress and etc just in that subculture alone. So when you brings up different Subcultures of Houston and LA there are cultural differences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
I found the South and West felt fairly similar. Take LA and Houston. Virginia felt more eastern, of course. NY was the one that felt most different.
Houston and LA are both sunbelt cities, both have huge grids, And they are both very diverse, both have huge Hispanic population. That's probably what you caught. There histories and what they are known for are very different.
The West is way more sparsely populated than the south. The west has more Hispanics and Asians then the south, The South has way more blacks. Over half of all US blacks stay in the south. The South was populated before the west. Things have the tendency to spread out, you also have to look at the birth places of cultural movements. For instance you brought up foods, different cuisines started in different regions then spread to other parts of the country. Seattle doesn't have anywhere remotely close of a Hispanic population to compare to LA, but I'm sure most people in Seattle eat Mexican food.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
I didn't say there was NO difference, I just said they were exaggerated. Like some people who say (I've heard this on CD), 'why bother to travel to different countries when the US is so diverse?' Sure it's diverse, but nothing compared to other places, and more the same than different IMO.
You brought the UK, the minority population is less than 10%, The US minority population is nearly 30%. *
These maps are 2000 base but what ever, note this is the percentages of an area.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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^ Nothing to do with immigration but culture. An Asian American will be no different to a European American, unless they aren't fully integrated. The differences between a farmer from rural Cornwall and the Lake District will be more noticeable: indeed it might be hard for each other to understand each other at first. We're talking over 1000 years of differences compared to the 200, and in many cases 100 or 50 years, in the US.
I think people are overstating the importance of nationwide chain stores in this debate. You can find a Burger King or Pizza Hut in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (Hondurans LOVE Pizza Hut). That doesn't mean that Tegucigalpa and Iowa City have cultural similarities.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by michigan83
I think people are overstating the importance of nationwide chain stores in this debate. You can find a Burger King or Pizza Hut in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (Hondurans LOVE Pizza Hut). That doesn't mean that Tegucigalpa and Iowa City have cultural similarities.
Yeah even if you take away those things, the general feel/how the people were in LA, or Austin, were basically the same. Rural areas maybe show some of the differences better. Heard the accent quite strong in rural Miss.
Yeah even if you take away those things, the general feel/how the people were in LA, or Austin, were basically the same. Rural areas maybe show some of the differences better. Heard the accent quite strong in rural Miss.
I think visiting rural areas is absolutely necessary if you want to see true cultural differences in the U.S. The mob mentality is at its worst in the metro areas, especially the suburbs. Rural people tend to hold onto traditions and regional accents long after it is "cool" to do so.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by michigan83
I think visiting rural areas is absolutely necessary if you want to see true cultural differences in the U.S. The mob mentality is at its worst in the metro areas, especially the suburbs. Rural people tend to hold onto traditions and regional accents long after it is "cool" to do so.
Yes, since I went with Trek America I didn't get to do things at my own pace, didn't always get to see the places I wanted to. My solo travelling was restricted to the cities, LA, NY and Boston.
Next time I intend to spend at least 6 months travelling, exploring every highway and byway.
I'm very interested in Southern culture, and did not feel I had a chance to scratch beneath the surface, past the generic things like waffles, or fried chicken, barebeque, grits, sweet tea, the accents. Would be interested to visiting some of those small Appalachian towns if they are open to outsiders, or communities like the Outer Banks (High Tiders or 'Hoi Toiders') or the Gullah/Geechie in S.Carolina. Went through southern LA, one area which does seem to have distinct culture, but spent most time in NOLA itself.
Come on, don't kid yourself. Aside from Quebec, Canada is homogeneous by WORLD STANDARDS.
Are you really gonna say Canada is as diverse as Western Europe, culturally speaking? It's not even as diverse as Spain or the UK, CULTURALLY speaking.
Quebec and also aboriginal areas were what I was referring to. They represent a fairly large portion of the country. Quebec is very roughly one quarter of Canada, for example.
I will agree that the English-speaking parts of Canada do feel like a single nation with some regional differences and that they do spread out over a huge amount of territory.
Note that I am not one of those Canadians who thinks Alberta is super-different from Manitoba, or even Ontario vs. BC.
Thanks for the US maps above, I believe they shed some light on the question about where the midwest or south or etc is. When you look at the south then Texas especially the big cities like Houston or Dallas, you see more diversity than the south as Asians and Hispanics are abundant in Tx more so than most of the so called South. Diversity impacts culture, I moved to Houston out of college decades ago it felt southern then but much less so now.
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I didn't say there was NO difference, I just said they were exaggerated. Like some people who say (I've heard this on CD), 'why bother to travel to different countries when the US is so diverse?' Sure it's diverse, but nothing compared to other places, and more the same than different IMO.
