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Conversely, where would you expect find the LEAST culture blending across a state line, where the different would be most noticeable wnen crossing the line.
The California/Nevada line is very conspicuous, but for reasons other than cultural.
Iowa/Missouri line always seemed to be a pretty sharp cultural demarcation. Also Texas/Louisiana. Michigan/Wisconsin is a distinct cultural border, although pretty sparse population on both sides. And Florida/Georgia. Surprisingly, Kansas and Nebraska don't seem to have much to do with each other.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
In the West, things have been, for the most part, too recently settled, and too transplant heavy, for unique local cultures to have yet been developed. But some continuance with elsewhere can be seen. For example, San Francisco was settled by people from New England, and not only has similar speech patterns, but very similar architecture and politics. Also in California, the area around Fresno/Bakersfield was settled by Southerners in large numbers, and today is one of the most conservative portions of the state.
I'm going to have to disagree as that statement is a complete disregard for many chapters in Western US history and the culture that has evolved since pioneer times. The 19th century wasn't yesterday and there were existing cultural elements in the West long before then.
A very palpable and distinct Pacific Northwestern and/or Cascadian culture has evolved with transplants and natives alike from the most Northern part of California (Humbolt/Shasta and up) and right on through Oregon, Washington, and into British Columbia, Canada. Even many transplants to Seattle and Portland tend to adapt to or perhaps inherently had some Northwestern characteristics and instincts that drew them to relocate there. Ask a native Oregonian that their heritage isn't unique and is borrowed from Yankee pioneers and you'll be scoffed at without hesitation.
Also here in New Mexico (northern part of the state) there is a small yet very much alive history and culture that dates back several centuries mixing Native American and Spaniard heritage. It doesn't really borrow from back east Yankee nor Southern culture.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 02-14-2013 at 01:17 PM..
Conversely, where would you expect find the LEAST culture blending across a state line, where the different would be most noticeable wnen crossing the line.
The California/Nevada line is very conspicuous, but for reasons other than cultural.
Iowa/Missouri line always seemed to be a pretty sharp cultural demarcation. Also Texas/Louisiana. Michigan/Wisconsin is a distinct cultural border, although pretty sparse population on both sides. And Florida/Georgia. Surprisingly, Kansas and Nebraska don't seem to have much to do with each other.
Not all that surprising -- who wants to have anything to do with Kansas? Or Nebraska for that matter?
My vote for states that share a border with a sharp cultural divide are Colorado and Kansas. One just legalized pot and the other hasn't even fully committed to the repeal of prohibition yet.
Ohio is a mixture of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Indiana
Missouri is a mixture of Arkansas, the upper midwest (ohio, indiana, michigan) and Illinois
Oklahoma is a mixture of Rural Texas and kansas.
Mississippi is like cajun country in the south and tennessee and alabama in the rest
Connecticut is a mixture of Rhode Island's oddball culture, massachusetts attiude and New York's city mentality
Montana, South Dakota and Colorado are very "Great Plains" in the eastern parts and "Mountain West" in the western parts.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are almost triplets. except for a large section of SW MN that fells very Great Plains.
Illinois and Indiana are like twins to me (sorry BRG)
Not South Dakata. It's got its hills, but it's not mountainous. On the west, it borders eastern Montana and eastern Wyoming, which is also part of the Great Plains.
In the West, things have been, for the most part, too recently settled, and too transplant heavy, for unique local cultures to have yet been developed. But some continuance with elsewhere can be seen. For example, San Francisco was settled by people from New England, and not only has similar speech patterns, but very similar architecture and politics. Also in California, the area around Fresno/Bakersfield was settled by Southerners in large numbers, and today is one of the most conservative portions of the state.
There are also oddball areas here and there. Things like the Cajun and Creole cultures in Louisiana, the old Spanish culture in New Mexico, and various Amish/Mennonite enclaves. Arguably Mormon culture has developed into its own thing, but the roots of it are from the Yankee stock, and pretty recognizable, even if the politics have drifted in a very different direction.
Like my friend from New Mexico, I disagree with this assessment of the west. Denver was established in 1858, due to the discovery of gold there. That wasn't last week, and it is unique, at least compared to the east. The whole state has a cowboy/rancher mentality, along with the mountains and their old mining towns and current recreation industry.
As to the Mormons, their culture is very unique, even if many are descendents of Yankees. There is also a large Scandinavian component to the Mormon culture, especially Swedes and Danes. Mormon culture also extends into Idaho and Wyoming.
IMHO, there are a few fundamental cultures in the U.S., most of which blend into each other.
Yankee is found in New England, and Upstate NY. It also formed the predominant cultural influence for the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes culture, which is prevalent in Northern Ohio, Michigan, Chicagoland, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and to an extent the Dakotas).
New York City culture is really its own thing. The influence in New York State peters out around Albany (if that high), although it has Long Island and portions of Connecticut. It has around half of New Jersey and to an extent portions of Pennsylvania (particularly Scranton) as well.
One of the great streams of migration in the U.S. is Midland culture. This sprung from Philadelphia, and to a lesser extent Baltimore, and swept westward. Much of Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri comes from the same wellspring, which is why there are so many architectural similarities between Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Saint Louis despite the huge physical distance involved. Since the migration went through Appalachia (mainly Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia) there are southernish aspects which are missing from areas further north, particularly in terms of accent in places.
Southern culture is split profoundly between Highland and Lowland, with no state currently existing as a perfect example of one or the other. African-American culture is of course its own thing, which is heavily intertwined with lowland southern culture.
In the West, things have been, for the most part, too recently settled, and too transplant heavy, for unique local cultures to have yet been developed. But some continuance with elsewhere can be seen. For example, San Francisco was settled by people from New England, and not only has similar speech patterns, but very similar architecture and politics. Also in California, the area around Fresno/Bakersfield was settled by Southerners in large numbers, and today is one of the most conservative portions of the state.
There are also oddball areas here and there. Things like the Cajun and Creole cultures in Louisiana, the old Spanish culture in New Mexico, and various Amish/Mennonite enclaves. Arguably Mormon culture has developed into its own thing, but the roots of it are from the Yankee stock, and pretty recognizable, even if the politics have drifted in a very different direction.
Southern California has a unique culture which is a blend of Hispanic, East Asian, New York, and Southern Midland American culture. The whole "Hollywood" celebrity culture was created in Los Angeles by the Jewish transplants from the Northeast, then the unique Surf culture that only found in Southern Californian beaches. California also led the way in healthy eating and the whole "Organic Foods" concepts found in West Coast cities.
About the States that blend cultures.
California north of the Bay Area/Sac is basically Oregon. Las Vegas, and Arizona blends into Southern California.
East New Mexico blends with West Texas.
Texas Gulf Coast blends with Louisiana
Last edited by hipcat; 02-15-2013 at 06:10 PM..
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