Gateway Cities to the Deep South (living in, airport, agriculture)

[bigstick]

Originally Posted by CravingMountains

??? Cincinnati borders Kentucky, which is vastly an Appalachian culture, not a Deep South culture.

Then Nashville, certainly not Memphis or Charlotte.

[DubbleT]

Nashville? Hardly.
Memphis is much more the delta city. The standing joke is that Memphis is a Mississippi city that somehow managed to find it's way into TN.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by bigstick

Then Nashville, certainly not Memphis or Charlotte.

DEEP South, not THE South.

Nashville is in the Upper South.

[bluecarebear]

Mobile or Mississippi. The whole state of Mississippi.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by CravingMountains

I consider those areas the South but not the Deep South. Jacksonville, FL is not as Southern as Savannah, GA.

If were were looking for a gateway to just the regular south then all of those areas qualify, sure.

But that's the point; Savannah itself is well within the boundaries of the Deep South, whereas the cities I mentioned aren't but are in close proximity to the region--which is why they would be considered gateway cities.

[southernnaturelover]

Birmingham and Atlanta should certainly be on the list, once you get south of those cities you're certainly in the Deep South.

I don't really consider Huntsville "Deep South", it's more similar to Tennessee IMO.

[CurlyFries]

After Charlotte North Carolina begins the Deep South

[JayJayCB]

Charlotte could possibly be an entrance to the Deep South since it sits near the border of South Carolina, a state that is almost always classified as Deep South. However, am I the only one who thinks the upstate of South Carolina isn't too Deep South? I mean some of those areas around Greenville and Spartanburg are more akin to areas around Charlotte or Greensboro as opposed to Columbia, Augusta, or Macon. In fact, you can draw some similarities between the SC Upstate and the NC Piedmont based off the history of textile mills in those areas. Who knows, maybe I'm the only one. In the long run, South Carolina is definitely Deep South while North Carolina is more Upper South.

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by Bishwhat

What do you mean by gateway city?

Gateway cities are cities on the periphery of their cultural and geographic regions. They give you a sense of transition from one region to the next without solidly belonging to either region. The cities usher you into the next region and display subtle characteristics of the particular region such as dialect, culture, foods, music, appearance, and even topography or vegetation usually found in the area. Good examples in other regions are Louisville and Baltimore.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by JayJayCB

Charlotte could possibly be an entrance to the Deep South since it's sits near the border of South Carolina, a state that is almost always classified as Deep South. However, am I the only one who thinks the upstate of South Carolina isn't that Deep South? I mean some of those areas around Greenville and Spartanburg are more akin to areas around Charlotte or Greensboro as opposed to Columbia, Augusta, Macon, Montgomery, etc. In fact, you can draw some similarities between the Upstate and the NC Piedmont based off the history of textile mills in those areas. Who knows, maybe I'm the only one.

I agree with you concerning the Upstate of SC. Greenville functions more as the Gateway to Appalachia (Blue Ridge Mountains).