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When I was growing up in Florida, Georgia was often the butt of jokes and put-downs. Don't know if this is still true or not.
Where I live now in Central Maryland, I am roughly equidistant to Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The one that looms largest in our consciousness, by far, is Virginia. There's a certain rivalry going on, but in more recent times it's become tinged by envy, as Northern Virginia's economy has become stronger than ours. Quite a few people commute from here to there, and the traffic congestion that they cause/endure helps fuel the . . . well, not quite animosity, but mixed feelings.
Delaware is thought of mainly in the summer, when we avail ourselves of its beaches. It's also on the radar as a retirement destination for those who wish to leave Maryland but not go too far away. Pennsylvania kind of hovers in the background. We know it's there, and we visit it occasionally, but it really doesn't enter our thoughts to nearly the same extent that Virginia does. And lastly, we do tend to look down on West Virginia as being less educated and less cultured than we are. (No offense, West Virginians. Personally, I love your state. But I'm just telling you the general perception in this area as I see it.)
I agree that there is some NC vs SC rivalry but it's mostly based around NC historically feeling more progressive and prosperous than SC. Honestly, if they didn't share "Carolina" in the name it'd be less of an issue. I do understand North Carolinians being frustrated that some people view them as being more similar than they are for that reason. That said, NC's legislature has been gerrymandered into a mess changing NC's national reputation recently making this less of an issue.
Some people mentioned previously being nearby the rival state should maybe prevent you from casting judgement. I think that can work the other way too. My parents lived in Waxhaw outside of Charlotte and crossing over into SC into Lancaster County was a noticeably different world. This is also where Andrew Jackson is from which someone mentioned earlier. Who seriously wants to claim the president that sent the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears? I always found it tone deaf that there is the Museum of the Waxhaw Indians / the Andrew Jackson Museum under one roof in Waxhaw.
I think there will always be a little resentment towards states with massive populations. I lived in Milwaukee, so I saw a lot of WI/IL drama going on. It's not that Wisconsinites actually hate people from Illinois, but I think they just get overwhelmed by the number of people from the same place certain times.
For example, when an Illinois team plays Wisconsin: Sporting events don't usually attract the best types of people. So what happens is a huge wave of over excited, drunk, IL drivers (who are all racing each other up I94), and it disrupts the day to day of the Milwaukee residents. And...you can't blame them for feeling that way. If you got cut off a half a dozen times on your way home from work, and the Cubs are playing in town, chances are they were all IL plates, so they become an easy target. On the flip side, when WI plays somewhere in IL, IL is able to handle that kind of population wave better, so they aren't as noticeable. Obviously IL has a significantly larger population than WI, so it will always be IL > WI.
As far as the up north thing: If you have ever tried to drive up 94 past Madison on a Friday in summer...it's not pleasant. A bunch of people out of their home state, in vacation mode, trying to out race traffic, on small roads not able to handle those numbers, will never end well. If you visit a camp site during a holiday, there is a good chance that 3/4 cars are from IL. So when someone is kept up all night from a drunk group, or they find trash everywhere left behind, IL will be the obvious blame.
As far as my own experience, there really isn't any "hate". Wisconsinites visit Chicago all the time, Chicagoans visit Milwaukee all the time, and it's a pretty normal occurrence to have a good time and be friendly towards one another. The animosity only seems to happen on the roads, or in a playful sports rivalry.
Living in CO now, it's the same thing with *any* out of state plate.
I agree that there is some NC vs SC rivalry but it's mostly based around NC historically feeling more progressive and prosperous than SC. Honestly, if they didn't share "Carolina" in the name it'd be less of an issue. I do understand North Carolinians being frustrated that some people view them as being more similar than they are for that reason. That said, NC's legislature has been gerrymandered into a mess changing NC's national reputation recently making this less of an issue.
Some people mentioned previously being nearby the rival state should maybe prevent you from casting judgement. I think that can work the other way too. My parents lived in Waxhaw outside of Charlotte and crossing over into SC into Lancaster County was a noticeably different world. This is also where Andrew Jackson is from which someone mentioned earlier. Who seriously wants to claim the president that sent the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears? I always found it tone deaf that there is the Museum of the Waxhaw Indians / the Andrew Jackson Museum under one roof in Waxhaw.
Seriously? Going a few miles south the culture completely changed? Only people who go on and on about NC being progressive is Non natives themselves who then look down on sc. same way yankee northern Virginians look down on West Virginia. No North Carolinian gives a damn if we get compared to sc. out of all states in the union we are some of the most similar to each other.
Seriously? Going a few miles south the culture completely changed? Only people who go on and on about NC being progressive is Non natives themselves who then look down on sc. same way yankee northern Virginians look down on West Virginia. No North Carolinian gives a damn if we get compared to sc. out of all states in the union we are some of the most similar to each other.
I agree that there is some NC vs SC rivalry but it's mostly based around NC historically feeling more progressive and prosperous than SC.
That's actually a more recent thing in the larger scheme of things, like since the 60s or 70s. NC was historically described as "a vale of humility in between two mountains of conceit" because for the longest time, VA and SC were the more prosperous states with NC being regarded as a backwater. Certainly times have changed since then and as you stated, NC's legislature seems to be hellbent on sullying the state's reputation (that it worked hard to cultivate) as a moderate, business-friendly one in recent years while SC has largely been quiet on the political front during that same time, surprisingly. Some NC'ers have even praised SC on some of the big manufacturing economic development deals it has been able to land lately and have lambasted their own leaders for not being more competitive in that area in order to bring more prosperity to other parts of the state outside of Charlotte and the Triangle. Needless to say, it's been an interesting lesson in comparisons and contrasts between the two states lately.
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Some people mentioned previously being nearby the rival state should maybe prevent you from casting judgement. I think that can work the other way too. My parents lived in Waxhaw outside of Charlotte and crossing over into SC into Lancaster County was a noticeably different world.
It's funny how time changes things as these days, the SC side is just as full of newer subdivisions/tract housing as Waxhaw. This pretty much coincides with the evolution of Indian Land into Ballantyne South over the past 10-15 years as economic development has spilled across the state line.
CA doesn't hate anybody. CA is naive in its thinking, that everywhere else is just like CA to a certain extent. But overall, CA doesn't think about other states, and doesn't even know much about them.
CO hates everybody. Everybody is coming here and ruining everything for the precious natives who would like to time warp back to 1980. Particular hate is placed on CA and TX of course.
WA used to hate CA, but western WA is CA now, so it really doesn't hate it anymore. It thinks of OR as its less cultured (but still same culture) little brother. Eastern WA has an interesting dynamic with Idaho. Eastern WA is pretty fond of ID actually. But Idaho couldn't give two cares that the "liberal hellhole" of WA is over there (keep in mind, this is a moderately conservative part of WA that ID is next to), and they see no use for it beyond Spokane's airport.
Why would they? Eastern Indiana and Western Ohio mine as well be the same state.
Anyone in the Cincinnati or Dayton metros feel differently. You realize you could say this with just about all states that share a border?
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