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Yes for sure. I was born in Louisiana but lived a lot of my life in Maryland. I also lived for 4 years in West Virginia and am back in Louisiana now. I fit in well in both West Virginia and Louisiana culturally and that was very important, much more so than in Maryland. I identify with Southern and all-American culture despite my ethnic heritage and prefer to live someplace where my culture, religion, and politics are the majority. I wouldn't live outside the South again if I could help it.
I would honestly NOT feel comfortable or happy living in an area that's not at least 75% Christian, 70% culturally American (this would exclude Miami, South Texas, New YOrk City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc), 50% Republican, where at least 70% of the people speak English as their primary language, where at least some businesses play country or Christian music on the radio, where gun ownership is seen as mainstream, and where there's a good selection of restaurants serving traditional Southern cuisine, barbecue, and steakhouses.
Just like there are others who wouldn't feel comfortable in an area that's not at least 30% Hispanic and with good Mexican food, a large Mexican Catholic population, or a large Jewish community, etc etc. I don't like being in the minority. I'm a minority racially but culturally I'm assimilated to the point where that doesn't matter.
Also, I prefer the more laid back atmosphere and friendliness of the South though Southern hospitality is being diluted in many places by transplants and by the younger generation being too influenced by Hollywood and MTV. Climate is another thing, it would be very hard for me to adjust to bitterly cold winters in places like the Great Lakes, New England, etc.
Culturally American incorporates the mix of old and new, immigrant and US-born. There is no need to set a percentage requirement on membership.
Yes for sure. I was born in Louisiana but lived a lot of my life in Maryland. I also lived for 4 years in West Virginia and am back in Louisiana now. I fit in well in both West Virginia and Louisiana culturally and that was very important, much more so than in Maryland. I identify with Southern and all-American culture despite my ethnic heritage and prefer to live someplace where my culture, religion, and politics are the majority. I wouldn't live outside the South again if I could help it.
I would honestly NOT feel comfortable or happy living in an area that's not at least 75% Christian, 70% culturally American (this would exclude Miami, South Texas, New YOrk City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc), 50% Republican, where at least 70% of the people speak English as their primary language, where at least some businesses play country or Christian music on the radio, where gun ownership is seen as mainstream, and where there's a good selection of restaurants serving traditional Southern cuisine, barbecue, and steakhouses.
Just like there are others who wouldn't feel comfortable in an area that's not at least 30% Hispanic and with good Mexican food, a large Mexican Catholic population, or a large Jewish community, etc etc. I don't like being in the minority. I'm a minority racially but culturally I'm assimilated to the point where that doesn't matter.
Also, I prefer the more laid back atmosphere and friendliness of the South though Southern hospitality is being diluted in many places by transplants and by the younger generation being too influenced by Hollywood and MTV. Climate is another thing, it would be very hard for me to adjust to bitterly cold winters in places like the Great Lakes, New England, etc.
Only un-American thing I see in this thread is you.
Thinking your subculture owns the meaning of American? That’s not American.
Defending the confederate flag, as another poster mentioned you do? That’s not American.
Thinking big cities aren’t American, but your town somehow is? That’s not American.
Only American thing you do is perpetuate the ancient American motif of deciding what is and is not American, who is and is not American. That’s the kind of thinking that crushed German American culture in the Midwest. That’s the kind of thinking that pushed people to lynch Italians in the Deep South. That’s the kind of thinking that seeks to crush other cultures instead of include them in the adaptive American cultural matrix.
Your way of life is only one of the many ways an American can live. Only one. Not the only one.
Also, MTV? This ain’t the 90s.
Last edited by sad_hotline; 09-15-2018 at 12:19 PM..
Only un-American thing I see in this thread is you.
Thinking your subculture owns the meaning of American? That’s not American.
Defending the confederate flag, as another poster mentioned you do? That’s not American.
Thinking big cities aren’t American, but your town somehow is? That’s not American.
Only American thing you do is perpetuate the ancient American motif of deciding what is and is not American, who is and is not American. That’s the kind of thinking that crushed German American culture in the Midwest. That’s the kind of thinking that pushed people to lynch Italians in the Deep South. That’s the kind of thinking that seeks to crush other cultures instead of include them in the adaptive American cultural matrix.
Your way of life is only one of the many ways an American can live. Only one. Not the only one.
Also, MTV? This ain’t the 90s.
The poster was only pointing out what HIS preferences were. He also stated that they weren't everybody's. Yes I believe there are many different cultures in America and it is up to the individual to pick one which will work for that person. He likes this kind of community apparently. I can tolerate, even enjoy, quite a bit more myself. But that's me and not him.
Having served in the USAF (1974-1978), I learned about all kinds of people and that we really have more in common than differences. I'll never take back my years spent serving Uncle Sam.
So I'm a 30 year old single guy with no kids. I've lived in the south my entire life, I went to college here, I'm aware of the culture, it's pretty much all I know. Having said that, I always thought I would be better off far from here. I hated growing up in a small rural town and I kind of resented my mother for raising us here. There is nothing but poverty and no opportunity. As an adult I have moved away every chance I got, but I keep getting pulled back here, mostly because I miss my family. If you would have asked me 5 years ago, was staying close to family a priority for me I would have said no, not at all. But with my mother aging, and times harder than ever, I want to stay closer to them, at least within a couple hours drive. But there is still a part of me that wants to pick up and move to the pacific northwest, or Chicago or some other place I see as better than here. For those of you that have moved far away, to a different area of the country, with a different culture, did it affect your happiness? Did you find that as you got older, staying close to family became more important? Did the unfamiliarity of a new culture affect you in a negative way?
I did exactly that when I was 30. I'm gay, and came from a family and an area that is hostile towards gay people, so when the timing was right I picked up and moved to Chicago, and it worked out. For me the things that made sense about Chicago included first and foremost career opportunities/economic sense, and additionally (for me), Boystown. I'm now less than a year away from finishing grad school (with my employer picking up quite a bit of the cost).
It is possible to live on a budget, (ie don't buy a car/live in a small cheap apt/etc), and save money for travel. For traveling anywhere in the country, Chicago is probably one of the best places to be -- the entire midwest is in easy road trip range, and probably 80% of the country is within a 3 or 4 hour flight radius. As my career has grown and I've gained more disposable income, and both sets of my parents have retired and moved, I now find that either set of parents is a cheap 3 hour flight away, my college town is an easy road trip away, and I have an aunt + cousins that are a 2 hour flight away. I think I've seen my mom 4 times this year already -- an extended Mother's Day weekend, a few days in July, and a couple of times I don't remember. Working full time and in grad school half time, this probably equals out to about the same amount of quality time I would have had even living physically closer.
On the balance, it hasn't been easy, and its been very lonely at times, but looking back I'm glad I made the decision I did. When the biggest angst in my life right now is that I don't have a boyfriend, don't have enough sex, and don't have enough time to go on enough dates, I have to take the perspective that on the balance overall I've got it pretty good. I've got a great career path, a great gym, a lot of friends all over the place, working relationships with my family, and a lot of autonomy/independence and that's in large part due to my decision to move to seek out opportunity.
So I'm a 30 year old single guy with no kids. I've lived in the south my entire life, I went to college here, I'm aware of the culture, it's pretty much all I know. Having said that, I always thought I would be better off far from here. I hated growing up in a small rural town and I kind of resented my mother for raising us here. There is nothing but poverty and no opportunity. As an adult I have moved away every chance I got, but I keep getting pulled back here, mostly because I miss my family. If you would have asked me 5 years ago, was staying close to family a priority for me I would have said no, not at all. But with my mother aging, and times harder than ever, I want to stay closer to them, at least within a couple hours drive. But there is still a part of me that wants to pick up and move to the pacific northwest, or Chicago or some other place I see as better than here. For those of you that have moved far away, to a different area of the country, with a different culture, did it affect your happiness? Did you find that as you got older, staying close to family became more important? Did the unfamiliarity of a new culture affect you in a negative way?
I ended up being born in Canada because my father wanted to escape the lack of opportunity 3000 miles away in his upstate NY birthplace in the 50s. Yes we were far from the larger group of relatives and in many ways it affected us 5 kids not having cousins, uncles and aunts to interact with and lookup to. My upbringing was so harsh emotionally and scarred me so it would have been nice to stay with relatives for a break. My mother's side of the family were uncle and aunt and my grandparents. There were no cousins. The rest of the family lived overseas. I think you could say we were isolated especially in the far north town I lived in.
My Dad thrived there as a successful business man.
Go where the opportunities are. Move as far away as you might need to. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Make friends, work on your career, develop your creativity. Be the architect of your life. You will learn all kinds of great things exploring. I think once you settle down you won't mind as much being away.
For example, you don't meet Mexican-Americans from California in Tennessee, but you will meet plenty of English-Americans from California in Tennessee.
This isn't even close to accurate. There has been very fast growth for the past couple decades in the Mexican population in the Southeast, and many of this ethnic group relocated from California for work opportunities and a more affordable, family friendly place to live. The pattern of domestic out-migration from California is not limited to a narrow demographic.
So I'm a 30 year old single guy with no kids. I've lived in the south my entire life, I went to college here, I'm aware of the culture, it's pretty much all I know. Having said that, I always thought I would be better off far from here. I hated growing up in a small rural town and I kind of resented my mother for raising us here. There is nothing but poverty and no opportunity. As an adult I have moved away every chance I got, but I keep getting pulled back here, mostly because I miss my family. If you would have asked me 5 years ago, was staying close to family a priority for me I would have said no, not at all. But with my mother aging, and times harder than ever, I want to stay closer to them, at least within a couple hours drive. But there is still a part of me that wants to pick up and move to the pacific northwest, or Chicago or some other place I see as better than here. For those of you that have moved far away, to a different area of the country, with a different culture, did it affect your happiness? Did you find that as you got older, staying close to family became more important? Did the unfamiliarity of a new culture affect you in a negative way?
I couldn't stand the small town and the culture of the town and state where I grew up. I moved to a neighboring state with a similar culture for seven years then four years ago moved to a neighboring state with a different culture that fits me much better. If I could turn back time I wouldn't have moved to the one with the different culture 12 years ago. Don't let family drag you down.
I'm 32. I've had to move twice, largely for job related reasons. I'm from a small, isolated metro in northeast TN. Aside from the last two years, I've really struggled to make ends meet in Tennessee. Outside of Nashville, there's very little opportunity here.
My first solo move was to Iowa. I moved for a crappy job, though it did pay about 30% more than what I made locally. I was 25 and loaded up the SUV and drove off. I didn't care for it then. I didn't know anyone, didn't make many friends, and ultimately didn't like it and moved back to Tennessee after a year. If I were to make the same move today, I'd probably have toughed it out for another year. Compared to Tennessee, Iowa's job market is just amazing. I moved back here and wanted to get Charlotte, Raleigh, etc., but that didn't happen.
You'd have a hard time getting me to move back there, though my suburban area was a very nice community. The weather is extreme compared to the gentle weather here in Appalachia. It's even more isolated than here. The outdoor opportunities suck.
I ended up moving to Indianapolis after about a year after I moved back from Iowa. I liked Indy a lot better. I moved back to Tennessee after it seemed that I'd lose my job there. I got an offer here making what I had made in Indianapolis. I had a rough breakup the week before I took that bad job there. Had I known the relationship was going to end, I wouldn't have taken the second job and would probably still be in Indy.
I'm a Republican, but I'm not into God and guns like everyone here. Compared to my previous suburban locations, the QoL here day to day sucks. I drive a lot more because everything is more spread out. There's little to do here on the weekend. Outside of the outdoor recreation, there just aren't a lot of positives to this area if you've lived in wealthier or nicer areas.
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