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I would say Atlanta, with Charlotte as a close second though there not the biggest ones. I wouldn't say Houston or Dallas because Texas is not always considered South, its sometimes itself or Southwestern. Miami is the biggest metro area in the South but its more culturally aligned with Latin America.
The biggest metro in the south is Dallas followed by Houston.....
The biggest metro in the south is Dallas followed by Houston.....
No, Atlanta's metro area is larger than the Dallas metro area. It's only when you include Fort Worth that "Dallas" is larger. And Fort Worth is decidedly more Western than Southern. Many in Texas would say the same about Dallas. Cowboys aren't very Southern, you know.
According to wikipedia, the South Florida metro (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach) is the most populous in the Southeastern U.S.
Dallas-Fort Worth is usually seen as a single metro area, though Washington, D.C. and Baltimore are just separate metro areas close to each other. Btw DC and Baltimore are technically south of the Mason-Dixon Line though DC's cultural and econimic links are more with the NOrtheastern cities...
No, Atlanta's metro area is larger than the Dallas metro area. It's only when you include Fort Worth that "Dallas" is larger. And Fort Worth is decidedly more Western than Southern. Many in Texas would say the same about Dallas. Cowboys aren't very Southern, you know.
If this is the case take the 15 of the 20 counties close away and see what the pop of metro Atlanta would be>2 million
Atlanta. It's the only true metropolis in the South. Dallas and Houston could certainly vie with Atlanta, but I do not consider them in The South per se. They are in Texas--a state that has some southern sensibilities, but is very different and unique in many other ways (same goes for Florida).
In the south, Houston has to be the capital. From what ive seen, they have the best skyline the highest population by far (city). I dont understand how Atlanta so easily considers itself the head honcho, when you have Houston...and to an extent Dallas. I can throw stats at you guys, but do I really need to?!? I think in about 10 years this wont even be an argument, with all the towers going up in Houston, and their BOOMING economy, that city is definately gonna come out on TOP.
This is more of a request rather than a comment, but could we please keep hip-hop artists out of this discussion?
It seems like every Southern city comparison thread has posts boasting about which hip-hop artist represent which cities. And it makes no sense in comparing cities.
I mean really, does the Ying-Yang Twins greatly increase the culture of your city? Or do you choose to move to a city because Master P used to live there once?
And Fort Worth is decidedly more Western than Southern. Many in Texas would say the same about Dallas. Cowboys aren't very Southern, you know.
This is sorta true about Ft. Worth, but has to be put into proper perspective. Yes, Ft. Worth, for good reason, touts itself as "Where the West Begins" (and so do a lot of other cities) and the image of the city is of the old Cowtown and such.
The thing is though, this particular "west" is not necessarily distinct from the South. It is just a different sub-region of the larger South...the "Western South", as opposed to the Old South, Deep South, or Southeast. The people who settled Ft. Worth and western Texas were overwhelmingly other Southerners looking to get a new start after the War, and culture is evident in many ways. Not the least of which that the early Texas cattle barons and cowboys (usually ex-Confederate soldiers) have direct roots to the "cattle droving" tradition of the Old South. Something not true of other so-called "western states".
There are really at least two "Wests" One is the modern cultural region (sharing similar heritage, history, etc) which is sorta the Rocky Mountain States and interior Southwest (New Mexico and Arizona as the core). The other is the "mythic West" of the post-bellum frontier era...cowboys and Indians, gunfighters, and cattle drives.
Very little of Texas is part of the former (trans-pecos an exception), as its history and culture is essentially Southern, having been shaped by Southerners from the time it was opened to settlement by Mexico. But is definitely part of the latter in terms of history and popular culture. The thing is though, this aspect is really just the traditional South moved west into new environment, in a way that formed/forms a unique sub-region of its own.
The "Western South." (This label was coined by Raymond Gastil in his classic work "Cultural Regions of the United States"). A place where Southern history, religion, culture, folkways, traditions, etc are flavored with Western dress, wide-open spaces, and free-spirited individuality. This is very distinct from the "Southwest" of New Mexico and Arizona. Or the West of Colorado and Montana.
True, all things considered, with the arguable exceptions of northern Virginia, parts of West Virginia, and most of Florida, this "Western South" sub-region (consisting of most of Texas...East Texas is Deep South) can be fairly called the "least Southern" part of the South IF the common denominator of the definition of the South comes down to that of the Old "moonlight and magnolias" South, or even that of the Smoky Mountains and Appalachian areas.
Sooo, after having rambled considerably, and coming back to the topic itself of what would be considered the Capital of the South? I would say it is simply an impossible question to answer because the South is such a large and varied region. All the way from Virginia down to Florida and west to Texas there is a shared history and culture and outlook that offsets it considerably from the Northeast, Midwest, and Far West. But at the same time, there are such variations within that it would almost need TWO capitals. And eastern and western one! LOL
Last edited by TexasReb; 07-19-2008 at 03:21 PM..
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