Opinions from Georgians on North Carolina? (Atlanta, Savannah: transplants, move to, land)

[BullGoodBearBad]

Very interesting thread. I've never lived outside of NC and am considering coastal Georgia as my top living destination. I'm terrified I would get bored before long. I really like Wilmington NC but I lived there prior to attending college and if I moved I'd like to see something new. Wilmington has a fun atmosphere for young people, only two hours to Raleigh (although I wouldn't make this trip too frequently), a couple of hours to my Alma mater (but I'm going to return frequently for games as long as its within a 6 or 7 hour trip), a short drive to myrtle beach for some touristy fun, not too far from Charleston, Charlotte etc.

I'm be considering Savannah but worry that outside of the charm of downtown there's not a lot. I know there's Tybee island (which seems small) and a few things to do mid-town, but nothing major. I also know it's 2 hours to Jacksonville/Charleston, not far from Hilton Head and 3.5 hours to Atlanta.

Most of what's been posted about the politics, etc. are pretty accurate in my opinion. The urban crescent of NC is pretty left leaning while the rural areas are deep-south conservative. Lots of old money families in the historic towns.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by JayJayCB

Thinking about it now, the Alabama comparison is probably a bit off. I'm not too familiar with 2nd and 3rd tier cities in GA such as Columbus, Macon, Augusta, etc. but I'm sure you're right. Asheville is indeed very liberal mainly because it's a college town, but it's practically a blue oasis because the surrounding areas are very red. The NC mountains have always been very conservative and still very much so. Actually, I would say Durham might take the crown for the most liberal city in NC due to the high population of minorities. However, Chapel Hill and Asheville are not far behind. So I would say Durham is the most liberal with Asheville at second and Chapel Hill at third. The Charlotte area and the Triangle overall are only moderately liberal. As for Asheville being a "political island" I'd say it's more like Athens but I could be wrong. How about Georgia? What are the big liberal areas over there?

Thank you for correcting yourself. I'm getting increasingly frustrated by the over-use of the term "Outside of Atlanta, Georgia is just like Alabama." In every C-D thread that asks about any comparison of the Southern states, it pops up multiple times -- and even more ridiculous, the people who state it almost always do so as if THEY were the first to be so clever. It's tired and trite ... and not true.

I could go on ad nauseam about the many things that separate Georgia from Alabama. But having lived in both states, I'm also well qualified to say that dismissing Georgia as "just like Alabama" isn't fair to ... Alabama. Despite all of Alabama's short-comings, it has some amazing things of which it should not be disparaged so. Simply saying "Georgia outside of Atlanta is just like Alabama" is quite disingenuous and unfair to BOTH states.

[BullGoodBearBad]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Thank you for correcting yourself. I'm getting increasingly frustrated by the over-use of the term "Outside of Atlanta, Georgia is just like Alabama." In every C-D thread that asks about any comparison of the Southern states, it pops up multiple times -- and even more ridiculous, the people who state it almost always do so as if THEY were the first to be so clever. It's tired and trite ... and not true.

I could go on ad nauseam about the many things that separate Georgia from Alabama. But having lived in both states, I'm also well qualified to say that dismissing Georgia as "just like Alabama" isn't fair to ... Alabama. Despite all of Alabama's short-comings, it has some amazing things of which it should not be disparaged so. Simply saying "Georgia outside of Atlanta is just like Alabama" is quite disingenuous and unfair to BOTH states.

Agreed. There are some great things about Alabama. Some aren't so great, but the state gets a bad rap from a lot of people who've never even stepped foot in Alabama's borders (not saying that about the OP, just in general).

[JayJayCB]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Thank you for correcting yourself. I'm getting increasingly frustrated by the over-use of the term "Outside of Atlanta, Georgia is just like Alabama." In every C-D thread that asks about any comparison of the Southern states, it pops up multiple times -- and even more ridiculous, the people who state it almost always do so as if THEY were the first to be so clever. It's tired and trite ... and not true.

I could go on ad nauseam about the many things that separate Georgia from Alabama. But having lived in both states, I'm also well qualified to say that dismissing Georgia as "just like Alabama" isn't fair to ... Alabama. Despite all of Alabama's short-comings, it has some amazing things of which it should not be disparaged so. Simply saying "Georgia outside of Atlanta is just like Alabama" is quite disingenuous and unfair to BOTH states.

Come to think of it, Alabama might even be more similar to South Carolina than it is to Georgia. I guess we can all agree that Georgia and North Carolina are pretty similar. However, I've met some people who assume the big three Deep South states are South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi and that these three states are all comparable. They like to dismiss Georgia because of Atlanta, and Louisiana obviously has aspects that are different from the rest of the Deep South. When it comes to the Upper South, Tennessee pairs up the best with Kentucky, and Virginia can be compared to North Carolina based off similarities. Would you agree that this is accurate?

[cdw1084]

Originally Posted by JayJayCB

Come to think of it, Alabama might even be more similar to South Carolina than it is to Georgia. I guess we can all agree that Georgia and North Carolina are pretty similar. However, I've met some people who assume the big three Deep South states are South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi and that these three states are all comparable. They like to dismiss Georgia because of Atlanta, and Louisiana obviously has aspects that are different from the rest of the Deep South. When it comes to the Upper South, Tennessee pairs up the best with Kentucky, and Virginia can be compared to North Carolina based off similarities. Would you agree that this is accurate?

This is very true and you can look at the population and GDP of South Carolina and Alabama as well because they both are both are similar.

[Newsboy]

FYI ... another big thing that North Carolina and Georgia have in common is thriving film industries, though in recent years Georgia has blown way past North Carolina in that regard. EXAMPLE: While the first "Hunger Games" movie was shot in Charlotte, both of the sequels were shot in Atlanta. Also, when Screen Gems set up shop in Atlanta it took a lot of the focus away from Wilmington. Tyler Perry Studios, Pinewood Studios, Raleigh Atlanta Studios, Turner Broadcasting Studios ... all put Georgia's film and TV industry on an entirely different level than North Carolina.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Thank you for correcting yourself. I'm getting increasingly frustrated by the over-use of the term "Outside of Atlanta, Georgia is just like Alabama." In every C-D thread that asks about any comparison of the Southern states, it pops up multiple times -- and even more ridiculous, the people who state it almost always do so as if THEY were the first to be so clever. It's tired and trite ... and not true.

I could go on ad nauseam about the many things that separate Georgia from Alabama. But having lived in both states, I'm also well qualified to say that dismissing Georgia as "just like Alabama" isn't fair to ... Alabama. Despite all of Alabama's short-comings, it has some amazing things of which it should not be disparaged so. Simply saying "Georgia outside of Atlanta is just like Alabama" is quite disingenuous and unfair to BOTH states.

I think what people mean by that (and sometimes they say SC as well) is that outside of Atlanta, GA and AL are very similar in terms of things like population, demographics, political climate, etc. But your point is taken.

[workaholics]

Yeah, I have to be honest, traveling through rural areas of Alabama and Georgia, I notice a lot of similarities. It might just be because the states share a long border and have similar histories. I mean, up until the Civil Rights Movement, the states were like two peas in a pod. However during this period Alabama elected politicians who became famous in their unrelenting fight against integration while Georgia and the city of Atlanta had politicians who weren't as opposed.

As a result, Birmingham earned a nasty reputation and lost out on a lot of business to Atlanta, which spurred the amazing growth we've seen here.

[Drewplanner]

As for AL/SC/MS, I would more define the deep south as Alabama/South Carolina/Tennessee... and then Mississippi is just a whole different thing in itself. Some would say Fla is New York South or an extension of Cuba, but Northern Florida is very similar to Alabama/South Carolina. Central Fla may feel more like the urban areas of Georgia and North Carolina, but GA/NC are most alike in the South... and as Ive said before, they seem to me like different expressions of the same ingredients.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Drewplanner

As for AL/SC/MS, I would more define the deep south as Alabama/South Carolina/Tennessee... and then Mississippi is just a whole different thing in itself. Some would say Fla is New York South or an extension of Cuba, but Northern Florida is very similar to Alabama/South Carolina. Central Fla may feel more like the urban areas of Georgia and North Carolina, but GA/NC are most alike in the South... and as Ive said before, they seem to me like different expressions of the same ingredients.

I would replace Tennessee with Mississippi on the definition of "deep south." Tennessee could be argued as mid-south and southern appalachia.

Florida is topsy turvy. Northern Florida from Pensacola to the northern suburbs of Orlando and Tampa is very much southern while anything south of Tampa, Orlando and Daytona would be more northern influenced with latin flair added in.. in SE Florida especially.