KC ranked #2 on "redneck city" list (Kansas City, St. Louis: middle-class, high school)

[MidWestCityNative]

Originally Posted by kc chris

Seems pretty redneck to me.


AND PROUD OF IT!

Be as proud as you want, but you don't speak for everyone in the KC area

[Alpha_Dog]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Omaha is definitely less redneck than Kansas City. I don't know about Milwaukee and Detroit, but even though they're more blue collar than KC, I can't imagine them being more redneck than KC.

I get your Indiana and southern Ohio remark, but southern MN??? Maybe you just had an isolated rural experience there? Or is there something I'm missing?

Definitely in the Southeast portion of MN, there is a strong redneck/hick culture - mentality in many of the small towns including, Albert Lea, Austin, Winona, Owatonna, and Pine Island, much of the driftless area are known as hick-havens. There is a good amount of backwoods insular enclaves in SE MN where the locals all seem to think alike, look alike, and seem eager to know everyone else's business, and yes they love their Nascar and Country Music like in the South. That region of MN feels very socially conservative, evangelical and staid compared to the progressive, more secular and educated Twin-Cities region. When I was up there last summer I noticed that many of the locals were missing teeth, still chewed tobacco, wore sleeveless t-shirts and jean shorts, drove large pickup trucks and sported mullets and rat tails -- definitely a different cultural atmosphere than the Twin Cities. They were friendly enough people for the most part, but much of that region minus Rochester feels like it operates on a ninth grade level, and many of the adults in those towns are functionally illiterate, just like you see in areas of the Deep South and Appalachia region.

[TabulaRasa]

I went to college in southern MN, to a private school with fairly rigorous academics. Most of my classmates were from the Cities, and couldn't get over how "backwoods" our small college town was, but to me, it was a college town with more amenities than any other small town in the area that didn't have a college population to shore it up. Newsflash...when you have a hippie organic co-op, a coffee shop run by performance artists, and a European import shop all in a two-block radius in a small town, and half the town is tenured professors and their families, you're not exactly on the set of Deliverance.

But to some, "small town" = "redneck." Whether it actually is or not. At the time, my thought was, "Oh, kids...you really haven't seen real rednecks, have you? Being an hour's drive from the Mall of America doesn't = redneck."

[sadgirl80]

To me to qualify as Redneck, you have to go deep into the woods of Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

[kcmo]

Metro Baltimore is more redneck than metro KC.

I don't define redneck as farmers and country people. While they can be that demographic, I don't think agriculture and redneck go hand and hand.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Ah, so you don't think KC is the most redneck Midwestern city, but perhaps 2nd after Indy?

I've always thought KC has and must have a bit of a Southern influence being that it's a major city that basically borders the South. During our industrial era, I'd imagine quite a few folks moved and settled up here from the South for those jobs. It's just that the Southern (or redneck) influence never really permeated the upper-class/powers-that-be here, except maybe somewhere like Harrisonville or something. That town and county seems kind of redneck run to me. But within the black community here, there's still some strong Southern influence from people who have extended family in Arkansas or other Southern states. If you ignore skin color and pay attention when riding the bus sometimes you'll notice some very Southern/country/hick type black people. Some pockets of the black community are so insular and segregated from the mainstream that they've retained certain characteristics.

KC borders the south? That's news to me. Arkansas is over 100 miles to the south. Didn't realize it now bordered KC.

[thriftylefty]

Its kind of hard for the area to live down its roots as a cow town. KC was known for packing house and industrial jobs that attracted lots of uneducated people . Its seems the FFA used to have their national meeting there for a while. Red neck is a city where a person can drop out of high school and still be middle class. There are some pockets of unreality like;Westport, The Plaza, and JOCO but if you venture too far out of those areas you will find you are still in Missouri and Kansas and everything that comes with that reality.

[nullterm]

Kansas City is definitely redneck, once you get out of the urban core. I've lived here since 1990, in all areas from Blue Springs to Liberty to Olathe to Roeland Park to downtown to the plaza and Brookside. It's redneck.

This criteria used seems like a pretty good indicator of redneckedness in my opinion:

• Percent of population that didn’t complete high school
• Number of gun and ammo stores per capita
• Number of taxidermists per capita
• Number of cowboy boot stores per capita
• Number of country radio stations per capita
• Number of NASCAR race tracks close by
• Number of Walmarts per capita
• Number of riding lawn mower/tractor repair shops per capita

If you think that this list is full of good stuff, you might be a redneck. Don't be offended, it's not an insult, just a perspective.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

KC borders the south? That's news to me. Arkansas is over 100 miles to the south. Didn't realize it now bordered KC.

I said "basically borders the South" and was speaking within a certain context. In the same sense, St. Louis also borders the South. Read the rest of what I said and put my comment in context and maybe you'll be able to wrap your head around it. Unless there's an invisible major industrial city between KC and the South that likely drew Southerners during it's heyday, I'm going to have to stick with what I've said about KC bordering the South.

[todd00]

Just another stupid list. This person is from Texas, but notice the two Texas cities listed come in at 6th and 7th place. Must be blind to the cowboy hats and pick up trucks around him.

Funny that Walmart is part of the criteria. Look at the number of late model cars in their parking lots, their shoppers are not much different than that of Target. Though the folks that go to Target might want to see themselves as a cut above the slobs only clientele they think frequent the Super Walmart, there is not much difference between the two stores or shoppers. Lots of stuff from China in both places. Target just adds a bit more gloss to their trim is all, which must make some feel better about being in a discount type store.