Do people in Maryland consider themselves North, Southern, or in Between? (Baltimore: fit in, how much)

[MDgirlMovingSouth]

Originally Posted by JaBradshaw

Northerners consider us Southerners.
Southerners consider us Northerners.

Exactly. My friend in Alabama calls me a yankee every chance he gets. My friends from Jersey and NY think I pronounce my "Os" like a southerner.

I personally identify more with the south, but I think that's my Carroll County upbringing. Lots of confederate flags around here.

[Billiam]

although I cosnsider MD the midatlantic, i identify more with the north than the south. my dad identifys north and my mom, the south

[vasinger]

Originally Posted by kjg1963

Born and bred in Maryland, I never identified as a "southerner" or "northerner" and always thought I had no discernable accent. I worked temporarily in NY and everyone thought I was from the south and when I went to Dallas they thought I was from the north. I have noticed some very southern or "country" sounding accents from various areas of Maryland, even areas bordering DC. I thought my brother-in-law was born down south because of his accent, but he grew up in Laurel.

There is a Maryland accent that is much like Virginia Tidewater. I have met some people from Southeast Maryland that I could swear sound just like my family here in Virginia.

Some people say the Potomac River is a cultural dividing line and Maryland is now the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic and Virginia is the South-Mid-Atlantic. I do have friends from Maryland who aren't very Southern and they say going over to Virginia they feel like they are all of a sudden in the Deep South.

It depends I guess on the perspective.

Maryland doesn't seem to have as much an identity chrisis as Virginia I don't think because Virginia was always distinctly Southern, but because of Northern Virginia being so different now, its like putting New Jersey next to South Carolina.

[Aalbatr0ss]

If I had to draw a new Mason-Dixon line on the map it would be the James River. I grew up around Richmond and NoVa always seemed like the North to me. I think you even see some cultural differences in old timers who grew up on either side of Richmond.

I've just spent the last 5 years in California and now I'm moving to Maryland, so I'm curious what it will be like. So many people in Mntgomery County are transplants from up north I suspect it will be more like New York than Richmond.

[vasinger]

Originally Posted by Aalbatr0ss

If I had to draw a new Mason-Dixon line on the map it would be the James River. I grew up around Richmond and NoVa always seemed like the North to me. I think you even see some cultural differences in old timers who grew up on either side of Richmond.

I've just spent the last 5 years in California and now I'm moving to Maryland, so I'm curious what it will be like. So many people in Mntgomery County are transplants from up north I suspect it will be more like New York than Richmond.

Northern Virginia historically and culturally was always the South. Its in the last 30 or 40 years that it has become more Northern. They have plantations in NOVA and my teachers had southern accents . And I am definitely not a Yankee.

I think of Northern Virginia as Southern-Lite.

I would say now, however, the line would be Fredericksburg. Richmond is not a "border " city.

[NYMTman]

Virginia is Southern with northern quirks and Maryland is Northern with southern quirks. In my opinion.

[vasinger]

Originally Posted by NYMTman

Virginia is Southern with northern quirks and Maryland is Northern with southern quirks. In my opinion.

I can accept that. But to me, Virginia is distinctly Southern, whereas Maryland is a mix of both.

Northern Virginia would be questionable, but south of Fredericksburg and I don't think you could ever mistake Virginia for "northern".

[Aalbatr0ss]

Yeah, you're probably right. Fredricksburg. Caroline county is definitely soutern. When I was a little kid I lived in the country and Mecklenburg County on the NC border, so that may be why parts of Richmond don't seem all that southern to me. I guess it was the capital of the confederacy and all. I never really appreciated it when I lived there but Richmond really is a nice city. I'm glad I'm moving back in time to see it in the fall.

[vasinger]

Originally Posted by Aalbatr0ss

Yeah, you're probably right. Fredricksburg. Caroline county is definitely soutern. When I was a little kid I lived in the country and Mecklenburg County on the NC border, so that may be why parts of Richmond don't seem all that southern to me. I guess it was the capital of the confederacy and all. I never really appreciated it when I lived there but Richmond really is a nice city. I'm glad I'm moving back in time to see it in the fall.

Oh yes. Well it depends also on what people view as "southern". To me its a slower pace of life- and where you can get sweet tea and at least 80% of people have a southern way of talking (which these days in the South is a novelty), etc.

Richmond is the epitome of that. Maybe it felt less southern to you because its an urban vs. rural thing.

Northern Virginia doesnt feel Southern to me either, but I wouldn't say its Northern, either. Probably a mix of both.

[Tom Lennox 70]

I'd like to think of Maryland as Southern or a transition state but where I live in Montgomery County its definitely not southern. Montgomery County feels a bit like Long Island/Westchester around Potomac/Bethesda and a lot like Southern California around Silver Spring /Wheaton/Rockville/Gaithersburg with all the illegal immigrants and stuff. However pockets like Damascus and Poolesville do have a southern feel.

Western Maryland feels more like West Virginia and Pennsylvania. People in Cumberland cheer for the Pittsburgh teams and they say they identify more with West Virginia than the rest of Maryland.

The Baltimore-Annapolis area is a mix of north and south. Though I have a good friend from Carroll County and he insists adamantly that Maryland is not the South. The Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland are more Southern.

Overall we are the transition zone. We've gotta be cause Pennsylvanians call us Southerner and Virginians and North Carolinians call us Yankees. I'd rather be a southerner than a Yankee though. Just with the North there's so much baggage you have to carry around....I don't want to be lumped together with those snobby, elitist, unpleasant people from Long Island, Connecticut, Boston and Westchester and New Jersey.