Do people in Maryland consider themselves North, Southern, or in Between? (Baltimore: credit, loans)

[Patapsco]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

Lastly, I've yet to see a Sonic, Bojangles, or Waffle House in Maryland. I really feel deprived!!

Be deprived no more, there's a waffle house in Frederick!

Pecan pancakes...yum!

[CHIP72]

I only read the first 3 pages, but from my current perch in south central PA (Harrisburg area), I can tell you that parts of central Maryland (places like Frederick, Westminster, and to a lesser degree Hagerstown) have a good bit in common with south central PA. On the other hand, Baltimore has some distinct differences (and some genuine similarities) to Philadelphia, even though they are less than 100 miles apart. Baltimore definitely doesn't feel like a southern city either though. I think the statement sometimes said about Baltimore - it is the most southernly northern city and the most northernly southern city - is probably fairly accurate. Washington has so many people from somewhere else that it really isn't either northern or southern, but I'd guess prior to about 40 years ago it was similar to Baltimore but with a stronger southern influence.

BTW, for what it's worth I've usually considered Pennsylvania (and for that matter New Jersey) a Mid-Atlantic state, the same classification as Maryland and at least the northern part of Virginia.

[montanamom]

I was born and raised in Maryland, grew up there, lived there for 36 years. My mother, whowever, was born and raised in Georgia and North Carolina, and I lived in North Carolina myself for a long time. Maryland is completely Northern culturally. North Carolina, Georgia, etc. - there's your Southern culture. NOTHING southern about Maryland. Yankees all the way.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Note: I've lived mostly in Montgomery County, spent 4 years in PG County at College Park (though never really left the campus and town) and I'm going to pharmacy school in Baltimore in a few months

How Maryland is Northern (a lot of it due to northern transplants)

1. rude, unfriendly attitudes....people don't chat with each other at the check-out line or on the Metro or the bus unlike in the South (my family used to live in New Orleans)

2. mostly suburban, dominated by fast food, chains, big box stores vs. the South with its charming towns and local businesses (one of my supervisors from my campus job was originally from Rocky Mount, North Carolina and she says its striking how in MD, NJ and NY everyone eats at McDonald's or goes to huge shopping centers)

3. urban decay, poverty, crime, esp in Baltimore and PG County

4. miserable winters...though this is changing. Maryland used to be halfway between the humid continental and humid subtropical zones...now its entirely humid subtropical b/c of global warming

5. extreme left-wing politics...our governor makes us a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants; powerful Democratic party, we're not even a swing state, we're as guaranteed Blue as California, New Jersey and Massachusetts

6. no southern accents, a lot of transplants keep their snotty Long Island accents

How Maryland is Southern

1. weather....nice warm summers, see #4 above about climate change

2. outside of Montgomery and PG, country music is still very popular, if not the most popular style of music

[Tom Lennox 70]

Images of the North

- endless winters, dreary weather
- urban decay, the Rust Belt, poverty, crime
- pollution, urban decay, housing projects
- unfriendliness, rudeness
- snottiness, snobbyness, elitism
- extreme Democrat and liberal politics, political corruption
- organized crime
- violence, intolerance and racism, esp by working class Irish and Italians
- racial/identity politics
- gray cities, rusting factories and shipyards, rotting warehouses, drab brick architecture

Images of the South

- laid-back lifestyle
- idyllic small towns, the all-American image
- warm weather, long summer days, sunshine
- gracious, friendly, down-to-earth people
- down to earth politics
- economic boom, the Sunbelt, growth
- beautiful plantations and antebellum architecture, weeping willows, wonderful beaches

[ChocolateTae]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

Images of the North

- endless winters, dreary weather
- urban decay, the Rust Belt, poverty, crime
- pollution, urban decay, housing projects
- unfriendliness, rudeness
- snottiness, snobbyness, elitism
- extreme Democrat and liberal politics, political corruption
- organized crime
- violence, intolerance and racism, esp by working class Irish and Italians
- racial/identity politics
- gray cities, rusting factories and shipyards, rotting warehouses, drab brick architecture

Images of the South

- laid-back lifestyle
- idyllic small towns, the all-American image
- warm weather, long summer days, sunshine
- gracious, friendly, down-to-earth people
- down to earth politics
- economic boom, the Sunbelt, growth
- beautiful plantations and antebellum architecture, weeping willows, wonderful beaches

I guess it's safe to say Maryland has characteristics of both the North and the South. I think Maryland is neither a Northern or Southern state but a Mid-Atlantic state (That term seems more accurate than Northern or Southern). Not unless we want to make something up. No-So state maybe?

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

Images of the North

- endless winters, dreary weather
- urban decay, the Rust Belt, poverty, crime
- pollution, urban decay, housing projects
- unfriendliness, rudeness
- snottiness, snobbyness, elitism
- extreme Democrat and liberal politics, political corruption
- organized crime
- violence, intolerance and racism, esp by working class Irish and Italians
- racial/identity politics
- gray cities, rusting factories and shipyards, rotting warehouses, drab brick architecture

Images of the South

- laid-back lifestyle
- idyllic small towns, the all-American image
- warm weather, long summer days, sunshine
- gracious, friendly, down-to-earth people
- down to earth politics
- economic boom, the Sunbelt, growth
- beautiful plantations and antebellum architecture, weeping willows, wonderful beaches

Why do so many people have such idyllic pictures of the South?

All I see, looking around me here in Charlotte, North Carolina, are:

- flashy, envious people (my neighbor made sure to don her fur coat in 70-degree weather to come over to see who bought the house next door, before telling me not to bother knocking on her door because she and her husband "travel a lot"),

- incompetence (I've given up trying to get services here. It's ridiculous),

- chain & fast food restaurants (you can find the occasional independent store/restaurant in a strip mall),

- Nascar (nuf said).

Charlotte knocked down all its old architecture, and Sherman burned the rest (Atlanta at least), so I don't see a lot of that around here either.

The mall here has a Gucci store, a Berberry (I don't even know how to spell it), a Bulgari, a Tiffany's, and on and on, but no where to get a hair cut. How is that down to earth? What down to earth people is that meant to serve?

I had never seen a Bently before I came down here. Now I see people driving them around the neighborhood. Why? I don't know. How can you live in a city with such social problems and spend your money on a Bentley? I'm sure those same people gave a good amount of money to their church before buying their expensive car, which the church then spent on building a new wing or two. But there's really nothing neighborly or civic-minded about that.

It's just amazing how people can have such vastly different impressions of the same place.

[mom2boys37]

I see Bentleys and all other types of luxury cars here in Frederick. Trust me Charlotte is on a high end of the Carolinas, the issue here is north or south for Maryland. There are high end department stores in Mont. County like Louis Vitton. I have a friend in Hickory, NC and I loved the way people spoke to you and so forth and thats only an hour outside of Charlotte.

[Tom Lennox 70]

From a purely economic or physical perspective, Maryland is truly the transition zone. The Washington, D.C. area is probably the northernmost boomtown on the East Coast. I like to consider Washington, D.C. up to Howard County the northermost reaches of the Sun Belt (while it gets cold and I hate the weather....compare how we treat snow compared with people in Philadelphia or Wilmington, Delaware.)

I've traveled extensively, and Montgomery County and Howard County, especially places like Columbia, Ellicott City, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville and North Potomac really resemble the Sunbelt cities like Atlanta, Raleigh, and Nashville. The newest, flashiest developments like downtown Silver Spring and the Washingtonian Center/Rio in a way are like Western cities like Las Vegas, SLC, and Boise. The high-tech corridor aroudn Shady Grove in Montgomery has the exact feeling as the North Carolina Triangle. I think its tragic that this kind of thing is happening to parts of Maryland and in states to our south. I really long for the good ol'days before I was born when people lived in nice unique little towns with main streets and local businesses, the kind of place CMT likes to film its music videos in.

I think Montgomery and Howard Counties are places without an identity, they're everywhere and nowhere, just like the Southwest boomtowns. There's nothing authentic Maryland here like there is in Baltimore, Annapolis, southern MD and the Eastern Shore. DC itself is also just a anomaly that we're really removed from. The District is just really a piece of real estate centered on tourism, museums, and national politics.

I think the Rust Belt (the north) begins around Baltimore County or at least with Baltimore City. Go through Baltimore City and it's a depressing, crumbling place. It looks nothing like Atlanta or Jacksonville or Miami and everything like Philadelphia and New Jersey's countless centers of decline and decay. The city is hemorraging jobs and population. My only friends who are staying after college are people with connections for jobs or those who are going to grad school.

Cumberland and Western Maryland is a lot like the dying coal towns of western Pennsylvania or parts of West Virginia. They even cheer for the Pittsburgh teams instead of the Washington, D.C. or Baltimore ones. Even more so than Baltimore you need connections to find employment in Cumberland and the surrounding towns which is sad because its such a beautiful place. A lot of people from Pennsylvania come down to the DC area looking for jobs because of dim career prospects back home.

[sundaze]

Hey Terrapin -- Was wondering where you disappeared to, am glad you are ok.
36 years in Montgomery County, Now in Raleigh NC.
Not all that different, I'd say.