Would you consider Maryland to be in the south? (Baltimore: transplants, elementary school)

[CHIP72]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

Pittsburgh is a Northeast and "Rust Belt" city. I wouldn't consider it to be Applachia, for one thing its too far north. The main city of Appalachia I'd say would be something like Wheeling or Charleston, West Virginia. Cumberland, Maryland is in Appalachia, though. I'm not sure about Hagerstown. Frederick definitely is not.

Terrapin2212, have you ever LIVED in western PA? I have. Just because Pittsburgh is a bigger city doesn't mean it isn't in Appalachia. Most of western Pennsylvania is in Appalachia.

Cumberland, MD and Wheeling, WV, especially the latter, strongly associate themselves with Pittsburgh. Heck, I think Wheeling is about 60 miles from Pittsburgh. Also, Pittsburgh isn't that similar to any of the East Coast cities, due to its relatively isolated location. There is a huge difference between eastern PA and western PA.

BTW, I grew up in one of those boring subdivisions, and I never want to live in one of those again. You can't get anywhere useful without using a car, which is annoying for kids, and those subdivisions all look very similar to one another.

P.S. You can "say" Maryland is southern all you want, but besides the areas that are Southern or at least Southern-leaning in Maryland (much of Delmarva and St. Mary's, Calvert, and probably the majority of Charles County southeast of DC), the Old Line State isn't Southern. Perhaps you should go live in some small, southern town that lacks jobs (and I'm sure there are many of those), or live in suburban Atlanta in one of those subdivisions and deal with traffic headaches on a daily basis without having the quantity of transportation options that DC offers.

[DITC]

Originally Posted by CHIP72

Actually, I'd consider the NYC metro area to be considerably more similar to Philadelphia than to Boston. The Mid-Atlantic would go from the NYC metro area (including SW Connecticut) down to northern Virginia, while the Northeast (or actually New England) would include all 6 New England states excluding the portion of Connecticut most strongly connected with the NYC metro area. As I noted earlier, Appalachia and the eastern Great Lakes are a different animal, and so is Delmarva (which would be the area of Maryland and for that matter Delaware that would be the most like the South).

No way. What are you basing this on? I have lived in both NY and Philly metro areas and NY is definitely more similar to Boston than Philly. Metro Philly reminds me of metro Baltimore

[jaindow]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

I associate high tech and economic development with the South (and West) these days. Compare the booming Sunbelt cities like Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and Raleigh and Charlotte and Tampa with the crumbling Rust Belt cities like Baltimore, Philly, Pittsburgh, Detroit. When I think northern cities, I see declinking populations, crime, drugs, brownfields. The South....booming suburbs, high-tech development, flashy modern architecture.

Funnily, the SOuth also brings up images of friendly small towns, while the North has images of rude, unfriendly attidues, aggressive driving, etc.

I would agree that areas like Austin, Dallas, the Tech Triangle in North Carolina, and around Atlanta are more associated with high tech and economic development these days. But when looking at the South as a whole geographic area, then these areas would be only a small part of the South and I wouldn't consider them the Southern norm.

In addition to this, with all the advances going on in these areas it would seem to me that over time they have or will simply become more characteristic of your Northern images.

[moondragon67]

I grew up in Ft. Wash. MD, we used to tell people we were from the Mid-Atlantic area. I also lived on the coast in MD and they used to call us Westerners because we were from the opposite side of the Chesapeake. My parents both came from states above the mason-dixon line so they were Northerners but referred to us as Southerners. I now live in NC and they call me a Northerner and I have to remind them that MD is south of the Mason-Dixon line so that makes me a Southerner. I guess it all depends on where you came from and where you end up.

[southboy]

Yes. I believe Maryland is 100% southern, and I'm from Georgia.(I had moved to Maryland 1 year ago)

[sundaze]

I am surprised this topic has resurfaced, because it is a question of semantics. Maryland is a Mid-Atlantic state, but has it's own unique features. Because of its proximity to our nation's capital, there are people from all over the US associated with the government and also from other countries. Its main beach, Ocean City, is like no place else, and fun in its special ways. Baltimore is like, well, Baltimore. The eastern shore was agricultural and fishing oriented, other people are moving there now. Western Maryland is not so different from West Virginia.
I am not from the East Coast, I came to Maryland at age 22 and lived there for 36 years (from Washington State). I just moved to North Carolina. Maryland is Maryland, with its own charms, its own problems, and in some ways a microcosm of America because it has so many different types of areas. There is a lot to love. I think classifying it as "south" or "north" doesn't do it justice.

[DITC]

Originally Posted by sundaze

I am surprised this topic has resurfaced, because it is a question of semantics. Maryland is a Mid-Atlantic state, but has it's own unique features. Because of its proximity to our nation's capital, there are people from all over the US associated with the government and also from other countries. Its main beach, Ocean City, is like no place else, and fun in its special ways. Baltimore is like, well, Baltimore. The eastern shore was agricultural and fishing oriented, other people are moving there now. Western Maryland is not so different from West Virginia.
I am not from the East Coast, I came to Maryland at age 22 and lived there for 36 years (from Washington State). I just moved to North Carolina. Maryland is Maryland, with its own charms, its own problems, and in some ways a microcosm of America because it has so many different types of areas. There is a lot to love. I think classifying it as "south" or "north" doesn't do it justice.

This is actually a decent point. Every time I drive through Maryland, I just cant agree with those who claim its the Northeast. Its like night and day. And this isnt letting DE, Southeast PA, and South Jersey off the hook either. Vineland NJ, Wilmington DE and Chester PA feel just as south as MD does to someone from Newark or Boston.

However, on the way back, when I enter DC/MD after being in Richmond, Fredericksburg, etc, I also feel a difference. When we are up here its just all "south" to us, and by the same token, probably feels north to the deep southerners, but I guess Maryland is its own little world. The whole Mid Atlantic region is essentially a buffer that eases the transition from Northeast to true South.

Question: When you guys go to Ocean City on weekends, is the traffic bad? I've always wondered this, because on a map it seems as if the whole state would bottleneck to your one ocean beach on that single road (Hwy 50). Ive only been there once and I came in through DE. (Camped out at Assateague, quite the experience lol)

[mom2boys37]

Originally Posted by DITC

This is actually a decent point. Every time I drive through Maryland, I just cant agree with those who claim its the Northeast. Its like night and day. And this isnt letting DE, Southeast PA, and South Jersey off the hook either. Vineland NJ, Wilmington DE and Chester PA feel just as south as MD does to someone from Newark or Boston.

However, on the way back, when I enter DC/MD after being in Richmond, Fredericksburg, etc, I also feel a difference. When we are up here its just all "south" to us, and by the same token, probably feels north to the deep southerners, but I guess Maryland is its own little world. The whole Mid Atlantic region is essentially a buffer that eases the transition from Northeast to true South.

Question: When you guys go to Ocean City on weekends, is the traffic bad? I've always wondered this, because on a map it seems as if the whole state would bottleneck to your one ocean beach on that single road (Hwy 50). Ive only been there once and I came in through DE. (Camped out at Assateague, quite the experience lol)

Yes OC is a nightmare in the summer. The bay bridge traffic is awful. If you are gonna go u have to leave really really early, but then the dilemma is not getting into your place until the 3pm check in. Than on your departure date leaving early before everyones check out which normally is 11.

[DITC]

Originally Posted by mom2boys37

Yes OC is a nightmare in the summer. The bay bridge traffic is awful. If you are gonna go u have to leave really really early, but then the dilemma is not getting into your place until the 3pm check in. Than on your departure date leaving early before everyones check out which normally is 11.

Yeah I can imagine. I know OC must pack in a ton of people every weekend with all those high rises and I guess most come from the other side of the chesapeake. Seems like alternate routes are none. The MD/DE beaches are a long drive to begin with...about 2x as long as what we have distance-wise. How long would it take from a place like Columbia or Bethesda? 3 hours? 5 hours? (I have no idea, and have always wondered this)

In NJ we have 4-5 highways we can take to the beach plus several backroads, and even public transportation. We still get our traffic, but there are alternate routes.

[md to nc]

I feel it all depends if you were born and raised in MD or transplanted. Of course if you moved from the NE to MD, you would say north. But if you were born and raised here you would say south because it is south of the mason dixon. But if you ask a true southerner in Carolina, we are all Yankees above VA. Even VA is considered Yankee. Its a mute point to even ask anymore.