How "southern" is NC these days? (Charlotte, Raleigh: transplants, moving to)

[mackinac81]

Hey all, I'm considering moving to NC to teach, and have gathered that it's kind of a watered down southern state because of the influx of outsiders. Is this true? The answer has no bearing on my choice, but I'm just curious:

So would you still consider NC culturally southern or not, or in between.

Thanks!

mackinac

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by mackinac81

Hey all, I'm considering moving to NC to teach, and have gathered that it's kind of a watered down southern state because of the influx of outsiders. Is this true? The answer has no bearing on my choice, but I'm just curious:

So would you still consider NC culturally southern or not, or in between.

Thanks!

mackinac

It depends on what part of NC you are talking about.

[Akhenaton06]

NC is still culturally Southern. The rural areas will obviously have a stronger Southern identity, but even the larger urban areas have an urban version of Southerness, although obviously not quite as strong as the rural areas.

[thedudewiththeplan]

I would say it is southern, but not as southern as some of the deep south states like GA and SC.

[Waterboy526]

I would echo what everyone else has said. Even with new transplants this state is still southern, although maybe not as much so in the more urban areas (you can still tell it's southern though). The difference from here and where I'm from in Northern Virginia is huge. That area stopped being southern 30-40 years ago, while no matter what they say about Raleigh, it's still southern.

PS - I'm sure the deep south is still much more southern, but I couldn't tell you as I really haven't spent any time there.

[Raivere]

It is still southern. I dont count the new transplants cause they keep to themselves never going out of their confort zone.

[Tarheelhombre]

Overall NC is a lot more southern than Maryland/DC, a little more southern than VA and WV, a little less southern than TN and GA, and a lot less southern than SC, AL, and MS. The Triangle and northeastern NC are least southern parts of the state, and the southwest and southern third of the state is the most southern. Generally, the further south and west you go in NC, the more southern.

[ohsgrl05]

It depends on what part of the state you are in. If you move to the mountains, you might find more southerners. If you move to Charlotte, you could find anyone. lol. Since Charlotte is the biggest city in NC, I would say it is not that southern.

[Waterboy526]

Originally Posted by Tarheelhombre

Overall NC is a lot more southern than Maryland/DC, a little less southern than VA and WV, a little less southern than TN and GA, and a lot less southern than SC, AL, and MS. The Triangle and northeastern NC are least southern parts of the state, and the southwest and southern third of the state is the most southern. Generally, the further south and west you go in NC, the more southern.

I wouldn't say NC is less Southern than VA. In Northern VA you won't find a southern accent anywhere (forget about southern culture...you can't even get sweet tea there) and Tidewater you barely will. Even the 40-60 y/o natives of Northern VA don't have a southern accent and that is 1/3rd of the states population.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by ohsgrl05

Since Charlotte is the biggest city in NC, I would say it is not that southern.

It is. You've just got to understand that there's a rural version of Southernness and an urban version as well. It's always been that way in the South, although for some reason we like to equate rural with Southern when it's not quite that simple.