Why all the hate? (North: fit in, houses, buying)

[rubber_factory]

Originally Posted by pvjd

Nobody is capable of changing your culture.

So then, how does culture change? Obviously it is a product of people.

Are you sure that it is worth getting upset about, or do you just get annoyed when someone complains about not getting different pizza.

As far as I am concerned, I don't mind people from up north. It takes interaction with yankees for southerners to appreciate their culture, in the same way that it takes a cold winter for you to appreciate the warm summer.

[Nausikaa]

Thousands of northerners are moving south, but there are not thousands of southerners moving north. Why? Well, obviously because everyone likes the south. Since everyone likes the same thing, why argue about it?

[namaw]

Originally Posted by Alaskapat528

You have a wonderful attitude.

Thank you for the compliment. This PA gal learned an awful lot about life and people from her WV mamaw. Life has taught me that you can't change how others act, I'm only responsible for how I act and react. 'sides misery ain't no fun!

[pvjd]

I love cottage cheese.

[kat in aiken]

Originally Posted by elvislives

7 destruction of green space
14 horse farms
15 no tresspassing signs at the old swimming hole
16 no infastructure improvements to handle to major population increase.
18 the changes made so the town looks like "back home"
15 the complete lack of respect transplants show locals.
16 the new no tresspassing signs at the fishing spots.
25 horse people

7 - I actually agree with you on this one... as an example, I hate driving up 118 and seeing that new development going in.
14 & 25- Hasn't this always been a really horsey area?
15 & the second 16 - Did someone buy that property back from the city, county or state? If it was always private property, then apparently the owner either got tired of the tresspassing or sold it to someone who bought it for their own use.
16 - this appears to be a long-term, county-wide problem. Not that I miss them, but I've never seen such a low incidence of road projects anywhere I've ever lived. And when they do a project, it sure gets milked to death - that tiny project on Dougherty road is a prime example.
18 - what changes? I don't think the appearance of downtown has changed much in a long time. Please give some specifics.
second 15 - oh, puleese. Respect is like a mirror, it reflects yourself back at you. If you look for disrespect, you will find it, because that is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Change happens - even tho some changes are more desirable than others. Without growth, a town stagnates and dies. Without change and growth, Aiken could be just like Allendale - perhaps those who are tired of the changes in happening in Aiken should go there and live and see how great it must be.

[elvislives]

Change is good with proper planning. Aiken lacks this, The money spent on train depots and other pet projects could be used to bring the rest of the city and county up to date with the times How many times have you said there really should be a light here? The influx of people would not have been noticed much if the council expanded the infastructure to keep up with the people moving here en mass.. I may talk trash, but hell i don't hate any person in general, an emotion like hate takes too much time away from other stuff i have to do. Most transplants go unoticed for years it's the obnoxious one who pretty much set the sterotype that locals follow. It's not really fair but i have seen some pretty nasty people around as well as some cool ones.

[scyogi]

After living in Aiken for 10 years I have to say Aiken is a GREAT & WELL planned city. I am sad by all the negativity this post has attracted. Horse people/northern birds/locals/city peeps.....blah, blah, blah! You guys live in such a excellent town--move to a huge city and see if your reflection of what Aiken is or is not changes. I hope this post is closed SOON!

[elvislives]

Originally Posted by scyogi

After living in Aiken for 10 years I have to say Aiken is a GREAT & WELL planned city. I am sad by all the negativity this post has attracted. Horse people/northern birds/locals/city peeps.....blah, blah, blah! You guys live in such a excellent town--move to a huge city and see if your reflection of what Aiken is or is not changes. I hope this post is closed SOON!

Well planned for 25 years ago . But now?? Extreme overdevelopment , with very few infastructure changes

[burr]

Originally Posted by PawleysDude

This same thread has been seriously overworked on here. Just do a simple search on any of the SC forums and you'll see the same issue and the same responses ad nauseum. Yankees think Southerners talk funny, are slow and backward. Southerners KNOW yankees talk funny, are pushy, manipulative and organizational to the point of obsession. Sure, these are generalities. That don't mean they're not true. You'll see the same opinions expressed over and over and over..... The best example in our area are the HOA boards - they're 90% yankees, obsessed with making sure everybody's mail box is the same color and all boats are hid behind fences. Most Southerners have never figured out what's the big deal, it just ain't worth perfectly good time fighting 'em.

When you try to boil it down to core issues, it usually comes back to Southerners recognizing and cherishing what a precious birthplace we had, and not crazy about all the changes that have come about. Most of the changes are the result of unbridled, out of control growth, and most of the growth is the result of yankee transplants. Are they responsible? Probably not, because most of the initial development was done by Southerners, but yankees are by far the most visible indicators of growth. Particularly along the coast, areas that were once absolute paradises are now nothing more than overbuilt, overgrown expanses of pavement whose only resemblance to the South is their latitude. There are some good developers, but most have never met a tree they thought should be left standing, and some would pave over the ocean if they thought they could sell it to yankees. Once again, this growth has been spurred by a demand from yankees to move South, and the resentment these changes have spawned should not be surprising. You say "there will be change..." You're right, but that does not make it good nor welcome.

Another example is all the discussions on here regarding "snakes, spiders, roaches, alligators...." Native Carolinians recognize these are neither good nor bad, but simply part of living here. If asked whether we enjoy them, the answer would probably be "no", but neither do we want to change our homeland by destroying them. In fact, most of us consider the palmetto bug to be our state bird. The relentless procession of questions and fears by yankees on this topic naturally lead to derision and smart-ass answers. If you can't hack living around a few gators and snakes, you ain't got no business living in the lowcountry.

Finally, an observation based on about 5 decades of watching my South change..... New Englanders are really Southerners who just talk funny. We tend to share most values regarding home, family and our way of life. Those from Ohio, PA, Michigan, etc. can move South but will never quite figure it out. And God bless those from NY and NJ, there ain't nothing else like 'em. Thank the Lord for small favors....

I have to link pawleys thoughts with my personal observations from the past five decades...

One particular and unique culture shock type situation in the aiken / north augusta / augusta area specifically was the opening of the bomb plant (1950s). The nations' smartest and brightest scientist types came down from Delaware (home of Dupont) and points beyond to produce plutonium for the atomic bomb, and they probably were not a perfect fit ANYWHERE. Anyways, the area was saturated with these egghead types, and they WERE a little different. And with the security and restrictions set at the plant, they could talk very little about anything they knew of and so they seemed different and aloof (plus, they talked funny). At the time, Aiken, and the entire area, was not nearly as populated or crowded, although it has always been horse country and horse country is a whole 'nother story - $$$$$$ !

This is based on personal growin' up experience with a Duponter living on both sides of my house, across the street and behind. They were everywhere and this is unique to this particular area. WE learned to live with it.

Nowaday, all these scientists are basically deceased or in their 80s, and their kids (that I grew up with) were always a little different from us civilions too.

[burr]

Hey, I didn't mean to shut down this topic, it was just a quirky part of my childhood in the Aiken area, that happened to be about yankees. It actually is off-subject since I don't hate them, and did not hate them at that time. They were just different then, and they are still different today. It was a time that we (as a particular region) had a invasion of northerners, and not just for the reasons of retirement and the weather.