Why are the people so much friendlier in Southern Vs Northern VA?

[MattOTAlex]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Go around town wearing an Obama shirt with marriage equality and pro-choice stickers on your car and see how friendly the locals are then.

I have heard similar fallacious words from ultra-extremists who believe that anyone who doesn't adulate Obama is an implied bigot.

[kakalena]

"I have heard similar fallacious words from ultra-extremists who believe that anyone who doesn't adulate Obama is an implied bigot."

Right?! It's getting old. People love their stereotypes.

[Watchful]

In defense of CAVA1990 - I live in a Texas county where the vote for Obama was 19% (and we do have some racial/ethnic diversity) - so please understand there really are places where you almost fear for your life to be a white person wearing an Obama shirt.

That does NOT describe Roanoke - at least the city of Roanoke. (It might describe some of the other smaller burgs of Virginia - and it definitely describes my county - where white Democrats basically whisper to each other and rarely talk out loud.)

(In my case - these are not backwoods country hicks - this is a highly educated rural county west of Houston - this is not backwoods racism - but there are a bunch of angry tea-partiers and they do scare me sometimes. Part of the reason I will be moving to Roanoke in the foreseeable future.)

[MattOTAlex]

Originally Posted by Watchful

In defense of CAVA1990 - I live in a Texas county where the vote for Obama was 19% (and we do have some racial/ethnic diversity) - so please understand there really are places where you almost fear for your life to be a white person wearing an Obama shirt.

As a person who is an independent, I'm not quite sure such anecdotal statements buttress much of a defense of the original assertion.

In fact, one might infer such allegations belie the inverse.

Indeed, such a statement, if taken at face value, fallaciously implies that two wrongs somehow make a right.

That said, one could plausibly argue that if such an anecdotes were plainly true, within the climes of rural towns in Virginia, Texas, or elsewhere, the media would have been all over it.

Rather the opposite was exposéd, in other urban parts of the country. Footage of baton-yielding extremists obstructing polling-place entrances, gruff precinct goons ejecting non-Democrat staff members, and giant facsimiles of the sitting-President's effigy brazenly bedaubed on walls alongside voting booths.

[roanoker 4]

As someone who lives in Roanoke I don't know any Forrest Gump types or hunters. In the rural counties near hear hunting is very active. Obviously there is much ignorance in this state regarding the different regions by those who never travel. I agree with the post that in more homogeneous areas such as the Roanoke region(predominately U.S. born, white, etc)people tend to be more friendly to an outside observer. In reality,
the natives tend to be a bit reluctant at first to embrace different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. I have known many people who have moved to NoVa for better opportunities but I have never heard from anyone who really likes living there, even people on this forum.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

As someone who lives in Roanoke I don't know any Forrest Gump types or hunters. In the rural counties near hear hunting is very active. Obviously there is much ignorance in this state regarding the different regions by those who never travel. I agree with the post that in more homogeneous areas such as the Roanoke region(predominately U.S. born, white, etc)people tend to be more friendly to an outside observer. In reality,
the natives tend to be a bit reluctant at first to embrace different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. I have known many people who have moved to NoVa for better opportunities but I have never heard from anyone who really likes living there, even people on this forum.

I do and I think you'll find a fair number of us on the Northern Virginia forum. It probably depends on one's circumstances here. I guess if I lived way out and had to commute an hour or more each way every day in heavy traffic I might not. However, I like living in a place where my kids don't have to move away after college to find good paying jobs. I also like having the large selection of shopping, dining, and entertainment options of a big city but still being able to see fox, deer, and bald eagles out my window.

I think much of the dissatisfaction with it is from more recent arrivals. To me an indicator that most long time residents think its pretty nice is all my retired neighbors who've stayed. I rarely ever see anyone move away. Even when assigned somewhere else, folks here usually put their homes up for rent rather than for sale.

[mancat100]

Originally Posted by MattOTAlex

As a person who is an independent, I'm not quite sure such anecdotal statements buttress much of a defense of the original assertion.

In fact, one might infer such allegations belie the inverse.

Indeed, such a statement, if taken at face value, fallaciously implies that two wrongs somehow make a right.

That said, one could plausibly argue that if such an anecdotes were plainly true, within the climes of rural towns in Virginia, Texas, or elsewhere, the media would have been all over it.

Rather the opposite was exposéd, in other urban parts of the country. Footage of baton-yielding extremists obstructing polling-place entrances, gruff precinct goons ejecting non-Democrat staff members, and giant facsimiles of the sitting-President's effigy brazenly bedaubed on walls alongside voting booths.

The baton-wielding extremists you speak of are the New Black Panthers here in Philadelphia. Honestly, the group has like five people, and I'm not exaggerating. It was one polling place with one or two idiots standing around with batons. Barely worth mentioning really.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by mancat100

The baton-wielding extremists you speak of are the New Black Panthers here in Philadelphia. Honestly, the group has like five people, and I'm not exaggerating. It was one polling place with one or two idiots standing around with batons. Barely worth mentioning really.

I'll bet they were on a Republican payroll.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Roanoke is a very Southern city with all that comes with it. NOVA consists mostly of transplants including many from up north so they are naturally less friendly. In addition there is the favor that there are large numbers of yuppies in NOVA and in most of the nation, even in Dallas and Memphis, I have found yuppies to be uppity and pretentious acting especially Prius driving types. Here in Baltimore most of the down home natives are very friendly but the scene changes drastically as you go into the yuppified parts of the town!

Then there is the matter of traffic and overcrowding in Northern Virginia and the rest of the DC area. I'll be dead honest I've been through the area's traffic jams on I-66 and I-95 a few times and 495 also and like one time there is enough to drive me crazy. I live in Baltimore County, MD and traffic here is nowhere as bad at all. If I had to drive in Fairfax or Arlington every day and/or if I had to crowd into a Metro train like that on a daily basis I will probably become very aggressive and antisocial too. I love the smaller cities in Virginia like Roanoke, Lynchburg, Winchester and Harrisonburg that have everything you need but never have to deal with the traffic and crime. Oh yes crime is another reason in urban areas peopl are always guarded.