Which neighbor do you like better? Maryland or North Carolina? (Chesapeake: houses, taxes)

[NENC]

You're absolutely right Roanoker. NC is fast changing just like Virginia. Maybe even moreso right at the moment. NC has changed so much in the last 30 years it's unbelievable. And I agree, the arc from Charlotte through Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham has become something a megalopolis in its own right with tons of Northerners in the mix. Raleigh's sphere of influence now extends as far east as Rocky Mount and Norfolk's extends as far west as Emporia and Ahoskie and as far south as the Outer Banks. I can envision a day when the Richmond-Norfolk metro areas begin to overlap with the Raleigh-Durham metro area creating an almost solid megalopolis from Atlanta up through Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond, DC and points north. It's bound to happen.

I live in a rural county in NC about 40 miles from Norfolk and it is growing by leaps and bounds, mostly due to transplants from Northern states. I guess like you said I'll have to enjoy the last vestiges of "southernness" while I can. I'm not happy about that but unlike some others down here, I'm not bitter about it either. Change is inevitable and life is all about adapting to change, whether foreseen or unforeseen.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by NENC

You're absolutely right Roanoker. NC is fast changing just like Virginia. Maybe even moreso right at the moment. NC has changed so much in the last 30 years it's unbelievable. And I agree, the arc from Charlotte through Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham has become something a megalopolis in its own right with tons of Northerners in the mix. Raleigh's sphere of influence now extends as far east as Rocky Mount and Norfolk's extends as far west as Emporia and Ahoskie and as far south as the Outer Banks. I can envision a day when the Richmond-Norfolk metro areas begin to overlap with the Raleigh-Durham metro area creating an almost solid megalopolis from Atlanta up through Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond, DC and points north. It's bound to happen.

I live in a rural county in NC about 40 miles from Norfolk and it is growing by leaps and bounds, mostly due to transplants from Northern states. I guess like you said I'll have to enjoy the last vestiges of "southernness" while I can. I'm not happy about that but unlike some others down here, I'm not bitter about it either. Change is inevitable and life is all about adapting to change, whether foreseen or unforeseen.

As an NC native, I just wanted to sign on and add a nod of agreement to your statement. Also wanted to say - I am in Charlotte, and despite being only a matter of "feet" from SC, I have always felt North Carolinians had more in common w/ Virginians than South Carolinians. That is changing, of course, as the whole region changes.

I grew up loving day and weekend trips to VA - from 81 through the Shenandoah Valley or via 95 to NoVA. Virginia is a beautiful state.

Interestingly, NC seceded from the Union after VA did, but only about a month's time difference between the two events. If I remember correctly, Virginia, NC and TN were the last states to secede. Not positive about Virginia but I am sure NC and TN were the last two. Seems to me that VA, NC and TN all have a lot in common, especially when you are in NW NC, E. TN, and SW VA.

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by NENC

Maryland? No native Virginian in their right mind would pick Maryland over North Carolina! Maryland and Virginia actually have very different histories. Maryland was settled by Catholics escaping religious persecution in England. Virginia was a plantation based economy more closely aligned with her sister Southern States like the Carolinas. This is the reason that Virginia more closely identified (and joined) the Confederacy.

Maryland is definitely more of a Northern State while Virginia has always been a Southern State. Outside of Northern Virginia (metro DC) and the immediate urban areas, Virginia is still very much a Southern State. Maryland has never been a Southern State.

Not entirely true.... Maryland was a slave state and never got the opportunity to secede because Lincoln arrested their legislators with no cause in order to prevent them from meeting and discussing secession. No one really knows what Maryland would have done, but Lincoln knew that the capital of the Union stood no chance if it were surrounded by states in revolt.....

As for today??? It's pretty simple I think... Maryland is about as blue as blue states get these days, so most in the NoVA area probably identify more readily with Maryland while a vast portion of the rest of the state would identify more with North Carolina.....

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

The entire state of Virginia wasn't in favor of splitting from the Union and joining the Confederacy. Roanoke existed as a tiny hamlet during the Civil War, unlike points east such as Lynchburg & Richmond. The pockets of resistance of joining the Confederacy were here and in western VA, especially the Shenandoah Valley. .

Yeah there was a pocket in Western Virginia that adamantly opposed the Confederacy..... They became the state of West Virginia in 1863....

[lovelongboatkey]

NC, no doubt about it! But I may be biased because I lived in Charlotte for a few years.

[Stripes17]

We've been living in NC for 3 years now (north of Charlotte) and we lived in Carroll County, MD for 3 years before that. I enjoy the southern flair of the Charlotte area, but when I go back to Carroll County to visit, I find that I wouldn't mind moving back there again. Certainly not for the statewide politics or the liberal leanings, but I really enjoy the scenic areas, the history, the battlefields, stone arch bridges, etc. We were about 10 miles from Gettysburg and Camp David in a terrific area of the state.

[tenken627]

Maryland actually was a tobacco producing and slave owning state. The Maryland/Pennsylvania border was designated as the Mason-Dixon line after all.

Maryland was on the edge of seceeding from the Union in the Civil War, but was put under martial law so that Washington D.C. wouldn't be surronded by Confederate states.

This was a leading cause for the Battle of Antietam, Maryland, since Robert E. Lee hoped a victory would bring more Marylanders onto the Confederate side (there were already many Marylanders in the Confederate army, as there were many Virginians in the Union army).

I would say Maryland has more closer ties, but I do come from Northern Virginia.

I can see the northern part of Virginia indentifying itself with Maryland, and the southern part identifying more closely with North Carolina.

The same could be said with North Carolina, with the upper parts (Raleigh, Chapel Hill) indentifying more closely with Virginia and the lower parts (Charlotte) with South Carolina.

[Reactionary]

IIRC much of inland North Carolina was settled by Virginia emigrants... At least that's what my family did - moved from Farnham (Richmond County) to Granville (Raleigh-Durham).

Coastal NC and SC were more plantation areas...

[badger74]

North Carolina has far more places I like to visit.

[UAbear]

I think Maryland would be my pick on this one.