Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Can we retire the idea that South=rural areas with native born white and black population. The South isn't monolithic. Having immigrants and retirees doesn't make South Florida less southern. For us actual northerners, South Florida is clearly southern. There's a much better argument for NoVa being apart of the Northeast.
Can we retire the idea that South=rural areas with native born white and black population. The South isn't monolithic. Having immigrants and retirees doesn't make South Florida less southern. For us actual northerners, South Florida is clearly southern. There's a much better argument for NoVa being apart of the Northeast.
More word manipulation. But, it should be noted, of the top 20 states with the most rural population, nearly half are in the South. That considering, I don’t think it’s out of line to associate southern culture with rural-ness.
But hey - what are facts?
And nearly all of those states saw at least a 40% decrease of the state being rural compared to what it was in 1960. Like I said, if you want to keep up with this outdated decades old perception that southern culture is rural, go right on ahead.
And nearly all of those states saw at least a 40% decrease of the state being rural compared to what it was in 1960. Like I said, if you want to keep up with this outdated decades old perception that southern culture is rural, go right on ahead.
Again, as of 2020 (not 1960), almost half of the top 20 rural states are southern states. I don’t think it’s perception when you look at factual data that confirms it.
Is all southern culture rural? Of course not. But a large chunk of it is. Let’s not ignore that.
It’s crazy I have to keep repeating myself in presenting statistics because some seem to live in an alternate reality. First, the NoVa boundaries (but DC metro! Alexandria! Arlington!) and now perception of what’s “southern” (but in 1960!). Interesting stuff.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,560,868 times
Reputation: 5785
Quote:
Originally Posted by ykcawtsrif
Simple: Northern Virginia is chock of Civil War history (however tragic). I'd say that the line of "Southernness" has been pushed out to about Culpeper and Fredericksburg these days, but that's still relatively close to NoVA/DC. The line could've easily been argued as being drawn through Manassas and Quantico as recently as the early-to-mid 1990s.
On the other hand, South Florida is a melting pot of the Northeast, the Midwest, the Caribbean, southern Central America, northern South America, and, increasingly, irritated (for whatever reason) Californians. A previous poster commented that Florida doesn't begin to feel like "the South" until Orlando; I would push that line even farther north, to about Ocala or arguably even Gainesville. And, Gainesville isn't all that far from the Georgia state line.
Something else: While Florida is now red-purple politically (trending red) and Virginia is blue-purple (trending blue), Florida also has many more blue-purple regions. For example, South Florida, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Orlando. Only rural and suburban areas in north and central Florida are reliably solid, Southern red...but they are usually passionate voters, too! As for NoVA, it is now reliably, solid blue, then Richmond (trending blue) and the Hampton Roads are blue-purple, but almost the rest of the state tends to be that solid, Southern red like rural Florida. In other words, Virginia has more reliably red "real estate" as a percentage of land area than Florida.
There are traces of Southerness in coastal Florida still though. Melbourne/Palm Bay area have traces of this well before you hit Orlando coming up from South Fla. The rest of your post I agree with.
In other words, Virginia has more reliably red "real estate" as a percentage of land area than Florida.
Par for the course here, there will surely be a DC metro inhabitant argue the boundaries of VA, demanding we believe half of VA actually belongs to NC.
There are traces of Southerness in coastal Florida still though. Melbourne/Palm Bay area have traces of this well before you hit Orlando coming up from South Fla. The rest of your post I agree with.
I agree here. I’ll even agree that when you get to Martin County, the culture changes and it feels a bit more southern influenced (thanks likely to Okeechobee just inland). But Delray? Boca? Fort Lauderdale? Aventura? Coral Gables? You’re more likely to see 10 Bentley’s of the same color in a row than hear anyone speak with a southern drawl.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,560,868 times
Reputation: 5785
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidyankee764
I agree here. I’ll even agree that when you get to Martin County, the culture changes and it feels a bit more southern influenced (thanks likely to Okeechobee just inland). But Delray? Boca? Fort Lauderdale? Aventura? Coral Gables? You’re more likely to see 10 Bentley’s of the same color in a row than hear anyone speak with a southern drawl.
You're convoluting this. Wealth, Bentley's, flashy designer clothes, don't take Southerness out locals culture. Just like being in a rural area of the woods won't make a place more Southern vs Northern etc. Neither of these places we're talking about are overly Southern which is why the thread exists. Southern drawl however is more prevalent in local South Floridians than it is with people in NOVA.
I am talking about the core of both regions, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach vs Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William. This is South Fl vs NOVA. Now if we want to get into which metros outside of those boundaries faster run into Southern culture, it could very well be Virginia, but within those two core areas edge to NOVA for being "less" Southern.
Again, as of 2020 (not 1960), almost half of the top 20 rural states are southern states. I don’t think it’s perception when you look at factual data that confirms it.
Is all southern culture rural? Of course not. But a large chunk of it is. Let’s not ignore that.
It’s crazy I have to keep repeating myself in presenting statistics because some seem to live in an alternate reality. First, the NoVa boundaries (but DC metro! Alexandria! Arlington!) and now perception of what’s “southern” (but in 1960!). Interesting stuff.
Because you are stuck on what Southern culture is. You know nothing about it other than some outdated stats. The majority of Southerners do not live in rural communities. You don't want me to discuss Miami from decades ago but it's ok for you to discuss the South from decades ago. Make it make sense.
But going back to your initial comment. There is indeed Southern culture in South Florida and it is not rare.
You're convoluting this. Wealth, Bentley's, flashy designer clothes, don't take Southerness out locals culture. Just like being in a rural area of the woods won't make a place more Southern vs Northern etc. Neither of these places we're talking about are overly Southern which is why the thread exists. Southern drawl however is more prevalent in local South Floridians than it is with people in NOVA.
I am talking about the core of both regions, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach vs Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William. This is South Fl vs NOVA. Now if we want to get into which metros outside of those boundaries faster run into Southern culture, it could very well be Virginia, but within those two core areas edge to NOVA for being "less" Southern.
The Bentley comment was tongue and cheek - sorry you missed that.
But again, the OP asked for “Northern VA vs South FL”, and not “the inner core DC suburbs vs South FL”. I’m not sure how many more times this very simple concept needs to be explained.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
