More southern Arizona vs Florida (live, state, comparison, place)

[Well ton]

Originally Posted by 8to32characters

I'm currently living in Arizona, I'll have you know that I've met more real Southerners in Arizona (Southern transplants) than I ever, ever did in Florida.

Discuss please!! Most southern transplants and most southern culture

[Tall Traveler]

I was surprised at the number of Southerners in Arizona, but there's more southerners in Florida. There probably are areas of Florida that are more hostile to southern culture in Florida perhaps.

[LAX-PHX]

This is ridiculous. Most of Northern Florida and the panhandle is Southern. I think you have your answer. As an Arizona native any time I ran into a Southern transplant it was a novelty. They always seemed to stand out. Arizona was settled by Midwesterners and Easterners. Anyone from those areas or California or other western states would blend seamlessly into Arizona. You could not distinguish between people originally from those areas over a native Arizonan with the possible exception of people with a Chicago or New England accent but even people with those accents are very common in Arizona. However when I was growing up on the rare occasions I ran into somebody from a place like Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, etc. it was a novelty. The accents and customs were definitely different than Arizonans. Southern food also seems foreign to this Arizonan. I have noticed more Texans in Arizona over the last 5 years or so taking advantage of the real estate crash but I've never noticed a mass influx of Southerners in the Phoenix area. I think people are trying to link Arizona to the South for political reasons. The conservatism that exists in Arizona is much different from that in the South. Arizona is not in the bible belt. It's more of an Orange County type conservatism in areas and the social conservatism that does exist in heavily Mormon influenced. People also forget that the Midwest can be fairly conservative and let's face it Arizona has long been haven for Midwesterners escaping those harsh winters. In sum I don't think this even a legitimate debate.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

I was surprised at the number of Southerners in Arizona, but there's more southerners in Florida. There probably are areas of Florida that are more hostile to southern culture in Florida perhaps.

HUH?! What?! Florida is a SOUTHERN STATE! The entire Panhandle, from Jacksonville to Pensacola, and vast interior sections of the Peninsula all the way south to Lake Okeechobee, are still VERY southern!

Fail.

[kidd_funkadelic]

Leave the Internet, you're drunk.

[Dawn.Davenport]

To be fair:
The westernmost battle of the Civil War was fraught in Arizona. Battle of Picacho Pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You'll also occasionally find a trace of Southern culture and hear a slight Southern drawl in extreme Southeastern Arizona (Bisbee, Sierra Vista, Wilcox).
I also entered a restaurant in Tucson once, and saw a Confederate flag hung above the cash register -- I walked out.

With that said, there is no comparison here. That's like asking whether Virginia or Maine is more Northern.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport

To be fair:
The Westernmost battle of the Civil War was fraught in Arizona. Battle of Picacho Pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You'll also occasionally find a trace of Southern culture and hear a slight Southern drawl in extreme Southeastern Arizona (Bisbee, Sierra Vista, Wilcox).

With that said, there is no comparison here. That's like asking whether Virginia or Maine is more Northern.

There were civil war battles in New Mexico too. The Confederate troops got pushed back at Glorietta Pass and withdrew from the AZ/NM territories in 1862. There are no doubt a noticeable grouping of Southern transplants here too, but this is the West and there is certainly a palpable distinction between Southwest and the American South (Southeast). Texas has most of the transition covered between between South and Southwest. By the time you hit mountain ranges in NM you're well into the West.

[eddie gein]

I think it is important to note that both west Texas and the southern half of Florida were not really settled until after the Civil war. South Florida not until about 1900.

Neither area was settled in the manner that the rest of the entire south was settled.

[WCArch]

One of my all time favorite lines:

The farther north in Florida you go, the more Southern you get.

Arizona is historically rooted in Hispanic and Native American cultures. Recently, there has been a big transition into a more West Coast feel in many areas of Phoenix. I am from North Carolina, and I live in Phoenix. Im from a small town, and I stand out among my friends as I am into country and I guess I just have southern mannerisms that make me easy to be picked out in a crowd, whereas the majority are more into hip hop, style, fashion, pop culture, and wealth, which tends to be a more West Coast and Big-City thing. I have met only two true Southerners in 16 years.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

There were civil war battles in New Mexico too. The Confederate troops got pushed back at Glorietta Pass and withdrew from the AZ/NM territories in 1862. There are no doubt a noticeable grouping of Southern transplants here too, but this is the West and there is certainly a palpable distinction between Southwest and the American South (Southeast). Texas has most of the transition covered between between South and Southwest. By the time you hit mountain ranges in NM you're well into the West.

The original anglo inhabitants of southern what are now Southern Arizona and southern New Mexico were southern. They attempted to form "Arizona Territory" but it was voted down by congress for fear it might become a slave state. They formed a de facto territory and joined the confederacy with what is now Mesilla, NM as the territorial capitol.

The city of Phoenix was founded by a confederate veteran, Jack Swilling.