North Carolina vs Kentucky, which state has a stronger "southern" feel? (compared, place)
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“Front porch of the South”. I nailed it, lol. Outside looking in. I think it’s even north of the Sweet tea line.
Lol. Sweet Tea is ubiquitous in Ohio too, you know? Means nothing in 2021. Kentucky is more Southern than commonly thought of Southern places like Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas and Florida.
I think McD Sweet tea line was the gold standard before they went National with sweet tea. Nashville was about as far north as the chain sold it. Regardless, North Carolina is very Southern. Upper south, but still south. Even its urban areas are urban in a conventional Atlanta way. There is no architecture from other regions, no Louisville as our biggest city. Our fast food is extremely Southern (Bojangles and Hardee’s), our sports are very southern (NASCAR). There is really nothing here that is not southern outside transplants. Kentucky also has very Southern elements, but there is definitely some carryover from other regions that just isn’t there in NC.
I think NC would have been considerably more Southern about 40-60 years ago, but with all the influx of Northerners into the Research Triangle, Charlotte and Asheville and the fact that Kentucky has mostly lacked that kind of influx..may have shifted the balance toward Kentucky.
The American South
Georgia
South Carolina
Alabama
Mississippi
Tennessee North Carolina
Louisiana
Arkansas (including Missouri south of U.S. Route 60) Kentucky(minus Cincinnati suburbs, including Missouri Bootheel))
North Florida (north of Orlando)
South Virginia (from just north of Charlottesville on southward, including most of Shenandoah Valley and the part of West Virginia south of Charleston)
Of course, this question is debatable because we all have different interpretations of "southern" and southern culture, but I thought it'd be interesting to compare and contrast North Carolina and Kentucky. Both states are located in the Upper South, with college basketball culture (Duke, UK, etc.) and a good amount of Appalachian influence. Kentucky is further north and close to the Midwest (Ohio, Indiana), especially around Louisville and the Cincinnati suburbs. North Carolina, while further south, has been (more so) impacted by transplants, especially around the Triangle and Charlotte.
Which state, in your opinion, has a stronger "southern" feel or vibe?
Agreed, but the question is, which feels more Southern (to you)? There isn't really a right or wrong answer here, as I think a case could easily be made for either. We're not comparing, say, Missouri and Mississippi
Once again I don't remotely understand the transplants argument
With expectation of Nashville and of east TN,
The South is largely growing significantly in two areas, Theirs Texas and then theirs the South Atlantic states. With the central region having slower growth. These area could be viewed as cultural sub regions.
GA, NC, and FL are top 10 most populated states
GA, NC, and FL are fast growing states.
GA, NC and FL are purple states
GA, NC and FL are diverse states
This makes SC seem like odd ball but it's not too far off because SC is actually a fast growing state, And Somewhere between 2025 and 2030 SC is going end up with two Metropolitans over million. Greenville SC Metro is 920,477 is growing 11% this decade while Charleston MSA area is 800k but growing at crazy 20% growth rate.
MY point NC doesn't stand out in thiis regard, Whats happening people are comparing NC and using the central southern states as a definition of southern. Ignoring the specific region of the South Atlantic as a whole is more populated, faster growing and overall more moderate part of the south in the first place.
Agreed, but the question is, which feels more Southern (to you)? There isn't really a right or wrong answer here, as I think a case could easily be made for either. We're not comparing, say, Missouri and Mississippi
That’s the thing...it’s hard for me to decide between these two.
Once again I don't remotely understand the transplants argument
With expectation of Nashville and of east TN,
The South is largely growing significantly in two areas, Theirs Texas and then theirs the South Atlantic states. With the central region having slower growth. These area could be viewed as cultural sub regions.
GA, NC, and FL are top 10 most populated states
GA, NC, and FL are fast growing states.
GA, NC and FL are purple states
GA, NC and FL are diverse states
This makes SC seem like odd ball but it's not too far off because SC is actually a fast growing state, And Somewhere between 2025 and 2030 SC is going end up with two Metropolitans over million. Greenville SC Metro is 920,477 is growing 11% this decade while Charleston MSA area is 800k but growing at crazy 20% growth rate.
MY point NC doesn't stand out in thiis regard, Whats happening people are comparing NC and using the central southern states as a definition of southern. Ignoring the specific region of the South Atlantic as a whole is more populated, faster growing and overall more moderate part of the south in the first place.
I understand what you’re saying and agree, and will add that transplants do not make a place less Southern, but due to such a large influx of people into the South Atlantic States, like NC, does make Kentucky feel more Southern. KY has had slow growth and has retained a lot of its original culture.
Hard to believe that at one point, Kentucky was on about the same level as Maryland in terms of overall southerness (and technically both are still "border south" states). MD of course got invaded by transplants much earlier than NC did, and obviously today, its southern feel is much lower than Kentucky's. But NC is a decent sized state, and when you get outside of the "hot" spots, its at least, if not more southern than anything you'll see in KY. Speaking of which, on a recent episode of The Price Is Right which offered a trip to Asheville, bluegrass-style background music was used during the trip description. NC of course is the headquarters of NASCAR and has more of a megachurch culture than KY, both of which are much more in tune with the modern south. Plus, a good chunk of NC is in the sunbelt whereas almost none of KY is part of the sunbelt climatically and developmentally. Some of my Gen-X cousins whose father was born/raised in Baltimore grew up in Hudson, NC (about an hour north of Charlotte) and have a noticeably thicker accent than most of the Marylanders in my family.
Keep in mind that the South has considerably outperformed the Midwest in terms of growth over the past 50 years, and Kentucky's growth is more in line with its northern neighbors. Politically, the South as a whole as be trending more purple/blue (like NC) whereas the Midwest has been trending more purple/red (like KY). I'd say Kentucky is closer to a Virginia-level of southerness than NC nowadays despite all of the economic development. Heck, a lot of northern cultural touchstones like the NYC/Boston accent isn't as prominent as it once was.
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