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I see what you're getting at. I don't dispute that and while I think that Houston and Miami are more important internationally, I also believe that Dallas and Atlanta are more important nationally, but I'll save that conversation for another day. I actually think most people say Atlanta because it's more synonymous with people's views of the south, unlike the other big 3. In all honesty, the south probably deserves more sub-regions than any other region.
In that thread you linked to, I posted a comment in there where I said there is no capital of the South but there is a center of the South. I said Atlanta is the center of the South for the reason you said in bold. Atlanta has a more historic connection to more parts of the South than Houston, Dallas, DC, and Miami does.
In that thread you linked to, I posted a comment in there where I said there is no capital of the South but there is a center of the South. I said Atlanta is the center of the South for the reason you said in bold. Atlanta has a more historic connection to more parts of the South than Houston, Dallas, DC, and Miami does.
Historic in what way? Atlanta isn't a historically influential city in my eyes. Music? New Orleans and Memphis. Food? New Orleans (bias) but mostly rural areas and enclaves. Civil Rights? Birmingham. It's a recently influential city but Atlanta (in my opinion) doesn't have a historic connection with most of the south at all. It's all recency bias.
In that thread you linked to, I posted a comment in there where I said there is no capital of the South but there is a center of the South. I said Atlanta is the center of the South for the reason you said in bold. Atlanta has a more historic connection to more parts of the South than Houston, Dallas, DC, and Miami does.
Historic in what way? Atlanta isn't a historically influential city in my eyes. Music? New Orleans and Memphis. Food? New Orleans (bias) but mostly rural areas and enclaves. Civil Rights? Birmingham. It's a recently influential city, but Atlanta (in my opinion) doesn't have a historical connection with most of the South at all. It's all recency bias.
MLK was literally from Atlanta, the guy who helped other southern states that faced harsher conditions than GA. How's Atlanta not historical to the South when part of the city's slogan is "Too busy to hate" due to its attempt to remove itself from the traditional Southern ways and serve as an example for the nearby cities and states?
Can you elaborate on how you came up with this collection of states where Louisiana clearly doesn't fit in.
I had to throw Louisiana in somewhere, though arguably, it should stand alone like Texas does. Texas is large enough to qualify as a country unto itself. (Though Louisiana is certainly larger than several independent countries.)
After all, it has features that distinguish it from every other state, the most notable one being a legal system based on the Code Napoléon rather than English common law. That, and counties there are called "parishes."
But when I spent a summer selling dictionaries in New Orleans, I noticed that the local electric utility, New Orleans Public Service Company, was part of the Middle South Utilities System conglomerate, which operated utilities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. (That company is now called Entergy, and it's been headquartered in NOLA from the beginning.) I guess that also stuck in my head.
Historic in what way? Atlanta isn't a historically influential city in my eyes. Music? New Orleans and Memphis. Food? New Orleans (bias) but mostly rural areas and enclaves. Civil Rights? Birmingham. It's a recently influential city but Atlanta (in my opinion) doesn't have a historic connection with most of the south at all. It's all recency bias.
I think you misread my comment. I didn’t say it had more historical connections than every other city. I said it had more historical connections to the rest of the South than Houston, Miami, and Dallas does. Not to mention, it’s closer to more parts of the South than the other major cities are.
Is Baltimore included in the SE per OP like DC? If it is, its jumping Austin, Nashville, Charlotte, etc.. in importance.
Atlanta would probably be #1 if we are referring to stereotypical south. If not then yeah, DC.
Yeah, technically Baltimore would be included but I felt like it fell short of the cities I listed. It would be in the next tier down with New Orleans, San Antonio, Memphis, Jacksonville, and VA Beach.
I think you misread my comment. I didn’t say it had more historical connections than every other city. I said it had more historical connections to the rest of the South than Houston, Miami, and Dallas does. Not to mention, it’s closer to more parts of the South than the other major cities are.
That doesn't pan out population-wise though.
It is only closer to more states because the states around it are smaller.
It would be more meaningful to look at population, and by population DFW would be near a greater population pulling in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and parts of Mississippi.
To be honest I think Atlanta exerts influence over Georgia, SC, Alabama and parts of Tennessee, and North Carolina. That sounds like a lot when you are counting states, but most of these places are sparsely populated.
North Carolina has its own area of focus and by the time you get to Virginia, Atlanta's reach is overshadowed by DC.
Tennessee also has its own areas of influence. Atlanta may exert some influence on the Chattanooga area, but that area is equally influenced by Nashville.
Passed Tennessee into Kentucky and Atlanta is not a thing there to.
The southern areas of Mississippi and Alabama have more in common with New Orleans than Atlanta. New Orleans is connected to more than just the coastal areas of Mississippi. Vicksburg, is definitely more like New Orleans than Atlanta.
It's probably more telling to look at where Atlanta is NOT the center of gravity.
Florida
Texas
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Louisiana
Virginia
West Virginia
Maryland
Kentucky
Mississippi
Almost all of Tennessee
Most of North Carolina
Parts of Alabama
Parts of South Carolina
I would say that is over 90 million people in the south that has a closer pull to somewhere other than Atlanta.
That gives credence to the opinion that one city doesn’t overwhelmingly overshadow the others.
Why are we looking at the pull of cities in the south, but for the other regions we are looking at the strength of the cities themselves?
Going by that silly metric Denver would cover most area in its region.
After DC, Houston and Miami imo are the two strongest in the south. Dallas a close 4th.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FL_Expert
Yeah, technically Baltimore would be included but I felt like it fell short of the cities I listed. It would be in the next tier down with New Orleans, San Antonio, Memphis, Jacksonville, and VA Beach.
Baltimore's gdp blows all those cities out of the water.
It should be with Charlotte and Austin
City.......gdp in millions:
Baltimore 222,967
Charlotte 207,866
Austin 193,773
Tampa 190,708
Orlando 167,279
Nashville 163,031
San Antonio 144,384
Raleigh 108,288
Virginia Beach 107,067
Jacksonville 101,367
Richmond 99,38
Memphis 86,493
New Orleans 81,829
Baltimore is definitely not among that lower rung
Last edited by atadytic19; 07-23-2023 at 08:10 AM..
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