Which is LESS southern, Austin or NOVA(North Virginia)?

[whereiend]

Originally Posted by SanJac

I think it’s the crowd you hang out with. Two big NASCAR events are in Austin and Fort Worth. Trust me it’s popular here in Texas.

https://circuitoftheamericas.com/eve...Truck%20Series!

https://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/

I specifically mentioned that there is now a NASCAR race in Austin? I still don't know a single person who is a NASCAR fan having grown up in Texas. Again, I'm not saying that they don't exist, but to suggest that NASCAR is a particularly popular sport in the suburbs of Austin is very much against my personal experience. Even my wife's extended family who are from extremely rural parts of Texas don't follow NASCAR to my knowledge. (It's football, football, football...)

I don't find that a state of 30 million hosting two races a year does much to disprove that. California also has multiple races on the NASCAR calendar.

Edit: here is some data for you. NASCAR popularity by state. Note Texas at the very bottom below Massachusetts.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Rural areas always keep their heritage more so than urban areas. Not just in the south. I.e. New England.

Not always. Exhibit A is a state in New England.

I don’t disagree that the cities mentioned have drifted from their old southern heritage as compared to Montgomery, Alabama. I disagree that the change makes them less southern. I see it as the South evolves and by nature, rural cities and smaller towns maintain their heritage the most.

The cities absolutely become less characteristically Southern as we currently define it as more and more non-Southerners migrate there in large numbers.

I think the hangup here is that a geographically descriptive term ("Southern") functions more as a cultural descriptor which makes things complicated in the midst of relatively rapid cultural change.