Is Delaware in the souuuuuth? (Wilmington, Dover: taxes, living, beach)

[iPwn]

Does Delaware share anything in common with Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, etc? I know it was a slave state, but then again, it doesn't seem much different than New Jersey.

Is it a mix of both? Is New Castle the Northeast, and the two southern counties the Soutttth like Tezas?

[shamrockrover]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

Does Delaware share anything in common with Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, etc? I know it was a slave state, but then again, it doesn't seem much different than New Jersey.

Is it a mix of both? Is New Castle the Northeast, and the two southern counties the Soutttth like Tezas?

WHAT?!?

This isn't 1865. The only thing they have in common with us Southern states is that they are a state that's full of people, cities, and highways.

That's about it. Not a dig at them or a bad thing, but come on now. I imagine if I went up there with my accent the way it is, I'd get laughed out of town. So no, not like the South.

[2goldens]

I would assume it's more urban city-like than southern.

Where is this conversation going?

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

Does Delaware share anything in common with Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, etc? I know it was a slave state, but then again, it doesn't seem much different than New Jersey.

Is it a mix of both? Is New Castle the Northeast, and the two southern counties the Soutttth like Tezas?

As a Texan, I would answer it this way: About the ONLY connection Delaware has with the South is that it was once a slave-state (but then again, so were almost all northern states, even if the fact is glossed over in history books! ). The other official link is that the U.S. Census Bureau in its definition of "the South" counts it as part of the region.

Bottom line, at least IMHO, is that while there may be certain areas of Delaware that share a few loose traits with the "traditional South", the same are so far and few between as to be almost negligible.

I hasten to add that this is NOT a slam at Delaware. It is the "First State" and has a proud Colonial and Revolutionary history. THAT in itself is something to brag about!

But it is not Southern except by the most wayward and loose definitions of the term.

I now come back to the Texas connection as you brought it up. Texas too is a state which is not "purely" Southern...if by Southern one means the classic "moonlight and magnolias" image often conjured up when considering the term. However, in the realm of "Southerness", there is really no comparrison between Texas and Delaware. There are too many points to list as to why, but suffice to say this: While some in the deep "Deep South" might question Texas' as being a true and typical Southern state today, the notion that it would be "yankee" would be met with even more guffaws. On the other hand, to suggest that Delaware is Southern, would get even more!

Anyway, again, I want to emphasize that this is NOT intended to be insulting. Delaware is the First State (to adopt the Constitution). No other state can claim that, right?

[jdoll]

North of the canal is very much a part of the I-95 corridor. South of the canal it is very much rural Virginia more than rural Texas. Waffle House's, NASCAR, sweet tea, southern BBQ and more of a Southern pace to life.

Granted, the beach towns are more urban like with a large influx of metro DC people and many New Jersey retirees are escaping that states taxes, but anything south of the canal is more Southern.

As a transplanted Chicagoan living south of the canal, it did take a while to adjust to the slower pace. But the beauty of Delaware is your are never more that an hour away from a big change in culture. From chicken farms to the beaches or horse properties to Wilmington.

Delaware, the only state not north or south of the Mason-Dixon line (it's east of) is both Northern and Southern. It all depends on where your at. Pretty cool IMHO.

[ron del]

I have lived in Delaware all of my life, Jdoll has it right. There has been significant growth and population but the general division of areas have stayed the same. We just have more people, more Walmarts, Wendys and BurgerKings. There is a small state culture where it is helpful to know people and have contacts.

[iPwn]

Great post, TexasReb.

I suppose it's southern in an odd way, but that doesn't mean it's like Texas or something (which like you said, isn't really totally Southern, they have that Hispanic element too which connects them also to New Mexico and Arizona, and even California).

It's still East Coast, if not full-on Northeast.

[southernnaturelover]

As a southerner, I don't consider Delaware to be part of the south. I have a cousin who is in the Air Force and he lives in Dover, when we speak of him we say he lives "up north".

[mrsbrad04]

[quote=MimzyMusic;5155320]Does Delaware share anything in common with Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, etc? I know it was a slave state, but then again, it doesn't seem much different than New Jersey.

Is it a mix of both? Is New Castle the Northeast, and the two southern counties the Soutttth like Tezas?[/q
Trust me, Delaware is not the south. Even south of the Canal is not that south. I grew up in DE, spent 36 years there, and currently live outside Knoxville, TN. There is not much similar about the two. Talk about culture shock when I first moved here. Delaware is essentially the suburbs of Philadelphia and Baltimore. Central Delaware and certain parts of Sussex could be considered more southern, but even that I would describe more as similar with the views of a southern City about the size of Knoxville. Some in the south still fly the rebel flag and can't get over the loss of the Civil war!

[cwag34]

Delaware is not a southern state and it's not a northern state. It's in a class all it's own. No regional identity like, say Alabama or Iowa. Arizona, Wyoming or New Hampshire. It has some of the lowest taxes in the country and Delawareans know their state and federal representatives and senators by their first name and often they know us in the same way.