Do you see large cultural differences between the various parts of America? (gated, live in)
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Do you agree with this statement? Every part of the country has a certain type of culture and an indigenous population with attitudes and personalities that can dominate a region.
In my job, as a Trainer, I travel all the time to various site locations of the large Fortune 500 international company. This gives me a chance to observe the local culture of all kinds of people in cities all over America. In my observations American cities are so different in their prevailing social and economic and work cultures.
I say this to many people I know and they completely disagree. They say modern 21st Century American cities are basically the same and they see little if any difference between folks in Little Rock to Boston or Tulsa to Philly.
What do you think? If I actually moved to Little Rock or Tulsa would the basic social and work culture seem all that different than Boston or Philly?
Cultural differences are becoming less significant year by year. I personally still notice a difference in the work environement, especially going from the NE corrider to outside of it, still believe the pace is a tad faster in the NE
I say this to many people I know and they completely disagree. They say modern 21st Century American cities are basically the same and they see little if any difference between folks in Little Rock to Boston or Tulsa to Philly.
Who have you been talking to? Most Americans would agree that we have distinct cultures and attitudes and mentalities in different pockets and regions of the U.S. I have lived back and forth between Texas and Florida and I always seem to have to adjust myself to the differing mentalities that exist in the two states. It always take a while for me to get back into the saddle because their so different in culture, attitudes, people, and taste.
There are definitely cultural differences in different parts of the US. Of course places are not monolithic, and you can find a wide variety of beliefs/attitudes/cultures in almost any location, but different locations will definitely have different vibes that are shared by many people.
I agree with kidphilly that the differences are lessening as time goes by, but they are still there. Personally, I often find the differences interesting and think that for the most part they are a cool part of our collective American culture.
When I train staff at our Little Rock Arkansas office they pretty much insist on a looser schedule and more chit chat and smile more and are much more casual in their approach to things. In Boston, many of the people are all business and formal. People don't smile as often and there is not the chit chat before and after the meetings like in Little Rock. Time means more to the people in Boston. I also get the impression that the people in Boston and Philly are more likely to limit off hours socializing with their coworkers while the Tulsa and Little Rock employees view their coworkers as family.
The nature of the employees education, experience and job descriptions are the same in all offices.
Definitely..some large cities share a similar transient and cosmpolitan culture even if they are in different parts of the country..but overall the US has very distinct cultural differences- factors such as weather, work culture, racial/ religious demographics, history, population density etc etc all greatly affect the overall mindset and cultural way of a region.
Things like this really interest me- like Southerners & Midwesterners are more likely to marry and have kids earlier than in other regions (could be a city vs rural pattern too though)...or why cheerleading or certain types of sports are more important/ popular in one part of the nation over the other or why people in one region are more likely to stay later in work than a less work-oriented region...many interesting factors related to location & in the history of these locations, affect these things.
In regards to how different personalities/ attitudes can dominate a region- imo I agree that certain types of personalities are more evident in different parts of the country..
In the NE, definitely more likely to encounter more in-your-face, intense, work-oriented people (they are often more focused on work than on their looks too)
In the South, the reverse- they focus on their looks and are often more laid-back at work, very cheery and friendly
In the Pacific NW, it is very reserved and people are less likely to chit-chat etc than in other regions- but I attribute weather to this
In Southern California, people are quite mellow but they are generally aggressive drivers- traffic and car-culture pushes this element- thus, various factors affect regional differences
Southerners are friendlier and more religious, as are rural folks in general. In some very liberal parts of the country its considered rude to ask people what church they attend but this is acceptable in the South. In many part of the South and Midwest it is offensive to say Happy Holidays and you will likely upset more people by saying that than Merry Christmas.
In the NE, definitely more likely to encounter more in-your-face, intense, work-oriented people (they are often more focused on work than on their looks too)
In the South, the reverse- they focus on their looks and are often more laid-back at work, very cheery and friendly
In the Pacific NW, it is very reserved and people are less likely to chit-chat etc than in other regions- but I attribute weather to this
In Southern California, people are quite mellow but they are generally aggressive drivers- traffic and car-culture pushes this element- thus, various factors affect regional differences
I agree, just the difference from Delaware to South Florida is astonishing...
The biggest cultural differences I see are between big city areas and small town areas, wealthy and poor areas, rural and urban areas. These differences apply to ALL regions of the US.
The country as a whole is becoming so homoenized due to media and social connections. There are indeed regional cultural flavors, but not on the scale that most on this site claim to be. I mean, you'd swear that crossing some state lines was like going to a third world country based on some remarks. For instance the whole north-south divide. I've been up and down the east coast and live in the middle in VA. The differences are there, but when you take my opening statement into account, the differences aren't really that much. A state boundary is not magically going to make someone think or do things differently than others in the next state over. On the contrary, you can have wildly varying differences in the same state.
Right now, it seems that politics is the biggest cultural divider in the US. And again, that is not relegated to specific regions and seems to be an extension of my rural-urban divide feelings brought out earlier.
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