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Kentucky and West Virginia seem very Southern to me. Even though they were part of the Union, the culture seems to be very Southern. Oklahoma seems like a crossroads to me since it shares borders with Western, Southern, and Midwestern states.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 601halfdozen0theother
Wish you HAD put Missouri in here, because Oklahoma is Southern and Western (not Midwestern at all) and Missouri is Southern (not Midwestern except in the St. Louis area - even Columbia is pretty Southern). But Kentucky is pure Southern.
LMAO, what are you on? Except in the St. Louis area? Have you ever been to Missouri? To Kansas City? To Columbia? Jefferson City? IT doesn't sound at all like you have. All of these cities decidedly lean toward the Midwest. Some of the outlying rural areas may still have pockets of southern dialect and culture, but Missouri is by and large more Midwestern than it is southern by today's standards. It is exactly as bchris02 says. I've lived here for almost 27 years and I work a job where I go all over the state for a living. THe only parts of the state which are southern are in the far southeast part of the state.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Originally Posted by Nairobi
Some might argue that Kentucky is in fact not purely southern. Hell, the state borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, so I wouldn't doubt there's some Midwestern influence found in KY. Also, while I don't know the city well, I don't think it would be far-fetched to say that Louisville is probably more culturally similar to Indianapolis and Cincinnati than it is Atlanta or Memphis.
That's what I thought until I visited there. Louisville is far more similar to Memphis and Atlanta in terms of culture than to Indianapolis or Cincinnati. Virtually ZERO similarity between Louisville and those two cities.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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While Kentucky would probably be my vote, anyone who thinks Oklahoma isn't the south needs to look at its history, demographics, and linguistics. After the Civil War and from the time of its creation, OKlahoma has always behaved like a southern state. It even was part of the Cotton Belt along with Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, etc.
Of course, it all depends on how you define "Southern". For example, yes, I HAVE travelled all over the state of Missouri. Have you ever been to Kirksville? Hannibal? Brookfield? Nevada? Because all of those places and the small towns in-between read very Southern to me. I lived in Oklahoma for 7 years, and now live just over the border from Missouri in Iowa and would even classify some south central and southeastern Iowa towns as Southern. One can also take a look at city-data.com and read the religion and political stats. Most of Missouri, except in industrial areas, is very Republican and very Christian, which is part of MY interpretation of Southernness. (I look at the 2004 results, since 2008 is skewed with anti-incumbantism and 2012 isn't up yet.) If you asked anyone in Kirksville whether they identify more with people in Memphis or people in Indianapolis, which would they pick?
In West Virginia, draw a line from Huntington to Sutton to Elkins. Everything north of it is Midwestern; everything south of it is Southern.
That somewhat closely follows the county vote on secession from the US in 1861, the counties in green voted to secede from the Union along with the rest of Virginia. People are unaware that most of West Virginia was forcibly taken for the new state in 1863 and was an official part of the Confederacy.
IMO Kentucky is easily the most Southern of these three state. I think Louisville and Lexington feel more southern that the cities in the other two states. Bourbon, horses, lots of Baptists and Methodists. It is on the border, but it is the only of the three that I would regularly include in a list of southern states.
Oklahoma is more a mix of southern and western. West Virginia is more applachian/rust belt.
Virtually ZERO similarity between Louisville and those two cities.
Well, Louisville is less than a two hour drive to both cities, and part of Cincinnati's metro is actually in Kentucky, so I find that hard to believe. I know that geographic distance isn't everything, but it has to count for something.
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