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It is certainly something rather strange going on, but it seems to me that regional accents are fading from the landscape. Whether you're in the south or in the northeast, even New England, it appears that most younger people are speaking a generic form of American accent. The same accents can be heard in people in Tennessee, as in Indiana, as in New York, as in California. It's quite disturbing, but it does seem that people should be able to notice the trend.
There does appear to be some exceptions, notably rural areas that are deeply-removed from a state's metropolitan areas, as well as some locations of the upper midwest, northern New England, and parts of Alabama and southern Georgia.
Whether it is television and popular culture that is the culprit for the change, or whether it is a transient citizenry, things do not appear to be how they were, even in the early nineties.
It is quite common to hear youth in metropolitan areas of the South, such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and even smaller cities speaking with no discernible southern accent, or one that is so-light, it is general American with a small splash of southern. It is not uncommon to hear people in the Boston metropolitan area speaking as though they are from Maryland, with not a trace of New England accent, no sign of a non-rhotic r at all. Even some locations in Minnesota seem to be losing their regional sound.
Do you notice the changes, or do you even acknowledge that it is happening? If you do acknowledge it, do you think that regional accents will be gone within a few generations, being that the strongest accents seem to be heard in people over the age of fifty, and only diluted accents in many residents from mid-20s to around age 50. The youth, perhaps a majority, do not even sound as though they are from their respective regions. So what do you think?
Actually, there are new accents being formed like the NCVS(Which is found in cities on the Great Lakes), and the California Vowel Shift(Blame the Valley Girls), Chicano accent, sndthe Miami Accent. I expect a new South Florida accent to pop up with a Northeastern sound(due to most transplants being from the NE) Accents are never static, they are always in flux.
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