Does Virginia have more similarities with Maryland or North Carolina? (chapel, houses)

[Diff1]

Virginia has three metro areas over 1million and a few medium sized metros, to me they all are diffrent in culture, with that being said does Virginia have more in common with Maryland or North Carolina?

[rnc2mbfl]

It depends who in VA, MD and NC that you ask.

[Mutiny77]

I'm going to go with NC here. Firstly, I think their similar sizes count for something. Secondly, I think there are probably more parallels between the two. Both state capital MSAs are roughly the same size (although different in other ways), Winston-Salem is kind of like a mini-Richmond to me, you've got the heavily military regions (Hampton Roads and Fayetteville), quintessential college towns of Charlottesville and Chapel Hill, similar number of F500 companies, the presence of Big Tobacco, a similar number of notable colleges and universities, both are swing states, etc. I know lots of similarities can be demonstrated between VA and MD too, but it seems like VA and NC might have more.

[KeyserSoze]

All three actually share some similarities, it depends what part of the state you're talking about. All three are a bit different, but they also have things in common with each other.

Generally speaking, the way I see it is that the part of Virginia north of I-64 and east of the Shenandoah is more like Maryland, and Southern and Southeast Virginia is more like Northern and Northeastern North Carolina. But even with that, you can draw parallels between Ocean City and Virginia Beach, Raleigh/Durham and the DC Area, and Baltimore and Richmond.

The metros are where it gets tricky. All three states are very transient, especially in their metro areas. Additionally, there's a lot of strong economic and cultural interstate connectivity and travel between all three states. I'm sure you can find MDers in NOVA, Charlottesville, Richmond, Blacksburg/VA Tech, the Triangle, the Triad, Charlotte, and Eastern NC. But you'll also see quite a bit of VAers and NCers in the Baltimore and DC metros. People from all three states also vacation in the same spots, like the Chesapeake, the Outer Banks, or the Shenandoah Valley.

VA and MD share the Chesapeake and a metro region, as well as similarities in history, culture, demographics, and economics, among other things. But NC shares in those similarities, as well.

It's a tough call, but I guess you could say VA is like both. I'd give it a slight edge to MD due to NOVA increasingly becoming the political and economic powerhouse of the state, which is more aligned with Central Maryland.

[mhans123]

Outside the DC burbs it's more similar to North Carolina.

[AZcardinal402]

Originally Posted by mhans123

Outside the DC burbs it's more similar to North Carolina.

Exactly.

Outside of NOVA...North Carolina all day.

Virginia is basically like North Carolina exactly, but with New Jersey stitched onto the northeastern corner of it.

[Diff1]

What about the DelMarVa, and the Hampton Roads has alot of similarities to MD being on the Chesapeake and all.

[AZcardinal402]

Originally Posted by Diff1

What about the DelMarVa, and the Hampton Roads has alot of similarities to MD being on the Chesapeake and all.

The DelMarVa I'll give you, but I think Eastern NC has a lot of cultural similarities to the Hampton Roads area. Talkin' all tidewater'y. But I think the Eastern Shore has some of that too. I've not been in the Hampton Roads area in forever, but I was in the Outer Banks last year and it reminded me quite a bit of VA.

[AllEars85]

What about Richmond Va its neighborhoods and architecture is more like D.C. and Md than anything in NC.

[AZcardinal402]

Originally Posted by AllEars85

What about Richmond Va its neighborhoods and architecture is more like D.C. and Md than anything in NC.

There are row houses in NC and SC....I assume thats what you mean?