Why do people say that an area with a lot of Northern/Western/Foreign transplants is no longer in the South? (moving)

[Kemba]

There seems to be a lot of feeling, as evidenced by the many discussions on this forum, that when an area in the South has a large influx of people moving in from outside the South, that that area is no longer considered Southern. Examples are Central and South Florida, Atlanta, and the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. Why is that? I never hear anyone say in Northern or Western locales with a lot of transplants from other areas (NYC, Chicago, California, Arizona, etc.) are no longer in the North or West. In my opinion, a large influx of transplants may alter the culture of an area, but does not change the fact that it is no longer part of its respective region.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

I don't think thats the case at all. Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are full of transplants (domestic and international) and the consensus seems to be that they are all southern.

[Hawaii4evr]

It becomes more commercialized and loses its culture, for the most part. I would argue South FL is not the South because it's more influenced by Caribbean culture and it's large population of Latinos that bring their culture into the region, plus Northeasterners (especially Jews) and Europeans that change up the culture. Central FL does have some Southern elements, but mostly it's Midwestern and Northeastern transplants who change up the culture too. It's similar to how some Caribbean places, like Cancun or the Bahamas, become more 'Americanized' and lose their indigenous culture, while less-traveled to places like Cuba and Haiti still have their culture intact.

[BajanYankee]

I think it's because New York is the de facto "capital of the North" and people equate "northerness" with the characteristics of New York. NYC is dense, transit-oriented, diverse, liberal, relatively affluent, etc., thus the more like New York a city becomes, the more "northern" it's considered.

Of course this ignores the reality that plenty of northern metros are not that dense, not very transit-oriented, not particularly diverse, not particularly liberal and open minded, and poor. They're only looking at the upper middle class/creative class when making these comparisons.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Hawaii4evr

It becomes more commercialized and loses its culture, for the most part. I would argue South FL is not the South because it's more influenced by Caribbean culture and it's large population of Latinos that bring their culture into the region, plus Northeasterners (especially Jews) and Europeans that change up the culture. Central FL does have some Southern elements, but mostly it's Midwestern and Northeastern transplants who change up the culture too. It's similar to how some Caribbean places, like Cancun or the Bahamas, become more 'Americanized' and lose their indigenous culture, while less-traveled to places like Cuba and Haiti still have their culture intact.

^This.....When people say this, it is in regard to the culture. Even with this, a lot of times, transplants are going to the same areas within a metro. So, many times, it is certain parts of a metro that change in cultural character.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

^This.....When people say this, it is in regard to the culture. Even with this, a lot of times, transplants are going to the same areas within a metro. So, many times, it is certain parts of a metro that change in cultural character.

Exactly. You can go to parts of the Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta metros and find areas that are pretty much just as southern as they've always been.

[The Postman]

Well the South is a culture, a way of life, a state of mind, so I'd say a place in the geographical south can lose it's southerness...I'd say Orlando is a good example. Parts of Virginia, especially Nova, too.