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Based on my stays in the region: NC is solidly southern without question. And VA is overall southern. A little different outside of the rural areas, but definitely southern.
VA is Southern but it isn't much like the other Southern states. Demographically the state is just different (better educated, wealthier, more Asians, fewer Hispanics etc).
I'd say that 1/4 of the state has very strong ties to NC. 3/4 of the state has no connection what so ever to the South. From Roanoke and Lynchburg north and east commerce is with northern neighbors. Tidewater (2nd largest metro literally on the NC border) isn't even connected to NC with an interstate (I think one linking Norfolk and Raleigh would be great though). One has to travel 70 miles west to Petersburg, then 70 mies south along I95 to get to NC via an interstate (commerce). A better system sending goods south from there (our southern most metro) has never been necessary. Goods are shipped from Tidewater north along the Eastern Shore or via I95 (or up the bay to Baltimore).
Richmond does business with DC and points north. Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Fredericksburg, Winchester, Lynchburg and Staunton do too. 7.25million of the 8 million Virginians aren't connected economically to Southern business centers. The old rail lines don't seem that connected either. Rail out of VA ports goes west to OH, Il and MO and north to PA and NY. Of course many lines do serve Southern cities but by volume it is smaller in comparison.
Southern VA certainly has a big connection to NC though. From Emporia to Danville if one wants to go any place nice, NC destinations are much closer.
VA is Southern but it isn't much like the other Southern states. Demographically the state is just different (better educated, wealthier, more Asians, fewer Hispanics etc).
I'd say that 1/4 of the state has very strong ties to NC. 3/4 of the state has no connection what so ever to the South. From Roanoke and Lynchburg north and east commerce is with northern neighbors. Tidewater (2nd largest metro literally on the NC border) isn't even connected to NC with an interstate (I think one linking Norfolk and Raleigh would be great though). One has to travel 70 miles west to Petersburg, then 70 mies south along I95 to get to NC via an interstate (commerce). A better system sending goods south from there (our southern most metro) has never been necessary. Goods are shipped from Tidewater north along the Eastern Shore or via I95 (or up the bay to Baltimore).
Richmond does business with DC and points north. Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Fredericksburg, Winchester, Lynchburg and Staunton do too. 7.25million of the 8 million Virginians aren't connected economically to Southern business centers. The old rail lines don't seem that connected either. Rail out of VA ports goes west to OH, Il and MO and north to PA and NY. Of course many lines do serve Southern cities but by volume it is smaller in comparison.
Southern VA certainly has a big connection to NC though. From Emporia to Danville if one wants to go any place nice, NC destinations are much closer.
This makes sense, I guess we've come to the conclusion that there isn't a whole lot of interaction between NC and VA. However, I'd definitely say the two are similar states, judging by my travels across both. Would you agree?
VA and NC are indeed southern states always have been always will be, and C_D cannot change that. They are not "redneck states" as you mention. That is a ignorant thing to say, get a little education. Rednecks are everywhere. Probably at your back door. All of the Southerners know damn well that these states are southern. It seems to be the Northerners that are so confused as to the locations of the states. If you read the threads you would realize that to be fact. And the last sentence of you post is indeed correct. The ignorant here are the ones that do not consider VA and NC southern, and we know who they are, because they do not mind showing their ignorance.
Get a little education while you agree with most of my comment lol? How intellectual. You're claiming it is mostly northerners who don't know, which is ok by me if that has been your impression but just face it, VA and NC and the rest of the south has the most rednecks. Sorry if you're offended but they don't call it Dixie for nothing, so you should be ok.
I'm not sure what you mean by "more tied to SC." Care to elaborate?
Charlotte's and Myrtle Beach's metros extend across the state line, there's an obvious Upstate/western NC connection (they are part of the same DMA), there's interchange between the Pee Dee and NC Sandhills (Fayetteville/Lumberton/Laurinburg), the Panthers represent both states, the Bobcats/Hornets often play pre-season exhibition games in SC, Carowinds, USC has a professional MBA program in Charlotte, residents of one state can get in-state tuition to select schools in the other via the Charlotte Regional Partnership, lots of folks from NC go to the beach in SC, SC'ers visit the mountains of NC, SC'ers go to Charlotte for shopping and sports, etc etc
Charlotte's and Myrtle Beach's metros extend across the state line, there's an obvious Upstate/western NC connection (they are part of the same DMA), there's interchange between the Pee Dee and NC Sandhills (Fayetteville/Lumberton/Laurinburg), the Panthers represent both states, the Bobcats/Hornets often play pre-season exhibition games in SC, Carowinds, USC has a professional MBA program in Charlotte, residents of one state can get in-state tuition to select schools in the other via the Charlotte Regional Partnership, lots of folks from NC go to the beach in SC, SC'ers visit the mountains of NC, SC'ers go to Charlotte for shopping and sports, etc etc
Gotcha. Those connections are particularly meaningful if you're in the Charlotte metro or another metro geographically close to SC. I ask because I am originally from SC, but in the areas of NC where I've spent the most time (the Triad, the Triangle and NW NC), the SC-NC connection doesn't seem nearly as strong.
Gotcha. Those connections are particularly meaningful if you're in the Charlotte metro or another metro geographically close to SC. I ask because I am originally from SC, but in the areas of NC where I've spent the most time (the Triad, the Triangle and NW NC), the SC-NC connection doesn't seem nearly as strong.
Right, but they are definitely stronger than the NC-VA connections.
Right, but they are definitely stronger than the NC-VA connections.
I guess that's true, and it's probably due to the fact that Southern VA has very little to draw North Carolinians in. There are some pretty mountain spots, but those exist in NC, too. I'd imagine that someone from Southern VA probably feels more connected to NC than North Carolinians feel connected to VA.
The only exception I can think of is the Outer Banks, especially the northern stretch. SO FAR from most of NC and much more convenient to the Hampton Roads area than it is to NC cities.
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