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A part of me really wishes Birmingham loses its identity as a "truly southern city" and all the negative aspects that come with it. I would welcome any and all transplants, newcomers, etc with open arms.
That's about the strangest thing I've read in awhile. Krikey!
So you want to welcome more traffic, more crime, rising housing costs, worse schools, pollution, and more drugs?
Most places are these days. It's sad, but what are you gonna do? To most young people these days, regional identity isn't important. Now identity is founded on your politics and interests, and you can find people of all stripes in those regards anywhere.
Atlanta was never really like other Southern cities. It's character has always been more like a beinger town, open to newcomers and the innovations that they brought. Whereas cities like New Orleans, Savannah and Charleston always had insular and firmly entrenched aristocracies, it was relatively easy for a moneyed arriviste to buy his way into Atlanta society. Even when I was attending HS in the early 70's most of the kids' families were from somewhere else.
Atlanta wasn't like the South despite the cultural makeup of it's white population (much more WASP than white ethnic Catholic) reflected the South's as a whole.
New Orleans was like the South despite being the one city where the cultural makeup of it's white population (more white ethnic Catholic than WASP) didn't reflect the South's as a whole.
I think all major cities have to a degree. The demographic shifts are one contributor, but the biggest contributor is the large amount of yuppies moving into major cities (myself included). Cities and neighborhoods are now being designed to attract young professionals. Back in the day there weren't nearly as many college grads and young professionals living in the city.
My friend who grew up in NYC, always says "New York isn't New York anymore." I think a lot of the older cities like NY, Philly, Boston, Chicago- have lost some of their identities at least to some degree.
Dallas, Texas. It has everything that you would expect and want from a Top 10 city/metro---which is great---but it's just so Anywhere, USA these days that you could almost forget you are in Texas. Especially with all the out of state, non-Southern transplants (mostly Californians) rushing in non-stop.
At least when all the Californians and hipsters flocked to Austin and took it over, there were several major things already firmly in place there---like being the state capital, home of University of Texas, and the center of the Texas BBQ culture---that made it impossible to ignore and erase the fact that it's in Texas, no matter how many California hipsters who think Austin is "cooler than the rest of Texas" move there.
Dallas, Texas. It has everything that you would expect and want from a Top 10 city/metro---which is great---but it's just so Anywhere, USA these days that you could almost forget you are in Texas. Especially with all the out of state, non-Southern transplants (mostly Californians) rushing in non-stop.
At least when all the Californians and hipsters flocked to Austin and took it over, there were several major things already firmly in place there---like being the state capital, home of University of Texas, and the center of the Texas BBQ culture---that made it impossible to ignore and erase the fact that it's in Texas, no matter how many California hipsters who think Austin is "cooler than the rest of Texas" move there.
The thing about Dallas is that its identity has evolved. I wouldnt say its losing it because its identity was never that firmly entrenched anyway.
Dallas used to be the capital of the far right religious right. It used to be known as a city hostile to the government thanks to the JFK assassination. It used to be known as a city that was super hostile to minorities. It used to be known as a place that lacked political diversity where everyone was conservative.
Im not at all implying racism isnt there because it is, but its certainly not what it was, but I think Dallas has shed a lot of those characteristics and I think thats a good thing. Its now a major city thats very ethnically diverse, seems welcoming to anyone, and its not as overwhelmingly religious as it once was (though that element is still there to a lesser degree).
I would say cities evolve. Suburban kids move in to the cities for their 20's and early 30's its not the end of the world. How many cities say I wish it was like the 70's or 80's? I'm a yuppie guilty. I moved to Boston after growing up in the suburbs, how many would rather have the Whitey Bulger 90's era? There are actually probably more independent restaurants now than 20 years ago the independent restaurant scene has exploded, sure chains are there but what are you gonna do, people like them otherwise they wouldn't be there. It seems like everybody on this board loves "grit" and they're the baddest guy on the block.
Cities change their identity changes, they don't lose it, it just changes.
Last edited by The_General; 08-21-2017 at 01:14 PM..
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