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One reason Indiana seems more Southern is that a generation or two ago, you had a lot of Southerners moving to Indiana for work in the auto factories. Indy is also going to be one of the "big cities" that people in KY may go to.
My ex is from and lived in Anderson. Most of her family is there. Her parents and that generation were all from Tennessee, and many of the town residents were just one or two generations removed from the South. Aside from the accents, it felt very similar to my hometown in Tennessee.
Iowa really doesn't have a presence of Southerners or people just one or two generations removed from the South.
White Southerners, no. But most of its black population (not large, but it is growing) have parents or grandparents who came up from the South looking for work 50-75 years ago.
One fact you won't find in your history books is how poorly white Southern transplants were treated when they came up North looking for work during the Depression and WWII years (especially Detroit). They were regularly ridiculed, discriminated against, and beaten almost as regularly as their black cohorts.
One reason Indiana seems more Southern is that a generation or two ago, you had a lot of Southerners moving to Indiana for work in the auto factories. Indy is also going to be one of the "big cities" that people in KY may go to.
My ex is from and lived in Anderson. Most of her family is there. Her parents and that generation were all from Tennessee, and many of the town residents were just one or two generations removed from the South. Aside from the accents, it felt very similar to my hometown in Tennessee.
Iowa really doesn't have a presence of Southerners or people just one or two generations removed from the South.
I also think there's just general bleed-over from Kentucky as well. When two regions touch, you see a lot of overlap. A lot of states along the divide between the South and the Midwest tend to see a cultural blend.
I also think there's just general bleed-over from Kentucky as well. When two regions touch, you see a lot of overlap. A lot of states along the divide between the South and the Midwest tend to see a cultural blend.
I don't know much about Kansas, but does Iowa share any of that with the Kansas border to the South?
I don't know much about Kansas, but does Iowa share any of that with the Kansas border to the South?
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking.
There isn't much "south" in Iowa, other than a noticeable drawl in southern Iowa bordering Missouri (by the same token, northern/northeastern Iowa has a Minnesota/Wisconsin influenced accent). If you're referring to Kansas bordering Oklahoma, I'd say it's a great example of this. However, it's more northern Oklahoma being like the Midwest than it is Kansas being like the South.
I also think there's just general bleed-over from Kentucky as well. When two regions touch, you see a lot of overlap. A lot of states along the divide between the South and the Midwest tend to see a cultural blend.
I think a lot of folks forget that that the southernmost 25% or so of Indiana is very culturally similar to Kentucky and also rural. Evansville is the only real city aside from the immediate Louisville suburbs. You do get that bleedover.
There's also a tax issue. Indiana is generally a bit more tax friendly, so you can have some Kentuckians move over for that, especially if they work in Indiana already.
Iowa doesn't really have this bleedover. The area of MO close to IA is not Southern at all.
I think a lot of folks forget that that the southernmost 25% or so of Indiana is very culturally similar to Kentucky and also rural. Evansville is the only real city aside from the immediate Louisville suburbs. You do get that bleedover.
There's also a tax issue. Indiana is generally a bit more tax friendly, so you can have some Kentuckians move over for that, especially if they work in Indiana already.
Iowa doesn't really have this bleedover. The area of MO close to IA is not Southern at all.
Yeah, that's kind of what I'm hitting at. The only remotely southern cross over into Iowa is dialect, and it isn't much. Anything else that might appear Southern is just an area where the Midwest and South are similar.
I'm surprised to hear that Iowa's taxes are thought of as high. We farm along the Iowa/Minnesota border, and own land in both states. Minnesota's property taxes blow Iowa's out of the water. I don't have experience with that in other states, but given the comparison, I've always thought of Iowa as reasonable taxwise.
Yeah, that's kind of what I'm hitting at. The only remotely southern cross over into Iowa is dialect, and it isn't much. Anything else that might appear Southern is just an area where the Midwest and South are similar.
I'm surprised to hear that Iowa's taxes are thought of as high. We farm along the Iowa/Minnesota border, and own land in both states. Minnesota's property taxes blow Iowa's out of the water. I don't have experience with that in other states, but given the comparison, I've always thought of Iowa as reasonable taxwise.
That 6%-7% marginal income tax bracket kicks in at fairly low income. Property taxes are fairly high, higher than in Indiana.
When I moved to Iowa, I got something like a 1/3 raise over what I was making in Virginia, but maybe net 20% more. The taxes soaked me. Granted, I was making like $34k in VA and $45k in IA, but it certainly wasn't worth my while to move if you just look at the dollars vs. cost of living.
For those singing the (rightful) praises of Bloomington, let's not forget: its parallel in Iowa, Iowa City, is basically in the same league as Bloomington (and I'm not talking about the B1G). Bloomington and Iowa City share much in common and one doesn't exceed the other.
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