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Southern Comfort
Tennessee Williams
A bar called "Magnolia's"
Nelly Native Trees: Oak, Maple, Hickory, Dogwood
Steamboats
Mark Twain
Architecture
Jazz/Blues
Chuck Berry
NASCAR Accents/slang College football
Only Dogwood could be considered remotely southern, and they grow in Pennsylvania as well. St. Louis has an accent which is unique, but not particularly southern (IMO). College football is just about everywhere!
Only Dogwood could be considered remotely southern, and they grow in Pennsylvania as well. St. Louis has an accent which is unique, but not particularly southern (IMO). College football is just about everywhere!
College football IS everywhere but not as appreciated and followed as it is in the south.
Whether you identify yourself as southern or not, the city feels southern . I know some people would use that kind of statement to belittle or criticize, but to most people it is either a compliment or at the very least a neutral observation. Maybe it's the Mississippi River culture that it has in common with other cities giving it that southern feel - I don't know.
Some southern stuff in St. Louis:
Southern Comfort
Tennessee Williams
A bar called "Magnolia's"
Nelly
Native Trees: Oak, Maple, Hickory, Dogwood
Steamboats
Mark Twain
Architecture
Jazz/Blues
Chuck Berry
NASCAR
Accents/slang
College football
You are unbelievable. It shouldn't feel southern to anybody with common sense. St. Louis feels down-to-the-line Midwestern to me, always has, always will. Oak, Maple, and hickory trees are not southern trees. Dogwood trees grow in other parts of the country besides the southern united states. Chuck Berry isn't southern, he merely adopted his own style of rock and popularized what was from Memphis..and Nelly being southern, you have got to be kidding me. College football is a national phenomenon, and it's not that big around here either. I guess Columbus is southern too if it has college football. Steamboats aren't southern..they were on all of the Mississippi. Mark Twain wasn't even from St. Louis, and in any event, he wasn't a Southerner. He was neutral. Architecture? LMBO!!! There is no southern architecture here...almost all of it looks just like the rest of the Midwest and even has some Northeastern characteristics. The accents here are not southern. There is a track for NASCAR racing, but NASCAR doesn't race exclusively in the south...drivers of NASCAR are from all over the country. And finally, the jazz and the blues...they came up here during the Great Migration, as well as to Chicago and Detroit. You need to get updated as to what's southern and what's not, because everything you just stated is either false or it is simply an opinion shared by a very discreet minority. Get an education
College football IS everywhere but not as appreciated and followed as it is in the south.
Right...so you mean to tell me that Ohio and Michigan don't appreciate college football? College football is popular around here only because of Mizzou...the state college...as to the metro area of St. Louis, college football is not really popular at any of the universities...it is nowhere near the phenomenon here as it is in the south. Deacon's descriptions are either generic for the country or very misguided. The trees and architecture still have me laughing my butt off...nothing about any of that is southern in this city. The only identity crisis around here is one Deacon is trying to stir up.
Whether you identify yourself as southern or not, the city feels southern . I know some people would use that kind of statement to belittle or criticize, but to most people it is either a compliment or at the very least a neutral observation. Maybe it's the Mississippi River culture that it has in common with other cities giving it that southern feel - I don't know.
Some southern stuff in St. Louis:
Southern Comfort
Tennessee Williams
A bar called "Magnolia's"
Nelly
Native Trees: Oak, Maple, Hickory, Dogwood
Steamboats
Mark Twain
Architecture
Jazz/Blues
Chuck Berry
NASCAR
Accents/slang
College football
Oh god...names of places now??? I know about Magnolia's, it's right near where I used to live..only thing southern about that place is the name. You will find many restaurants in Midwestern cities with southern names..for instance, at one of Chicago's barbecue restaurants the name begins with Dixie's. Southern comfort can be found all over the country. Tennessee Williams was from Mississippi...he moved up to St. Louis after he was fully grown. The city doesn't feel southern...you obviously have never been to the south and if you have your perceptions are misguided. Your opinion is null and void in this case because it's WRONG.
That's basically what it is. It has a bit in common with Memphis. But it has more in common with Chicago and the other industrial type cities. In fact, St. Louis could pass off as an eastern city to an extent. Like the East Coast, St. Louis City is not in a county. Same as Baltimore and Richmond. They say soda instead of pop or coke. I think there architecture is more similar to Chicago than it is to any Southern city. I also don't believe college football is that big in Missouri. I think College basketball is much bigger and I wouldn't relate Nelly with being Southern.
However St. Louis does have some Southern characteristics in it and that's thanks to the great migration. At least they know what sweet tea is. Not that fake lemon crap.
Actually, to be honest, I had no idea what sweet tea was until I visited far southeastern Missouri and tried it for the first time at Lambert's cafe. Before fast-food restaurants began serving sweet tea north of the Mason-Dixon line, in most of Missouri one of the only places you could get sweet tea in a restaurant was a Cracker Barrel. Even in places as far south as Southwest Missouri, my dad said that growing up in Joplin sweet tea was not served. Generally, if you want restaurants that will serve you straight up sweet tea, the only places in the Midwest like that are far southern Missouri, far southern Illinois, and far southern Indiana. The dividing line for restaurants serving sweet tea appears to be approximately Highway 60 (except in Virginia) and the Arkansas/Oklahoma and Louisiana/Texas border. In Oklahoma and Texas, it's tough to find restaurants that serve sweet tea, even though both of those states are undeniably Southern. I remember when I crossed the Ohio River from Illinois into Paducah that southern-style restaurants began popping up everywhere. I wish there were more of them around here besides Cracker Barrel. Frankly, in my opinion, Cracker Barrel is a poor choice for a southern-style restaurant. It's no Lambert's Cafe.
The dividing line for restaurants serving sweet tea appears to be approximately Highway 60 (except in Virginia) and the Arkansas/Oklahoma and Louisiana/Texas border. In Oklahoma and Texas, it's tough to find restaurants that serve sweet tea, even though both of those states are undeniably Southern.
That has always seemed such a weird paradox, AJ. That is, the "disconnect" between what is served in many Texas restaurants...and that brewed at home by most native Texans. The same seems to be true in Oklahoma from my own experiences there...
The restaurant variety usually comes unsweet...while that made at home is overwhelmingly traditional "Southern sweet tea."
afj, how many hours of your life have you wasted trying to change people's opinions about missouri having southern influences and vibes. GET A LIFE.
Your reputation ratio is borderline troll and 70% of your posts are about such a pathetic topic.
If Missouri didn't have characteristics of feeling southern, no one would bring it up. There wouldn't be any argument about it. The fact that there is a population of people who claim the same thing, is proof that there must be some southernness of missouri and st. louis. It isn't a bad thing, GEEZ. And again, to many northerners who visit the state, it is a lot more southern compared to northern midwest states etc, and the weather is noticeably warmer than the rest of the midwest. GET OVER IT. Go outside. Find some friends.
afj, how many hours of your life have you wasted trying to change people's opinions about missouri having southern influences and vibes. GET A LIFE.
Your reputation ratio is borderline troll and 70% of your posts are about such a pathetic topic.
If Missouri didn't have characteristics of feeling southern, no one would bring it up. There wouldn't be any argument about it. The fact that there is a population of people who claim the same thing, is proof that there must be some southernness of missouri and st. louis. It isn't a bad thing, GEEZ. And again, to many northerners who visit the state, it is a lot more southern compared to northern midwest states etc, and the weather is noticeably warmer than the rest of the midwest. GET OVER IT. Go outside. Find some friends.
No, the fact that there is a population of people who think that means nothing...it means they are misguided and uneducated...Deacon's list of southern characteristics are not only wrong (because those characteristics like Southern Comfort are served in many places outside the south, and the architecture is NOT southern), they are misguided. You seem to want to defend people that make those claims, even if they are wrong. You want St. Louis to be this unmappable, undiscernible mecca...I hate to disappoint you, but it's not. "Southern" is a completely subjective opinion, probably too much for your narrow mind to comprehend. And Deacon's list of southern characteristics is faulty, and EVERYONE besides you and him can see that. I am not denying either St. Louis or Missouri are completely devoid of southern characteristics...what I am denying and know to be the truth is that these characteristics are at least in St. Louis nowhere near enough to make this city not a part of the Midwest. As far as Missouri goes, it's pretty much the same thing. They have some southern influences, but they are only that...influences, nothing more. Yes it's farther south than Chicago, so it is warmer, however Cincinnati, Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Columbus have virtually identical climates. And Chicago can get just as hot as St. Louis, and you're a liar if you think that's not true...it just doesn't happen as frequently. The mistake you and Deacon make is that these Southern characteristics (Deacon's are not true...if he were correct, i would acknowledge it, if you agree with his list than you're dumb, that's all I can say) are minimal. If you want a place in Missouri that is truly part of the south and not in any way Midwestern, go to the southeastern portion of Missouri in the Mississippi Delta. See? I don't deny that Missouri is devoid of Southern influence. Minor portions of it are truly Southern. But St. Louis is decidely Midwestern. In general, so is most of the state. If St. Louis were actually southern, I wouldn't be putting in this much effort to correct people. I'm not interested in talking to you anyway. Your definition about Forest Park being a walk in the south cracked up every friend I showed it too. Keep that intelligence coming so I can keep making a joke out of you You and deacon can go form your little cult and make idiots out of everyone by spewing fountains of bad information...I'll decline the invitation to join. You know nothing of my personal life, and you're hopelessly guessing...I probably make more in a day than you do in a week. The only southern things about st. louis and missouri were their pasts before the Civil War, and their stance during the Civil War is enough in itself to call into serious question if they ever really qualified as southern. That is where most of the population's misconception generally stems from. After the Civil War, St. Louis and Missouri (including much of the Ozarks in Missouri) cut their ties to the south, ties of which St. Louis had a very limited number. I'm tired of dealing with you, and I've made the same argument which has garnered much more support than it has disagreement. So maybe you're right, maybe I'm wasting my time trying to educate people incapable of being educated. People want to ignore facts, I guess it's their stupidity, not mine.
Last edited by ajf131; 05-10-2009 at 05:19 PM..
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