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Sup sophialee!!!! Most of my experience with the midwest has been the Ashland, Columbus, and Indy. I agree that KY is the most "country" of the three aforementioned areas. However, it takes a lot of black folks for an area to be truly "southern" IMO. This is something that Kentucky just doesn't have.
Large black populations has shaped the culture of the south in ways that few folks may have ever thought. Trust me. My wife (and step sons) are from Kentucky (they are white, and I am black). The wife (and one of the step sons) lives with me in Charlotte now. Eventhough my wife and step son speak with southern accents, they got a SERIOUS culture shock when they moved to NC. The larger black and hispanic population was something they just were not used to. If they were from Louisville, I am certain the culture shock would not have been so bad. However, they are from Eastern Ky.
One could certainly argue that KY is more southern than it is like Cleveland. However, KY is more like Southern Ohio (and Southern Indiana) than it is like NC. This is kinda my point.
Also, most of KY's population sits near Southern Indiana and Ohio too. Check out these numbers.
Total for these 4 counties
1,073,775 population
945 sq/mi
Total for the rest of Kentucky
3,195,470 population
38,783 sq/mi
Much of Kentucky's population lives in tight urban/suburban counties on the Ohio River. These counties make up 25% of the total state population yet they only account for 2% of the state's total land area. Being that cities (not farms) set the tone for a state's economy and culture, I'd have to say Kentucky is more midwestern than Southern. In the times I have visited Louisville, I saw a city that was more Midwestern than Southern. The same can be said for the Cincy suburbs. Even though most of Kentucky's land has a southern population, most Kentuckians live near or north of I-64. Kentucky is VERY "top heavy" because it is more in line with the Midwest. If KY were a true "southern" state, the population would be more "bottom heavy" (or spread more evenly) IMO.
Urbancharlotte, you are one of my favorite posters on the Charlotte board, you always back up your posts w/ lots of stats/data and you are really sweet. I'll go over this info and get back to you
Charlotte I have only seen your post because of someone else quoting it but you have obviously not spent much time in either Southern Indiana OR Ohio if you think Kentucky as a whole is mostly like them. There are parts of Kentucky...the east end of Louisville (the parts inside the watterson) and Northern Kentucky that may be more Midwestern than Southern but as a whole, Kentucky is a Southern state and there is not a thing you can say that will change my mind Have a great day!
NC is getting so many NY transplants that very soon it'll be a northern state. Things will change, and that sweet tea will be less important than NY pizza!!!
ROTFLMAO!!! I was raised in Charlotte, yet born in NYC!!!
Much of Kentucky's population lives in tight urban/suburban counties on the Ohio River. These counties make up 25% of the total state population yet they only account for 2% of the state's total land area. Being that cities (not farms) set the tone for a state's economy and culture, I'd have to say Kentucky is more midwestern than Southern. In the times I have visited Louisville, I saw a city that was more Midwestern than Southern. The same can be said for the Cincy suburbs. Even though most of Kentucky's land has a southern population, most Kentuckians live near or north of I-64. Kentucky is VERY "top heavy" because it is more in line with the Midwest. If KY were a true "southern" state, the population would be more "bottom heavy" (or spread more evenly)
I'm not sure you know what you are talking about. If you are discussing cultural aspects a substantial amount of Louisvilles population comes from central and western Kentucky and maintain family connections to these rural areas. This is not so much the case with the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati, which are essentially extensions of Cincinnati's somewhat insular urban culture.
I also don't know what a "southern" population distribution is. Due to the peculiar geography of the South these distributions vary from state to state or region to region.
Quote:
Are you willing to say that KY is more like NC, SC, GA, MISS, ALA than it is like ILL, Indiana, OH?. Are YOU seriously willing to say that?
I think it has been pointed out here that the South is a geographically diverse region. Kentucky is more like Virginia, Missouri, and Tennessee. It is the Upper South or Border South.
However, it takes a lot of black folks for an area to be truly "southern" IMO. This is something that Kentucky just doesn't have.
The thing that seperates Kentucky from the Midwest is the rural black population in certain parts of the state. This is not uniform across the state just as it isn't uniform in other Southern states. The Midwest doesn't have this pattern or rural black concentrations, which are legacy of slavery. The areas were there was a large slave population (due to larger farms and quasi-plantations) are the areas that, today, have the larger black rural populations.
Then there is the experience of Jim Crow. Kentucky had de-jure segregation in education. This extended to higher education, where blacks were prohibited attendance in the various colleges in the state. This is why there is a Second Morrill Act college in Kentucky (Kentucky State University), which is akin to similar insitutions elsewhere in the South (colleges like Alcorn State and North Carolina A&T).
Though i think Jim Crow is not necessarily a Southern thing. There was de-jure segregated education in the North as well, as well as customary Jim Crow in things like public accomodations in northern cities.
Hi everyone! Kentucky is a southern state IMO. Im from the Owensboro area and to me it feels pretty different just across the bridge in Evansville, Indiana. I also believe Louisville to be a southern city, moreso than Owensboro. Louisville reminds me of New Orleans with all of the shotgun houses.
LOL! Allow me to explain. Kentucky is "top heavy" because its population grew up around the Ohio River (a midwestern river). Does this make sense? I was not saying that midwestern states have "top heavy" populations. I was saying that Kentucky's "top heavy" population is a sign that Kentucky is geared around the midwest (and not the SouthEast). If Kentucky had a "bottom heavy" population, this would imply that KY is geared around the South (which it is not).
Also, the map you provided shows how Kentucky's most important cities are on the same latitude as St. Louis. Thanks for showing this geographically midwestern trait of KY.
Last edited by urbancharlotte; 10-18-2009 at 03:15 AM..
I was saying that Kentucky's "top heavy" population is a sign that Kentucky is geared around the midwest (and not the SouthEast). If Kentucky had a "bottom heavy" population, this would imply that KY is geared around the South (which it is not).
This is a pretty eccentric reading of geography, relying on geographical location of two of the three larger metro areas to determine whether a state is in one region or not, while neglecting the state as a whole and negleting the particular social and economic history of the metro areas. Anyone familiar with the econmic history of Louisville is well aware that the city grew to prominence due to trade connections with the South and was integrated into the regional Southern market after the Civil War.
I'm not going to debate this anymore, but it is the consensus of the people who live in Kentucky, as well as geographers and historians, that Kentucky is a border south state. It shares too many similiarities to Southern states vis a vis the Midwest to be considered otherwise.
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Most of my experience with the midwest has been the Ashland, Columbus, and Indy. I agree that KY is the most "country" of the three aforementioned areas. However, it takes a lot of black folks for an area to be truly "southern" IMO. This is something that Kentucky just doesn't have.
Have a great day!
