Is Louisville "southern" (homes, vs, shop)

[WILWRadio]

KY and Louisville is definitely southern. I get a kick out of threads like this. People are trying to rewrite history or reshape or change our culture. Not much different than the new math. 3 plus 5 equals 35.

I'm originally from Connecticut and I see a lot of people and mostly those that are not from New England try to claim Connecticut is NOT part of New England. Not only do they need to learn their history, they also have to see where it is on a map and then look at the official definition of the states that define New England. Mane, New Hamster, Varmint, Taxachusetts, Road Eyeland and Connecticut are New England.

Currently I live in the KC region and from time to time I run into people from Arkansas that have recently moved here. Guess what? They don't have that southern accent. And a meteorologist on a local TV station from Mississippi here does not have a southern accent either but I'd have to say he is definitely from the south. I've also known plenty of people from KY that either do or don't have the accent. What difference does it make?

It's time for people to accept history for what it is and the culture that goes with a region. Sure, KY has some midwestern influences as well just as SW CT has some NY influences. But ultimately when you look at the entire state (either one) and the culture and history, they should not be redefined as Mid Atlantic (CT) or Midwestern (KY).

[zuliantroll]

Culturally Louisville is the South.
As is the culture of southern Indiana, southern Illinois and southern Ohio, which were settled largely by settlers who moved on from Kentucky.

[Toby Lee]

I moved to Richmond, Virginia from Louisville in 1988. I considered it an insult to be called southern by the locals in Richmond then, and considering how I came to find Richmonders insufferably rude afterward, I consider it even more of an insult now. Louisville is, and always has been, in the Midwest.

[lvoc]

Well I grew up in good ole Louahville...from 4 to 17. When I moved to Long Island for my senior year in high school I was immediately dubbed "Reb".

So southern

So what better experts than a set of Long Island high school students?

My co-worker and good friend from the southern tip of Indiana had just about the same accent I did though by then mine had softened from many years in the east.

[N. Olikee]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

KY and Louisville is definitely southern. I get a kick out of threads like this. People are trying to rewrite history or reshape or change our culture. Not much different than the new math. 3 plus 5 equals 35.

I'm originally from Connecticut and I see a lot of people and mostly those that are not from New England try to claim Connecticut is NOT part of New England. Not only do they need to learn their history, they also have to see where it is on a map and then look at the official definition of the states that define New England. Mane, New Hamster, Varmint, Taxachusetts, Road Eyeland and Connecticut are New England.

Currently I live in the KC region and from time to time I run into people from Arkansas that have recently moved here. Guess what? They don't have that southern accent. And a meteorologist on a local TV station from Mississippi here does not have a southern accent either but I'd have to say he is definitely from the south. I've also known plenty of people from KY that either do or don't have the accent. What difference does it make?

It's time for people to accept history for what it is and the culture that goes with a region. Sure, KY has some midwestern influences as well just as SW CT has some NY influences. But ultimately when you look at the entire state (either one) and the culture and history, they should not be redefined as Mid Atlantic (CT) or Midwestern (KY).

Akward.................what's your point?

[N. Olikee]

Originally Posted by zuliantroll

Culturally Louisville is the South.
As is the culture of southern Indiana, southern Illinois and southern Ohio, which were settled largely by settlers who moved on from Kentucky.

Wow......makin' no sense.

[N. Olikee]

Look.........if you are from the South (the "real" South,) Louisville and KY in general is Northern / Midwestern. I think North Carolina is "northern".......so VA is definitely "northern"......to me.

If you are from MI, or IL, or Canada, etc., Louky is "southern".....no doubt.

I remember talking to a native Loukian who had once lived in the "south," but whose parents moved back to Louky because they wanted to get back to the Midwest. Anecdotal?.......yes, but she definitely understood the difference.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by N. Olikee

Akward.................what's your point?

Awkward moment? Only for you apparently. I'd call my post a Kodak moment because it clearly illustrates revisionists are attempting to rewrite history and redefine borders.

Now if we utilize Revisionist logic that apparently puts Kentucky in the Midwest then we'll also have to seriously consider reexamining the geographic location and culture of states such as Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington State. Naturally because they border Canada and have Canadian influences (especially northern New England) these states should probably be considered part of the Canadian culture and nationality. New York is uniquely positioned to be split into three parts with the eastern part of the state now a part of New England, the northern areas bordering Canada would become a part of Canada and the extreme southern portions a part of New Jersey and PA.

And BTW. My late Father's Father was from Texas. He considered Connecticut to be a New England state and Kentucky a Southern state.
Is this still an awkward moment?

[veggienut]

We are "the gateway to the South". We are not really south and not really northern either, in my opinion. Many people that drive south "have to" drive thru Kentucky. Maybe we are to be considered "southeastern" in my opinion.

[matryoshka4811]

I've found that defining Louisville as "southern" or "not-southern" tends to fall more around where the person with the opinion is from and less about the city itself. Louisville, as a city, has been back and forth historically how it defines itself regionally. (*warning: history major nerd-ness below*)

From Wikipedia:
"During the Civil War Louisville was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting and transportation for numerous campaigns, especially in the Western Theater. By the end of the war, Louisville had not been attacked, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby. After Reconstruction, returning Confederate veterans largely took political control of the city, leading to the jibe that Louisville joined the Confederacy after the war was over."

For the decades after the Reconstruction, Louisville (and the state as a whole) continued to recognize itself as southern. This period (in the 1890s-1910s) is when most Confederate memorials were built in the city, including the one on UofL's campus next to the Business school. (Confederate Monument in Louisville - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) In the Civil Rights era though, Louisville dubbed itself "The Progressive City" and claimed to be more forward-thinking and accepting than other southern cities like Birmingham and Memphis. (Great book on that: "Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South: Louisville, Kentucky, 1945-1980")

I know this is major history-nerd territory but I am a History major grad of UofL and spent a year of my life researching this exact topic. After a year of research and writing up all of it, I came of the opinion that Louisville had cultivated the image of being "southern" for the past century though (as a native of central KY) it is not as "southern" as the rest of the state.