Is Orlando a Southern city? (Alachua: subdivisions, farms, rated)

[**NoodLes**]

Originally Posted by FLABoyJ

Is what pisses me off. Florida is NOT a California. We are not a "Baby Cali" or "Second California" we are Florida. Got damn can a state get any credit for ****? But if this was Texas or NY it be different.

Maybe because Texas and NY actually have an identity. In the Orlando area especially, it has been in "identity crisis" mode for at least a decade. Orlando always will struggle to achieve the great city status, that's why many people leave. Orlando has screwed around with it's residents enough. Even in so-called good times, it's economy is shaky at best, probably because it's "professional" scene is like a sitcom. It truly is a shame.

[rebelwoman]

Yep! & if ya want Florida to have its own credits, maybe y'all should stop tryin' to make it seam like paradise. If you haven't noticed, that's worn down by NY & California already.

[polo89]

Orlando is a mixed bag just like South Florida. There are older Victorian homes, but MOST of the housing style in Orlando consist off stucco and such.

[kshe95girl]

^ yes, that style is called California contemporary, and if I have to decorate another one, I'm gonna barf!

[FLABoyJ]

Originally Posted by rebelwoman

Yep! & if ya want Florida to have its own credits, maybe y'all should stop tryin' to make it seam like paradise. If you haven't noticed, that's worn down by NY & California already.

No people just like to make it seem like other states are better but to 18,million people that is not the case. We dont want to be like TEXAS. DF? NO Ew. Cali? NO. Florida is Florida. ****.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by brinkofsunshine

Yeah, I've lived in Orlando since I was three and don't consider myself to have a southern accent either, none of my native friends do either. I was once told I had a "true Florida accent" though.. whatever that is. I can't really hear it and most people can't, either. I just pronounce a few words more southern-ish.

People have to remember that not only do northerners move here, but also southerners from other states. I know quite a few people with southern accents here, but they're from Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky...

I am sure there are exceptions, but I never met a native of Kansas who had a "Southern accent" (i.e. speaking the generally considered dialact and idiom of Southern American English!).

[californio sur]

My first impulse was to say that Orlando is not a "Southern" city because you don't hear "southern' accents for the most part. Also because of Disney World, Orlando seems more generic "American" than Old South. But in reality, Orlando is a Southern city but in a state that has less "southern" characteristics than others. For example, Dallas doesn't seem very "southern" to me as well yet Texas is considered a Southern state by most people. I think there is an anti-South bias that sometimes influences people. On the other hand, I do have a hard time accepting the notion that Miami is a Southern city for so many reasons even if it is the largest southern-most city in America.

[OrlFlaUsa]

Florida is a two-edged sword. On one hand it can feel like the most southern northern state, and other times it can feel like the most northern southern state. As we've established already on this thread, it all depends on a long list of shaky requirements like where in the state you are, urban vs. rural, near the coast or inland, n.fl or s.fl, etc., etc.

Lot's of people who are southern move here from GA, NC, SC, AL & TN. Lot's of people who are northern move here from NY, NJ, DE, MA, IL, and OH.

Therefore, we are a mix of southerners & northerners just like many other places in the so-called South. You meet natives that were born in certain parts of Florida to a certain family and they might have an accent more associated with the word southern. You meet natives, like me, who were born to Chicago & Detroit parents, I sound more like I'm from the Midwest at times but do tend to have that accent-less "Florida accent".

It's unfair to say that Orlando is a southern city, because it is not truly. It is also unfair to say that it is not a southern city, because in some ways it is. In reality, it's a very internationally & domestically mixed bag of tricks and I certainly wouldn't want anyone to feel unwelcome here.

[rebelwoman]

OK, flaBoyJ, consider other people's oppinions. That is why you posted this thread in the first place. If you didn't live in Florida, you'd see how nonsouthern it seams to other parts of the country.

I'll give ya some characteristics that a southern state must have: There must be more Southern accents around than any other. There also must be the feel of Southern hospitality (Pretty women smilin' @ ya tellin' ya to come on in & have a glass of sweet tea.) Things like that. There must be things like plantations, grits, & a majority population of White people & African American people.

Trust me, I lived in Georgia for 2-3 years. I know Southern states, & Florida is not one.

For 1: More cuban accents than Southern accents (mostly in Southern FL)

2: Hardly any Southern culture that you'll find in Alabama or Georgia (there are some places with lots of Southern culture, but they're very spread out)

3: not as many plantations or farms/rural areas as other southern states

4: only a few places (as you've mentioned before) where you can get grits

5: a total mixture of different cultures (lots of imigrants & not just 1 steady race as is in other southern states)

So please, think 'bout what I'm saying (as well as most of the people on this thread.) Florida is Southern in geography, but mostly diverse in culture. Especially Orlando (not southern @ all!!!)

Jessie

[polo89]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

^ yes, that style is called California contemporary, and if I have to decorate another one, I'm gonna barf!

I like that Spanish/Mediterranean/California style personally, it's better than the bland brick style housing, brick, after boring, brick.