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Old 12-24-2009, 08:31 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
64 posts, read 177,454 times
Reputation: 95

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Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingwriter View Post
OK. I guess Southern is a broad term. Some of the positive and negative "Southern" things I was thinking of are:

Extremely conservative politics (the Constitution Party is popular)
Southern Accents are predominate
Southern hospitality
NASCAR and college football are the most popular sports
Hostility towards Northerners or "Yankees"
Confederate flags are popular
Southern food (grits, greens, fried chicken, BBQ) is very popular
Excessive suburban sprawl (think Charlotte or Atlanta)
Lower wages than Northern areas
Racism and Race-consciousness
Large pickup trucks and SUVs are popular

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can think of at the moment.
Interesting list. I grew up in Illinois (another Mid-Western state) and found much more racial tension and just as many SUV's and large pickups there as I have found in Raleigh.

Back to the point. I think any visitor to Raleigh will find a city in transition: Somewhere around half of Raleighites have Southern accents and while there is plenty of sprawl we have also recently seen a small but noticeable movement toward more dense development. I can go downtown for lunch at Mecca or Clyde Cooper's and feel like I'm in a Southern City, then go out to Five Guys at North Hills and its anytown USA. There is a little South left over here and there in Raleigh, but you just about have to look for it.
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Old 12-24-2009, 08:44 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
1,142 posts, read 2,810,680 times
Reputation: 1144
I really do not understand the purpose of this thread. If you are looking for a city that doesn't have southerners or southern ways, why would you move south?

I happen to be a southerner living north and I would give my eye teeth to live in the south again. It just agitates me to no end the number of northerners have the blessing of moving south and then have the gall to complain about the southerness of the area. My gosh, just stay north, for goodness sake and stop trying to change the south to fit your ways.
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Old 12-24-2009, 08:50 PM
 
920 posts, read 2,808,936 times
Reputation: 504
Did you not somehow notice that Obama won the Presidential election in NC and that Elizabeth Dole was replaced by a Democrat? There is also a Democratic Governor.

I'm so sorry you've had to hear Southern accents in *The South.* Oh the humanity!

Seriously, it does sound like you'd be happier back in the North.


Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingwriter View Post
OK. I guess Southern is a broad term. Some of the positive and negative "Southern" things I was thinking of are:

Extremely conservative politics (the Constitution Party is popular)
Southern Accents are predominate
Southern hospitality
NASCAR and college football are the most popular sports
Hostility towards Northerners or "Yankees"
Confederate flags are popular
Southern food (grits, greens, fried chicken, BBQ) is very popular
Excessive suburban sprawl (think Charlotte or Atlanta)
Lower wages than Northern areas
Racism and Race-consciousness
Large pickup trucks and SUVs are popular

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can think of at the moment.
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Old 12-25-2009, 10:00 AM
 
Location: Sunny Sandy Ego
455 posts, read 1,116,378 times
Reputation: 241
To all those who hate the state...move to another state that you will enjoy more. Don't let the door or state trooper bump you on the way out.

Seriously, numerous towns in NC have been rated as some of the best places to live countless times. Every location is going to have it's negatives, but to classify the whole state in one supreme catagory is ignorant. Some of those negatives are deeply rooted by history, but there are positives to being a Progressive Southern State...diversity with conservitivism. Sound like an oxymoron? Depends on the region of the state...here's your sign...diversity.

Think that Asheville or Carrboro/Chapel Hill is conservative?..maybe compared to San Fran. or Berkley. Interestingly, the RTP area has the highest % population of PhD in the nation. Wages are lower because we are not as unionized as those up north. Think that's bad? Google "GM and UAW," then look up "Hondajet and NC." Also the cost of living is significantly less than up north so you have to calculate the wage to cost of living to determine if you have more or less buying power.

Think that SUVs and pick-ups are a southern thing, goto LA and SD and talk to the BROS. Think racism is prevalent only in the south, ask the Hmong in Minnesota or goto Detroit and ask what they think.

Historically, yes this is a Southern state and part of the bible belt. Those who have a southern accent is due to the geography, but will also smile, make eye contact, and open doors for you. You read about an old man getting hit by a car and nobody helps them in Hartford, Conn... and compare that to multiple incidident of "southern" strangers dying trying to help wreak victims (RIP Lee Eames and Todd Fletcher). Think you will get better treatment in NJ? Probably get robbed afterwards. Wait, I'm stereotyping too?

The urban spwarl is due to the fact that the state is growing due to many transplants and bringing them diversity and specialties. We are not landlocked like Seattle, so there is development occuring. Is that a bad thing? Ask a homeowner in Miami about the real estate there.

Keep in mind that those who post the most extreme views are those who need to be less heard, and do not constitute the majority of the population.

BTW, I'm asian, married a southern sweetheart, and live in Durham. I don't dodge bullets, takes me 15 mins to get to work, and I bought a house while in school.
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Old 12-25-2009, 01:40 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
1,561 posts, read 5,150,917 times
Reputation: 1167
atlanta rebuilt itself as a modern city in the south, so it's sort of unique in that sense. but raleigh is a small city, not a giant cosmopolitan metropolis. my wife and i are atheist, drink-loving yankees and we've had no trouble adjusting. i haven't been overwhelmed by religious nuts, hicks with no teeth, or racist lynch mobs yet ;-) i think the real issue is that the whole "southern" stereotype envisions a rural, small-town feeling, so any decent-sized city like Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Charlotte, Asheville, etc. is going to automatically be better [opinion] than that. there's a ton of transplants here anyways. is it Manhattan? no. but it's not like some small town if you stay in the cities and suburbs.
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Old 12-25-2009, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
76 posts, read 208,402 times
Reputation: 58
It used to be southern. Since the Research Triangle Park came in, it lost its southern personality. I used to recognize everyone in town and now, Raleigh is filled with people from everywhere. It is now a cosmopolitan city.
Now back in the 70s, it was a whole different ballgame. Many more trees and less building with nothing but southern charm. Not that way anymore. It's just not. So no, as much as I would like to tell you that Raleigh is southern, it isn't. And to tell you the truth, many of Raleigh natives have already moved.
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Old 12-25-2009, 04:04 PM
 
6,297 posts, read 16,069,777 times
Reputation: 4846
Many Raleigh natives have moved?

Really? And where did they move?

Quote:
And to tell you the truth, many of Raleigh natives have already moved.
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Old 12-25-2009, 04:49 PM
 
Location: Central North Carolina
1,335 posts, read 3,144,513 times
Reputation: 2145
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingwriter View Post
OK. I guess Southern is a broad term. Some of the positive and negative "Southern" things I was thinking of are:

Extremely conservative politics (the Constitution Party is popular)
Southern Accents are predominate
Southern hospitality
NASCAR and college football are the most popular sports
Hostility towards Northerners or "Yankees"
Confederate flags are popular
Southern food (grits, greens, fried chicken, BBQ) is very popular
Excessive suburban sprawl (think Charlotte or Atlanta)
Lower wages than Northern areas
Racism and Race-consciousness
Large pickup trucks and SUVs are popular

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can think of at the moment.
OMG, you're basically saying we're all rednecks down here. You're from Michigan for God's sake. Kid Rock is the poster-child for the arts in Michigan, and you're calling US rednecks?

To answer your question: Raleigh is more "Southern" than Atlanta, so there is the answer to your question. I don't think Raleigh is very southern, but it is more-so than Atlanta.
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Old 12-25-2009, 05:30 PM
 
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
321 posts, read 531,162 times
Reputation: 205
I've spent ~10 years of my life in NC, off and on. This is a purple state. The Raleigh metro area is where a lot of of the blue part comes from, with some also from Asheville. Sprawl is sprawl and there's nothing southern about it. Go to Orange County outside of LA and complain about SUVs. Go complain to Microsofties in Bellevue and Redmond, WA. If you don't like sprawl don't move to Raleigh, it's sprawl. A very small town center surrounded by miles of sprawl. Frankly, 1st time I was driving towards downtown Raleigh on I-40, I missed it! I was expecting more of a skyline and it didn't even have a skyline comparable to Winston-Salem. Of course, that's because early in the 20th century W-S had all the tobacco money, and Wachovia was big there for awhile, so they have more skyscrapers. Raleigh's got more tech, so the population is relatively diverse, if not as much as somewhere like Seattle. The whitest place I've seen was a club in Cincinnati, OH. I think Raleigh has more charm than Charlotte, which feels like it was built by bankers.
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Old 12-25-2009, 05:41 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
76 posts, read 208,402 times
Reputation: 58
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovebrentwood View Post
Many Raleigh natives have moved?

Really? And where did they move?
I am talking about the older natives- people who lived in Raleigh back in the 70s and 80s. I know natives still live there but many of them have moved- atleast the ones I know. I'm surprised my parents haven't moved yet but my father's job has kept him in Raleigh.
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