Which neighbor do you like better? Maryland or North Carolina? (Virginia Beach: schools, university)

[Waterboy526]

Grandfather Mountain, NC gets more snow than Buffalo, NY. NC has greatly varied climates as well, since in the winter it can easily be in the teens/20's in the high western elevations, where as it could be 60 in Cape Hatteras at the same time. That being said I think NC (not counting Raleigh, Charlotte...different animals altogether) has a different vibe from VA, even parts of southern VA. Many parts of Raleigh have a much more Northern feel to it that even Richmond. This area has had MANY northern transplants in the last decade.

[vanyali]

Yes, I think Raleigh/Cary has the most northern feel of the whole state. I think it's a nice place.

[NENC]

Ever been to Southwest Virginia? Folks there talk like Dolly Parton. Seriously. There is no place in Maryland even remotely like this. Southwest Virginia is more like Tennessee and Kentucky.

Southside Virginia, the area roughly south of a line from Richmond to Lynchburg down to the NC border, is about as Southern as you can get. It is very culturally related to the Piedmont of NC. In fact, some of those counties get their media from Raleigh, not Richmond. There is no place in Maryland anything like this area culturally.

Tidewater Virginia is culturally similar to Eastern NC. That culture does extend a small bit into the MD eastern shore area but the difference is that in Maryland, it is the exception, not the rule.

Richmond was the Capital of the Confederacy and was burned to the ground during the war. Virginia produced Confederate generals like Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart. Maryland has no Southern history even remotely resembling Virginia's.

Virginia grows more cotton than you think. A significant area of southeastern and eastern Virginia grows cotton. Pretty much every county south of the James River and east of the Piedmont grows cotton as well as on the southern end of the Eastern Shore of VA. Keep in mind that Virginia used to grow even more cotton than they do now. The boll weevil infestation caused farmers in Virginia to quit growing cotton during the last century. But it has made a strong comeback in the state in the last two decades.

It is a mistake to minimize Virginia's Southern ties. It is easy to overlook these ties when NOVA is all you see. NOVA does not represent Virginia and most Virginians will tell you this. NOVA is the exception and not the rule and represents at most an eighth of the state's land area.

Maryland may have some characteristics that are Southern-like. But think of it this way, the ONLY reason Maryland has any Southern characteristics at all is due to its proximity to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

I must admit that I am biased having spent much of my life in Southern Virginia near the NC border. The Virginia I know is NOTHING like any place in Maryland I have ever been. I suppose the differences are smaller between MD and NOVA. But then again, NOVA is a foreign place to me too.

Put another way, as a native Virginian, when I am in North Carolina I feel "at home". When I have been to Maryland, I do not.

[Waterboy526]

If you come to raleigh it'll seem more like Boston or NY now. Raleigh has a more Northern feeling than Richmond. I love it here in Raleigh though because it reminds me of home (Northern VA), with a lower cost of living.

[NENC]

I live in eastern NC and have been to Raleigh many, many times (too many times to count) and I agree it has changed in the last 20 years. But go 30 miles outside of Raleigh in any direction and then let's see how Northern it feels.

I think folks make a big mistake in judging whole states by their big cities. Big cities attract people from all over so they are not likely to be as reflective of the state as a whole. And it doesn't matter if the big city is in the South or not. I think to some extent, all bigger cities have become homogenized to a degree. You are not as likely to "feel" like you are in the South in the middle of metro Raleigh or Charlotte or Norfolk or Atlanta. They are all very similar to other metro areas...cookie cutter subdivisions, chain restaurants, big box stores. I always say to look to the outlying areas of a metro area if you want to get a feel for how the natives live.

And I will agree that Raleigh has changed and there are lots of newcomers there. But in no way does Raleigh seem more like Boston or NY.

[vanyali]

NENC:

I disagree that all cities feel homogenous and un-Southern. I think Charlotte feels plenty Southern.

The CMS school board here can't even agree to sign on to the superintendant's proposed policy banning in-school gay-bashing (today's topic on the local NPR show).

I think there are over a half-dozen gigantic churches within a mile of my house.

Charlotte does not feel like a northern city. It doesn't even feel like Raleigh. Charlotte just plain feels Southern.

[Waterboy526]

Originally Posted by NENC

I live in eastern NC and have been to Raleigh many, many times (too many times to count) and I agree it has changed in the last 20 years. But go 30 miles outside of Raleigh in any direction and then let's see how Northern it feels.

I think folks make a big mistake in judging whole states by their big cities. Big cities attract people from all over so they are not likely to be as reflective of the state as a whole. And it doesn't matter if the big city is in the South or not. I think to some extent, all bigger cities have become homogenized to a degree. You are not as likely to "feel" like you are in the South in the middle of metro Raleigh or Charlotte or Norfolk or Atlanta. They are all very similar to other metro areas...cookie cutter subdivisions, chain restaurants, big box stores. I always say to look to the outlying areas of a metro area if you want to get a feel for how the natives live.

And I will agree that Raleigh has changed and there are lots of newcomers there. But in no way does Raleigh seem more like Boston or NY.

I said it seems "more like" Boston to NY now compared to what it used to be. Many, many transplants from MA and NY.

[ToughLuv]

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

But in my conclusion, it's not really North(though some areas feel more Northern), but not really South either(though some areas feel more Southern), there's no overwhelming majority between which side it leans. I believe that's what's referred to as the Mid-Atlantic. The other state that comes to mind when I think that is Maryland, which is why I say they're similar. Same goes for Delaware, West Virginia, & DC. Can't really say the same for North Carolina, which besides the few exceptions of certain areas, is still Southern.

Great points, basically everything I was going to bring up, Having lived in MD (Baltimore) and currently in VA (Newport News and Norfolk) I tie VA more in with MD, a lot because like when I was in MD, it always seemed there was a question exactly what WE were, People from down South calling us northerners or Yankees and people coming from NY/NJ calling us southerners or "country" and I see the EXACT same with VA (at least NN and Norfolk). It seems still strong debate which culture is really the more visible in these areas, there's always posed questions I see ALL the time "Is VA REALLY the South?" , "Is Maryland apart of the South"?..With NC I don't think there's any question its the South..I've even seen this new Mid-Atlantic classification for DC/MD/VA/WV. I think we all share the same struggle, NC doesn't. I do understand people who live down in small town VA somewhere right near the NC border feeling more like NC than MD, and rightfully so. Overall though I think VA is more in line with MD, and not even just the NOVA area. And this is coming from a former MD resident.

[hj2500]

I'm a native of Hampton Roads and have lived all over the Commonwealth.

I don't like either, but I would pick Maryland. MD and NC could easily be extensions of northern and southern Virginia, but MD and VA have many connections. All of Maryland was part of the Virginia Colony while only the upper third of North Carolina was. Annapolis was founded by Virginians. Half of the Chesapeake Bay is in either of them. They both have pretty women.

In an overall cultural sense, Virginia is similar neither.

Originally Posted by VAFury

Not entirely true.... Maryland was a slave state and never got the opportunity to secede because Lincoln arrested their legislators with no cause in order to prevent them from meeting and discussing secession. No one really knows what Maryland would have done, but Lincoln knew that the capital of the Union stood no chance if it were surrounded by states in revolt.....

Precisely, D.C. is surrounded on 3 sides by MD. Marylanders were able to keep slaves legally during the Civil War unlike the Confederate states.

Originally Posted by NENC

NOVA is the exception and not the rule and represents at most an eighth of the state's land area.

Doesn't matter, NoVA has a third of the state's population. About 90%+ of Virginia's population lives in an area the same size as Maryland, rural folks are in the minority. Famous Virginians like Washington and Lee became associated with the Potomac area even though they (or their families) started from the Tidewater area.

[NENC]

Yes, a third of Virginia's residents live in NOVA, true. But that means TWO THIRDS of the residents don't reside in NOVA. I would think that majority usually rules.

I must say, even though I really, really dislike the state of Maryland (it is the anti-Virginia in my opinion), it does have one good quality...it acts as a buffer between Virginia and the REAL North!