Places in Virginia similar to CO, CA or Northeast MA? (Roanoke: live, safety)

[Middlin]

I moved to NOVA as a toddler and all my NJ relatives made fun of my "southern accent"

[rural & red]

The Richmond area is still fairly southern. Not in the city directly but definitely in the counties and most definitely in Chesterfield where southern accents are still widely heard. Anyone who says otherwise does not live or interact with people who live there. You'd have to live in a bubble in the city to think otherwise.

...BTW, Grits are from Virginia, which then spread to the rest of the south. What kind of self-loathing, southeastern Virginiaman doesn't know about grits. Have you heard of Hominy Grits? Do you know where the hominy is...? A reference to the Chickahominy river.

Damn, learn some damn history and be proud of your state. We are not a pro-union mob-run state like NY, we are right-to-work too. Not a fan of transplants changing our politics to make the state more like the North.

[spencer114]

Growing up in Tidewater, I ate hominy a few times a month. Never saw grits. Never knew anyone who ate them until I moved to Ohio. Grits is a country thing.

It’s funny that you think local politics has changed. The only thing that changed is there is less gerrymandering following a few legal battles. The state government today represents what has been a majority opinion in the population centers for the past few decades.

[rural & red]

Tidewater used to be pretty country (and still is in most areas), not sure which decade you grew up in but sounds incredulous to hear you didn't eat grits. Unless you're talking growing up in one of the cities of the peninsula or Norfolk/VB.

to the OP, have you looked into Raleigh, NC? It has the most Northeast transplants in all of the south with the exception of South Florida. North Carolina doesn't have the extent of civil war and southern history that VA and SC have either, so less baggage to carry around as well. There is a reason why that state is so popular with Northeasterners.

[ersatz]

You don't have to be from the Deep South to be accustomed to grits. Anyone who has eaten a lot of Army mess hall breakfasts knows that grits are one of the permanent choices no matter where you are.

[spencer114]

For the record, I’ve grown to really like grits. The rise of farm to table and nouveau Southern cuisine has shown me how versatile and delicious grits can be. I still don’t like the watery variety that you get at diners.


I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. That time was spent in Newport News and Gloucester.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by rural & red

BTW, Grits are from Virginia, which then spread to the rest of the south. What kind of self-loathing, southeastern Virginia man doesn't know about grits. Have you heard of Hominy Grits? Do you know where the hominy is...? A reference to the Chickahominy river.

Well, not really. It isn't a reference to the river, it derives from the Powhatan language word for prepared maize, chickahominy. Appears the river is named after the same word.

[macalan]

Originally Posted by Nobody777

I hear New Jersey is nice. Western Jersey, near Pennsylvania.

I see this over and over again. Super liberal transplants moving to a small town, just to raise real estate and vote in the blue, policies change and big government control moves in. The locals that have lived there for generations are slowly being forced to move somewhere else, because they cannot afford to live there anymore or crime has pushed them out.

Not trying to be offensive, just being honest. So, please, if you decide to move to a small southern town from your northern city, mingle with the locals, don't try to change or and gentrify it. Thank you and good day!

Not sure where you got the idea that I'm a "super liberal transplant" because I'm not. I'm not even liberal. So is everyone who comes "from the North" now being labeled a liberal???

Yes, we get blamed for a lot - the conversation with the not so nice woman at the DMV went like this:

Her: License please. Oh, I see you're from MA.
Me: Yes we just moved here. It's so beautiful and the people are really nice.
Her: Well, it was until all you people "from the North" came here and ruined it.
Me: Dumbfounded, said nothing.

There are transplants from MI, OH, NJ, KY, TN, and CT on my street. But "people from the north" are blamed for "ruining everything"?

How so? We didn't force anyone to sell the land that the developers bought and built all these subdivisions, and people "from the north" aren't the only ones who have moved here.

For what it's worth, I have a great many southern friends, I don't "vote blue" and I never, ever have said "This is how we did it up north" and never would. But I think that - when asked - people FROM ANYWHERE - have a right to voice their opinion regardless of where they are from without being called names.

To the poster that said I was being derogatory when I put forth a suggestion in our neighborhood group in the exact words of "where I used to live we had really small streets and they instituted parking on opposite sites of the street, Maybe that would work?".

How is that offensive? Why would someone take offense at that when people who were having strokes and heart attacks couldn't get immediate medical care because the EMTS had to park down the street and run with their equipment because they couldn't get through?

Trying to solve a problem like that - WHEN ASKED - isn't OK because of where I grew up (which I had no say in), and it's considered "trying to change the south"? Geez Louise.

I just don't get it. No, I'm not trying to "change the south", I'm trying to save my neighbors's lives (who happen to be southerners). We should just let them die? My bad. If that's what people in VA think is going on, then you're right. Probably not the place for us.

[YorktownGal]

Originally Posted by macalan

Not sure where you got the idea that I'm a "super liberal transplant" because I'm not. I'm not even liberal. So is everyone who comes "from the North" now being labeled a liberal???

Yes, we get blamed for a lot - the conversation with the not so nice woman at the DMV went like this:

Her: License please. Oh, I see you're from MA.
Me: Yes we just moved here. It's so beautiful and the people are really nice.
Her: Well, it was until all you people "from the North" came here and ruined it.
Me: Dumbfounded, said nothing.

There are transplants from MI, OH, NJ, KY, TN, and CT on my street. But "people from the north" are blamed for "ruining everything"?

How so? We didn't force anyone to sell the land that the developers bought and built all these subdivisions, and people "from the north" aren't the only ones who have moved here.

For what it's worth, I have a great many southern friends, I don't "vote blue" and I never, ever have said "This is how we did it up north" and never would. But I think that - when asked - people FROM ANYWHERE - have a right to voice their opinion regardless of where they are from without being called names.

To the poster that said I was being derogatory when I put forth a suggestion in our neighborhood group in the exact words of "where I used to live we had really small streets and they instituted parking on opposite sites of the street, Maybe that would work?".

How is that offensive? Why would someone take offense at that when people who were having strokes and heart attacks couldn't get immediate medical care because the EMTS had to park down the street and run with their equipment because they couldn't get through?

Trying to solve a problem like that - WHEN ASKED - isn't OK because of where I grew up (which I had no say in), and it's considered "trying to change the south"? Geez Louise.

I just don't get it. No, I'm not trying to "change the south", I'm trying to save my neighbors's lives (who happen to be southerners). We should just let them die? My bad. If that's what people in VA think is going on, then you're right. Probably not the place for us.

Well, NJ, CT are Northeastern states. Mi and OH are technical north, but considered a midwest states. It's only KY and TN are southern states.

People have said the same to me and my reply is . . ."well, I didn't bring my politics with me! I love the South just as it is. It's just great down here! Thank you very much!"

These people aren't making a personal comment. As long as you say you're not here to change their town, they'll love you. If they don't, they don't. Lots of people in the Northeast (& my home state of NY) don't like each other, doesn't matter to me.

[skeddy]

I see the sensitivity as real, they're idiots everywhere you go. You'd get the same smirks and smart remarks if you're from Tuscaloosa and lost on the T. I've lived on the Cape and in NOVA, this is a distinction without a difference because it's all just human behavior.