What Areas of VA are Free of the "Yankee Go Home" Attitude? (construction, live)

[DMVonian]

Come to NoVA. I’m a transplant and all are welcome. Within DC Metro, I would say NoVA is the most respectful of all (mix of north and south transplants, mix of Democrats and Republicans, etc). It really is great.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by spencer114

You should be the one looking into the Democratic areas of Virginia. They are all doing very well. Year over year they become larger, cleaner, more equitable and more prosperous. Rural areas (red areas) languish because grumpy people keep electing even more grumpy people that will blame others instead of doing the hard work of community building. Sad.

Bingo. Rural red VA is quite sad.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Bingo. Rural red VA is quite sad.

What's sad is the folks that actually believe this. I come from 40 plus years in NOVA and now live in the "red" Va you speak of. Why? Because I am away from the higher COL. The extreme traffic. But mostly, I am away from the people coming from all over the country and/or world and trying to change VA to be more like where they are from. I am away from so many who think the idea of being a friendly neighbor means occasionally grunting out a hello or wave as they leave or return home. I am away from unfriendly rushed business people who act like they are doing me a favor allowing me into their establishment. Yes, we could see some improvements in "Red" Virginia but at least the people here are so friendly. If I need help with a major issue at home I have neighbors who will not hesitate to come over to help me. I go to church and people visit here before and after the service rather than rushing to see who can be the first out. I can call the local hospitals and actually talk to someone without having to deal with those aggravating phone trees. There are so many advantages to being out here in "Red" Virginia and the best part is we do not see the holier than thou attitudes like you.

[rural & red]

Red Virginia is spectacular, southern culture is alive and well here. Hospitality is present among the people. We fear God and respect the inalienable rights of others, never wishing to infringe or impose our way of life on any other. We just want to maintain things the way they are, the way they have been. Currently the northern tip of the state is trying to take that away from us.

Don't forget there is also a rural Blue Virginia as well. Many good folks there too, close by me in the rural areas outlying Richmond, so there is some interaction. They are also God-fearing and have common decency, though we may disagree on economic matters.

[spencer114]

I think you’ll find that even up in evil Northern Virginia, the people are basically as you described them in rural VA. In the urban areas we work with, shop with and fraternize with a
more diverse population. That’s all. When you know trans people, for example, you don’t like legislation that makes their lives harder. When your neighbors are Muslim, it’s impossible to be afraid of Muslims. When your babysitter is a Dreamer you worry about her being deported.

95% of the urban and suburban population needs match the needs of the rural populations. The 5% that is different comes from needing more services such as more diverse school curriculum, robust community health centers, public transportation, worker protections (in a rural area you may have more benevolent employers because they know you and your family).

A lot of the divisions happening now are due to the fact that we are quickly becoming a very large and densely populated country (it has been a struggle since Jefferson and Hamilton laid out different paths for the country…Hamilton’s idea is winning). Density just leads to a greater roll for the government. We will be closer to Asia and Europe out of necessity. 10 million people in one city can’t drive their own cars to work. It just isn’t physically possible. You can’t allow disease to fester when the population lives packed in together. In my lifetime the country has grown from 200 million to 330 million people. IMO conservatives are in denial of the trajectory that we are on. Their inability to tweak the economy to make it work for more people is hastening our move to “socialism”. As a country we’ve allowed education and housing to become so expensive, relative to wages, that the American dream is all but dead. We’ve allowed employer provided insurance (and all private insurance) to become so ridiculous that Americans have warmed up to the idea of government run healthcare. What conservatives fail to grasp is that the old systems aren’t working for the majority of the country anymore and their mo of not allowing any change is pushing people to the extreme. So trying something different doesn’t scare us any more (if it isn’t working, try something else). Red and rural talks of personal freedoms. Has it not occurred to you that a plurality of people never felt free before? Women, POC, LGBTQ and religious minorities never believed that we had the same options as white male Christians. To see the privileged class pretending to be victims is a little too much for me. I’ve never felt like my neighbors’ success came at my expense. What a weird and depressing way to view the world.

[BillyH]

Originally Posted by leighland

I have family in the Metroplex and in San Antonio.
Yup, you guessed it, the SAs call the Metroplexers "Yankees!"

As a long time resident of San Antonio I have never heard anybody call people from DFW Yankees, if I read your post correctly. Matter of fact I've never heard anybody use the word Yankees unless it's the baseball team. SA is also full of transplants with a long history as a military city where a big part of the population is retired military and the thousands moving here who aren't military.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by BillyH

As a long time resident of San Antonio I have never heard anybody call people from DFW Yankees, if I read your post correctly. Matter of fact I've never heard anybody use the word Yankees unless it's the baseball team. SA is also full of transplants with a long history as a military city where a big part of the population is retired military and the thousands moving here who aren't military.

Ah well. I certainly have. Repeatedly over decades. I find it funny.

I adore SA. Fabulous place to live if you can do the humidity. I prefer Ft Worth tho...

[BillyH]

I have heard it before from a relative in GA just not in SA. My Dad is from GA my Mom from IL, I’m neutral on the whole south vs north thing. I live on a small cul-de-sac and over half is from out of state.

[skeddy]

I cashed out of NoVa more than 10 years ago. Too crowded, too much traffic, quality of life there became substandard for me.

[paperwing]

I looked up the origin of the phrase out of curiosity.

Per Quora (for what it’s worth - on par with Wikipedia, guessing?):

The “Yankee, go home” message was East German (Communist) propaganda. U.S. military forces occupied Japan after World War II, but “Yankee, go home!” was first used in East Germany.

Clearly, the meaning has since transformed in another rather ugly way in the US - used against Americans.