Which Southern City Feels Less Southern? (state, place, bigger, Atlanta)
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If you define the South as anything south of the Mason-Dixon Line, the most technical definition, then its Washington DC. (including Northern Virginia) , Baltimore, Cumberland MD, Morgantown WV, Wheeling WV, and Miami.
If you only include areas south of Richmond, then Miami and Fort Lauderdale, because Miami is a foreign city and Ft Lauderdale is a Northeast colony located in Florida.
If you include Texas in the South then El Paso and Laredo would be there too, along with maybe Amarillo and Abilene. I only include East Texas as culturally Southern.
If you include only cities that are culturally Southern, then Charlotte and Raleigh are the ones where the Southern culture is most diluted by transplants. Cary, NC, located near Raleigh, is said to be the "Containment Area for Relcoated Yankees'.
You think Raleigh, Baton Rouge, Norfolk and Baltimore are less southern than Austin?
Baltimore, no contest. It's basically a Northeastern city that happens to be below the Mason-Dixon line, though with some more southern undertones than in a real NE city like Philadelphia or Boston. It's not even in the Bible Belt FCOL. It has the built-up form of a rust belt city that focuses on density and not leapfrogging sprawl. Norfolk's southerness is diluted by its military industrial complex and is closer to most Northeastern states than it is to many deep south states. Raleigh is closer to Austin's level of southerness, but of course has tons of non-southern transplants as well and never had a big tobacco/textile industry like Greensboro/Winston-Salem did, and there's even an NHL team there as well. Baton Rouge is probably the closest to Austin's level, but its recently been invaded by New Orleans refugees post-Katrina, a city that has demographics that are quite different from most of the south. You'll see that larger cities land lower on the list since they tend to be more connected with the happenings of the rest of the country then a lot of the smaller cities do.
That said Austin still has a considerable amount of country music fans, which is obviously southern in origin. It doesn't have any major pro sports, and it is literally is located in the "south" of the U.S., so that has to count for something. It's just far enough east to have most of the flora of the southeast growable, unlike west TX. And ACL is unsuitably a music show associated with the south. It's just liberal for the south like New Orleans and Atlanta.
Baltimore, no contest. It's basically a Northeastern city that happens to be below the Mason-Dixon line, though with some more southern undertones than in a real NE city like Philadelphia or Boston. It's not even in the Bible Belt FCOL. It has the built-up form of a rust belt city that focuses on density and not leapfrogging sprawl. Norfolk's southerness is diluted by its military industrial complex and is closer to most Northeastern states than it is to many deep south states. Raleigh is closer to Austin's level of southerness, but of course has tons of non-southern transplants as well and never had a big tobacco/textile industry like Greensboro/Winston-Salem did, and there's even an NHL team there as well. Baton Rouge is probably the closest to Austin's level, but its recently been invaded by New Orleans refugees post-Katrina, a city that has demographics that are quite different from most of the south. You'll see that larger cities land lower on the list since they tend to be more connected with the happenings of the rest of the country then a lot of the smaller cities do.
That said Austin still has a considerable amount of country music fans, which is obviously southern in origin. It doesn't have any major pro sports, and it is literally is located in the "south" of the U.S., so that has to count for something. It's just far enough east to have most of the flora of the southeast growable, unlike west TX. And ACL is unsuitably a music show associated with the south. It's just liberal for the south like New Orleans and Atlanta.
That said Austin still has a considerable amount of country music fans, which is obviously southern in origin. It doesn't have any major pro sports, and it is literally is located in the "south" of the U.S., so that has to count for something. It's just far enough east to have most of the flora of the southeast growable, unlike west TX. And ACL is unsuitably a music show associated with the south. It's just liberal for the south like New Orleans and Atlanta.
Austin doesn't really have a particularly big country music presence. Of course Willie Nelson is an Austin icon, and then there is Asleep at the Wheel, but that's really about it. Austin's music scene is varied but I'd say the most defining genres are blues (thanks to SRV and Antone's) and indie rock (thanks to SXSW). I feel like DFW and Houston have bigger country scenes. (I'd also point out the country music is also Western.)
I've never really thought about ACL as "southern", personally, but maybe others do see it that way?
Re: floral and fuana, Austin is pretty central between the southeast and southwest, and in fact you can arguably draw the line separating the two at the Balcones Fault which runs through Austin. In rainy years Austin looks more like the southeast with lush vegetation, while in dry years it looks more like the southwest. We've been quite rainy ever since 2015 or so.
Austin is definitely less southern than Baton Rouge. I'm curious how that is even debatable. Baltimore has a lot of northeast and rust belt elements and I can definitely see it being the least southern on this list, outside of maybe El Paso. (El Paso is 100% southwestern and not at all southern).
Austin doesn't really have a particularly big country music presence. Of course Willie Nelson is an Austin icon, and then there is Asleep at the Wheel, but that's really about it. Austin's music scene is varied but I'd say the most defining genres are blues (thanks to SRV and Antone's) and indie rock (thanks to SXSW). I feel like DFW and Houston have bigger country scenes. (I'd also point out the country music is also Western.)
I've never really thought about ACL as "southern", personally, but maybe others do see it that way?
Re: floral and fuana, Austin is pretty central between the southeast and southwest, and in fact you can arguably draw the line separating the two at the Balcones Fault which runs through Austin. In rainy years Austin looks more like the southeast with lush vegetation, while in dry years it looks more like the southwest. We've been quite rainy ever since 2015 or so.
Austin is definitely less southern than Baton Rouge. I'm curious how that is even debatable. Baltimore has a lot of northeast and rust belt elements and I can definitely see it being the least southern on this list, outside of maybe El Paso. (El Paso is 100% southwestern and not at all southern).
Other than being in the southern US, there's nothing southern about ACL or SXSW
Austin is a football hotbed that speaks with a twang. There are many attributes to being “Southern”, but that’s a strong double whammy marking Austin at least being in the conversation.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whereiend
Austin doesn't really have a particularly big country music presence. Of course Willie Nelson is an Austin icon, and then there is Asleep at the Wheel, but that's really about it. Austin's music scene is varied but I'd say the most defining genres are blues (thanks to SRV and Antone's) and indie rock (thanks to SXSW). I feel like DFW and Houston have bigger country scenes. (I'd also point out the country music is also Western.)
I've never really thought about ACL as "southern", personally, but maybe others do see it that way?
Re: floral and fuana, Austin is pretty central between the southeast and southwest, and in fact you can arguably draw the line separating the two at the Balcones Fault which runs through Austin. In rainy years Austin looks more like the southeast with lush vegetation, while in dry years it looks more like the southwest. We've been quite rainy ever since 2015 or so.
Austin is definitely less southern than Baton Rouge. I'm curious how that is even debatable. Baltimore has a lot of northeast and rust belt elements and I can definitely see it being the least southern on this list, outside of maybe El Paso. (El Paso is 100% southwestern and not at all southern).
I dont think Houston has a big country scene at all. Not Dallas either really, though Fort Worth definitely does. Houston gave us Lyle Lovett and Dallas gave us the Dixie Chicks. Willie Nelson I think was from the Waco area originally though I dont think hes lived near there in quite some time.
Honestly I dont associate Austin, Dallas, or Houston with country.
I dont think Houston has a big country scene at all. Not Dallas either really, though Fort Worth definitely does. Houston gave us Lyle Lovett and Dallas gave us the Dixie Chicks. Willie Nelson I think was from the Waco area originally though I dont think hes lived near there in quite some time.
Honestly I dont associate Austin, Dallas, or Houston with country.
I think of the Houston Rodeo as being a bigger country music event than anything in Austin, but I agree, I don't associate any of the major cities with country.
"Texas country" is a thing and it has fans across the state, but even there it is an indie scene, not anything mainstream. It's also openly hostile towards and fairly distinct from "Nashville" country, so I'm not sure how much of a proof of southerness that is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heel82
Austin is a football hotbed that speaks with a twang. There are many attributes to being “Southern”, but that’s a strong double whammy marking Austin at least being in the conversation.
Football, yes, but I don't think native Austinites speak with a twang at all. We do say ya'll, but that's about it. College football is also huge in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etc... The most similar school to UT from a football fan culture perspective is probably Michigan.
New Orleans:
WQUE - Urban
WYLD - Urban Adult Contemporary
WNOE - Country
WEZB - Top 40
WRNO - Conservative News/Talk
Based on that sampling, any trends?
I did notice Houston is the only top 30 market in the US with an Active Rock format in the top 5 stations. Interesting...
Last edited by As Above So Below...; 09-28-2020 at 12:11 PM..
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