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Atlanta is culturally Southern for sure, but in a more cosmopolitan, urbane way which dilutes the stereotypical Southernness a bit. You have more extra-regional cultural influences in play and that makes a difference. That's a noticeable distinction between Atlanta and any SC city and that's why SC is overall more culturally Southern, but it's not by leaps and bounds.
Since when does a culture need to be rural or small city to be valid? If anything, cultures thrive less in those environments.
Atlanta is a VERY southern city. It is a big city with a lot of things going on, but the southern-ness is there fully. I am from Florida and I have been able to mingle well with crowds from all major US cities but here I feel like a fish out of water in so many circles because the people are just.......different. And that different is southern-ness. It isn't anything bad. It is just a lifestyle and a disposition that I am not accustomed to.
Since when does a culture need to be rural or small city to be valid? If anything, cultures thrive less in those environments.
Huh? Who said anything about a culture being "valid"? My point was that Atlanta is much more of a melting pot than any city in SC so its Southernness is a bit diluted.
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Atlanta is a VERY southern city. It is a big city with a lot of things going on, but the southern-ness is there fully. I am from Florida and I have been able to mingle well with crowds from all major US cities but here I feel like a fish out of water in so many circles because the people are just.......different. And that different is southern-ness. It isn't anything bad. It is just a lifestyle and a disposition that I am not accustomed to.
Atlanta is certainly Southern but not Memphis- or Birmingham-style Southern, which is about as Southern as it gets for sizable metros. Atlanta is definitely more Southern than south Florida but your own experience says nothing about the Southernness of Atlanta/GA relative to SC, which is what this poll is about after all. If you feel like a fish out of water in Atlanta due to the presence of Southern culture, imagine how you'd feel practically anywhere in SC.
People seem to say that Atlanta diminishes the southern culture of Georgia. I think it bolsters and glamorizes it. I don't think having a big city in a Southern state takes away the southerness.
People seem to say that Atlanta diminishes the southern culture of Georgia. I think it bolsters and glamorizes it. I don't think having a big city in a Southern state takes away the southerness.
The word diminish isn't necessarily what people are saying, they are saying that Atlanta dilutes it. It's kind of tough to argue against that fact. Transplants that move to GA typically move to metro Atlanta and that's all they know. 5.5 million Georgia live in metro Atlanta and 7 million live within an hour and the feel within metro Atlanta is quite different from the rest of GA. Maybe it's me but I've always thought metro Atlanta and metro DC felt very similar.
Of course GA has it's southern areas but it's more transient that SC.
The word diminish isn't necessarily what people are saying, they are saying that Atlanta dilutes it. It's kind of tough to argue against that fact. Transplants that move to GA typically move to metro Atlanta and that's all they know. 5.5 million Georgia live in metro Atlanta and 7 million live within an hour and the feel within metro Atlanta is quite different from the rest of GA. Maybe it's me but I've always thought metro Atlanta and metro DC felt very similar.
Of course GA has it's southern areas but it's more transient that SC.
So does that same standard apply to New England culture? Or LA culture? Whenever new people move in? Do migrants dilute the culture of those areas as well?
If so then the whole south is doomed. By the poster here, you all only want to think of southern culture as a backwoods white people culture. Without new interpretations of it, which is exactly what Atlanta, and Nashville, and Charlotte, and Raleigh are doing, then I guess you can kiss southern culture goodbye.
I don't think Atlanta dilutes the southerness of Georgia. It has brought only a new interpretation of it to the state. I rather think it is you all who have too close minded of an opinion about what southern culture is and what it can be.
So does that same standard apply to New England culture? Or LA culture? Whenever new people move in? Do migrants dilute the culture of those areas as well?
If so then the whole south is doomed. By the poster here, you all only want to think of southern culture as a backwoods white people culture. Without new interpretations of it, which is exactly what Atlanta, and Nashville, and Charlotte, and Raleigh are doing, then I guess you can kiss southern culture goodbye.
I don't think Atlanta dilutes the southerness of Georgia. It has brought only a new interpretation of it to the state. I rather think it is you all who have too close minded of an opinion about what southern culture is and what it can be.
My take on this thread, and others like it, is about which state is more *characteristically* Southern in a classical, historic sense. We all know that the South is rapidly changing and due to that, we're having to redefine what it means to be Southern. But a large influx of transplants over a period of time will naturally alter the local culture of a place and add layers to it. Because metro Atlanta, particularly ITP and some northern portions, has more extra-regional influences than any place in SC, it makes GA less characteristically Southern than SC.
I've lived in both states. They both felt extremely southern in culture to me. I could hardly tell the difference when I crossed the state line in fact.
Just for the record, as a southerner through and through, I am very proud of our fine southern cities - Atlanta, Houston, Richmond, Nashville, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans - those are just a few which spring to my mind but I love them all, every one of them. They have a vibe like no other region and to me they DO feel southern. I can definitely tell the difference. In my former life I was a corporate trainer and traveled all over the US to major cities training franchisees and salespeople. Now - that group of people is going to be friendly in ANY region - but I could always feel that southern difference when I was south of the Mason Dixon line. And I loved it.
I also got a kick out of people from other regions saying, "Just keep talking - we love your accent!" I was always very proud to be southern, and still am of course.
Most southern cities don't seem southern at all to me so I'm gonna have to go with South Carolina since they're more country
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