Excluding Cincinnati, how Appalachian-influenced is Southwestern Ohio on the whole? (Cleveland: to live, price)

[Doughboy1918]

Originally Posted by midwest1

My Mom, a native of Wolfe County Kentucky graduated top of her class in Middletown, age 16, in 56. First woman business major ever at Miami University....head Majorette for the Marching Band. Middletuckians kick ass.

Does the average Middletown resident have Appalachian roots would you say? Or is it more 50/50?

[KathrynAragon]

Y'all can debate all you like but southerners do not consider Cincinnati to be southern, they consider it to be midwestern. For whatever that's worth! LOL

[Cbus76]

When I lived in Dayton back in the 90's, there was definitely an Appalachian influence in East Dayton - accents had a southern twang, lots of UK shirts and hats, etc. I'd say this was true for areas to the east too, like Xenia. It wasn't overwhelming as a whole though, because Dayton always struck me as having a significant German-Catholic population that was more prevalent than anything else.

[kpl1228]

Originally Posted by cbus76

when i lived in dayton back in the 90's, there was definitely an appalachian influence in east dayton - accents had a southern twang, lots of uk shirts and hats, etc.

100%!!!

[midwest1]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Y'all can debate all you like but southerners do not consider Cincinnati to be southern, they consider it to be midwestern. For whatever that's worth! LOL

Cincinnati is less Southern than Hamilton and Middletown...and possibly Dayton

[Doughboy1918]

Originally Posted by midwest1

Cincinnati is less Southern than Hamilton and Middletown...and possibly Dayton

I thought it’d be the other way round really.

[Coseau]

Hamiliton and Middleton are satellite cities of Cincinnati as opposed to being bedroom suburbs. The majority of the northern cities and towns were industrial towns that were developed along the Miami River or the canal because the river provided a cheap energy source, and the canal provided a cheap transportation route for trade.

Hamiliton and Middletown are far enough away from Cincinnati (especially Middletown) where it wouldn't make sense to live in one locale and commute to the other locale on a daily basis.

Hamiliton and Middletown are more similar to Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh in that they were more or less tied to one industry so when that one industry declined those places also declined.

Covington, Newport, Hamilton and Middletown are more Appalachian influenced than Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is a city of neighborhoods, so you had neighborhoods that had a heavy Appalachian presence such as East Price Hill, the East End or the enclaves of Norwood and Elmwood Place. But that is about 5 or 6 neighborhoods out of a total of 50 to 60 neighborhoods in Cincinnati, so the overall influence would probably be in the ballpark of 10% to 20%.

[KY_Transplant]

There is a strong Appalachian influence in Middletown, and also a bit in Hamilton. Even Cincinnati has an Appalachian influence. Cannot speak for other Ohio Metro areas, but Northern Ohioans view Cincinnati as basically Kentucky. I can pick up on a different accent just south of Columbus in Grove City and it gets more "twangy" the closer you get to Cincinnati. But Cincinnati is also heavily influenced by it's German roots from immigration in the 1800s.

[Doughboy1918]

Originally Posted by Coseau

Covington, Newport, Hamilton and Middletown are more Appalachian influenced than Cincinnati.

Really, even Hamilton? I always had the impression that Hamilton's economy was much more diverse than the other communities, since it had multiple different factories and employers at its industrial peak from Hooven-Owens-Rentschler to Champion International, as well as Niles Tools Work and the like. Whereas Middletown only really had Armco. Not to mention the current poverty rate in Hamilton isn't as bad, and the median household income is slightly higher than most communities in Ohio as well, so much so that the town has a considerably large (9%) Hispanic population; the fastest growing racial demographic in the country right now.

[Coseau]

Some people jokingly call the city of Hamilton "Hamiltucky" because of the migration of Kentuckians to Hamilton for wartime jobs during WWII. Since the Machine Tool industry comprised a significant amount of its economic base similar to Cincinnati it didn't decline like Middletown when the Steel industry went through a bust period.