Is Virginia a Northern or Southern state? (Appalachia, Columbia: university, living in)

[ShadowBat]

Using the mason dixon as a geographic boundary is pointless as it is not geographically centered with the north or south.

Richmond is right in the middle of the state on i95.
From Richmond to Houlton, ME on the Canadian border is 903.42 miles.
From Richmond to Homestead, Florida is 980.17 miles.

That tips Richmond slightly north of center. Geographically speaking, VA is middle atlantic. Even the culture in some areas is mixed. This is not the 19th century anymore!

Virginia is just that - Virginia.

[Bobilee]

Both Virginia and West Virginia are different from the mid-Atlantic states in several ways. Both lie primarily in the southern dialect region of the U.S., and the religion in both is primarily evangelical Christian, while the mid-Atlantic is Catholic. Cultural geography is different than physical geography, you can't just grab a ruler and say "This is half-way" and draw a line with your pencil.

[Lil Tunechi]

1204540% Southern!!!

[Kbank007]

Here is a video in Martinsville VA. They interview an AA and a white male. The southern accents are extremely thick.

(Skip to 45 seconds-1:20 for the AA male, and 1:21-most of the rest of the video is the white male)

YouTube - Stop the Violence Old School Basketball Game Martinsville Virginia 3/26/2011 part 3

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Bobilee

Both Virginia and West Virginia are different from the mid-Atlantic states in several ways. Both lie primarily in the southern dialect region of the U.S., and the religion in both is primarily evangelical Christian, while the mid-Atlantic is Catholic. Cultural geography is different than physical geography, you can't just grab a ruler and say "This is half-way" and draw a line with your pencil.

Funny, I tend to see it in the opposite way. To me culture can leak across geographical facts without altering borders.

Culture does NOT dictate region. It is, what it is, what it is.

Now, I despise the Mason-Dixon obsession because the MD line measures the North American continent as a whole, NOT the country we live in. We take the US aside, and the real halfway point is further south. Climate and flora tend to reflect this as well.

Maryland, at least most of it, and the whole of Delaware are not southern. A small portion of northern Virginia, and the northern half (there about) of West Virginia are not southern. This is geographical fact, and in some ways, also cultural (note that culture takes a back seat to location).

Conversely, there are significant portions of Illinois and Missouri that are solidly in the south by this same logic (yes, I once said nowhere in Illinois was in the south, but then I studied the map a littler harder and changed my tune). Small portion of Kansas as well. Once again, some culture does reflect this, but it is not what makes the region what it is.

Here's where it gets a little tricky; typically I take that straight geographical line and if a state is mostly on one side, then I will place it entirely in that region for the sake of ease. The exceptions being Missouri and West Virginia, which are cut just about in half.

Though a small bit of Virginia is located in the north, Virginia is all in the south by my way of reckoning. As I said in an earlier post; top of the south.

Now, while culture can usually back me up, there are areas on each side that are mixtures of north/south culture. You can find southern accents and qualities as far north as central Ohio, but that does not make Ohio southern. You can find people in New York with confederate flags, but that does not make New York southern. You find a lot of northerners and a lot of northern culture in Florida, but that DOES NOT make Florida northern. You find a lot of "Yankee" culture in urban North Carolina, but that does not make North Carolina northern.

You see what I'm saying?

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

Funny, I tend to see it in the opposite way. To me culture can leak across geographical facts without altering borders.

Culture does NOT dictate region. It is, what it is, what it is.

Now, I despise the Mason-Dixon obsession because the MD line measures the North American continent as a whole, NOT the country we live in. We take the US aside, and the real halfway point is further south. Climate and flora tend to reflect this as well.

Maryland, at least most of it, and the whole of Delaware are not southern. A small portion of northern Virginia, and the northern half (there about) of West Virginia are not southern. This is geographical fact, and in some ways, also cultural (note that culture takes a back seat to location).

Conversely, there are significant portions of Illinois and Missouri that are solidly in the south by this same logic (yes, I once said nowhere in Illinois was in the south, but then I studied the map a littler harder and changed my tune). Small portion of Kansas as well. Once again, some culture does reflect this, but it is not what makes the region what it is.

Here's where it gets a little tricky; typically I take that straight geographical line and if a state is mostly on one side, then I will place it entirely in that region for the sake of ease. The exceptions being Missouri and West Virginia, which are cut just about in half.

Though a small bit of Virginia is located in the north, Virginia is all in the south by my way of reckoning. As I said in an earlier post; top of the south.

Now, while culture can usually back me up, there are areas on each side that are mixtures of north/south culture. You can find southern accents and qualities as far north as central Ohio, but that does not make Ohio southern. You can find people in New York with confederate flags, but that does not make New York southern. You find a lot of northerners and a lot of northern culture in Florida, but that DOES NOT make Florida northern. You find a lot of "Yankee" culture in urban North Carolina, but that does not make North Carolina northern.

You see what I'm saying?

For someone who has Never Traveled through the Entire State of Maryland can not be taken seriously on Geography and History especially if they are going to continue denying the FACT that Maryland is a Southern State..........

[FLGator487]

Originally Posted by french paris

thoughts ?

Irrefutably Southern with the exception of the NoVA area, which is part of the BosWash megalopolis and strongly influenced by Northeastern culture. Very similar, oddly enough, to its sister state to the west, Kentucky, which is irrefutably Southern except for the Northern KY suburbs under Cincinnati's sphere of influence.

Seriously, if you find somebody who considers Richmond, Norfolk, or Wytheville to be "Northern", please direct them to me because I have some pristine oceanfront property in Colorado to sell to them

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by $mk8795

For someone who has Never Traveled through the Entire State of Maryland can not be taken seriously on Geography and History especially if they are going to continue denying the FACT that Maryland is a Southern State..........

Anybody who thinks Maryland is a southern state has never paid much attention to the real south.

And how would you know I've never traveled through-out Maryland?

I've been to Annapolis, D.C. and even out in the Appalachian part.

[FLGator487]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

Anybody who thinks Maryland is a southern state has never paid much attention to the real south.

And how would you know I've never traveled through-out Maryland?

I've been to Annapolis, D.C. and even out in the Appalachian part.

Have to fully agree here - having been in this debate before.

As I see it:

- If Baltimore is "Southern", then so is Philadelphia

- If Appalachian Western Maryland is "Southern", then so is the Pittsburgh metro area and all of Western Pennsylvania

- If Eastern Maryland is "Southern", then so is Southern New Jersey

[Phyxius]

Virginia is clearly a Southern state. Compare from Maryland, Virginia has a much Southern feel to the state while Maryland heads in the opposite direction.

The only areas that feel Northern is the areas inside the Capital Beltway.