"If Southern culture is so great, why are they at the bottom of all social measures? Fattest, least educated, least vaccinated, …?"
Seems that ‘northern culture’ and ‘California Culture’ can’t keep people from fleeing the northern states for ‘southern hospitality’.
“With a perfect storm of aging residents, low birth rates, COVID-19 deaths and immigration cutbacks, 16 states saw population decreases last year as the United States experienced the slowest national population growth since the Great Depression.”
"The big gainers were Texas, up about 374,000 people for the year, and Florida, "
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/sta…
Seems BBQ, back yard BBQ grills, football, more football, sitting around the swimming pool beat the ‘northern culture’ of ice fishing, chopping cords of firewood for weeks before winter starts in October, burning those cords of wood in wood stoves spewing pollution all winter long, freezing on weekends, longing for the 8 weeks of actual summer when it finally arrives in July…meanwhile, in September, they’re getting the snow blowers ready, putting on snow ties on cars, fighting mobs to get to work in horrible weather conditions of ice and snow…raking leaves. Oh, right Maple Syrup season in VT.
Yeah, if you want the symphony better live in Dallas or Houston or Phoenix. Same for up north in western MA or southern VT. Or most of WI or MI outside of two cities there.
You can have your ‘square dances’ and other ‘northern culture’ stuff. Remember, Jazz started in the south. So did Elvis Presley. Half the ‘rock and roll’ legends. But Motown wasn’t a southern invention , was it…
Northern culture? Pizza in Chicago…cheese and more cheese in WI?
Yeah, live in NYC or Wash DC or Boston - you’ve got a hundred ‘cultural activities’. Can most people afford Broadway shows at $200/ticket?
Where ever you choose the live there are loads of activities…
Lived in NYC area…wouldn’t want to go back again. Visit a few times and skedaddle. Culture? Most folks only associated with similar folks.
Lived in Chicago area. Same deal. Most folks associated with similar folks.
Lived in Central VA…OK if you’re a ‘been saved’ person and there again, most folks associated with other folks. “Ya’ll come back, ya hear!”… “Ain’t got but one”… oh and ‘country ham, red eye gravy’…
Now in the Dallas suburbs. Same deal. Neighborhood is 1/3 Asian. 2% black. Everyone is friendly but most associate only with people with similar interests. No different. Oh, and we got a symphony, FOOTBALL, soccer, hockey, world class museums, world class education, top rated schools, a growing population, great county Jr college/vocational system, etc. Ethnic food of all types. And of course, every chain restaurant. 10 different food stores including Japanese market, India market, HEB, Walmart, Kroger, Tom THumb, ALbertsons, Aldi, etc.
You can afford a house here… not where I grew up. Heck, my parents 800 sq foot starter home, bought for likke $16K in 1948, after two additions is nearly a million bucks to buy. You gotta be making $350,000/yr to afford something like that… but you can buy my 2400 sq foot house for $350,000 here. With pool.
No cheese heads here. Better pizza in Chicago but we don’t do bad and even have ‘deep dish’ that isn’t too bad. We have German restaurants and Polish…Vietnamese…Lebanese…Greek…New Orleans Sytle…Fish of all kinds (lobster not so much). So
As to classical ‘southern comfort’…not there…or anywhere these days. Mostly fiction. Same for ‘northern culture’… TV has evened out just about everything from Des Moines to Pittsburgh, to Moline to Charleston, WV…to Jackson MS to Miami FL.
t.
