Is Florida part of "the South??"

[jayden]

Yay? Nay?

[KB0679]

Yes. This does not mean that it is uniformly Southern in culture though.

I suppose you can think about it like this: Florida is truly salad bowl containing a huge cobb salad with the lettuce representing the South.

[The North One]

North Florida obviously yes. South Florida no.

[TexasPlaya]

Yes.

[IrishIllini]

Is water wet? Miami has a diff vibe for sure though.

[xzmattzx]

Definitely. Just because some parts don't feel southern, doesn't mean the whole state isn't southern.

[Nomad9]

Originally Posted by The North One

North Florida obviously yes. South Florida no.

Yep. I think you can basically draw the line at Ocala or something and north of that is “The South,” south of that is...well, stereotypical Florida, and “South Florida” is North Latin America.

[TWAK]

OMG have you ever been to Tallahassee? Yes it is the south, and the weather alone makes it the south.

[L41A]

Originally Posted by TWAK

OMG have you ever been to Tallahassee? Yes it is the south, and the weather alone makes it the south.

Love Tallahassee. The weather makes it Southity South da South South South.
The weather is probably my least favorite thing about Florida.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by L41A

Love Tallahassee. The weather makes it Southity South da South South South.
The weather is probably my least favorite thing about Florida.

Of course South Floridian's consider Tallahasse to be basically Winnipeg when it comes to winters. If the temp routinely drops below 35 degrees in the winter you shouldn't get to call yourself "Florida".

[jd3189]

I’ve always held the belief that South Florida or much of peninsular Florida isn’t really Southern, but I wonder if that’s just because I hold on to a strong assumption of what the South is.

I’m starting to think that the South is much more nuanced than I and others have taken it to be.

If the understanding of the South is just rednecks, “y’all” the drawl, Dixie, Dukes of Hazzard, Confederacy, racism, etc, then yeah, South Florida isn’t really Southern.

But if the understanding of the South is that it is a place that had multiple cultural influences in the past and even today, than yes, Florida holds a special place in the puzzle of what the South is.

There are rednecks and “traditional” Southern culture in Florida, hence the historical term “ Florida Cracker”. But there are also African Americans, Cubans, Northeasterns, Jews, blonde beach people, Haitians, Jamaicans and other Anglo-Caribbeans, and a whole host of people that have shaped the way Florida is today.

Even when Florida was mainly “Southern”, it was one of the smaller Southern states in population and much of South Florida was empty aside from the small town of Key West. That may contribute to why people don’t consider it to be a part of the South. Personally, it’s up for interpretation.

[bnk]

In reality the red is south in this map

The rest is north

[Double L]

Define “south”.

[Pedestrian]

When I was working at the U. of Florida in Gainesville, we had a saying,"In Florida, the farther south you go the farther north you are."

Also, the University briefly sent me to help staff a satellite clinic in the small town of Mayo near Lake City in the far northern part of the state. In Mayo, the African-American part of town was universally known as "the quarters" (for the dense, that's as in "slave quarters"). Should tell you something.

[BillM]

When I hear the phrase "I'm from down south", south Florida is the last place I would think of.

[iheartthed]

Yes.

[north 42]

It is absolutely ridiculous to call any part of Florida the North! South Florida May have northern traits and transplants, but it’s still the south.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by north 42

It is absolutely ridiculous to call any part of Florida the North! South Florida May have northern traits and transplants, but it’s still the south.

To understanding this, just travel a bit inland from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale to the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee, maybe to Clewiston or somewhere. It'll seem every bit as "south" as much closer to the Georgia border.

[Quixote]

Florida is Texas... a region unto itself that has more than a few culturally Southern characteristics, but certainly not part of the Deep South, and in which opposite ends of the state are very different from each other.

A more interesting question: Which state is more "Southern"?

[mrnyc]

meh, you can divide any state up into cultural regions anyway you want. i dont think retiree, vacation and spring break, etc., heavy states are anything more than that, those are just other cultural aspects, and not necessarily southern or not southern. its not like southern people don’t retire or party in florida, too. or that northerners don’t become half-backs and abandon florida for charlotte or atlanta or something. florida is nothing if not dynamic like that.

so yay on the state of florida being the south, culturally in the north and let’s just say de facto in the south lol.

and i would say north quarter more so than north half. condos are going up left and right above and around orlando and many ny’ers and midwesterners move around there these days. and i would guess almost equally if not more so than se fla, not to mention they are more likely to be a family than single — ie., for every new condo tower resident in sunny isles there is a villages orlando sprawl equivalent.