Is Florida part of "the South??"

[JManc]

Despite influx of northerners to areas like Ocala and Orlando, I'd still consider them as part of the South. Even the Tampa Bay area still feels southern.

[UrbanImpact]

Nobody I know here in South Florida would consider themselves Southern.

[eschaton]

The South is a weird concept, because we use it to describe a geographic portion of the country along with a particular culture. The same is not true elsewhere. There's no Northeastern, Midwestern, or Western culture. There is arguably a Northern culture, which is basically "not Southern," but that's about it.

IMHO the association of the South with southern culture is growing more tenuous by the year. Large portions of Florida, Greater Atlanta, the Raleigh-Durham metro in NC, Northern Virginia, and arguably even the major Texas cities are getting to be much more "generic American" due to huge influxes of non-southerners and immigrants. At some point there will be so many enclaves of "not southern" in the South that being southern will have to encompass these areas as well.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The South is a weird concept, because we use it to describe a geographic portion of the country along with a particular culture. The same is not true elsewhere. There's no Northeastern, Midwestern, or Western culture. There is arguably a Northern culture, which is basically "not Southern," but that's about it.

IMHO the association of the South with southern culture is growing more tenuous by the year. Large portions of Florida, Greater Atlanta, the Raleigh-Durham metro in NC, Northern Virginia, and arguably even the major Texas cities are getting to be much more "generic American" due to huge influxes of non-southerners and immigrants. At some point there will be so many enclaves of "not southern" in the South that being southern will have to encompass these areas as well.

I was just typing up a response about how most of the South is experiencing a dilution of "southern culture" due to migrants from the north and immigration from overseas. South Florida might be the most extreme case of these cases, but many of its southern neighbors have been going through a similar transition.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact

Nobody I know here in South Florida would consider themselves Southern.

The western suburbs of West Palm Beach are pretty "Southy" and the towns in western Palm Beach County are full on South.

[JMKeynes]

Florida, unlike Montgomery, Alabama or Jackson, Mississippi, etc., has a lot of New York Jews, Puerto Ricans, Eyetalians, and other Papist Yankees. It's not remotely southern.

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by JMKeynes

Florida, unlike Montgomery, Alabama or Jackson, Mississippi, etc., has a lot of New York Jews, Puerto Ricans, Eyetalians, and other Papist Yankees. It's not remotely southern.

There are more than enough Southerners in Florida for it to be at least remotely Southern and it's not like the state is totally saturated with those folks only (as well as immigrants) from end to end.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by JMKeynes

Florida, unlike Montgomery, Alabama or Jackson, Mississippi, etc., has a lot of New York Jews, Puerto Ricans, Eyetalians, and other Papist Yankees. It's not remotely southern.

To be fair, New Orleans was very atypical for the South in terms of having a strong "white ethnic" component, including lots of Irish and Italians. The local white "Yat" dialect is pretty distinct, sounding more like a New York accent than a southern accent. Yet no one ever claims that New Orleans isn't southern.

[bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by BillM

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

You will never hear a South Floridian like me utter those words.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by eschaton

To be fair, New Orleans was very atypical for the South in terms of having a strong "white ethnic" component, including lots of Irish and Italians. The local white "Yat" dialect is pretty distinct, sounding more like a New York accent than a southern accent. Yet no one ever claims that New Orleans isn't southern.

I think plenty of people would agree that southern Louisiana is a distinct region from "the South". Few baptists or Methodists, few Scotch-Irish, very different history.

But the difference is that South Florida is basically a Northern/Caribbean colony. Not a distinct subculture, but rather a relocated "island" of existing, larger subcultures.

[bossabreezes]

^^I'm not sure it's not distinct. There are multiple generations of Cuban American families in Miami, who have shaped that city and metro region. You don't have the same influence in any other metro in the US or world, really. There is even a native Miami accent in English, which is found nowhere else in the world.

Back to main question, as most people have said, Florida is a mix. It's relatively large and because of migration patterns, the state as a whole is not culturally southern. Rural Florida can maintain Southern vibes depending on locality but it really should be considered it's on sub-region, like Texas or Louisiana.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by eschaton

To be fair, New Orleans was very atypical for the South in terms of having a strong "white ethnic" component, including lots of Irish and Italians. The local white "Yat" dialect is pretty distinct, sounding more like a New York accent than a southern accent. Yet no one ever claims that New Orleans isn't southern.

New Orleans is also a historic city that grew up in and with the South. South Florida literally did not exist during the confederacy. The southerners who lived there in the 1940s and 1950s were people who moved there from the South. Its not like it had some legacy Southern culture that northerners saturated.
The only populous area of South Florida during the Civil war for example was Key West and Key West sided with the Union and was an important Union naval outpost.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by dave8721

The only populous area of South Florida during the Civil war for example was Key West and Key West sided with the Union and was an important Union naval outpost.

To show how empty Florida was, Key West was the largest city in all of Florida by 1898 - and only had around 18,000 people!

[chris08876]

South Florida is a territory of NYC. Its the unofficial 7th borough (Jersey City being the 6th , well Jersey City is the Taiwan of NYC, its a renegade borough on a side note).

If one wants Southern, go to North Florida.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by chris08876

South Florida is a territory of NYC. Its the unofficial 7th borough (Jersey City being the 6th , well Jersey City is the Taiwan of NYC, its a renegade borough on a side note).

If one wants Southern, go to North Florida.

I concur.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by chris08876

South Florida is a territory of NYC. Its the unofficial 7th borough (Jersey City being the 6th , well Jersey City is the Taiwan of NYC, its a renegade borough on a side note).

If one wants Southern, go to North Florida.

Atlantic east south Florida is NYC

SW Gulf coast from Sarasota to Naples/Marco Island belongs to the Midwest.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by bnk

Atlantic east south Florida is NYC

SW Gulf coast from Sarasota to Naples/Marco Island belongs to the Midwest.

Florida is New York South. NYC took South Flawridah and Upstate NY took the Tampa Bay area.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by bnk

Atlantic east south Florida is NYC

SW Gulf coast from Sarasota to Naples/Marco Island belongs to the Midwest.

That's totally true.

[Buckeye Native 001]

There's a joke among some Cincinnatians that they know how to get around Fort Meyers better than they do Cincinnati.

When the Reds foolishly moved Spring Training from Sarasota to Goodyear, AZ, there was a justifiably large outcry, since nobody from Cincinnati comes to Arizona willingly. Not coincidentally, the Reds' spring training attendance is usually the lowest of the Cactus League teams. Hell, I'm a Reds fan and think they should go back to Florida.

[L41A]

Like I said in another thread, y'all Northeasterners and Midwesterners looooooove Florida. Everybody trying to claim it.