North Kacky-lacky
That’s one big south, I dare say. I was born in Texas, moved to West Virginia for a stint, moved to North Carolina for a long damn time, then next year I’m moving to Atlanta. The only time I left the South, according to your list, is when I lived in Pennsylvania for a spell. That’s sad.
I’m telling you, Delaware doesn’t exist. Old-timers here will confirm that fact.
Seconded for me as well. I’m kickin’ it in lovely Lex Vegas, KY, the City That Never Wakes Up.
I think I passed it on the way to NJ once. It exists, but it is only really one giant building in the center housing Visa, Mastercard, and various other credit card companies. Surrounding it is a bunch of strip malls. So while it does exist, no one actually lives there. It’s more of a pimple of big business festering off the coast of Maryland.
Jawjan born and bred heah. Currently residing in the lovely burg of Lees. Actually I live in the country but I decided to act all uppity on the dope and say I live in Leesburg. 
Hey, Leesburg’s got two traffic lights, a Krystal, a Hardee’s, a Dollar General and a Krispy Kreme. Now tell me that ain’t some high livin’.
Sampiro’s from Alabama and lives there now. His mother is very ill and he might not be able to check in for a while.
whole bean, Atlanta’s not Southern because no one in Atlanta is from Atlanta. I lived there for four years and met exactly one person who was from Atlanta.
I was born in Oklahoma 58 years ago. Have lived in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, and Tennessee, but somehow I always came back to Oklahoma. I expect to die in Oklahoma.
Born and raised in Georgia. My location should tell you where I am, currently.
Oklahoma
You got a Krispy Kreme? godDAMMIT! Why have I gotta go like sixty miles either way to find one?
Another transplanted New Yorker living in Florida. Even though I’m not a native, I consider myself a Floridian. 
Oklahoma ain’t Southern, trust me. I’m a Texan living here by choice and I love the place, but no matter how many people here or others drawing borders say so, OK is not Southern.
In fact, OK tends to refer itself as the Heart of the Heartland. It’s a great mix of regions. Somewhat like a lot of North Texas (damn yankee Texans ain’t Southern either, but that’s another thread), a lot like much of the Midwest, even kind of West-ish at times.
Been here off and on since about 1991 or so.
BTW, FTR, we Texans don’t really view ourselves too much as Southern either. Oh yes, we are Southern, but we’re TEXAN first. And don’t get me started on the regionalism throughout Texas either. East Texas, Panhandle, Hill Country, Gulf Coast, Damn Yankee Texas (Dallas area), the Valley, West Texas, etc …
If you can count on snow every winter, you’re not in the South
Just for the record, the book I read a good part of yesterday at the dentist’s office gave me the idea to be as inclusive as I could on what constitutes The South.
If you can get your hands on LAND OF THE SOUTH by Clay, James W., Escott, Paul D., Orr, Jr., Douglas M. and Stuart, Alfred W – Oxmoor House, Inc., Birmingham, AL First Edition, 1989 and if the issue of what is and what isn’t The South matters to you at all, I think this book might persuade you that there’s something in common among these states listed in the OP, or at least parts of most of them.
The geology, climate, culture, common history and other factors played into the authors’ eventual decision to cover them all in this book. Plenty of maps, graphs, and other visual aids make this more than a coffee table book. I’m thinking of getting a copy and spending more time with it.
As for my own tastes and preferences I can agree with many of your objections about including some of the “fringe states.” But, as stated in the OP, I leave it to you as to whether you consider yourself and your state to be Southern.
If you take the time to post here, I’m considering you Southern for the sake of the summary file, unless you state that you don’t want to be counted. But then, why post at all if that’s the case? 
Born and raised in north Georgia, have been living in Florida for twelve years.
The rest of you are Yankees to us Floridians. 
Dallas, Texas
That’s okay, the rest of you Floridians are Yankees to us.
Born in Wisconsin. Lived in N.C. for 28 years.
Another Kentuckian here. Since I am still considered a recent transplant, only lived here 20 years, I will go with what most of the “natives” here say. Kentucky is southern when it is convenient to say it is southern.