Perhaps we need to take a look on the cultural evolution of some of those cities. The cities most certainly have Southern heritage, and being Southern isn’t always about having the traditional Southern culture. Heritage is what could matter more. I speak with a General American accent yet I would at least be Southern in the sense that I have Southern heritage, especially since my late grandfather came from North Carolina, and I did grow up in Kentucky by the way. And being Southern isn’t always about having the Southern accent. Now back to the aforementioned cities. Cities like Atlanta, Houston, and Charlotte has had a great influx of non-Southern transplants, and those people would typically have the generic American culture as opposed to the traditional Southern culture.
One source of saying ‘intercoastal’ is probably just error, maybe the most common. Also it’s ‘intracoastal’ if put with ‘waterway’ and I also don’t think that’s ever been different.
However, if you look at references from say 100 yrs ago, the term ‘intercoastal’ was often used for the portions of the system that then existed, usually as ‘intercoastal canal system’. And while going inshore along the coast, it does also link the different coasts, Atlantic and Gulf (as well as Great Lakes via the river system), so ‘inter’ isn’t completely illogical.
Also in FL the Okeechobee Waterway section of the ICW, which goes across FL from Ft. Meyers on the Gulf to Stuart on the Atlantic, is sometimes and not incorrectly referred to as the Florida Intercoastal Canal.
I agree though the standard modern term for the whole system from Boston to Brownsville, TX is The Intracoastal Waterway.
Which blends. One does not, in general, overtake the other.
The South is demarcated by the 49th parallel.
Helluva lot of Canadians winter in Florida, though.
You are somewhat right. The generic American culture would not eliminate Southern culture completely but it would at least gain a large presence. For example if you take a middle class family living in an Atlanta suburb, they could just live the generic American culture. They would either have no accent or the General American accent if any accent at all.
Accent does not equal culture. They may be able to live a ‘generic American culture’, but the food and cultural events around them will be more Southern influenced than generic American. I would be surprised if any person who has moved to an Atlanta suburb (say Roswell or Marietta or Norcross) has not run into Southern BBQ or Soul food. Or has not been caught up, even tangentially, in college football season. Or has not noticed (and likely has engaged more in) the general friendliness. There are plenty of differences from generic American culture when one moves down to the Atlanta region.
Well it’s certainly safe to say that Southern cuisine is still prevalent in the Atlanta area, but however Southern cuisine has even been introduced to parts of the US, outside of the South.
Where people, in the main, stop being born/raised in the south.
It is more of a ‘ethnic’ thing outside the South as opposed to the fabric of the culture. One other thing I didn’t mention, religious is far more ubiquitous in the South, including Atlanta. It’s “God-haunted”, even with all the people coming in from outside. It’s something you really notice when coming from up North.
I spend a lot of time in Plant City, because that’s where the in-laws live. Plant City is on the I-4 corridor, not quite midway between Tampa and Orlando (a little bit closer to Tampa). Plant City is unquestionably a Southern town.
I’m from Florida! Lived there until I was 19. So here’s an area I am pretty darn able to provide an answer in response to. I’d say about the part where you hit Lake Okeechobee. Make a big horizontal line through the state there. Below, you have beaches and fun and tropics and Miami. Above, a conglomerate of old people, tiny rural towns, and every other normal city-makeup.
That’s just my opinion, really. There’s like a psychological line the rednecks don’t cross.
Then again, psychological predictability isn’t something Floridians are known for.
You damn right, Plant City is Southern. And let me tell you that the native Floridians know more about Florida than any of the tourists do. You may ask if Tampa and Orlando are Southern. Well it depends. There would at least be some places outside the aforementioned cities that would be Southern in character. Take Plant City for example, outside of Tampa. Also take Apopka for example, outside of Orlando. Both the aforementioned places are Southern in character, so as it stands out Southern culture has not completely disappeared from Florida.
Consider this a complimentary reference, and you’ll be surprised what you’ll see in this video:
