My Favorite Landscape

http://maps.google.com

I have lived in the south all of my life and in mostly suburban areas. Many aspects of country living are appealing like the large yards and the quiet lifestyle, but I enjoy having the necessities and activities right down the road. Living in the city has grown on me now that I am at Tech. When I was looking at colleges, I said I would not go to school in the city. When I came to Tech, the campus did not feel like it was in the middle of the city and there is always something to do. All of the different landscapes have appealing attributes, but I prefer the suburban environment. Even though the suburbs are associated with sprawl, the developing neighborhoods create a stronger community feeling. The great southern communities have nice neighborhoods, friendly people, green grass, large pine trees, and plenty of dogwoods and magnolias in the yards.

In my community in Charleston, we have some unique features that define our area as southern. There are the palm trees that are on the golf courses and in yards. Also, the marshland surrounding the city and the islands define the area as southern. I love the different landscapes of the south and the many beautiful areas the region has. This is a great scene below with the tree covered in spanish moss and the marsh in the background.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/501100612_9aa104b604.jpg

Topic - Southern Landscapes

Over the past few weeks, some different landscapes have come up in conversation through the blogs - rural country landscapes, cityscapes, and suburban areas. There are also the highly pedicured magnolia and azalea golf club spots as well (like the Augusta national). Of course, some of these are not unique to the South, but all are distinctly Southern in particular ways; that is, Southern cities are not the same as Northern cities, and so forth.

Each of these landscapes offers distinct advantages and disadvantages. Try to think of the particular features of each and decide which might be your favorite. Also, think of some ways which may make each of these landscapes distinctly Southern in one way or another and share your observations.

Landscapes

My "South"

I have noticed over the past several weeks that a topic of conversation in class and in other blog groups has been that of Southern identity - the notion of where, and what is the South.

In her last post, I really feel like Lior struck the proverbial nail on the head when she said that her “real” South is a sparse, spread out place, as indicated by her picture. Since I agree with her on this point, I have taken a similar picture from some of our property near Vidalia, GA.

In one group a few weeks ago, one person mentioned that they had traveled to many cities in the South but had never seen the stereotypical, rural, at-home South often alluded to in this course. I feel that since cities have such a high rate of immigration and emigration, that the stereotypical South isn’t as evident in many Southern cities. Instead, you must go to the rural areas. Drive an hour or two outside of the city; visit Tifton, Waycross, and Moultrie, GA; go somewhere where families have lived in that location for the past 3 generations - then you will see the “real” South.

Also, see Wikipedia's article for 'Rural area.'

The Perfect Southern Landscape

Living in Charleston the past three years, I have grown to love the amazing make-up of the landscape. When I think of the south, I see the large trees lining a road with spanish moss dangling from the branches. The picture above reminds me of the back-roads around where I live. This landscape provides a scenic and beautiful drive that can be found in a few places in the south. Not only can you find this scenery along dirt roads, you can also find it on heavily traveled roads. The way the southern landscape is set apart from anything else is the rural/suburban scenery. Many southern urban areas like Atlanta or Charlotte aren't much different than that of Chicago or Cincinnati. There are tall buildings, traffic, and many activities, but not much sets the cities apart. Then you throw in Charleston, SC and Wilmington, NC and you can tell that you are in the south. The rural scenery is really what creates the difference in regions though. Out in the midwest, there are corn fields and rolling hills, and in the West there are large cliffs and desert/dry climates. The southern rural areas are like the picture above left or like picture above right with the large fields with acres and acres of farmland. The southern landscape is unique and something that I love.

My Southern Landscape Picture

Even though I currently live in Atlanta which is an industrialized southern city and have seen different parts of the South, I still think of the south as a place with plantations and farms that are extremely spread out. My roommate is from Tyrone, and when I went to visit her, I saw what I consider to be the "real" South. This picture is a picture of the landscape at my friends house. When I was younger I lived in Israel in an extremely populated town, so when I moved to Massachusetts everything seemed to be far, but when I came to the South the distance between neighbors and the amount of empty land was larger than anything that I have ever seem before. When I came to my roommate's house I was amazed by the way that her mile long dirt road driveway and the many farms in her street fit my picture perfect idea of the South. Her land consists of a hundred acres which seems significantly large compare to the amount of land that people own in the north. When I think of the South I think of large unpopulated land full of trees and farms.

The Land of the South

We have been discussing many topics when it comes to southern identity. So many things go into the dynamic of the southern culture. For this blog topic I was hoping we would look into the stereotypes that we already have in our minds but don't realize. When you imagine the south, more specifically the landscape, what do you see. Include a picture that you believe accurately portrays the image that you see when you imagine the southern landscape. Then describe the major aspects of the scenery and what they mean to you.

Above is what I see when I imagine the south. I think this image does a good job of describing my image of the south because it has a good mix of urban and suburban scenery. It's the kind of place where I live. There are lots of trees and plenty of green grass that I feel are vital to the beauty of the south. The only thing that this picture is missing is a nice neighborhood filled with playing kids. Some of you may not be from the south and it is those of you that are going to have the most interesting views of the southern landscape. I can't wait to see them.

"Southern Living"

I love living in the South. Yes, I have lived here my whole life, but the comfort I feel in this region is unexplainable. When I travel outside the south, I do not feel nearly as comfortable. I now live in Atlanta because I love the Georgia Tech campus and the city of Atlanta. There is so much to do in the city making it a desirable place to live. The Atlanta suburbs have grown drastically because of what the city has to offer and the affordable, family-friendly neighborhoods. I spent the first 15 years of my life in the Charlotte area where the southern twang isn't very evident, since Charlotte attracts many types of people. I then moved to Charleston for my last three years of high school and I felt my accent change slightly to more of a twang. Many people who live in the Charleston area have a "suthun accent" and hearing it everyday changed my accent slightly. I have also adjusted to the way many Charlestonians dress, like seersucker shorts/suits, white bucks, and visors. I am sure if I grew up in the north or out west my accent and style of dress would be different.

Living in the South

If you are reading this post now, you currently reside within what is considered the Southern United States, or more specifically, Georgia. According to the US Census Bureau, the South is the fastest growing geographic area. There are many speculations as to why this is, and probably many reasons why this is so. What is it about the South that is appealing to more and more Americans? Further, what isn't fitting about other regions that would make people relocate here?

10 U.S. Metro Areas With Highest Numerical Growth: April 1, 2000-July 1, 2006

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.	890,211
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	842,449
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	824,547
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.	787,306
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	771,314
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.	584,510
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	495,154
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.	494,220
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla.	455,869
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	407,133

(take a look at the figures above and note that half of the fastest growing metropolitan regions are considered to be Southern.)

Why do you live here? Think about it for a moment. Where you live defines who you are as an individual; it shapes and creates your personality and affects your view of the world. Why do you live here? Whether it be "because my family has always lived here" or "I'm just here for the education," you live here for some reason. Further define why you live here and how it has affected you as a person, or if you feel it has even affected you very much at all. How long would you have to have lived in one place to describe yourself a "Southerner" or a "texan" or a "Northerner?"

Suthun Twang

The Southern Accent

Ilove the southern accent. I think that it is extremely welcoming and that it plays a part in the idea of southern hospitality. When I think of the southern accent I think of phrases such as y’all and ma’am. These southern phrases are welcoming and bring a sense of respect. In the north everyone seems to be in a hurry and if someone called me ma’am I would look at them like they were speaking a different language. I think that people tend to over generalize accents. Accents vary greatly between towns, cities, states and countries. For example, I am from Boston but I still pronounce my r’s. Furthermore, I have friends from North Georgia that have different accents from my friends who live in South Georgia. They both have what is considered the “southern accent,” but when they talk next to each other, their accents sound completely different. When I researched the history of the southern dialect I found out that the migration of African Americans had a large influence, which is why the northern accent is very different. I think that dialect changes based on influences by people who migrate from one place to another and since accents can be acquired at a young age, ones accent depends on where they live and the accent that they people around them have.

It's a Southern Accent

I sure do love the sound of a Southern accent, especially compared to a sharp New England accent. One is just inviting, warm, friendly, while the other lashes out at you.

Of course, when the British colonized the states, I imagine that differences in regional accents didn’t really exist. However, in the more than 200 years since we broke off from Britain after the American Revolution, different regions of our country has received immigrants from different parts of the world - in particular, African slaves imported into the Southern states.

This Wikipedia Article on Southern American English does a good job of giving an overview of Southern American dialects in general. The article does a good job of highlighting that there are many sub-accents in the South, something that many folks often don’t realize.

Tom Petty and Johnny Cash say it best in Southern Accent.

Topic of the Week: The Southern Drawl

Don't you love walking into a store or a restaurant and hearing someone say, "How y'all doin today?" That phrase makes me feel welcome compared to the New York phrase "how ya doin." The southern drawl is very pleasing and easy on the ears. People often make fun of the southern accent saying it makes people sound uneducated, which is not helped by Larry the Cable Guy. Our country was founded by the British and the language of the U.S. from the beginning was English. The strange thing is I am sure the early American's spoke with British accents. How can a dialect change from one way to another? Was it that these new Americans were rebels and they wanted to change how they spoke? Different regions in the country also have different dialects, like the New York, Ohio, and California accents. Areas in the south also have different dialects, New Orleans and Charleston are examples. The question I want to pose for this topic is why and how do you think the southern accent came about? Talk about your view of the southern accent and also other accents of different regions.