Do you think people are pretty much the same no matter where you go (in the U.S.)?

Question

I've lived in the central part of the country all my life and am thinking of moving to a different region. I have vacationed in many areas but you dont really get a feel for what it's like living there when just on vacation. I can afford a home here but find the area boring. Not many unique activities other than the usual podunk art fairs and such.

Thoughts on different regions of the country are welcomed also.

Answer 1

Yes and no, depending on the context. More or less, the U.S. has become a rather homogeneous nation, with McDonald's, Holiday Inn, and Wal-Mart pretty much everywhere. We see roads and automobiles in nearly every populated place, pay for things with credit cards, and buy the same limited selection of carbonated beverages from convenience stores.

One of my gauges of this has been travelling with my mother. Coming from the mountains of Virginia, her travels with me, from Maine and Florida to Hawai'i, tend to be potential culture shocks. Yet the one time that she did not feel comfortable in a particular place was when we drove through Ontario and Quebec. Even though much of what I saw in Canada was not entirely different from the United States, my mother sensed differently, and when we returned to the U.S., she felt at home, even though she was many hundreds of kilometres away from where she lives.

I think within the context of comparing similar geographic features and population densities, there are similarities. Despite the potential disdain between the two, I suspect that the only real difference between New York and Los Angeles is the weather. Farmers in Iowa are likely similar to those in Idaho. The small town in Vermont tends to have the same mentality as the small town in Texas.

But therein lies the difference. The difference between urban and rural, suburban and inner city, farm land and mountains, can be quite large. We see this mainly in the national politics. This arises out of differing philosophies on how neighbours are viewed, how foreign visitors and immigrants are welcomed, and also how we view work and transportation. Being within a short walk of a half-dozen McDonald's creates an alternate viewpoint than having only one within an hour's drive.

In that, I look at myself. As I grew up in those Virginia mountains, moving to Indiana wasn't a major culture change when you do not factor in the difference between city and countryside. However, living in a university town changed my perspective on the world at large. Well, not so much changed, but fulfilled what I had developed.

And thus we return to the similarities. There are people that live in rural regions that long for the excitement of the big city, while there are urbanites that hope to find quiet in the country. I believe that they are roughly spread evenly throughout, with the environment that they live in skewing the perception of this distribution.

Senator Barack Obama has commented that we are not a red and blue nation, but a purple one, and I believe he has a point. Hardly any area in the country is going to have people of the same political and cultural persuasion. In many ways, we are all part of one big culture, with some sub-cultures giving a differing flavour to each region. But overall, we are rarely New Englanders, Californians, Southerners, and Midwesterner first, but rather we are all Americans.

Answer 2

I think that people are pretty much the same all over the world. We want freedom, tolerance, work,our families to be fed, warm and educated, love and understanding. There are some differences in other parts of the country from the mid west and if you want a different experience it is your right as an American to live where you choose. Just check out taxes, licenses, tags, grocery prices, housing costs,etc. before you make a jump. You may not like what you find.

Answer 3

People adapt to the enviorment they live in. So if the neighborhood is not so good then the people have developed skills to deal with their lives. So someone on Hollywood Blvd isn't going to be the same as a ranch hand in Texas or a Shrimper in South Carolina or someone who lives in Hell's Kitchen.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

No. People are somewhat different in different areas. Views and attitudes can vary a lot. We are all a product of our environment.

Answer 6

No. And if you think of them as "podunk" that's already a negative as far as your attitude toward them.

Answer 7

NO,every1 is different.