Attitudes toward Northerners ("Yankees") (Knoxville, Mason: transplants, home, living in)

[manyroads]

I'm a native of the New York City metro area, but looking to escape from NY in the not too distant future. All of the areas I'm currently considering are located in southern states (VA, NC, SC, TN), but I know that there are still people in parts of the South that act like they're still fighting the Civil War, and are against anything or anyone from above the Mason-Dixon line.
I don't consider myself your typical New Yorker... I'm not loud or flashy, rarely curse, and I don't have any discernible accent (certainly not the stereotypical NY accent on tv shows). In fact, people are often surprised I've lived in NY almost my whole life!
If I were to move to Knoxville coming from NY, would it be difficult for me to be accepted by the locals?

[Barking Spider]

You will probably have a hard time if you keep asking if they hate Northerners.
In 94, you could not hardly move anywhere from CA where the people would not hate you instantly. If you didn't take the plates off your car in Oregon, you would probably get shot at or flat tires, same with WA, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, etc. We were a little apprenhensive moving to TN, but found that everyone was soooo friendly.
Yes I do realize that CA is not considered a Yankee State, and it's not the same. However, I rarely hear anyone rant about Yankees, and the ones that do.....well, so what. There are idiots where ever you go.
probably the most important thing to remember about moving here (or anywhere for that matter) is to leave the following attitudes at home.
1. That's not the way we do it in....
2. Back home we........
3. I don't like it here because.....
4. How come they don't have...........here
5. The peope are so unfriendly here
6. The people are so judgemental here....

You get the point.
Come and embrace the things we all love about TN. Check the attitude at the border, and consider the differences as changes for the better.

[TNKY]

I asked this same question on the Nashville forum and got a pretty good response. It was several weeks ago, so you'll have to dig to find it. If the regulars on this thread represent the locas in Knoxville, they are very pleasant and harbor no ill will toward us yankees. I hope to make it to Knox myself and have never been discouraged by any of the dozens of people I've spoken to, many of whom were also yankees.

[manyroads]

Thanks for the tips, spider. The reason why I was asking was because I remember reading a thread on this subject in an Eastern Tennessee forum a while back, and a poster there had some very strong feelings about people from the northeast coming to his area (and they weren't positive feelings!).
I lived in central Florida for about 2 1/2 years, and I remember that there was also resentment there by the locals against people from the north and other places outside FL who moved there. You'd see bumper stickers with an image of the state of Florida on them, and then the word "NATIVE" right next to it. There were also bumper stickers that said "We don't care how you did it up North", reinforcing what you just said above.
Wherever I do relocate to, I'm not out to force my values, likes or dislikes on anyone else. After all, if things were so great here in NY, I wouldn't be looking for someplace else to live, right?

[leonard]

Originally Posted by manyroads

I'm a native of the New York City metro area, but looking to escape from NY in the not too distant future. All of the areas I'm currently considering are located in southern states (VA, NC, SC, TN), but I know that there is still people in parts of the South that act like they're still fighting the Civil War, and are against anything or anyone from above the Mason-Dixon line.
I don't consider myself your typical New Yorker... I'm not loud or flashy, rarely curse, and I don't have any discernible accent (certainly not the stereotypical NY accent on tv shows). In fact, people are often surprised I've lived in NY almost my whole life!
If I were to move to Knoxville coming from NY, would it be difficult for me to be accepted by the locals?

I believe the attitude you are referring to is missing in the majority of the last couple of generations. Older ones may feel that way as it is possible that their Grandfather was directly affected by the Civil War, or as many in the South call it, the war of Northern Aggression.

If you live in a real small community where a few families have lived there for generations, it can be somewhat of an issue, especially a real rural area or in the Mountains. A friend has lived for many years in a small town in south central TN and does still see a negative attitude in small things, but publicly nothing is said to him. However in the vast majority of cities it is a dying issue, unless a new comer makes it one.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by manyroads

Thanks for the tips, spider. The reason why I was asking was because I remember reading a thread on this subject in an Eastern Tennessee forum a while back, and a poster there had some very strong feelings about people from the northeast coming to his area (and they weren't positive feelings!).
I lived in central Florida for about 2 1/2 years, and I remember that there was also resentment there by the locals against people from the north and other places outside FL who moved there. You'd see bumper stickers with an image of the state of Florida on them, and then the word "NATIVE" right next to it. There were also bumper stickers that said "We don't care how you did it up North", reinforcing what you just said above.
Wherever I do relocate to, I'm not out to force my values, likes or dislikes on anyone else. After all, if things were so great here in NY, I wouldn't be looking for someplace else to live, right?

Yes, occasionally you'll see a post or hear a comment from someone who resents a lot of Northerners moving here.

But my question to you is, why do you choose to concentrate on that one negative comment and not concentrate on the dozens of positive comments?

Barking Spider gave some excellent suggestions, and those suggestions are for anyone moving anywhere and not just for Northerners moving to the South. It's incumbent upon the newcomer to adapt to the new surroundings, and not the other way around. So if you move to Tennessee with the attitude that you love it here and want to be here, you will be warmly embraced.

Some of our more beloved posters in this forum are transplants from the North (hello hiknapster!). I'm a transplant from Florida. I go to a church here in Fountain City where probably 2/3 of the people are from somewhere else, and everyone gets along just fine.

Come on down!

[Kitties of Domination]

There is an important observation that I have not seen brought up on this forum. Many southerners will only give you a "hard time" about being from the North if they actually like you. Very broadly speaking, it is a Southern tendency to avoid undesirable people, not confront them (unless pushed).

[piedmont]

There are big differences between more urban areas of Knox and more rural outlying areas.

If you have not spent much time in the south, it would be well worth doing so.

As a northeasterner who moved to the southeast from California years ago, I have to remember that the social pleasantries of the south are different (now it seems normal to me). People are polite and smiley up front; however, this can be a harder place to get to know people, as many have so many local kin ties and HS friends that there is less eagerness or time to bring in a newcomer. Also local values (Knoville is quite conservative and churchy) may not intersect with newcomer values.

Compared to my experience with the triangle area of NC, there are far fewer transplants here, but more than there used to be. From my limited experience, I sense that Nashville is more similar to the triangle.

It all depends on what you are looking for.

[manyroads]

Originally Posted by JMT

But my question to you is, why do you choose to concentrate on that one negative comment and not concentrate on the dozens of positive comments?

Barking Spider gave some excellent suggestions, and those suggestions are for anyone moving anywhere and not just for Northerners moving to the South. It's incumbent upon the newcomer to adapt to the new surroundings, and not the other way around. So if you move to Tennessee with the attitude that you love it here and want to be here, you will be warmly embraced.

Some of our more beloved posters in this forum are transplants from the North (hello hiknapster!). I'm a transplant from Florida. I go to a church here in Fountain City where probably 2/3 of the people are from somewhere else, and everyone gets along just fine.

Come on down!

I think that that particular negative post by the TN native stands out in my mind because I could "feel" the resentment and hatred this man had of newcomers to the area he had lived in for such a long time, and how these newcomers were changing things. Though it was at least several months ago that I read that thread, I can still remember how the man went on about people coming down there in Hummers, with their Boston accents and noisy, bratty kids... how the new housing developments were taking away his cherished views of the countryside. I believe he actually said he thought about shooting at them with his rifle, and that if others did the same, it would stop so many people from relocating there!
I couldn't help but wonder if this man's feelings were just the tip of the iceberg... an indication of feelings more widely held by the locals, but not often expressed as they were in that thread. Does that answer your question?

I agree with you that Barking Spider's suggestions were very good, and I will try to follow them wherever I end up.

You know, hiknapster's name seems very familiar to me; I think he or she may have posted in that thread that I mentioned above (but not as the person who was ranting about newcomers).

[JMT]

Originally Posted by manyroads

I think that that particular negative post by the TN native stands out in my mind because I could "feel" the resentment and hatred this man had of newcomers to the area he had lived in for such a long time, and how these newcomers were changing things. Though it was at least several months ago that I read that thread, I can still remember how the man went on about people coming down there in Hummers, with their Boston accents and noisy, bratty kids... how the new housing developments were taking away his cherished views of the countryside. I believe he actually said he thought about shooting at them with his rifle, and that if others did the same, it would stop so many people from relocating there!
I couldn't help but wonder if this man's feelings were just the tip of the iceberg... an indication of feelings more widely held by the locals, but not often expressed as they were in that thread. Does that answer your question?

I agree with you that Barking Spider's suggestions were very good, and I will try to follow them wherever I end up.

You know, hiknapster's name seems very familiar to me; I think he or she may have posted in that thread that I mentioned above (but not as the person who was ranting about newcomers).

I don't remember that thread at all, so I guess I didn't see it. I'm not surprised that someone ranted like that, though. There's certainly that element around here, just like there's that element just about anywhere.

Hiknapster is originally from Mass but moved here via Florida (which is more like NJ South these days). She's a regular poster on here. I hope she'll chime in soon in this thread. Since she's a Northerner she can probably give you a better perspective than I could on what it's like to be a Northerner living in Knoxville.

But in all honesty, while we Southerners joke and tease with our Northern friends who move down here, I don't think there's anything malicious for the vast majority of us. A few malcontents might be more vocal, but I honestly think you don't have anything to worry about as long as you follow Barking Spider's very wise advice.

Tennessee's current popular 2-term governor, a Democrat, is originally from NY, and the previous governor, a 2-term Republican, was from Illinois. Clearly we in Tennessee are welcoming of Northerners or else we wouldn't have voted to have Northerners run the state for the last 4 elections.