Is Louisville southern or not?

[NaptownBoy]

Why does Louisville keep popping up in the Midwestern threads? Someone needs to clear up whether or not Louisville is Southern.

[tennreb]

It's definitely not deep South. It depends on whether most of their residents have a strong association with the South. Do the vast majority of students go to Southern colleges, especially those leaving Kentucky? Does it have a laid-back vibe? In most Southern cities, most residents are one or two generations removed from cotton.

[teshadoh]

It's both as is Washington. I think it depends on how comfortable the forummer is about discussing Louisville, if he feels he gets more discussion from a midwest board rather than a southern board then so be it.

[JivecitySTL]

I personally consider Louisville to be southern. Not only because it's located in a decidedly southern state (KY), but also because when I visited there, I really felt like I was in the south. Not the deep south, but the mid-south.

[louisville playa]

Obviously Louisville is Historically, Culturally, and Architecturally Southern. In my opinon Louisville does have some ties to the Midwest as it is across the bridge from Indiana, which officially starts the Midwest, but is still Southern in culture.
As Jivecity has stated numerous times and something Gych (who has not been south of the bullitt/Jefferson county line) just can't get through his head is that Lousiville is a MidSouthern city (not deep Southern). He seems to think that the only defintion of Southern is Alabama or Mississippi (which are 100% Southern) he doesn't think that their is any kind of Southern to a lesser degree like IMO Richmond, Nashville, Knoxville Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and so on.
However since Kentucky is considered the Southeast, it all things Louisville should stay in Southeast forums.

[Wu-Gambino]

Originally Posted by TheBrad

It's both as is Washington. I think it depends on how comfortable the forummer is about discussing Louisville, if he feels he gets more discussion from a midwest board rather than a southern board then so be it.

Sorry, I don't consider Washington southern. Especially when you look at architecture, culture, transportation, etc.

Louisville is Southern, but it has a good Midwestern mix to it.

[DaVilleisGr8]

Originally Posted by louisville playa

Obviously Louisville is Historically, Culturally, and Architecturally Southern. In my opinon Louisville does have some ties to the Midwest as it is across the bridge from Indiana, which officially starts the Midwest, but is still Southern in culture.
As Jivecity has stated numerous times and something Gych (who has not been south of the bullitt/Jefferson county line) just can't get through his head is that Lousiville is a MidSouthern city (not deep Southern). He seems to think that the only defintion of Southern is Alabama or Mississippi (which are 100% Southern) he doesn't think that their is any kind of Southern to a lesser degree like IMO Richmond, Nashville, Knoxville Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and so on.
However since Kentucky is considered the Southeast, it all things Louisville should stay in Southeast forums.

Really? "Obviously". If this being discussed all the time, then it isn't obvious. playa believes it's southern. Others believe it's midwestern. I think that pretty much sums it up. You can not label this city one or another. I can say that after living in the definitive south, Louisville is not completely southern. It shares attributes to the south, as it does to the midwest as well.

[louisville playa]

Originally Posted by DaVilleisGr8

Really? "Obviously". If this being discussed all the time, then it isn't obvious. playa believes it's southern. Others believe it's midwestern. I think that pretty much sums it up. You can not label this city one or another. I can say that after living in the definitive south, Louisville is not completely southern. It shares attributes to the south, as it does to the midwest as well.

I can't help but feel that was kind of an attack towards me if it wasn't please correct me.
For future reference we had a poll on this subject and over twice as many people view Louisville as a Southern city.
Louisville is best sumed up as a Southern city with a hint of Midwestern flavor.

[louisville playa]

If you disagree with it then tell me what is Midwestern about Louisville PLEASE, and I would tell you what's Southern about My city.
PS I lived in Georgia (Atlanta, and requently visited friends in the rural areas of the state) for 4 years.

[shane453]

I'd say southern; just listen to its residents speak, look at some of the plantation-style homes. But remember that there is no cultural line that defines with any precision the border between south and midwest, so border cities and states are likely to be difficult to classify. Even in the Civil War people couldn't figure out if Kentucky and other border states were part of the south or the north...

[DCKenny]

Washington, D.C. is top of the south! I never been to Louisville like Naptown said the city is mix between midwest and the south!

[louisville playa]

Louisville does have Midwestern influence that's only natural for a city that boarders another region, But from it's Culture, History, and Architecuture it is much more of a Southern.
But I understand what you're saying Shane.

[teshadoh]

Originally Posted by Naptown

Sorry, I don't consider Washington southern. Especially when you look at architecture, culture, transportation, etc.

Louisville is Southern, but it has a good Midwestern mix to it.

I don't either, I just think there are southern influences in Washington, I am including suburbs you know - Virginia? I consider Louisville southern, with Midwestern influences as well. No big deal - border regions are going to have influences from both sides, though not always significant.

[louisville playa]

Originally Posted by TheBrad

I don't either, I just think there are southern influences in Washington, I am including suburbs you know - Virginia? I consider Louisville southern, with Midwestern influences as well. No big deal - border regions are going to have influences from both sides, though not always significant.

AREED!

[Ian604]

I think of Louisville as Southern with a hint of midwest, but the further west you go in Kentucky it seems it picks up more of a midwestern feel. Lexington and Central Kentucky feel Southern but Covington and other parts of Northern Kentucky feel like small town New England to me. Weird differences for towns that are within an hour from one another.

[Soulbrotha]

because i put the threads there maybe? fact is, there isn't any set rule somewhere that says Louisville is southern or midwestern. If yo ugo to google and type in "louisville midwestern" or "Louisville Southern" you'd get a lot of people who think the city both of those things.

[card04]

If Cincinnati and Nashville had a baby, they would probably name it Louisville. The city is a mix of both regions, I would say it leans more toward the south, but you can't deny the heavy midwest influence.

[Soulbrotha]

if the line between the midwest and the south is really a few steps across the kennedy bridge....then god damn i have to say that is the biggest bunch of bologna ever created. Its more than just the fact that a city is on one side of the ohio river or not. Its the culture as well. And if you've never been to Louisville and only judge based on where you see it on a map, and not the culture, then you should sit back and be quite.

[louisville playa]

Originally Posted by Ian604

I think of Louisville as Southern with a hint of midwest, but the further west you go in Kentucky it seems it picks up more of a midwestern feel. Lexington and Central Kentucky feel Southern but Covington and other parts of Northern Kentucky feel like small town New England to me. Weird differences for towns that are within an hour from one another.

Honestly I think that Western Kentucky boardering Illinois and Missouri is as Southern to the bone.
Lexington and Central Kentucky are the heart of the Bluegrass and is most definantly Southern. Now once you get into the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area it sort of turns into a hybrid of Southern and Midwestern. I wouldn't characterize Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati as entirely Midwestern, because residents in Northern Ohio refer to that region as Cincinatucky (another word for Southern belles).

[louisville playa]

I think that the Southern/Midwestern boundary extends across the river into Southern Indiana. Southern Indiana basically get's their identity from us.
Most language dialects maps that don't stop at state boundaries include Southern Indiana, Illinios, and Missouri in with the South. There is also a map of the country that divides the regions each by how each county pronounces Coke, and Louisville along with Southern Indiana are shaded in red along with the rest of the South. If I have enough time I'll try to pull it up.