I love the North - do you? What do you love about the north?

Anyone else?

Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts....What wonderful places. The cities, the countryside, all so beautiful.

One of the things I love most is how traitorous symbols are not part of our states' flags.

On edit - Please add what you love about the north!

:P

I'm staying by the beautiful inland seas.

Fresh water and four seasons.

I have also noticed, having lived in New York, Illinois and Louisiana in addition to Maryland, that in the north they'll stab you in the front, in the south, they'll stab you in the back and in the midwest you won't get stabbed so much as you'll get ignored until you go away......

and seeing college after college without the words "Christian Bible" in their name.


the signs "thickly settled" on the road right before you hit a town of 2,000

NO KUDZU


Moose!!!

Delaware, New Hampshire specifically celebrate the American Revolution, which was an act of treason according to the British.

Oh, and I like the change of seasons (although I hate the winter), and enjoy the fact that shit is pronounced with 1 syllable.

unlike that awful piece of "history" down south...

The colonies certainly were treasonous to the America that was owned and governed by Britain.

The British broke the Social contract with the colonies.

Either way, the score is:

MA-treasonous once to a foreign imperial rulers

SC-treasonous twice, to the same foreign rulers AND to the USA

of Independence.

:bounce:

which are below the Mason Dixon are very blue

We got Kennedy, we got Kerry (Romney was a mistake-won't get re-elected)
AND

the Red Sox, and the Patriots

Boston is a great city, Cape Cod is beautiful, so are the Berkshire mountains

diverse, tolerant, well educated -I love it here

:D

I love my state. Education, literacy, and employment rates are higher. Divorce, abuse, and violence rates are lower. Good schools, good environmental and social programs. My city has a big ol' skyline and also natural waterfalls and woodlands all in the same city limits.

but mostly because it's not the South.

not to mention Africanized honey bees, brown recluse spiders, alligators, crocodiles, water moccasins, coral snakes, or chiggers.

i can have mnay many wool sweaters that i can also knit.
even if you have to wear 7 layers, as far as you can go in summer is naked.
the great lakes.
snow. as long as it disappears by april.

I love the winters because they are hard and cruel. Enduring them buys you the right to wallow in spring and summer.

I love the way the color green erupts across the landscape after the winters.

I love the fall more than anything, the smells and the colors and the sense of muted melancholy and introspection that comes with having the unstoppable passage of time displayed in grandeur all around you.

I love the change of seasons, because they help mark that passage of time and give you the chance to reassess who you are and where you are going. When I lived in San Francisco, the seasons were 'Wet' and 'Dry,' and time became a blur.

I loved the sense of grim determination and futile hope that came with being a New England sports fan. Now, I love the fact that this phase has ended. I loved going to four championship parades since 2001. So sue me. :)

I love the drivers. Being on the road up her is an exercise in accelerated Darwinism. Only the strong survive.

I love the schools and the hospitals and the architecture and the incredible amount of history. If you go out West, historic buildings are stamped '1974' unless they were built by Native Americans. The Army of the Potomac unfortunately burned a lot of the older buildings in the South. Here, you can stand where Ben Franklin once stood, and then go lay a flower on his grave.

Etc.

with the exception of sports, nobody can beat NY for sports :P. I must say Will you have quite a way with words!

of course you have to give consideration to the original inhabitants of this continent, which is often overlooked.

I did.

but there are also Spanish Missions out there that are older than anything in New England.

Mount Vernon, Monticello, the Governor's mansion, the building housing the Virginia Legislature, Gunston Hall, the James River plantations, Gatsby's Tavern and many other historical buildings are still here in Virginia.

etc.

I know.

:)

I have never lived in the south, so I don't have much to compare it to.

get downright sick of hearing about it.

Part of it is that I moved away 4½ years ago and I'm pining for home. I get homesick a lot.

the condescending smugness of Northerners who seem as eager to continue the Civil War as ther benighted redneck counterparts in the South. Warms the cockles of my heart, it does. (And this from someone who doesn't consider himself a Southerner in anything other than geography and is no fan of the Confederate flag or what it represents.)

That I wonder why Northerners waste so much energy slamming the South?

Expected low/high temperatures for the next few days--50's thru 70's. And sunny here in Houston.

Texas chauvinism prevented any defacement of our Lone Star Flag.

not once, but twice?

chauvinism is one word for it..

get over it. Jesus. Have to keep fanning the flames of stupid sectionalism, eh?

(And, for the record, I live in Georgia, but most of my family were Unionists...Maryland and Kentucky.)

if, of course, one is offended by the confed flag...

Surely, it can't be that bad.

Someone posted "I love the SOuth", and the thread got a lot of responses, of which 95% were complimentary. I guess that's OK, but it's NOT OK to love the North?

:wtf:

are not part of our states' flags" per the OP. He used the Civil War as his reason for loving the North. He also used the word "beautiful" but didn't give any details.

I was born in the North & have enjoyed every chance I had to return. I could write a much better essay than the OP on good things the North has to offer. A few posters here have added reasons they love the North but far too many have just slammed the South.

Lack of imagination, no gift for words. The North can't be THAT bad!

there's no reason for slamming any region.

Intellectual center of the US is in the Northeast, the center of culture and arts.

it's not the south.

New York has always been my home with the exception of 2 years in Florida, which I hated with a passion. I'm going to die here, I'll never move again. I live right on the shores of Lake Ontario. I'm close to Canada, in case things get to screwed up here, in 2 hours I'm in a sane country.

That's the north for me. Love it!

I've been living in Florida for the past three years. I had lived in Maine my entire life before moving to Florida. Florida's winter weather is sweet, but there are so many more things I like about New England (in particular Maine).

1. My family lives in Maine and I grew up there. I also have lots of friends there too.
2. I love the mountains and all the nice state parks in New England. Florida's landscape is so flat and boring.
3. I miss autumn. I like the cool weather and the leaves changing.
Halloween isn't too much fun when it's 90 degrees outside. Who wants to wear a costume in that weather?
4. There are far more liberal minded people in New England than there are in Florida.
5. You don't have to worry about hurricanes (not much anyhow) and sink holes in New England.
6. The crime rate in Maine is very low. There are too many violent, stupid crimes that happen here in Florida.
7. Public schools are much better in the north east. Some of the worst schools in New England are probably comparable to some of the better schools in the south in terms of what the students learn.
8. New England states tend to have better government run social programs and better laws than southern states.
9. Some of the best colleges and universities are located in New England.
10. Population density in Maine is pretty small. It's nice not having to live so close to your neighbors.
11. I miss recycling. In Maine, people would recycle just about everything. In Florida' most people don't recycle anything. They don't have any programs in Florida to encourage people reuse and recycle. There are no bottle deposits and groceries won't give you a discount for reusing bags. My apartment complex only has a dumpster (no recycling bins).
12. Another thing I miss about Maine is the lack of billboards, since they are illegal. Billboards are so ugly.
13. I also miss all the trees. There are tons of trees in Maine, but not very many in Florida. Palm trees are dumb since most of them don't provide any shade.
14. I'm sure I'm leaving many things out. I'm just glad we will be moving back to the New England area in a few months.

it's been awful

"Public schools are much better in the north east. Some of the worst schools in New England are probably comparable to some of the better schools in the south in terms of what the students learn."

My friend moved to Fort Lauderdale to teach in 1999, and prior to that he taught 4th grade in two Massachusetts public schools: one affluent (Needham) and one poor (Lowell). He said that the schools in Florida are appalling. Lack of resources, the curriculum in some cases is a year or two behind Mass. His school was forced by the district to buy useless educational software from Jeb Bush's borther's company. Unreal.

dontchknow....

What I like about the North:

1. Almost everything about New York City
2. Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
3. Pennsylvanians (you treated Hubby and I well when we lived there)
4. It's a Democratic enclave
5. People "up North" who think my accent is "charming" ;)
6. Pizza made by real Italians, and Philly cheesesteaks made by
real Philadelphians
7. The meat from a fresh Maine lobster dipped into drawn butter
8. The refreshing candor of Northerners (you don't mince words,
that's for sure!)
9. The Alleghenies, the Adirondacks and Niagara Falls
10. Strigent historic preservation ordinances
11. You REALLY know how to clean off snow/ice on highways!

What I DON'T care for:

1. The snow - it's too damn cold up there
2. The mold and spore problem in the Harrisburg, PA area
3. The stereotypes of Southerners: I don't like being referred to
as a "traitor", or that we're all ignorant, cousin-marrying,
dirt-eating, African-American-lynching, Stars-and-Bars-waving,
religious zealots. You'd be surprised how many of us have
ACTUALLY metriculated, and are decent human beings. And BTW:
The North isn't completely devoid of Confederate flag-wavers or
bigots
4. The unemployment
5. The landscape of Northern New Jersey
6. Shoofly pie - YEECH!
7. No decent barbeque
8. YES - Some citizens in the North ARE ill-mannered
9. That ole Yankee arrogance (you're good at many things, but not
EVERYTHING)

Not all the North is bad shape employment wise. The NorthEast has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

the unemployment rate was hovering around six percent (compared with about three percent here in Virginia).

I know that figure has dropped since then, something I'm very pleased about. Knowing Ed Rendell, he's undoubtedly doing everything he can to market that state and encourage business development in PA.

Really, there's nothing about the South™ that appeals to me except maybe a few cute guys and loyal Democrats™ :P

That do not involve slamming the South. Come on, Chicago is a great city. (Although I've not heard much good about rural Illinois.)

love the lakefront, love the huge cities, culture, history, food, it's all good!

Southern Illinois is also good, used to go there a few times a year. I'd love to own some property down there someday, like a small farm. :)

but all the crappy snow and ice and wind hasn't made me want to move yet.

I love that you can drive for just a few hours and see 5 different states (or more!) Here the closest thing that not Texas is Mexico, and that's at least 4 hours away. The nearest state? At least 5.

I like the pretty falls. Here in Texas, spring is the pretty season.

You couldn't pay me to move away from the best schools, world class restaurants, gorgeous beaches, awesome skiing, fall foliage, excellent museums, beautiful architecture, top notch public transportation, and history around every corner.

And if you want physical beauty, New England has plenty of it!

--checking my garden on a cold day in March and seeing the brave daffodils peeking their heads through the snow.

--driving through the Fort Pitt tunnels on the way home from the airport at night...you burst through the exit of the tunnel and the spectacular Pittsburgh skyline RUSHES at you. It is breathtaking.

--a clear blue sky on a fall day contrasted with the scarlet, gold, burgundy, and orange of the trees. The wind is very light and the sun sufficiently warm. If only we could bottle the scent of such a day.

--the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and you know that is has snowed by how quiet and peaceful the world is. All sound is muffled.

Followed closely by the intellectually and morally superior people up there. I only wish that they could teach us Southerners something about tolerance, respecting people's differences and the importance of not making gross generalizations.

but not "I love the North".

I do agree that there are some UGLY comments on this thread, but I hear a lot of trash talking about Northeast elitists too.

A thread called "I love the North" doesn't have to be a slam on the South. The majority of comments aren't South-bashing. The few that are should be deleted. And the comment about traitorous symbols is true, but he didn't have to mention it.

some of the Southbashing here, true, but more in response to a contemporaneous thread in GD (now mercifully locked):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3250211

I see what you mean.

thanks for both directing me to the "I love the South" thread, which I had missed, AND for your nice comments in that thread.

believe me, we're getting our comeuppance after the last election, being labeled 'elitists' etc. Now the shoe's on the other foot, and it's not fun.

Especially at Christmas time. And I love Washington, DC, but that's almost not North, right? Otherwise, I'm a true-BLUE Southerner. We aren't all ignorant bullyboy yahoos, you know.

I'd like it a little better if I didn't live in what is probably one of the top five most conservative/republican counties in the nation...

Well, my house is in the north. So, it's REALLY close to my house.

Really, i like fall. But, some of the midsouth has great autumn and fewer leaves to rake, since more stay on the trees year round. (Smokey Mountains in the fall are really cool.) Winters, not so much. But, fall is cool 'round here.
The Professor