South's identity gone like the wind

[Johnboy60]

Under cultural assault, the region is losing its distinctive character

CARY, N.C. — The joke around here is that this town's name is really an acronym for "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees."

As far as Vernon Yates is concerned, they haven't been contained well enough.

Nearly surrounded by pricey subdivisions, the cinderblock Yates Grocery and Farm Supply sells neither anymore. As if things weren't bad enough, style maven Martha Stewart has chosen this Raleigh suburb for a signature neighborhood of houses inspired by her homes in Maine and New York.

Holding court near a potbellied stove, the 69-year-old man in the suspenders and NASCAR shirt laments that his old customers have been replaced by fast-talking, SUV-driving Northerners who don't seem to be able to read a stop sign.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051125/NEWS08/511250401

 

[Pentecostal Boy]

wha?

 

[Heiroglyph]

We won the war, and to the victor goes the spoils!

 

[CaligulaNero]

Oh no! Economic development and people with different backgrounds. I'm a southerner, and I welcome diversity and economic growth.

 

[BarbB]

Wow - Martha must be losing it. She could create a whole new genre of Martha stuff if she would just look around her in North Carolina - one of my favorite states. It's got plenty of great architecture with local color.

 

[christalee4]

I think it's less to do with the erosion of Southern culture, and more to do with development. Y'all can't have acres of Super Walmarts and Targets without some kind of impact on the traditional mom and pop stores. The disintegration of the mill industry in the area also contributes to lost jobs - those jobs went overseas to China. It's not Northerners seeking better home and land values, but also a large influx of South, Central Americans and Mexicans providing cheap labor and making their homes in the south. The times, they are a changin'.