Yankees transplanted to the South?
 

I am considering moving my family (wife and 3 boys: 2, 6 and 9) from Chicago to Alabama. We love Chicago, but the house we have here is getting smaller around us every day. On a road trip to Gulf Shores this summer, we picked up a real estate guide and were floored by what our equity could buy us near Birmingham. We've been talking about moving somewhere warmer for a couple of years now.....Chicago winters SUCK! And as much as I love the city, I don't want to live here forever. It's only gonna get harder (emotionally) to move the boys as they get closer to high school.

I lived in S. Carolina for 5 years, bartending, after college. I loved it, but I was in my 20's and drunk 80% of the time. Different world now. I remember some (usually) good-natured ribbing down there:

Q: difference between a Yankee & a god-damned Yankee?

A: a Yankee comes to the south, a god-damned Yankee never leaves.

......but there was some serious animosity from some of the real crackers. Can't deny the remnants of bullshit racism down there, but I know racist assholes here, too.

Obviously a huge decision. I see great discussions all over this board, so I'm throwin' out to you TFP'ers:

Have you:


-moved south?

-had a Yankee move into your neighborhood?

-moved your family somewhere far away & had good/bad experiences you will share with the class?

Hey jimk, Alabama is our home so if you need/want advice/info we'll help in anyway we can.

Transplants from Northern states (Yankees) moving into the neighborhood? My sister-in-law is from Indiana, and she gets extremely upset at being referred to as a Yankee. So, I try not to use that term. Maybe she is ultra sensitive? She has made me hesitant to say, Yankee.

There have been many TFNS over the years such as the couple down the street who brought soccer to our hometown. I've always hated soccer, and I still hate it. I blame this couple, but in a very humorous way.

And then there are the TFNS who move in and tell us that the way we live is wrong, how we do things is wrong, how we speak and interact is wrong, and basically that we could improve our lives by changing the way we do everything. We love hearing about your life, where you've traveled and lived, but don't start out telling us how to do things better. Get to know us first so that we feel more comfortable calling your advice BS.

A couple I knew from Chicago had difficulty as they shopped when asking questions of shopowners, etc. The answer might be "We sure don't" and the female half of this couple would get upset because when she heard "We sure" she assumed a positive response to her question before hearing the "don't" part of it. She hated this, but it's something I've heard all my life and I had never thought about it from her perspective. (They lasted a mere three years)

Basically, most of us love the TFNS. I love meeting people who move here from other parts of the country. I always want to find out why they decided to move here, answer any questions they may have and find out what brought them to this part of the South. My best friends are not native to the south. They are from Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, and other places.

All of that stuff about "Southerners hating Yankees" is mostly BS. I said most. There are exceptions everywhere.

Let us know if we can help in any way.

Yeah, what Grancey said. That.

My brother lives in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover, but he's a bum, so stay away from him. He's a nice guy, but he's a bum. Both of my sisters have also lived in Birmingham suburbs (Vestavia and Irondale), and Grancey lived in Vestavia for a year while we dated.

Most southerners are deeply curious about transplants, and once we get to know you, we love hearing all about your travels and experiences. We are usually voracious about learning from other people from other places with a few caveats.

First, we will always remain fiercely proud of our home area, and we basically want to hear you say that, too. Although we love learning about other places, we ultimately want to hear you say that the South is the best place you ever lived, and we will practically kill you with kindness until we get you to say it. So get ready for that. Secondly, we tend to adopt new cultural trends at a leisurely pace so that everybody can get on board. Therefore, don't expect people to be ready to dive off into new and exciting ways of changing their lives, no matter how practical and logical your suggestions might be. There's a reason people make fun of us for moving slowly.

Here are some things you might be used to in Chicago that you will not find in Birmingham:
- a liquor store that will deliver at 10 in the morning
- quality pizza
- four distinct seasons each year
- a white Christmas

If there is anything Grancey or I can do to help out, be sure to let us know!

EDIT: I forgot to add a word or two about something called "The Bread Phenomenon." If ANY inclement weather is forecast (snow, hurricane, tornado, etc.), every single grocery store in your town will be emptied of all bread products. I've never understood this, but it's true. At most, a Birmingham snowfall will result in about half a day's displacement, but JUST IN CASE - every single loaf of bread in town will be hoarded. It's the damndest thing.

That's not just Southern, it happens in New England as well. We always joke "Snow's coming! Run! Buy bread! And milk! And eggs! And firewood! We need french toast in the fireplace!"

I could rationalize that for New England, where you might get socked in for a couple of days. But in Alabama? MAYBE we'd be displaced from breakfast until lunch, when the sun came out. By 2PM, everything would be melted, and each household would have 6 loaves of bread still left over.

Mmmmm...bread. I'm hungry.

I'm in TX. Not quite the same, but similar. Born and raised here.

^^ They're right, btw. ^^

before you consider moving, make sure you do research on the schools that your children may be attending. That's a deal maker/breaker for me.

Weather wise, it depends on you and which is worse, the cold winters or the heat and humidity. I'll take the cold.

that's all I'll say so I don't derail the thread with my hate for the south

Move down south and get homes for $60 per square feet. Sell your house and move into a mansion!!!!!! I love watching HGTV and seeing how a 2,000 square feet house is $400,000 in the northern cities and $120,000 down here. Well guess what, cash works up there and down here, so sell and reap the rewards.

BTW most of my close friends are from the north. They fit in fine down here in NC.

where are you finding homes for $60/sq.ft.? In my area they are about $110-$120 sq. ft.

It totally depends on where you move in the south. I've lived in small towns in the south and large cities in the south and, as far as I'm concerned, the more metropolitan the area the better...especially if you have kids.

oh, and down here in S Florida, the yankees outnumber the natives by a very wide margin. :lol:

The higher amount is the special "I hate the South" rate.

The Yankees ARE the natives in S. Florida. My great-great grand-daddy, Maj. Beauregard T. Warrrreagl, was in charge of keeping the Yankees out of South Florida during the Civil War, and I think he may have slipped up.

ahh it all makes sense now.

guess my friends who were born here are guilty by association eh? ;)

I bought my house for $57 sq ft. just 10 miles north of Winston-Salem, NC. That was before the economy went to the shitter too.

damn. everywhere close to Raleigh is at least double that price. Hell even in smaller towns closer to Greenville, they are about $100/sq. ft.

/threadjack.

thanks, for the input, especially from the Alabamans. I'm sure I will have more questions for y'all when/if the move gets closer.

Ask away. And congratulations on passing your first test - you used "y'all" correctly. "Y'all" is NEVER singular. It is always plural. And oddly enough, there is a superlative plural for "y'all," which we use when we need to refer to a group of people that is a bunch more than "y'all."

"All y'all."

To all the Yankees that moved down south:


Thank you for the pizza, the delicatessens, and the cheese steaks. I sure do appreciate them all. Keep moving down, but don't forget to bring food.

Being from Atlanta (only 100 miles from Birmingham mind you!) usually the term Yankee is viewed as derogative. I don't think y'all (note this word!) would get any negatives for being from Chicago. Gulf Shores is gorgeous. Hope you guys get down here soon!

Another thing I guess I should have mentioned.....Southerners don't take kindly to strangers breaking into their homes, especially if the intruder is a Yankee.

I was born and raised in Wisconsin. When I lived in Atlanta, I self-identified as a Yankee. When I later lived in Boston, I realized that I was not a Yankee. I'm a midwesterner.

I didn't experience any significant "culture shock" living in Atlanta, but Atlanta may be different from other parts of the South.