3 ms·

An interesting thing is that despite all that, there is still a huge amount of diversity in the US, along many dimensions, based on what I've read in Wikipedia,

by vram22 8y ago

An interesting thing is that despite all that, there is still a huge amount of diversity in the US, along many dimensions, based on what I've read in Wikipedia, for example, about regional US cuisines. The US might be a melting pot, but many of the ingredients in the pot are not quite melted - to coin a phrase :) - and I hope they stay that way.

derekp7 8y ago
More like a tossed salad!
- vram22 8y ago
  Ha, great analogy :)
TulliusCicero 8y ago
I think many tend to exaggerate the level of regional differences in America. Sure, there are some significant differences, but it's nowhere close to the level of difference of going to another country (except Canada). For example, language wise, if someone was raised in the US, I probably can't tell at all where they're from, especially if they're younger and/or college educated. Regional accents are weak as hell in the states, on average. I've lived in several regions in the US and never really got a feeling of being out of place or alien that I get sometimes visiting other countries.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Regional accents are weak as hell in the states, on average. Then you haven't talked to many real locals when you travel. When I talk to my relatives in New York City (real native New Yorkers, not imported midwest poser hipsters), my wife from another part of the country can't understand a word we say. Siri is tuned to some California nuanced accent that means she can't understand my wife at all. I don't know how it understand people from Boston. (Again, real local people from Boston, not the imported flatlanders.) A friend of mine from a major east coast city went through years of training to get rid of his accent. He says it was the key to becoming a success in the radio industry.
  - vpribish 8y ago
    dude, your wife is exaggerating - excluding Gullah I don't think any range of American accents even approaches the mutual unintelligibility on that tiny island we seceded from. I've been from east to west in the US, downeast, new york, boston - these are no problem whatsoever for any Californian or Midwesterner.
reaperducer 8y ago
despite all that, there is still a huge amount of diversity in the US This is true. The more you travel, the more you encounter this. Chili in Cincinnati is not even remotely the same at chili in Houston. (Key ingredients in Houston are meat, chili powder, and tomato paste. Key ingredients in Cincinnati are chocolate, allspice, cinnamon, spaghetti, and cheddar cheese.) Breakfast meat in eastern Pennsylvania is scrapple. In New Jersey it's Taylor ham. In Kentucky it's sausage links. In Iowa, it's bacon. Philadelphia area grocery stores (last time I checked) stock Campbell's Cream of Turtle Soup. That would be unheard of in the rest of the country. There are a lot of people who sit on the internet and whine about how boring life is in America. Life in America is like most other countries — exactly as boring as you make it, or as exciting as you make it. And again, the more you travel, the more you see the diversity of the nation unfold.
- quacked 8y ago
  I dunno. This is a topic I'm pretty passionate about. I'm extremely well-traveled within the US and have a lot of good friends from different states, and the tiny regional differences that you're mentioning are frustratingly bland compared to, say, the cultural differences between northern and southern France. And even there, the relentless pace of branded technology and products is increasing, to the point where in historic Aix-en-Provence, in a famously beautiful town square, there's an entire metallic-and-glass Apple store. It pains me to see the same restaurants, architecture, road signs, vehicles, etc- because they're all slowly becoming the same, when they used to be so different. Houston, where I live, is a desert of strip malls, and the only reason you can tell it's Texas is because it's hot and sunny. Take away the sky and I could be in the same parking lot in any state in the US. Going to the "historic" neighborhoods of cities or the national/state parks and wilderness areas are really the only way to truly get a feel for the vastness and diversity of the US, and it didn't use to be that way.
  - pixl97 8y ago
    >because they're all slowly becoming the same, when they used to be so different. Welcome to the modern world. This will eventually happen everywhere. It's easy for places to be different when they were separated by days or weeks of travel time. Now ideas can be transferred in seconds and the entire US can be traversed in days. Regional factories used to supply the area around them. Now one part made in China can be supplied anywhere on the planet. The past was like the past because of logistics. The future is looking much different.

by vram22 8y ago

derekp7 8y ago

More like a tossed salad!

vram22 8y ago
Ha, great analogy :)

TulliusCicero 8y ago

I think many tend to exaggerate the level of regional differences in America. Sure, there are some significant differences, but it's nowhere close to the level of difference of going to another country (except Canada). For example, language wise, if someone was raised in the US, I probably can't tell at all where they're from, especially if they're younger and/or college educated. Regional accents are weak as hell in the states, on average. I've lived in several regions in the US and never really got a feeling of being out of place or alien that I get sometimes visiting other countries.

reaperducer 8y ago
Regional accents are weak as hell in the states, on average. Then you haven't talked to many real locals when you travel. When I talk to my relatives in New York City (real native New Yorkers, not imported midwest poser hipsters), my wife from another part of the country can't understand a word we say. Siri is tuned to some California nuanced accent that means she can't understand my wife at all. I don't know how it understand people from Boston. (Again, real local people from Boston, not the imported flatlanders.) A friend of mine from a major east coast city went through years of training to get rid of his accent. He says it was the key to becoming a success in the radio industry.
- vpribish 8y ago
  dude, your wife is exaggerating - excluding Gullah I don't think any range of American accents even approaches the mutual unintelligibility on that tiny island we seceded from. I've been from east to west in the US, downeast, new york, boston - these are no problem whatsoever for any Californian or Midwesterner.

reaperducer 8y ago

despite all that, there is still a huge amount of diversity in the US This is true. The more you travel, the more you encounter this. Chili in Cincinnati is not even remotely the same at chili in Houston. (Key ingredients in Houston are meat, chili powder, and tomato paste. Key ingredients in Cincinnati are chocolate, allspice, cinnamon, spaghetti, and cheddar cheese.) Breakfast meat in eastern Pennsylvania is scrapple. In New Jersey it's Taylor ham. In Kentucky it's sausage links. In Iowa, it's bacon. Philadelphia area grocery stores (last time I checked) stock Campbell's Cream of Turtle Soup. That would be unheard of in the rest of the country. There are a lot of people who sit on the internet and whine about how boring life is in America. Life in America is like most other countries — exactly as boring as you make it, or as exciting as you make it. And again, the more you travel, the more you see the diversity of the nation unfold.

quacked 8y ago
I dunno. This is a topic I'm pretty passionate about. I'm extremely well-traveled within the US and have a lot of good friends from different states, and the tiny regional differences that you're mentioning are frustratingly bland compared to, say, the cultural differences between northern and southern France. And even there, the relentless pace of branded technology and products is increasing, to the point where in historic Aix-en-Provence, in a famously beautiful town square, there's an entire metallic-and-glass Apple store. It pains me to see the same restaurants, architecture, road signs, vehicles, etc- because they're all slowly becoming the same, when they used to be so different. Houston, where I live, is a desert of strip malls, and the only reason you can tell it's Texas is because it's hot and sunny. Take away the sky and I could be in the same parking lot in any state in the US. Going to the "historic" neighborhoods of cities or the national/state parks and wilderness areas are really the only way to truly get a feel for the vastness and diversity of the US, and it didn't use to be that way.
- pixl97 8y ago
  >because they're all slowly becoming the same, when they used to be so different. Welcome to the modern world. This will eventually happen everywhere. It's easy for places to be different when they were separated by days or weeks of travel time. Now ideas can be transferred in seconds and the entire US can be traversed in days. Regional factories used to supply the area around them. Now one part made in China can be supplied anywhere on the planet. The past was like the past because of logistics. The future is looking much different.