State rivalries

[JayhawkCO]

Maine and Massachusetts also.  You can hear the term Masshole quite often in the summertime.

Chris

[Max Rockatansky]

I thought people from Washington State and Oregon hated California. And I can confirm Mississippi is definitely losing the Louisiana and Alabama rivalries.

A lot of California hates California.  There is a massive disconnect between the following regions:

-  Los Angeles-Inland Empire
-  Greater San Diego
-  The Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert and Eastern Sierras
-  The Central Valley
-  The San Francisco Bay Area
-  The Sierra Nevada Foothills
-  The so called State of Jefferson

The difference between urban and rural lifestyles in California in my observation is one of the most pronounced in the country. 

[SP Cook]

WV - VA is not a thing.  WV anyplace is really not a thing, main reason is, similar to the CA discussion above, the various parts of WV are MUCH more like the state they border upon, than like one another.

[Dirt Roads]

WV - VA is not a thing.  WV anyplace is really not a thing, main reason is, similar to the CA discussion above, the various parts of WV are MUCH more like the state they border upon, than like one another.

Agreed, West Virginia versus Virginia was settled at the end of the Civil War.  But West Virginia versus Ohio was a big thing in the Charleston/Huntington area.  So much so, that one of the editors of the Charleston Daily Mail evening newspaper ran a Friday editorial with Ohio Jokes, sprinkled with West Virginia Jokes that were sent back by editors of various newspapers in Southeastern and Central Ohio.  Many of the jokes aimed at West Virginia would be considered culturally insensitive today, but they were often so true that we looked forward to seeing ourselves in a comedic light.

[Rothman]

Yeah, WV/OH is definitely a rivalry.  Been hearing jokes from my relatives down there for decades.

[US 89]

Georgia probably has a bigger rivalry with Alabama than it does with Florida.

[TXtoNJ]

Texas vs. every single one of its neighbors, Colorado, California.

Texans are a contentious people.

[JayhawkCO]

Texas vs. every single one of its neighbors, Colorado, California.

Texans are a contentious people.

No one in Colorado cares about Texas other than their drivers.  I wouldn't say Colorado has a rival state at all, but if I had to pick one, probably California.

Chris

[Takumi]

WV - VA is not a thing.  WV anyplace is really not a thing, main reason is, similar to the CA discussion above, the various parts of WV are MUCH more like the state they border upon, than like one another.

Virginia doesn’t really have a rival state either. Nova might have a rivalry with Maryland, but in redder parts of the state Nova is thought of pretty much as Maryland.

North Carolina beach towns sell some stickers that are a parody of the “Virginia is for lovers” logo that says “Virginia has no waves” but other than that the states don’t really have a rivalry other than who resents the northerners moving to them more. (Tongue firmly in cheek.)

Virginia’s main rival is itself, I think.

[JayhawkCO]

I think if I were coming up with a list, it would probably be:

Washington vs. Oregon
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
Kansas vs. Missouri
Massachusetts vs. Maine
Florida vs. Georgia
North Dakota vs. South Dakota
Ohio vs. Michigan
New York vs. New Jersey
California vs. Most Everyone

Chris

[CoreySamson]

Texas vs. every single one of its neighbors, Colorado, California.

Texans are a contentious people.

I disagree. Texas's big rivals are California and Oklahoma (maybe). Texas gets along well with Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico, and while we have a sense of state pride, I wouldn't describe Texans as contentious.

[Dirt Roads]

WV - VA is not a thing.  WV anyplace is really not a thing, main reason is, similar to the CA discussion above, the various parts of WV are MUCH more like the state they border upon, than like one another.

Virginia doesn't really have a rival state either. Nova might have a rivalry with Maryland, but in redder parts of the state Nova is thought of pretty much as Maryland.

North Carolina beach towns sell some stickers that are a parody of the "Virginia is for lovers"  logo that says "Virginia has no waves"  but other than that the states don't really have a rivalry other than who resents the northerners moving to them more. (Tongue firmly in cheek.)

Virginia's main rival is itself, I think.

Ah, but here.  "North Carolina is a vale of humility between two mountains of conceit [Virginia and South Carolina]".

That quote is not how the statement was originally presented, but it has been handed down for several generations.  Dr. William S. Powell, the de facto chief historian for North Carolina, has an interesting statement about how this rivalry got its start in NCPedia:  https://www.ncpedia.org/vale-humility-between-two-mountains

[TXtoNJ]

Texas vs. every single one of its neighbors, Colorado, California.

Texans are a contentious people.

I disagree. Texas's big rivals are California and Oklahoma (maybe). Texas gets along well with Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico, and while we have a sense of state pride, I wouldn't describe Texans as contentious.

Yeah I don't agree with that. People in those three states think Texans are stuck up, and in the case of NM, always at risk of conquering/buying half the state. They sure do like the money Texans bring in though.

[oscar]

Another thing that unites them is antipathy for the mainland states in general, though Alaskans' feelings about "Outside" are stronger than anything in Hawaii.

Interesting. In what ways are the Alaskans' stronger? During the Olympics it probably came to a lot of people's attention that there's a growing number of people in Hawaii who have started to see themselves as Hawaiians first before Americans. I'm guessing Alaska Natives have some similar feelings as native Hawaiians, but do the white American population in Alaska have a similar distaste for the mainland?

The Hawaiian sovereignty movement draws on the state's origins as an independent monarchy, which was overthrown by mainland business interests. The Alaska natives never had that level of self-rule.

The Alaskan independence movement (more of a joke than Hawaii's) is mainly a white people thing, an amped-up version of the resentments common in western states about Federal control over land use and resource extraction.

[Rothman]

I think if I were coming up with a list, it would probably be:

Washington vs. Oregon
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
Kansas vs. Missouri
Massachusetts vs. Maine
Florida vs. Georgia
North Dakota vs. South Dakota
Ohio vs. Michigan
New York vs. New Jersey
California vs. Most Everyone

Chris

MA vs. ME seems one-directional to me, though -- Mainards complaining about MA.  MA vs. NY is much more palpable to me.

[formulanone]

Georgia probably has a bigger rivalry with Alabama than it does with Florida.

Florida's rivalry with Georgia seems to only come up for one college football game every year, and that's about it. Much of northeastern and "North Central Florida" is pretty much southern Georgia, anyhow. The western Panhandle is more synonymous with southern Alabama, and the rest is just compared to wherever the transplants and snowbirds came from. I haven't met large swaths of Florida Panhandle denizens who are still bitter about West Florida going to their respective territories and eventually, states!

Florida and New York/Jersey comes up a somewhat in southeastern and central Florida, but not so much as a rivalry (except in the AFC East), but more of a "this is how we did it there" kind of thing. It got a little grating after a while, but mention the lack of snow, year-round beaches, and lower taxes/prices, and they'd usually pause the argument for another day.

Florida Man tends to nullify rivalries, whether the incident was real or not. 

[Henry]

It isn't statewide, but there's definitely a Chicago versus New York City thing.

Also, Los Angeles vs. New York.

As for states, I'd say it's CA vs. everybody else because of how they like to do things differently (road signs being the primary example). Back home in IL, I'd also say IN is another rival, particularly because where they meet Lake Michigan, they share the Chicago area. And then you have Super Bowl XLI between the Colts and Bears, which produced the first of Peyton Manning's two rings (not to mention Bulls vs. Pacers in the NBA).

[webny99]

MA vs. ME seems one-directional to me, though -- Mainards complaining about MA.  MA vs. NY is much more palpable to me.

.. although as I mentioned, MA vs. NY is really just code for Boston vs. NYC.

[Max Rockatansky]

It isn't statewide, but there's definitely a Chicago versus New York City thing.

Also, Los Angeles vs. New York.

As for states, I'd say it's CA vs. everybody else because of how they like to do things differently (road signs being the primary example). Back home in IL, I'd also say IN is another rival, particularly because where they meet Lake Michigan, they share the Chicago area. And then you have Super Bowl XLI between the Colts and Bears, which produced the first of Peyton Manning's two rings (not to mention Bulls vs. Pacers in the NBA).

The amusing part I've always found is that most of the country seems to believe that the entirety of California is like the Bay Area or Los Angeles.  Much of the state more resembles rural Arizona, Oregon and even in Nebraska in character.   

[thspfc]

I think if I were coming up with a list, it would probably be:

Washington vs. Oregon
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
Kansas vs. Missouri
Massachusetts vs. Maine
Florida vs. Georgia
North Dakota vs. South Dakota
Ohio vs. Michigan
New York vs. New Jersey
California vs. Most Everyone

Chris

Wisconsin vs Illinois is a much bigger rivalry than Wisconsin vs Minnesota. WI and MN is more of a "friendly rivalry"  while WI and IL is legitimate.

[jeffandnicole]

There's a small rivalry with NJ and Delaware.  And unfortunately, Delaware will win most of them.  Since the border of Delaware encompasses the entire Delaware River up to the high tide on the NJ side, if any NJ town wants to do anything over the water - a pier, a beach, whatever - Delaware is going to need to approve the plan.  And most often, they don't.

On the other hand, NJ does have an interesting Twitter account that often will treat Delaware like a little child, which they have some fun with.

[kphoger]

Wisconsin vs Illinois is a much bigger rivalry than Wisconsin vs Minnesota. WI and MN is more of a "friendly rivalry"  while WI and IL is legitimate.

I'm curious to know how far south into Illinois that exists.

[JayhawkCO]

Wisconsin vs Illinois is a much bigger rivalry than Wisconsin vs Minnesota. WI and MN is more of a "friendly rivalry"  while WI and IL is legitimate.

Seems like it might be dependent on which portion of the state as far as Wisconsin was concerned.  Having grown up in the Twin Cities and having lots of relatives from western Wisconsin, we definitely felt it there.  I'm sure Milwaukee/Kenosha/Racine/etc. probably cares more about Illinois.

Chris

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Wisconsin vs Illinois is a much bigger rivalry than Wisconsin vs Minnesota. WI and MN is more of a "friendly rivalry"  while WI and IL is legitimate.

Seems like it might be dependent on which portion of the state as far as Wisconsin was concerned.  Having grown up in the Twin Cities and having lots of relatives from western Wisconsin, we definitely felt it there.  I'm sure Milwaukee/Kenosha/Racine/etc. probably cares more about Illinois.

The line I see occasionally from western WI-ites is "if Minnesota is so great, why do you come to Wisconsin every weekend?"

[Brandon]

Massachusetts's rival is New York. I've never felt any rivalry with the other New England states except maybe Connecticut.

I think a lot of New Hampshire residents hate Massachusetts.

Most people in Massachusetts see New Hampshire as a summer playground or a tax-free shopping place.

Which is probably why NH residents hate them. It's the same thing with Wisconsin and Illinois.

You can probably subdivide some of these. Western WI is a playground for Twin Cities residents, though at least regionally without any of the notoriety of the FIBs.

Illinois have plates are liked for the money they bring in, but most Wisconsinites and Michiganders could do without the attitude and crappy driving habits.