AARoads Forum

I've heard that in Kentucky, many people are particularly proud of whatever county they live in, to a greater extent than is true of most other states. Are there any other states that, in your opinion or experience, have a similar amount of "county pride" among their residents? I think that phenomenon is also somewhat prevalent in West Virginia. (Perhaps it's largely an Appalachian thing - maybe HB Elkins can verify.) Anyway, what do you think?

Quote from: KCRoadFan on February 13, 2023, 10:19:37 PM
I've heard that in Kentucky, many people are particularly proud of whatever county they live in, to a greater extent than is true of most other states. Are there any other states that, in your opinion or experience, have a similar amount of "county pride" among their residents? I think that phenomenon is also somewhat prevalent in West Virginia. (Perhaps it's largely an Appalachian thing - maybe HB Elkins can verify.) Anyway, what do you think?

Mostly in the South in my experience.  Not sure how many Georgians refer to their county as their place of residence, but I've heard it from a few people down there.

My mother grew up in KY and always said she was from Floyd County to other Kentuckians.

This happens a lot on the Kansas side of your (OP's) own metro area–Wyandotte and Johnson counties can't stand each other. My Wyandotte County grandma has an entire repertoire of Johnson County jokes. (Most of them aren't very good.)

Quote from: Scott5114 on February 13, 2023, 11:17:09 PM
This happens a lot on the Kansas side of your (OP's) own metro area–Wyandotte and Johnson counties can't stand each other.

I can attest to that.

Quote from: KCRoadFan on February 13, 2023, 10:19:37 PM
I've heard that in Kentucky, many people are particularly proud of whatever county they live in, to a greater extent than is true of most other states. Are there any other states that, in your opinion or experience, have a similar amount of "county pride" among their residents? I think that phenomenon is also somewhat prevalent in West Virginia. (Perhaps it's largely an Appalachian thing - maybe HB Elkins can verify.) Anyway, what do you think?

Can confirm. Even before reading the first post, and seeing only the thread title, I knew I was going to mention Kentucky.

Depending on the county in California it definitely is a thing.  The counties that hit the Sierra Nevada Mountains have a lot of older communities which date back to the Gold Rush.  For some reason normals are enamored with Orange County. 

I think we kind of do this in Texas to a degree. We definitely have pride in our cities–I suppose counties also get that same pride. Actually in Houston it's more pronounced with neighborhoods.
"Aldine, alief, magnolia park"  are a few.

Based on my experience, outside of the New York City area and maybe Long Island, a lot of people in NY couldn't give less of a shit what county they're from. Some rural/upstate counties might be exceptions though.

Quote from: interstatefan990 on February 14, 2023, 01:00:06 AM
Based on my experience, outside of the New York City area and maybe Long Island, a lot of people in NY couldn't give less of a shit what county they're from. Some rural/upstate counties might be exceptions though.

It's very rare for me to hear about NY counties outside the context of my job.

Quote from: KCRoadFan on February 13, 2023, 10:19:37 PM
I've heard that in Kentucky, many people are particularly proud of whatever county they live in, to a greater extent than is true of most other states. Are there any other states that, in your opinion or experience, have a similar amount of "county pride" among their residents? I think that phenomenon is also somewhat prevalent in West Virginia. (Perhaps it's largely an Appalachian thing - maybe HB Elkins can verify.) Anyway, what do you think?

Quote from: hbelkins on February 13, 2023, 11:24:49 PM
Can confirm. Even before reading the first post, and seeing only the thread title, I knew I was going to mention Kentucky.

It seems like it flips back-and-forth in West Virginia between pride-in-counties and pride-in-towns.  The main difference here is whether folks in the largest town would identify themselves to outsiders as from a particular county, versus folks from a particular county identifying themselves as from the closest town (or worse, the closest city in another county).  Thus, my hometown in Putnam County gets disqualified because (A) we tend to tell people from surrounding counties that we are from our hometown; (B) we tend to tell people from other parts of the state that we are from Putnam County; and (C) egad! we tend to tell people from out-of-state that we are from the Charleston area.

Here's my take on the strongest pride-in-county areas:

1.  Greenbrier County
2.  Logan County
3.  Braxton County
4.  Pocahontas County
5.  Preston County
6.  Wayne County
7.  Fayette County
8.  Union County
9.  Wirt County
10.  Clay County

Honorable Mention:  Upshur County.  Many identify with being from Buckhannon, but the name of the condolidated high school (Buckhannon-Upshur) tends to anchor a strong affinity for county pride.  It also gets a lot of attention with its unofficial nickname (that nobody puts in writing anymore): the Buck-Ups.

Many people here don't even know which county they live in.

The voter registration forms say "if you live in a village, consult this chart to determine which municipality you live in" (municipalities in Massachusetts are cities and towns, and all land is part of one), so that means that a few people don't even know which town they live in.

I also know someone who insists she lives in Chamblee, which is part of Atlanta. Her actual location is in Tucker, which was incorporated in 2016 and was unincorporated DeKalb County before incorporation.

Where I grew up there seems to be an anti-pride in the county. I had a T-shirt that read "Allegany County: Nice place to live if you don't need a job."  I would wear it when I was in Pittsburgh just for the reactions. :)

Incidentally, when I was in third grade, I participated in the county spelling bee. Each kid got a T-shirt that on the back read "ALLLEGANY COUNTY SPELLING BEE"  [sic].

The only county I've ever heard anyone give a shit about in Colorado is seeing some "Moffat County is Coal Country" signs when up in Craig.

I will add one county that somewhat cares is Duval County, FL where Jaguars fans have adopted "DUUUU-VAAAAAAL" as a rallying cry. When I briefly lived there, I didn't sense that much county pride though.

People in Prince George's County, Maryland, feel strongly about wanting their county to be referred to by its full name, rather than by the commonly-used nickname "PG County." Supposedly their objection is that people associate "PG" with "Pretty Ghetto" (I don't know how common that association actually is) due both to racial demographics and the perception of the county having a relatively high crime rate compared to other DC-area suburban jurisdictions.

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 14, 2023, 10:08:57 AM
People in Prince George's County, Maryland, feel strongly about wanting their county to be referred to by its full name, rather than by the commonly-used nickname "PG County." Supposedly their objection is that people associate "PG" with "Pretty Ghetto" (I don't know how common that association actually is) due both to racial demographics and the perception of the county having a relatively high crime rate compared to other DC-area suburban jurisdictions.

Yeah, I haven't seen much county pride in Virginia, which is a stark contrast to Prince George's County and Montgomery County in Maryland.

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 14, 2023, 10:08:57 AM
People in Prince George's County, Maryland, feel strongly about wanting their county to be referred to by its full name, rather than by the commonly-used nickname "PG County." Supposedly their objection is that people associate "PG" with "Pretty Ghetto" (I don't know how common that association actually is) due both to racial demographics and the perception of the county having a relatively high crime rate compared to other DC-area suburban jurisdictions.

First time I've heard "Pretty Ghetto" as a backronym, but the rest of that was common knowledge.

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 14, 2023, 10:08:57 AM
People in Prince George's County, Maryland, feel strongly about wanting their county to be referred to by its full name, rather than by the commonly-used nickname "PG County." Supposedly their objection is that people associate "PG" with "Pretty Ghetto" (I don't know how common that association actually is) due both to racial demographics and the perception of the county having a relatively high crime rate compared to other DC-area suburban jurisdictions.

I've never heard "pretty ghetto", but PG is also associated with "parental guidance" which also has a very negative connotation.

In Indiana, vehicle license plates used to begin with a one or two-digit county identifier, numbered alphabetically from 1 to 92, with 93-99 being auxiliary numbers for the two most populous counties, Marion and Lake. As a result, people tended to identify more with their counties.

As specialty plates, which didn't use the county numbers, became more prevalent, and the state figured out that they could save money by not producing a new plate for people every time they moved to a different county, that numbering system went away. It's been gone for a generation now, and I hear people identifying with their county much less frequently.

It's not really affinity or pride, but people in metro Detroit often identify with their county. Perhaps to differentiate it from the dreaded city itself, or because people don't know where the various townships are. You often hear Macomb or Western Wayne, Oakland somewhat less.

I don't notice that in Michigan. No one really cares what county you are from, we have nothing on our license plates that would indicate you are from a certain county. So I really don't think there is much pride regarding the county you live in here in the Great Lakes State.

No one in Central Texas really cares about counties.  Some know Round Rock and Cedar Park are different from Austin because they are in Williamson County, but other than that, unless you go to jail for the night, no one really knows what county they live in until it's time to vote, pay taxes or get your car inspected.  I guess that's why I don't understand the obsession with clinching counties here.  They just aren't that big of a deal here.  I deal with them with my job, but that's about it. 

Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on February 14, 2023, 10:33:16 AM

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 14, 2023, 10:08:57 AM
People in Prince George's County, Maryland, feel strongly about wanting their county to be referred to by its full name, rather than by the commonly-used nickname "PG County." Supposedly their objection is that people associate "PG" with "Pretty Ghetto" (I don't know how common that association actually is) due both to racial demographics and the perception of the county having a relatively high crime rate compared to other DC-area suburban jurisdictions.

Yeah, I haven't seen much county pride in Virginia, which is a stark contrast to Prince George's County and Montgomery County in Maryland.

I think it's more pronounced in the southwestern part of the state.

No county pride in Massachusetts.

I can say one thing regarding Kentucky. The counties are rather smaller in land area. The average Kentucky county is only 329 square miles with the biggest county being Pike at 788 square miles and the smallest being Robertson at 100 square miles. Indiana's counties aren't all that big in area either. So maybe that is why they have more pride for their counties than other states but I'm not sure.

Quote from: Rothman on February 13, 2023, 11:15:29 PM

Quote from: KCRoadFan on February 13, 2023, 10:19:37 PM
I've heard that in Kentucky, many people are particularly proud of whatever county they live in, to a greater extent than is true of most other states. Are there any other states that, in your opinion or experience, have a similar amount of "county pride" among their residents? I think that phenomenon is also somewhat prevalent in West Virginia. (Perhaps it's largely an Appalachian thing - maybe HB Elkins can verify.) Anyway, what do you think?

Mostly in the South in my experience.  Not sure how many Georgians refer to their county as their place of residence, but I've heard it from a few people down there.

Georgia was going to be my response. When I lived in Atlanta, I ran across a ton of people who identified primarily by their county. My old roommate was from Peachtree City but always introduced his hometown as "Fayette County". Another friend was from Snellville, but all she ever cared to identify was "South Gwinnett".

In my experience, the farther you got from downtown Atlanta, the more important your county was. Counties like Fulton or DeKalb were too big and/or diverse for people to really develop a closer attachment to the county than their city.

The only exception to my county pride comments is maybe Berkshire County.

I've never heard any pride for counties in MN. There's far more pride in unincorporated townships, where people living in those largely resist and resent being targeted for annexation by incorporated cities.

Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 14, 2023, 10:03:42 AM
I will add one county that somewhat cares is Duval County, FL where Jaguars fans have adopted "DUUUU-VAAAAAAL" as a rallying cry. When I briefly lived there, I didn't sense that much county pride though.

I wonder if that is a throwback.  The Greaseman used to cough up his famous line "Duuuu-vaaaal Cown-tee Bigg Thang" every morning on WAPE in Jacksonville.   

Quote from: Dirt Roads on February 14, 2023, 04:19:25 PM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 14, 2023, 10:03:42 AM
I will add one county that somewhat cares is Duval County, FL where Jaguars fans have adopted "DUUUU-VAAAAAAL" as a rallying cry. When I briefly lived there, I didn't sense that much county pride though.

I wonder if that is a throwback.  The Greaseman used to cough up his famous line "Duuuu-vaaaal Cown-tee Bigg Thang" every morning on WAPE in Jacksonville.

Duval county is basically the same as Jacksonville. And "Jacksonville" doesn't roll off the tounge quite as well.

Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on February 14, 2023, 10:33:16 AM
Yeah, I haven't seen much county pride in Virginia, which is a stark contrast to Prince George's County and Montgomery County in Maryland.

Quote from: hbelkins on February 14, 2023, 11:56:30 AM
I think it's more pronounced in the southwestern part of the state.

But northwest and southwest of Richmond, there are a bunch of locales with strong county pride and they all seem to have county seats with the same names (some still called "Court House" instead of being incorporated):  Powhatan County, Goochland County, Louisa County, Orange County, Cumberland County, Buckingham County, Amelia County, Appomattox County and Charlotte County.  There are two more contiguous to there where the term strong county pride really seems to fit:  Page County and little tiny Greene County. 

There's also a strong affinity for Chesterfield County, particularly in the northern part of the county.  So much so that the Postal Service has flipped the zip codes from "Bon Air" and "Richmond" to the regional descriptor "North Chesterfield".

Kind of on the line here was the other one that I used live in:  Clarke County.  The affinity was strong enough that perhaps half of the folks living in the county seat (Berryville) would usually claim to be from Clarke County instead of the town name.  On the other hand, you had most of the folks in Millwood and little-known Pine Grove that preferred to use their placenames.

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 14, 2023, 03:37:21 PM
The only exception to my county pride comments is maybe Berkshire County.

Having grown up in MA, I find comments like these to be very naive, espcially after saying that MA has no county pride whatsoever.

In Western MA, Berkshire and Hampshire Counties in particular hold weight amongst their residents.  Hamden and Franklin County residents are certainly aware of which counties they live in, but their "pride" is less so, from my perception.  Of course, locals have a special place in their hearts for simply "Pioneer Valley."

I think I have heard more references to Worcester County in more recent years, actually, usually from my friends who used to just say they were from Worcester or Auburn or wherever.  Worcester County's poor reputation has generated a self-depreciating sense of humor.

Instead of making ignorant comments about the rest of MA, I will simply say that I don't have a firm grasp on how locals view the Eastern MA counties...other than Cape Codders preferring Upper, Mid and Lower Cape to Barnstable County.

Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on February 14, 2023, 10:56:44 AM
In Indiana, vehicle license plates used to begin with a one or two-digit county identifier, numbered alphabetically from 1 to 92, with 93-99 being auxiliary numbers for the two most populous counties, Marion and Lake. As a result, people tended to identify more with their counties.

As specialty plates, which didn't use the county numbers, became more prevalent, and the state figured out that they could save money by not producing a new plate for people every time they moved to a different county, that numbering system went away. It's been gone for a generation now, and I hear people identifying with their county much less frequently.

The numbers are still in use, only in the lower right corner of the license plate, and that's all license plates in the state. I kind of wish people used the numbers for pride and stuff but there isn't too much of that.

Back to the question in hand, I suppose Northwest Indiana has a high pride in itself, calling themselves The Region. But I don't hear too much reference to actual Lake County itself, given that the Region usually spans into Porter and LaPorte Counties.

Quote from: Rothman on February 14, 2023, 04:38:46 PM

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 14, 2023, 03:37:21 PM
The only exception to my county pride comments is maybe Berkshire County.

Having grown up in MA, I find comments like these to be very naive, espcially after saying that MA has no county pride whatsoever.

In Western MA, Berkshire and Hampshire Counties in particular hold weight amongst their residents.  Hamden and Franklin County residents are certainly aware of which counties they live in, but their "pride" is less so, from my perception.  Of course, locals have a special place in their hearts for simply "Pioneer Valley."

I think I have heard more references to Worcester County in more recent years, actually, usually from my friends who used to just say they were from Worcester or Auburn or wherever.  Worcester County's poor reputation has generated a self-depreciating sense of humor.

Instead of making ignorant comments about the rest of MA, I will simply say that I don't have a firm grasp on how locals view the Eastern MA counties...other than Cape Codders preferring Upper, Mid and Lower Cape to Barnstable County.

I think that Western Mass could be an exception to the rule. I mentioned Berkshire, The Pioneer Valley seems to be their own unifying region. I was more mainly talking about Eastern Mass. Needham is in Norfolk, Newton is in Middlesex, nobody cares. Anything east of Worcester counties make no sense and county pride in non existent.

Some areas of Western Washington do, some don't.

King County is a pretty major exception due to its size; people do take regional pride, so Seattleites (down to their neighborhood) will have rivalries with Eastsiders or Southsiders (which bleeds into a "253" identity shared with Tacoma). Kitsap and Snohomish counties are definitely their own identities, as are the San Juan Islands due to their relative isolation. Island County is split, as Camano Island shares more with Stanwood than it does with Whidbey Island.

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 14, 2023, 04:56:31 PM

Quote from: Rothman on February 14, 2023, 04:38:46 PM

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 14, 2023, 03:37:21 PM
The only exception to my county pride comments is maybe Berkshire County.

Having grown up in MA, I find comments like these to be very naive, espcially after saying that MA has no county pride whatsoever.

In Western MA, Berkshire and Hampshire Counties in particular hold weight amongst their residents.  Hamden and Franklin County residents are certainly aware of which counties they live in, but their "pride" is less so, from my perception.  Of course, locals have a special place in their hearts for simply "Pioneer Valley."

I think I have heard more references to Worcester County in more recent years, actually, usually from my friends who used to just say they were from Worcester or Auburn or wherever.  Worcester County's poor reputation has generated a self-depreciating sense of humor.

Instead of making ignorant comments about the rest of MA, I will simply say that I don't have a firm grasp on how locals view the Eastern MA counties...other than Cape Codders preferring Upper, Mid and Lower Cape to Barnstable County.

I think that Western Mass could be an exception to the rule. I mentioned Berkshire, The Pioneer Valley seems to be their own unifying region. I was more mainly talking about Eastern Mass. Needham is in Norfolk, Newton is in Middlesex, nobody cares. Anything east of Worcester counties make no sense and county pride in non existent.

I do wonder if Hampshire County residents take pride in their county because it separates themselves from Springfield and Holyoke..

The Lion King meme was used with Springfield as the elephant graveyard...

In CT, only Fairfield and Litchfield County tend to have any kind of county pride, although most of Fairfield County might as well be part of Westchester County, NY.  County pride ceases to exist at the Housatonic River, and any pride tends to be based more on regions such as The (Naugatuck) Valley, the Hartford Area, The Quiet Corner, etc. 

Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on February 14, 2023, 10:56:44 AM
In Indiana, vehicle license plates used to begin with a one or two-digit county identifier, numbered alphabetically from 1 to 92, with 93-99 being auxiliary numbers for the two most populous counties, Marion and Lake. As a result, people tended to identify more with their counties.

As specialty plates, which didn't use the county numbers, became more prevalent, and the state figured out that they could save money by not producing a new plate for people every time they moved to a different county, that numbering system went away. It's been gone for a generation now, and I hear people identifying with their county much less frequently.

Nebraska still has a county numbering system and many of those in the highest numbered counties take pride in living in those counties.

Wyoming license plates have included a county number since 1930: "a number which was determined by the "worth" (assessed property value) of an area, not population, as many believe. (https://k2radio.com/photo-new-2025-wyoming-license-design-plate-revealed/)"

Jackson is the county seat of Teton County, number 22 (out of 23; second to last) in 1930. Times have changed. Now, it's the wealthiest county in not just Wyoming, but the United States (//http://). There's some "22 pride" we saw in the area, including the "22 Home" furnishing/lifestyle store, with such necessities as the Bohemian Blueberry Pie Pillow (decorative; $975.00).

It's interesting in Colorado. In the front range I've heard many people being proud of living in Douglas County (DougCo), El Paso County, and Weld County. Boulder County seems to have its own version of pride as well.

I'd say the rural parts of Jefferson County have their own version as well, but not in the front range suburbs. I live in JeffCo but since my city Westminster spans two counties, there's a lot more affinity for the city as a whole than the county.

Yeah West Virginia is extremely prideful about their 55 counties. Probably first or second in the country.

Whenever anybody does something good. Like the Mountaineer Mascot (the student at WVU which gets to fire the rifle) for a particular year. Wouldn't mean much in most other places but in WV it's like royalty.

They get feted and whenever they are from some rural county (which is most of them) they literally get the key to the state for the year.

Nothing like that in SC.

SM-G998U

I'm not sure there's a lot of "county pride" in Nevada but there's definitely antipathy for one.  I often see bumper stickers reading "Clark County is NOT the Real Nevada".  That's a mix of the glitzy Las Vegas ambience and politics (Clark County votes heavily Democratic, Washoe is about even and every other county is heavily Republican).

Quote from: gonealookin on February 15, 2023, 02:13:22 PM
I'm not sure there's a lot of "county pride" in Nevada but there's definitely antipathy for one.  I often see bumper stickers reading "Clark County is NOT the Real Nevada".  That's a mix of the glitzy Las Vegas ambience and politics (Clark County votes heavily Democratic, Washoe is about even and every other county is heavily Republican).

Clark County is like 3/4 of Nevada's population. Clark County IS Nevada. Nevada is Clark County, a bit of population near Reno/Carson City, and basically nothing.

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 15, 2023, 02:46:28 PM

Quote from: gonealookin on February 15, 2023, 02:13:22 PM
I'm not sure there's a lot of "county pride" in Nevada but there's definitely antipathy for one.  I often see bumper stickers reading "Clark County is NOT the Real Nevada".  That's a mix of the glitzy Las Vegas ambience and politics (Clark County votes heavily Democratic, Washoe is about even and every other county is heavily Republican).

Clark County is like 3/4 of Nevada's population. Clark County IS Nevada. Nevada is Clark County, a bit of population near Reno/Carson City, and basically nothing.

It's common in a lot of politically contentious states where a single major metro heavily influences the state's political direction that disgruntled rural residents often with very opposing views of most major city residents claim the major city is not "the real ____________".

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on February 15, 2023, 02:48:28 PM

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 15, 2023, 02:46:28 PM

Quote from: gonealookin on February 15, 2023, 02:13:22 PM
I'm not sure there's a lot of "county pride" in Nevada but there's definitely antipathy for one.  I often see bumper stickers reading "Clark County is NOT the Real Nevada".  That's a mix of the glitzy Las Vegas ambience and politics (Clark County votes heavily Democratic, Washoe is about even and every other county is heavily Republican).

Clark County is like 3/4 of Nevada's population. Clark County IS Nevada. Nevada is Clark County, a bit of population near Reno/Carson City, and basically nothing.

It's common in a lot of politically contentious states where a single major metro heavily influences the state's political direction that disgruntled rural residents often with very opposing views of most major city residents claim the major city is not "the real ____________".

:-D Silly. I mean I get it, but those cities have power for a reason: lots of people live there. If Rural Nevada wants more political power, convince more people to move to Elko or Ely.

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 15, 2023, 02:55:40 PM

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on February 15, 2023, 02:48:28 PM

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 15, 2023, 02:46:28 PM

Quote from: gonealookin on February 15, 2023, 02:13:22 PM
I'm not sure there's a lot of "county pride" in Nevada but there's definitely antipathy for one.  I often see bumper stickers reading "Clark County is NOT the Real Nevada".  That's a mix of the glitzy Las Vegas ambience and politics (Clark County votes heavily Democratic, Washoe is about even and every other county is heavily Republican).

Clark County is like 3/4 of Nevada's population. Clark County IS Nevada. Nevada is Clark County, a bit of population near Reno/Carson City, and basically nothing.

It's common in a lot of politically contentious states where a single major metro heavily influences the state's political direction that disgruntled rural residents often with very opposing views of most major city residents claim the major city is not "the real ____________".

:-D Silly. I mean I get it, but those cities have power for a reason: lots of people live there. If Rural Nevada wants more political power, convince more people to move to Elko or Ely.

Well, that will never happen because people don't want to live in Elko or Ely, but even if it did, it would be unlikely to change the political dynamics. Someone moving to one of those cities instead of Las Vegas isn't going to change their vote. It's really just a form of denial that one county/city/metro area controls what happens statewide, which is unfortunately the case in a lot of states. It's the same thing in New York, except that "NYC isn't the real NY" doesn't land quite as well.

Quote from: webny99 on February 15, 2023, 03:11:10 PM

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 15, 2023, 02:55:40 PM

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on February 15, 2023, 02:48:28 PM

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 15, 2023, 02:46:28 PM

Quote from: gonealookin on February 15, 2023, 02:13:22 PM
I'm not sure there's a lot of "county pride" in Nevada but there's definitely antipathy for one.  I often see bumper stickers reading "Clark County is NOT the Real Nevada".  That's a mix of the glitzy Las Vegas ambience and politics (Clark County votes heavily Democratic, Washoe is about even and every other county is heavily Republican).

Clark County is like 3/4 of Nevada's population. Clark County IS Nevada. Nevada is Clark County, a bit of population near Reno/Carson City, and basically nothing.

It's common in a lot of politically contentious states where a single major metro heavily influences the state's political direction that disgruntled rural residents often with very opposing views of most major city residents claim the major city is not "the real ____________".

:-D Silly. I mean I get it, but those cities have power for a reason: lots of people live there. If Rural Nevada wants more political power, convince more people to move to Elko or Ely.

Well, that will never happen because people don't want to live in Elko or Ely, but even if it did, it would be unlikely to change the political dynamics. Someone moving to one of those cities instead of Las Vegas isn't going to change their vote. It's really just a form of denial that one county/city/metro area controls what happens statewide, which is unfortunately the case in a lot of states. It's the same thing in New York, except that "NYC isn't the real NY" doesn't land quite as well.

Well states like New York or Illinois are more understandable since a higher porportion of the population lives in Downstate IL or Upstate NY than in Chicago or NYC. And people in Nashville or St. Louis don't do the same thing to the rural parts of their state (unless they do and I just haven't heard of it).

Nevada also became that way fairly recently. It was much more proportional just a few decades ago than it is now.

Missouri and Tennessee do not have the same dynamic IMO, because they have several large cities/metro areas and not one dominant one.

Quote from: webny99 on February 15, 2023, 03:20:45 PM
Nevada also became that way fairly recently. It was much more proportional just a few decades ago than it is now.

Missouri and Tennessee do not have the same dynamic IMO, because they have several large cities/metro areas and not one dominant one.

I'm more talking about how the vast rural areas of those 2 states dominate the politics. I guess you can combine St. Louis and KC into "urban Missouri".

In Florida we do have regards to counties.

In my former state of NJ we didn't have as municipalities prevailed. Even on highway signs County lines were not marked, though municipal boundaries are.

After the standoff in Watauga County in which left two deputies dead, a lot of locals could be spotted with "#WataugaStrong" stickers and other merchandise on their cars. Still see quite a bit of it to this day. Plenty of locals sport stickers for the only high school in the county as well. I guess in a county that is so chock-full of different types of outsiders, locals have to find some way to stand out amongst the crowd.

Quote from: index on February 15, 2023, 03:52:27 PM
After the standoff in Watauga County in which left two deputies dead, a lot of locals could be spotted with "#WataugaStrong" stickers and other merchandise on their cars. Still see quite a bit of it to this day. Plenty of locals sport stickers for the only high school in the county as well. I guess in a county that is so chock-full of different types of outsiders, locals have to find some way to stand out amongst the crowd.

I'm guessing that Watauga has a unique culture compared to the surrounding counties, being a college town and a light blue county in a sea of dark red.

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on February 15, 2023, 04:00:16 PM

Quote from: index on February 15, 2023, 03:52:27 PM
After the standoff in Watauga County in which left two deputies dead, a lot of locals could be spotted with "#WataugaStrong" stickers and other merchandise on their cars. Still see quite a bit of it to this day. Plenty of locals sport stickers for the only high school in the county as well. I guess in a county that is so chock-full of different types of outsiders, locals have to find some way to stand out amongst the crowd.

I'm guessing that Watauga has a unique culture compared to the surrounding counties, being a college town and a light blue county in a sea of dark red.

The culture of Watauga's locals is quite red and rural outside of the locals that run the towns/resorts/university. They are essentially two separate worlds. Without the college, it would probably be something like 35-40% D. Many of the locals are pretty fierce NIMBYs and oppose the development and reputation that academia and tourism brings to what was once a "quiet mountain town". I think that perception is probably just warped by nostalgia the locals have for how things used to be when they grew up. Appalachian State and tourism have been a thing for essentially as long as Boone has been a thing. Some of the anger towards growth and housing issues is misguided, a lot of people blame the university for accepting so many students when in reality it's the UNC system in Raleigh pushing for the growth, without really understanding the needs and capacity of a town so far away.

A good example that highlights this stuff is the construction of the locally infamous apartment building, The Standard. It is a generic five-over-one that sticks out like a sore thumb and is a microcosm of the notorious housing challenges in the region, with student housing being ridiculously overpriced and housing for non-traditional students, locals, and professionals only being an afterthought or being snapped up by vacationers from Florida and AirBnBs. It clashes with the character of the town and feels like something you might see in Raleigh or Charlotte. It was a catalyst for the town's controversial Boone 2030 plan being repealed and I believe a few people lost their town council seats over the building.

Quote from: roadman65 on February 15, 2023, 03:47:58 PM
In Florida we do have regards to counties.

In my former state of NJ we didn't have as municipalities prevailed. Even on highway signs County lines were not marked, though municipal boundaries are.

I know a guy from NJ that pointed out that the Garden State Parkway toll plazas are by county and his family navigated through NJ using them.  Not county pride, I suppose, but thought that was interesting.

By my estimation, there's not a ton of county pride in Upstate NY, as we normally talk and associate more in terms of cities/suburbs and towns, not counties.

However, in the Rochester area at least, Monroe County is somewhat synonymous with "Rochester metro area", so the suburbs in Ontario County (especially Victor, and more recently Farmington) are seen as distinct and usually very desirable; they're more exurban in nature, they're set in the rolling hills on the fringes of the Finger Lakes, they've got lower property taxes and good schools, basically a small step down from Pittsford where anyone with kids and money to spend goes to raise their family.

Wayne County, on the other hand, isn't seen so desirably. The county line serves as the imaginary boundary between the upscale suburbs on the Monroe County side and the flat farmland and hicksvilles of rednecks on the Wayne County side. It's not quite that stark in reality, but the perception is definitely there.

The other three counties in the MSA - Genesee, Livingston, and Yates - are really too distant from the core urbanized area to have a strong association with Monroe County one way or another, although Yates County is known regionally as "Amish Country" thanks to the heavy Amish/Mennonite presence in and around Penn Yan.

Quote from: gonealookin on February 15, 2023, 02:13:22 PM
I'm not sure there's a lot of "county pride" in Nevada but there's definitely antipathy for one.  I often see bumper stickers reading "Clark County is NOT the Real Nevada".  That's a mix of the glitzy Las Vegas ambience and politics (Clark County votes heavily Democratic, Washoe is about even and every other county is heavily Republican).

I might make my own bumper sticker if I ever move there:

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Map_of_Nevada_highlighting_Clark_County.svg/100px-Map_of_Nevada_highlighting_Clark_County.svg.png)

Clark County It's the Whole Point of Nevada

(and then I'd probably get my car keyed if I ever went to Reno)
(or maybe in Clark County if someone who hates puns runs across it)