Here is a look at the 2010 US Census Ancestry report for Florida. It lists the biggest nationalities/ ethnic groups in Florida. Data comes from the American Community Survey. It's interesting, because it includes specific ethnic groups (German, Jamaican, etc. ) whereas most census reports focus on color.
http://www.euro-americans.blogspot.com/2013/06/floridas-largest-ancestry-groups-in-2010.html (http://www.euro-americans.blogspot.com/2013/06/floridas-largest-ancestry-groups-in-2010.html)
Am I the only one who considers Jacksonville more like Georgia than Florida? It seems like once you hit central Florida it's a different state than up here.
^I agree coredumped. I have ridden my motorcycle through every county in Florida (you have almost as many counties as you do license plate choices) and I feel there may be three Floridas: South Florida (from the I-4 Corridor south), NE Florida and the Panhandle. I would imagine the people who grew up in the Panhandle feel like they are the forgotten Florida.
I grew up in Central Florida. Jacksonville isn't that different from Central Florida. In fact, I'd say it feels like a bigger, coastal version of places like Lakeland. Central Florida's major urban centers are just larger with economies more dependent on tourism. On the other hand, there's a significant difference between or area and South Florida. However, that's the case when comparing South Florida to most cities in this country. With all of that said, there's definitely some strong similarities with the Low Country (coastal Georgia, South Carolina, etc.). The rest of Georgia....ex. Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, etc.? Not so much.
There's a good amount of regional variation across the state, but there's no one place you can put the line and say, this is "Florida" and this is "not Florida". I wouldn't say that Central Florida communities like Titusville, Longwood, Ocala or Clearwater are more similar to Miami than to Jacksonville. South Florida, specifically the Miami area, is probably the most distinct. Even within South Florida, folks who think the north is culturally separate would probably be surprised by places like Belle Glade or Southwest Florida.
Living in the Panhandle most certainly felt like Lower Alabama.
I have to disagree with ya lake. I also lived in central florida for many years and I think there's a big difference. Central florida is all 1 big community - from vero beach, to daytona, over to orlando (and possible tampa). They share the same TV and radio, making it feel like 1 area when the news reports on stories.
The reason I say it's different than Jax is because we're very different in culture. We're more "southern" here. This is more of a southern town than any other city in florida. I'm sure you've heard "the more south you go in florida, the more north it gets." Want proof? Look at the voting records. North florida counties (including duval) are almost all red counties, down south, almost all blue.
Finally, another major difference is you can go anywhere south of daytona and see a HUGE puerto rican influence (billboards, radio, TV), where as up here I've never seen a spanish billboard, and I don't think we even have a spanish radio station, though I might be wrong.
I'm not saying one is better than the other, but as far as a culture shock goes, it would be easier for someone from Jax to move an hour north (in to GA) than move an hour south in FLA.
Here's a wikipedia map on what is considered the bible belt:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/BibleBelt.png)
You see who we're closer to:)
Even the way we speak is different than most of Florida. PBS features a site that looked at how regions of America pronounced certain words. For example, native jaxons and native georgians put an emphases on the "U" in July (JU-ly) where as the rest of florida doesn't. You'll see they'll consider Jax as part of the south, whereas central FLA and below aren't.
Here's the map:
http://aschmann.net/AmEng/#LargeMap
Oh what was I thinking? I could have summarized that entire post with one simple image:
(http://i.imgur.com/f3zMAga.jpg)
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Coredumped --- I definitely agree with you about Southern culture becoming more prominent the further North you go. Central Florida is interesting, I find the inland areas to be more "Southern/Midwestern" and the cities more "diverse." For example in Tampa....West Tampa, Ybor City is historically Cuban/Italian and still reflects those cultures today, you have La Gaceta (Spanish/Italian) newspaper. Meanwhile once you hit Northern Hillsborough or Brandon it starts to become a little "Southern." Even in SoFL the area around Lake Okechobee is a little "Southern/country"......Florida is a beautiful and interesting state culturally you get a little bit of everything :)
+1000. Although it's only a two hour drive from the Gulf to Atlantic, the area is pretty diverse in culture. Whatever you want, you can find it if you're willing to look for it. I grew up in Polk County. A place like Bartow, Winter Haven or Leesburg feels nothing like Altamonte Springs, Kissimmee or Temple Terrace. Even in Hillsborough County, Plant City, Tampa and Brandon all have different settings, atmospheres and economies. Heck, Tampa and Plant City are polar opposites, IMO. Plant City is about as Southern as it gets. Even within Polk, the difference between Bone Valley, the lakes of Lakeland and the rolling hills along the ridge (US 27) are pretty shocking, considering the close proximity.
POLK county? Doesn't that stand for "People Of Little Knowledge?" I kid! I Kid! :) Florida certainly is diverse, and it's a REALLY big state. Certainly not the biggest, but anyone who has drive JAX to the Keys (or even MIA) knows how friggen long it is.