So how did you come to live in the South?

[Bossy Monkey]

Born here? Job transfer? Marriage? Visited and liked the weather? Jailbreak didn't turn out quite like you expected? What's your story?

I was born here, went to college in Philly and England, worked in Philly and came back mainly due to a personal emotional collapse. I like it here, though (Read: "here in Columbia," not "here in the South") and would prefer to stay. Were I going to move somewhere else in the US it would be Savannah or NYC; the latter is a possibility as my girlfriend wants to attend grad school there.

Family's been here mostly for generations. Dad's family arrived in the early 19th century. My mother's mother's people I think arrived before the Revolution. As they're from Charleston, they'll tell you about it, too. (Her father's people are from more recent immigrant stock.)

And you?

[doni_georgia]

1. Born here, parents born here, grandparents and so on

All of my family has been in the south since the early, early 1700s. One side came from England to Virginia in 1609, the rest came from Scotland to Pennsylvania in late 1600s, from there settled in Virginia and came to Georgia through the land lottery for being Revolutionary War veterans. In other words, my southern roots are pretty deep. Then there is my mom's grandmother's side, who as Creek Indians had been in Georgia for thousands of years. It's why I have no desire to leave. I can go to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried, and along side them are my great grandparents, their parents, and grandparents. I hate the politics down here, but here is where I belong.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

2. Husband

He used to live in New Orleans and really liked it. I'm originally from the Chicago area and he never got used to the cold. (Although he neve really dressed for it!)

My Mom's parents were born in Germany and my Dad's parents were born in Italy. All of them ended up in Chicago/area and still are.

New Orleans is ok, but I hate paying for school and it's too hot and I miss the snow. :-(

[kcr]

3. Came to finish college

Gota job, then a wife,thena family

[Longhorn]

4. My dad took a job in Houston when I was 16.

I was damn pissed at having to change schools in the middle of high school but it worked out okay. I went from a huge school in Indianapolis to a small but growing school outside of Houston. I moved to Austin two years later to go to UT and have been in this area ever since. That makes 33 years in Texas.

I get a hankering to leave every now and then because I miss the fall color and the snow and I tire of the heat and humidity. But my husband isn't going to leave primarily due to his established business here so I'll just have to travel!

[RebelOne]

5. I was born in Philadelphia.

Moved to Miami, FL when I was 4 years old. Grew up there. After I was married, I lived in New Jersey, Alabama and California. Finally wound up back in Miami. My sister and her husband lived here in the Atlanta area as he was stationed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. I would visit about twice yearly and really liked Atlanta. Finally, in 1989 I was laid off my job in Miami and broke up a long-term relationship. I decided that there was nothing to keep me in Florida, so I moved to Georgia.

[sonias]

6. Born in South Texas

Currently live in Austin, TX. (That's central TX) Home of the fighting Travis Democrats who are more than holding our own. We are spreading and we will take back this state.

:hi:

Sonia

[CottonBear]

7. Born and raised here.

All of my immediate family is originally from NC. I'm a NC native and grew up in Chattanooga. I live in Athens, GA now. My Scots-Irish ancestors came over from Ireland in the 1700's and settled in the beautiful mountains of western NC. My Aunt Elizabeth married Davey Crockett. Her father (my several greats grandfather) Robert Patton was the executor of DAvey's estate after his demise at the Alamo. I love the southern culture, weather, landscape etc. but I hate the politics.

[AlFrankenFan]

8. Born in CO, father fired from job, moved to Richmond, VA

then to Fairfax, and now after another of series of moves, I'm in California. A setback, yes, but I have roots in the South. Few of my distant relatives fought in the Civil War as Confederates, and I have so many relatives in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, I can't even begin to name half.

[Dzimbowicz]

9. Born and raised in SC

I was born in the old Columbia Hospital at the corner of Hampton and Harden.
I have also resided on the banks of the Edisto River (1960-1966), but I spent most of my childhood in Columbia.
I left SC when I went into the Marines, returned to attend USC and, like you, undisclosedlocation, prefer Columbia to the rest of the state. Charleston is nice, but does not fit my personality.
Unfortunately, I currently work in York County and want to return to Columbia. I am so homesick and out of place here! I do, however, have a second home in Litchfield where I spend much time relaxing and escaping from reality.

[kick-ass-bob]

10. My parents moved from MD to NC 6 months before I was born.

Been here ever since.

[RubyDuby in GA]

11. Dad got a job working for the State of GA

when I was 5. Been here ever since. Thought I'd never want to leave this state, but lately I'm seriously considering getting out.

[BamaGirl]

12. Born and raised in Ga

I'm 13th generation Southern via Tn and Va, so I doubt I'll ever leave lol. ;) I'm sure of that actually. I lived in Nv for a year and hated it. Things are warped here right now, but it's still home.

[ulysses]

13. moved here after college

and fell for a Georgia girl. :)

[Frogtutor]

14. Texas for generations, descended from NC & MS

My dad's German ancestor came over in 1741 and eventually settled in North Carolina. His children went different ways; some north and west, and some to the deep south (Mississippi-Alabama border). The southern branch lost everything during the Civil War and moved to Texas. They were pretty bitter, and there was a rift between them and the other branches of the family for a long time, but they eventually reconciled. Anyway, I am descended from that Texas branch. I was born in Fort Worth, and have never lived outside of Tarrant County!

Frogtutor

[NoPasaran]

15. I'm an Army brat

I was born overseas and we moved every couple of years while I was growing up. My father was in the Air Defense Artillery which is headquartered at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, so when he retired that's where we ended up. Now, no offense to any El Pasoans, but it's a place best seen through your rearview mirror. We kept hearing about this wonderful place called Austin, and after a couple of attempts I landed a job here about sixteen years ago and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.

[GoBlue]

16. Raised in Michigan

Came to Tennessee to be on the faculty at UT. Found out after moving here that my mothers family had roots in E. TN in the mid-to-late 1800s. Apparently some of them were 'ner do wells' and had to leave for parts unknown. Which turned out to be Kansas where my folks were from originally .

Actually, it can be a very pleasant place to live; politics and religion aside. I had planned to retire here (3 years and counting)but I'm having second thoughts.

[Phentex]

17. Born a Yankee....

moved south with the family, did a stint in NC, and then back to GA for most of my life.

[TN al]

18. After ten years in the army...

...I got out to attend graduate school at Vanderbilt. I liked the idea of attending a southern school of Vandy's caliber because I thought there would be no way I would ever live in the south and I would be a valuable asset wherever I went in part because I would be bringing a perspective that most of the others did not have. My wife decided that we needed to purchase a house here while I was still in grad school and I was sucked into living in the south.

[FloridaPat]

19. 7 years in Minnesota ruined my ability to stand winter. Had enough

of the cold and snow and wanted to see lots of beaches and palm tress. Lived in Upstate NY, PA, VA, MD, TN, GA, MN, IL. Seen the worst of it. Now I plants flowers instead of shoveling snow. My heating bill is about $100 for 2 months of the year instead of $400-500 a month for six month. I don't use that much air conditioning, so there is no trade off on that.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

20. Moved here with my family.

I had an uncle who lived here (Texas) while the rest of the family lived in CA. He talked my parents into moving here. Once I finished HS my parents divorced and my mom moved back to CA. I met my husband during their divorce and stayed in Texas and later married him.

I have lived in Austin and Houston, and now live about 50 miles outside of Austin. I am either going to have to move back to Austin or start making more frequent visits there. I feel like a little dot of blue in a sea of red where I currently am.

[Spider Jerusalem]

21. I was a Navy brat...

Georgia was "home" for my parents, and they moved back here when my fater left the service. (Something I've often regretted, to be honest.)

[JohnKleeb]

22. Born here

Both parents too, dad's dad had decided to basically work at the NLRB office in DC after living around the country for about 10-15 years, they were originally from Pittsburgh, Pa, so they lived in Arlington, and my mom's parents moved down here from Johnstown, Pa because my granddaddy had tried working in the steel mills and he hated it, he also didn't want to work in the damn coal mines, so they moved down here, and my grandfather became a bricklayer, and my grandma worked a variety of jobs. Really different backgrounds since my dad's family was relatively well established not as well as some of y'all but we're talking about mid 1800's around right around the Irish potato famine since my dad's family is German and Irish and my dad grew up in an upper middle class setting, now my mom's folks are the children of Slovak and Slovenian immigrants and are very blue collar folks, my mom grew up in I guess what you could call lower to middle class setting.

[aQuArius]

23. Ex's job transfer

I was happy to move anywhere, to NOT live UTAH for the rest of my life. I live in Grapevine, Texas and work AT the DFW airport.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

24. Born in southeast VA, moved to NoVA and now live in central VA.

[NC_Nurse]

25. My whole family is from Florida...

"cracker" Florida (northern). My parents grew up in Jacksonville, back when it was a lot smaller. One of my grandfather's was from Spain originally, his parents came to Miami and he and his dad stayed. His mom went back to Spain with his younger siblings and I have some relatives there now. My other grandfather was supposedly from Texas. Both my grandmothers from Florida.

We moved around a lot when I was young, but ended up in Atlanta, then I came to NC for college (Duke) in '79 and been here ever since.

I'm staying until my youngest graduates High school (2 more years), then I don't know....

[Solly Mack]

26. Born there

[MediumBrownDog]

27. Born there

Have lived in Va all of my life.

[Orsino]

28. Born here, and keep coming back.

Born in Alabammy, but raised in Virginny, I got my first job outta college in Jawjuh. Moved briefly to Oregon, but then joined the Army, and was promptly sent to Gt. Gordon (Jawjuh) for a year of training, then Germany, and got myself transferred to Etlanna, where my wife (local) found me through Match.com, ten years ago.

Been here ever since, though we are about to flee to Canada.

[Dob Bole]

29. Long story, born in South Alabama.....

lived there until I was 10. My father became a Christian about that time, and afterwards was called into the ministry. We moved to the Florida panhandle so he could attend bible college, and then Southwest Georgia.

[movie_girl99]

30. born here

i come from a long line of Texas folk on both sides of the family.

[ernstbass]

31. Born and raised in VA

[Blue_Roses]

32. Born and raised in Louisiana

left after college to move to Texas and lived there 10 years and now reside in Arkansas.

[RebelOne]

33. I was born in Philladelphia and moved to Miami, FL

when I was 4 years old. In 1989, I moved to the Atlanta, GA area. I love it here. If I relocated, it would be to Colorado.

[Skittles]

34. was stationed here in the Air Force

yes INDEED

[Skittles]

35. stationed here in the military

yes INDEED

[peace frog]

36. Born here, paternal side of the family are

long time Southerners going back to the early 1800s. One of the early WASP English-ancestry clan had a Cherokee Indian wife and together they produced 7 children... I'm descended from this branch of the tree. Later one of the clan became a Confederate war hero, which is a terribly big deal to some of the family but of only historical interest to me. Later still, my paternal grandfather was in Paris at the end of WWI and platitudinously and truly, "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree" changed him forever. After the war he returned to the old homestead just long enough to collect his things and hie off to Miami, which was a boom town in the early 20th century. He opened a business, married my grandmother who hailed from Minnesota doncha know, my father was born to them in 1928 in Coral Gables (the year the city was incorporated).

I'm all Yankee on the maternal side of the family... Irish Catholic from Connecticut and, you guessed it, a rather sizable clan. As with millions of other Irish at the time, they begged borrowed and stole their way to the New World during the famines of the mid-1800s, lucky hardy souls that they were. I like to remind my children they're lucky to be alive... their ancestors fought like hell so they could come into this world.

[Skittles]

37. got stationed here in the Air Force

was a GI brat so I was never really "from" anywhere

[jody]

38. My family settled here in the early 1600s. n/t

[StellaBlue]

39. Sixth-generation Texan

In one lineage, of course.

All of my ancestors came from Southern states to Texas, from 1835 until about 1900; mainly Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, though some came from Virginia and North Carolina VIA those states, and I also have one ancestor who was on the Mayflower... not sure how that batch got from Boston to eastern Tennessee by the 1820s... also about 1/32 Cherokee.

All my family still lives in East Texas. I lived in the UK for four years. I have no desire to live outside the South ever again. I finally got to visit NYC this year, and was underwhelmed. I much prefer London. That's what I got out my NYC trip; I never really fit in in East Texas, what with being a born atheist, feminist, and all-round liberal... but I fit in less in NYC, somehow! :eyes: I always assumed that I was born here by mistake and really belonged in Manhattan (ha!), but, having gone there, I realized that I much prefer Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. I don't always get along with my fellow Southerners, but we have many proud, multi-ethnic traditions and contributions to be proud of, and, barring winning the lottery and being able to afford a place in San Francisco, there is nowhere else I would want to live.

[Jamastiene]

40. Born here.

I moved for a short while back in the 90's but only to Myrtle Beach, still south. I ended up having to move back here to Rockingham though because I couldn't afford it there.

[Lithos]

41. Brought here kicking and screaming

Literally!!! I was 6 months old at the time.

However, I would live no where else.

L-

[CottonBear]

42. Born & bred Southener from NC. My Scots-Irish family came over in mid 1700's

from Ireland to the western North Carolina mountains. I was born in Chapel Hill. NC. My whole family (both sides) are from the mountains. I grew up on a mountain in the metro Chattanooga, TN area and I have lived in NE GA, mostly in Athens, GA, since 1981.

I did live in Germany for two years when my dad was drafted into the Army's 101st Airborne Division as a recent medical school graduate.

[Vorta]

43. Born and inbred Maryland, all Marylanders/Virginians back to the boat.

Seriously, I'm my own cousin sixteen different ways.

[BluePatriot]

44. Born here

Went to school in Austin, miss it. Did like that it was more liberal. Houston isn't terrible downtown, I guess.

Sometimes I get surprised at the hostility to southerners on this board. We're not all bad, ya know?

[wildhorses]

45. born here

stayed here

[Thirtieschild]

46. Mother born in GA, her ancestors from VA, the Carolinas and GA. Lived in the South most of my life

Early childhood in the Texas Panhandle (don't consider that the South), in San Antonio and outside Texarkana during WWII, Panhandle again during high school, college north of Dallas, DH transferred to New Orleans and Arlington VA, and then to Atlanta for next 39 years, five years ago retired to SW NM. Grew up with sky and wanted to see it again - too many trees in Georgia to see the sky. Sky, clouds and stars here are beautiful.

[tnlefty]

47. Born in the Atlanta area, grew up in a tiny town in N GA, then

moved to SE TN, married a man who refuses to leave the area, so I'm saving money for my kids to pursue their dreams of experiencing what they currently live in (state and the country).

[NOLALady]

48. Born and raised here.

The South is my home. I lived in Denver as well as the Bay area, but I sorely missed my beloved New Orleans. So, I came back home.