dancerjodi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dancerjodi) wrote2006-02-28 12:35 pm
dancerjodi) wrote2006-02-28 12:35 pm
"True Locals"
"Is New England losing its regional character?
''This used to be the home of the frugal Yankee, the stoic stiff-upper-lip Yankee, the modest/unassuming Yankee," writes the author of the Diana Chronicles blog (dianachronicles.blogspot.com). ''What does it mean to be a New Englander today? So many people have moved into New England in the past 10-20 years, the New Englander is an endangered species, to be extinct within the next generation or two."
She makes a list of subtle ways to tell the true locals from the newcomers.
Vanity plates: Locals would never have one on their car (they wouldn't spend the money and wouldn't want the attention), while newcomers can't get enough of them (especially cutesy ways of spelling their name or the location of their second home).
Preferred car: Locals drive Saabs, Subarus, and Volvos, while newcomers drive SUVs, Mercedes, and Lexuses.
Thanksgiving meal staple: For locals, it's corn bread. For newcomers, it's ''jalepeno" corn bread.
Yard work: Locals mow the lawn, walk the dog, and shovel the snow themselves. Newcomers hire the help."
From http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/26/true_locals_newton_debt_diners/
''This used to be the home of the frugal Yankee, the stoic stiff-upper-lip Yankee, the modest/unassuming Yankee," writes the author of the Diana Chronicles blog (dianachronicles.blogspot.com). ''What does it mean to be a New Englander today? So many people have moved into New England in the past 10-20 years, the New Englander is an endangered species, to be extinct within the next generation or two."
She makes a list of subtle ways to tell the true locals from the newcomers.
Vanity plates: Locals would never have one on their car (they wouldn't spend the money and wouldn't want the attention), while newcomers can't get enough of them (especially cutesy ways of spelling their name or the location of their second home).
Preferred car: Locals drive Saabs, Subarus, and Volvos, while newcomers drive SUVs, Mercedes, and Lexuses.
Thanksgiving meal staple: For locals, it's corn bread. For newcomers, it's ''jalepeno" corn bread.
Yard work: Locals mow the lawn, walk the dog, and shovel the snow themselves. Newcomers hire the help."
From http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/26/true_locals_newton_debt_diners/
no subject
1) Townspeople in NE tend to stay better informed, and so are more likely to refuse a business lisence to a business that might 'ruin' their town. Vermont is partucularly like this.
2) New Englanders like to do business with someone they know. They'd rather spend a few more dollars with Ned at the Hardware store than buy cut rate products at Lowes. This belies the whole 'frugal' thing, but a Yankee would say to that "Ned is always there. If I have trouble, He'll fix it right up for me. I'll have that tool for 20 years!"
Yeah, we still have Home Depot and Lowes around, but I and my neighbors seem to shop locally more often than not, and it keeps the cottage businesses alive, at least on Cape Ann.
local business
I'm happy to see this still happening in Waltham, despite its more citylike nature. :)