Where the hell am I?

Since I moved to Louisville a month ago, I've heard conflicting messages about where I actually live.

"Hey," they write on Facebook, "welcome back to the South!"

"Are you enjoying the Midwest?" others write.

There are few cities that have this particular identity crisis.  New York, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis, New Orleans, Atlanta, Denver.  If I ask anyone where these cities are, 99.9% of people are going to give the same answer.

Louisville, on the other hand, is in geographical purgatory.  It sits on the Ohio River, a half a mile from Indiana.  Who would say Indiana is in the South?  But Louisville is in Kentucky.  Who would say Kentucky isn't in the South?

To make matters worse, Louisville doesn't even exist, according to Google Maps.  Go ahead, type in Louisville and see what happens.


I love it.

What makes Louisville so cool is that you can't pin it down.  If I was plopped down randomly in my neighborhood, I would absolutely say I'm in the Midwest.  If I was dropped (off) in another part of town, I might say, I must be in the South.

I was at a bar recently where this subject came up.  Everyone had a different opinion.  A guy with a Northern accent who said he was from the South kept saying, this is the MIDWEST.  I had my first BRAT here!!!

Another person with a Southern accent said:  Awww, come own (that's not a typo, "come own" is what she said), Louisville's pretty Southern.

Obviously, there's a difference of opinion.  How about some empirical evidence?

My own personal studies have shown that cities in the South rarely, if ever, serve unsweetened iced tea.  You get sweet tea or you go thirsty.  The cities farthest from the South tend to only serve unsweetened iced tea.  In Louisville, you have places that only serve unsweetened.  You have places that only serve sweetened.  But a majority of places go out of their way to serve both, as if I arrived here after a post-iced tea war treaty was signed.

Clearly, that doesn't resolve the issue.

I'd say Southern vs Northern accents here is 60-40 in favor of Southern.  I'd say the food is 60-40 in favor of Northern.  I'd say the culture is 70-30 in favor of either one, depending on the neighborhood.

Here's my final thought on this.  If you've lived in Louisville or spent a significant amount of time here, you're welcome to call it whatever you want - North, South, East, West, gateway to Mars.

If you've never visited, you will be welcomed with open arms.  But keep your opinions about where it is to yourself.  You have no idea what you're talking about.

There's only one label I've seen so far that makes sense to me.  I see it on bumper stickers and other signs around town.

Keep Louisville weird.

Amen.