Posted on Sun, Sep. 30, 2007

LIVING HERE

Is this still the South?

As transplants stream in, area's way of life evolves

LEIGH DYER

Ldyer@charlotteobserver.com

Soon after moving to Mooresville from Oakley, Calif., last year, Carrie Zocchi encountered her first bit of culture shock.

Her neighbors invited Zocchi and her three children over for pie. Expecting apple or cherry, she fed the kids supper and brought them over.

Why did you eat already? the neighbors asked incredulously. We told you we were having pizza.

Pie, of course, is not a nickname for pizza in the South. But it is in New York, where Zocchi's neighbors had moved from. And in a region increasingly comprised of transplants, odds are good the first bit of local culture a newcomer experiences here won't be Southern.

"Charlotte is not the South at all," said Bill King, Zocchi's father, who followed his daughter's family from California and settled in Huntersville last fall -- part of a joint migration of five interrelated families. "Charlotte is like Sacramento."

The steady march of transplants during the past two decades means that in some parts of the Charlotte area, a majority of the residents were born outside North Carolina, according to data released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau.

An Observer analysis found:

• Of the residents living in the nine-county region in 2006, 47 percent were born outside North Carolina. In Mecklenburg County, 57 percent of residents were transplants, and in York County, S.C., 55 percent were from out of state.

• Of those in the region who were born out of state, nearly two-thirds -- 62 percent -- were from outside the South. In Mecklenburg, 67 percent of transplants were born outside the South. The Northeastern U.S. and foreign-born residents are the two fastest-growing sources. The data do not show how many of the transplants are recent arrivals, but another set of census data estimates nearly 88,000 newcomers moved to the region last year.

The result is a sometimes-clashing mix of accents, food preferences and driving styles. According to the Yellow Pages, New York-style pizza parlors outnumber barbecue joints.

By comparison, Mecklenburg's proportion of transplants is higher than that in the home counties of Sacramento (42 percent of residents born out of state); Portland, Ore. (54 percent); Atlanta (54 percent); and Raleigh (55 percent).

So what are the implications for the region's culture? With our population being increasingly joined by residents from elsewhere, are we still the South?

A not-so-Southern feeling

Ron Roach, 50, is a native of Davidson, which was a slow-growing northern Mecklenburg town until recently. He no longer feels like he lives in the South. "Now, nobody knows anybody," he said. "(Newcomers) brought their stuff with them, the Italian restaurants and whatever."It's common for newcomers to say they don't feel they've moved to the South when they move to the Charlotte area. Among those who feel that way are the group of five families -- including Zocchi's and King's -- who moved here together from Northern California over the past 18 months. They succeeded in finding an escape from California traffic gridlock and a lower cost of living, but they're still trying to figure out the dominant culture here.

First came Jon and Alesha Hollingshead, who moved to Mooresville in April 2006 with their three children. Zocchi and her husband, best friends of the couple, followed a few weeks later with their three children.

Meanwhile, Jon Hollingshead's parents, Sheri and Gary Garrett, decided to retire to a home on Lake Norman in Sherrills Ford. Next came Carrie Zocchi's parents, Bill and Pati King. And finally, despite being unable to sell their home in California, Alesha's parents, Sandy and Doug Shearer, followed and moved into a home in Denver just a few weeks ago.

"We heard this is the transplant state," Sandy Shearer said.

Culture clash

Perhaps nowhere is the change from newcomers more evident than in Union County, one of the nation's fastest-growing counties. There, subdivisions are swallowing farms. Gary Chambers, 50, is originally from Savannah, Ga., and moved to the western Union County town of Waxhaw in 2004.

When he waves at some neighbors from New Jersey, he said, "they just turn away and don't make eye contact." He also doesn't like hearing Northern accents yelling at football games. "I do see (Southern culture) being threatened," he said.

But some natives see positive changes. "We have more museums and cultural diversity now," said Charlotte native Tanya Sloan, 34. She also likes Charlotte's broader offering of ethnic restaurants. She believes the city is holding onto its identity as part of the New South.

After all, we still have more front porches than most other places, she noted. We have more greenery and flowers, thanks to balmy weather. We still have restaurants advertising their Southern food offerings. We still, many newcomers agree, have a slower and friendlier way of life than other parts of the country.

"A lot of people who have been here for a while but come from somewhere else are embracing their Southern-ness," Sloan said. "I think we change them rather than them changing us."

Unionville Mayor Larry Simpson, a Union County native and poultry farmer, isn't worried about the area shedding its Southern identity anytime soon. "It'll just take us a while to educate (newcomers) on the real spice of life, a Southern way of life," he said with a chuckle.

Heather Smith, who has studied Charlotte's culture as an associate professor at UNC Charlotte, said this area's culture is still distinctive -- though it continues to evolve as newcomers arrive. "I don't think we're a hodgepodge yet," she said.

In embracing new cultures and influences, this area doesn't have to shed its existing culture, she added.

"People don't move to a place to change it," she said. "They move to a place because there's something about it that appeals to them."

-- Database editor Ted Mellnik contributed.

Living Here Leigh Dyer

On Charlotte's Culture

Recent transplants offer their takes on Charlotte: From the Northeast:

"I would describe it as `a charming Southern city with an urban flair.' I like the fact that Southern cuisine abounds and the small-town friendly atmosphere in banks and other businesses is still prevalent. However, on the other hand, I noticed traffic is becoming heavier and heavier and that the `rush-rush' of the Northeastern traffic patterns and attitudes is starting to creep in." -- Belinda Parrott, moved from Teaneck, N.J., in June

From the South:

"We enjoy the seasons. In Florida, there are 359 summer days a year. We've met a lot of people who moved here from Florida, New York, New Jersey. You feel the difference (from other parts of the country). The people are friendly. Huntersville is still kind of quiet. We kept the same quality of life, spending less money (than in Florida)." -- Jaime Preciado, originally from Bogota, Colombia, moved to Huntersville in June 2006 after 18 years in Naples, Fla.

From the Midwest:

"From my first post-college job in Hickory (1993-1995) until this year, when I moved back to N.C., the culture has become `Northernized.' Before, when I ordered a `pop,' there wasn't one waitress who knew what I was ordering. Now, they all do. Overall, people are still more pleasant, more courteous, but not as much. I hear everyone complain about the traffic. Yes, it can be frustrating at times, but compared to Chicago and New York, it is a breeze. In five years, though ... " -- Jeff Hawkins, a native of Ypsilanti, Mich., who moved to Charlotte from the Chicago area in January.

From the West:

"Charlotte is not the South at all. Charlotte is like Sacramento. The only thing different is the number of churches." -- Bill King, PICTURED ON FRONT, member of one of five families who migrated to the Lake Norman area together from California.

Where the Region's Transplants Moved From:

Living Here Leigh Dyer