If you live somewhere other than where you were born, do you call yourself a local?

[Blessedfamily]

Say, if you moved to California. Do you call yourself a Californian?

 

I have an elderly widowed neighbor who moved from one county to another. At a party, someone asked her where she was from, and she answered the county where she now lives. A native spoke up and said, "Well, you're not really from here."

 

She was really upset and told me about it. (I guess it was the way the person said it.) And this was just from one county to another in the same state.

[Carrie12345]

I'm a Jersey girl. I will always be a Jersey girl.

In the Poconos, I am considered an outsider, referred to as one of the "city people".

 

My sisters are Jersey girls living in Georgia. They're more accepted there than I am here.

[myfatherslily]

I am NOT an Alabamian. I am a Yankee, thank you very much:)

 

I love it here, though, and have no intention of returning. It sounds like that person was rather rude!

[Meriwether]

For me, it depends on the context. If the intent is to find out where I am living now, (like at our new church), I give the new town. If the intent is to find out where I'm from, I tell them where I spent the bulk of my childhood. I've been living in Iowa for 4 years now and do not consider myself to be an Iowan. In our situation, though, it is because we could be transferred again out of state.

 

My older two kids have lived over half their lives in Iowa and the two littles were born here. I guess they would be Iowans.

[lionfamily1999]

Ha! I'm still reminded that I only moved here in 2nd Grade :glare:.

 

How I answer depends on who I am speaking to. If they're a comehere, then I say I'm local :p

[creekland]

I consider myself local having lived here for 14 years. I am not, however, native.

 

Pending the conversation, if one is using "local" as "native" then I'll revert back to where I was born and fill in the gaps with the many places we've lived in between.

 

I prefer having been to and lived in many places rather than being in the same place all my life. It doesn't bother me in the least when people might look down upon it as I feel we are all entitled to our opinions. In general though, we've been VERY accepted everywhere we've lived - as long as I don't mind my home being considered "the (previous owners) place." I don't mind. We're amused by it. After all, we've only owned it 13 years now... :tongue_smilie:

[Granny_Weatherwax]

No, I do not consider myself a local. I will always and forever be a Colorado girl. I still refer to Colorado as home and speak of Illinois as if I am a temporary resident; I have lived here for ten years.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I moved to Texas when I was about a year and a half old. Yes, I say I'm Texan.

 

However, I got to Richmond, VA Saturday. I can't imagine saying I'm from here...maybe if I'm here 35 years from now? Then I'd be here longer than I was in Texas.

[Parrothead]

I'm a navy brat. I have no home.

 

Nope, I'm not a local, and never will the actual locals allow me to think I am. There is a definite mindset of "us" and "them". It is very difficult to get established in these small towns I keep moving to.

 

Yeah, this has become a sore spot for me.

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

No, I do not consider myself a local. I will always and forever be a Colorado girl. I still refer to Colorado as home and speak of Illinois as if I am a temporary resident; I have lived here for ten years.

 

 

Yup, same here. Although substitute another Western state of birth and another Midwestern State of residence (amount of time is the same). ;) "Out West" will always be home to me.

[Jayne J]

I think the biggest factor is probably the size of the town/city you moved to. If you moved to LA or NYC, after a few years you are probably local. I however moved from one small town to the next one over (maybe 10 minutes away) and will never be a local, in my own mind or in the minds of the real locals. When someone asks, I tend to say "I'm from Small Town #1, but I've lived here in Small Town #2 for 12 years." There is something about small towns that fosters the feeling that if your grandparents moved into town 60 years ago, you're still kind of newish.:D

[Blessedfamily]

You, know my neighbor's situation made me more aware of being welcoming to people. You definitely run into an "us" vs "them" mentality around here. Polite, but not really friendly.

 

On the other hand, people are sometimes like that when transplants move into the area and complain a lot. I can't tell you the number of people who move to Northern VA to work in Washington, DC, and complain about the "idiots down in Richmond telling them what to do". And the "bumpkin" comments they sometimes make about the southern/rural parts of the state are just heartless.

 

There was a "stink" in this county when a big, expensive subdivision was built near farm land. The people who moved in soon got up in arms about the smells from the farm. The battle that developed was not pretty. And really, it furthered the "us" against "them" thing.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Blessedfamily

[delaney]

I'm a NYer born and raised....actually a Long Islander. I have been in VA for 15 years but will never call it home.

[shalom22]

I was born in Oklahoma, married a Texan when I was 19 and have lived in Texas since, going on 25 years. I consider myself a local to Houston and a transplant to Texas. I have lived here longer than I lived in OK. But my dd, who was born here in Houston, will remind me that I am still an Okie and not a real Texan.;) I, however, am a Texan in my heart. I don't want to live anywhere else. When I visit OK, it does not feel like home, even though all of my family are still there.

[Karenciavo]

I have a split hometown and have never reconciled how to work it out in my own head. I was born in NYC and moved to the Jersey shore when I was 8 and lived there for 17 years. I consider myself both a native New Yorker and a shore girl (as we say up along the northern shore towns not a Benny aka Shoebee down south.)

 

I guess it comes down to that I like being affiliated with both places of those places. I've spent most of my life in south western NJ, but I don't consider myself a local.

[Melinda in VT]

I live in a small town that does a lively tourist business and has lots of people who live here only part of the year. I moved here almost 7 years ago.

 

I am a local. I'm not a tourist or a second-home owner.

 

I am not, however, a native.

[Laurie4b]

I am a local, but not a native.

 

In some locales, people are very excluding of people who weren't born and bred there--even if the "outsider" married into a native family. That's a problem of hospitality.

 

Our area tends to be fairly cosmopolitan and is more transient than a lot of areas, so it's not an issue here.

 

I'm guessing that your friend felt unwelcomed and an absence of hospitality in the comment about not really being "from" there. Whatever. Find other people who are more hospitable.

[cjbeach]

I'm a transplant but I've been here 7 years so I'm a "local" now - only because in this area people don't seem to be here long. A lot of people moved here during the RE boom or moved when it crashed and we've been here the duration.

[ScoutTN]

Nope.

Though I've lived here longer than anywhere else in my life! 12 yrs.

[elise1mds]

Nope, not really. I've lived in OK since I was 9, so more than 2/3 of my life has been spent here, but if people ask me where I'm from, I still say I was born in Kansas.

[Giraffe]

I'm a Navy brat so like Parrothead, I have no home. Georgia, where my grandparents were, is what I call "home" if pressed for an answer, but after moving something like 20 times so far in my life (probably more), I have given up on the concept of "local" or "home" or anything like that.

 

My poor DD is in the same boat. Born in Seattle, we left when she was 3 months old. Since then we've lived in two states and another continent, and we're not done yet. I don't get rid of moving boxes.

[mommycheryl]

I'm a navy brat. I have no home.

 

Nope, I'm not a local, and never will the actual locals allow me to think I am. There is a definite mindset of "us" and "them". It is very difficult to get established in these small towns I keep moving to.

 

Yeah, this has become a sore spot for me.

 

Growing up in Maine, I never noticed what you talked about until I grew up and married someone "from away." What a shock at the family reunions! :w00t: I feel for you, it can be hard to break into any small town.

 

Cheryl -who may live in the south, but is not, and will never be, a southerner. I'm a Maine girl no matter where I live.

[kewb]

I have lived in NJ for 12 years now. In my heart I will always be a Long Islander and a New Yorker.

[Desert Rat]

I consider myself a native of Las Vegas. I've lived here over 25 years.

[*********]

Well, I currently live about an hour from the city I spent my entire childhood growing up in. So, if someone I just met asks me where I'm from, I say I grew up in X, and moved to this area when I was about 20. We live in Y.' Since I live in a major metropolitan area now, everyone around here will tell you what suburb they live in; to me, it seems like there's a bazillion little cities clustered around the major city we live by. It was very foreign to me when I moved here, and it still weirds me out sometimes. I mean, for crying out loud, you live two miles away; how is it that you live in a different city?! :lol:

[Gooblink]

I was born in Chicago, moved to the U.P. when I was 3 and headed to TX as soon as I could. :)

 

If I'm in and around Austin and someone asks where I'm from, I say Michigan. If I'm traveling and someone asks, I refer to home as Austin.

 

When I first moved to Dallas from Marquette, MI, a store clerk asked me what country I was from! If you've ever heard the Yooper accent, you'd understand, I guess.

[kmacnchs]

Well, I currently live about an hour from the city I spent my entire childhood growing up in.

 

me too. If someone asks me where I live, I tell them but it is VERY obvious that I am not FROM the town (b/c we speak correctly, without accents (I try), and we don't let our little boys pee in our front yard!).:lol:

[*********]

When I first moved to Dallas from Marquette, MI, a store clerk asked me what country I was from! If you've ever heard the Yooper accent, you'd understand, I guess.

 

Gotta love them Yoopers, eh? :)

[Lolly]

I have lived here well over 20 years. I am not a native, nor a local.

 

I am a native of the town I grew up in (but was not born in). Until about 10 years ago, I considered myself to be a local while there too. Then, everything there really changed.:glare:

 

Dh is considered a local here. He moved here when he was 2. He is not considered a native.

 

Fil has lived here 43 years. He is not considered a local because he moved here as an adult.

[SeekingSimplicity]

I was born up north, then moved to TX. I grew up in TX. Now live some where else, but still think of myself as a Texan

[hsmom2girls]

I was born in NY but came to live in VA as a young child. When I left NY I was old enough to remember things about NY. However since all my history, experiences, etc. were mainly in Virginia I consider myself from Virginia. If someone asked me where I was from I instantly say "Virginia". I never even think about NY as I wasn't raised there.

[creekland]

I was born in NY but came to live in VA as a young child. When I left NY I was old enough to remember things about NY. However since all my history, experiences, etc. were mainly in Virginia I consider myself from Virginia. If someone asked me where I was from I instantly say "Virginia". I never even think about NY as I wasn't raised there.

 

My boys could have written this except they would have had to use Florida (born) and Pennsylvania (raised). Our oldest was 4 when we moved. They still like to impress their friends once in a while by telling them they are native Floridian. They've even used that fact for one of their "truths" in "two truths and a lie" when they come across that as an ice-breaker. They consider themselves 99% Pennsylvanian though. I was born in NY (upstate) and consider myself Pennsylvanian now too, but I've only been here 14 years.

[elegantlion]

You, know my neighbor's situation made me more aware of being welcoming to people. You definitely run into an "us" vs "them" mentality around here. Polite, but not really friendly.

 

 

 

I'm not a native or a local. I've definitely had more than enough of the "you're not from around here" mentality. On a few occasions I've been asked if we are related to the (insert last name) family in our area. When I say we're not, we're new to the area, I've literally had people turn around and walk away from me without another word. :001_huh: It's happened at least twice in circles where we had hoped to build friendships.

 

As for my hometown, that is where dh and I moved from. But I didn't grow up there. I lived there until I was 3 and dh and I moved back and lived for a few years before we moved to our current location.

 

We plan to move again in the near future, hopefully to an area that is more accustomed to seeing people move into the area.

[Kim in Appalachia]

This area does not accept outsiders. If your whole family isn't from here, you are not from here.

 

I'm from Jersey. I will always be from Jersey. I've lived outside of Jersey for 18 years but I will always think of that as home, even though my parents don't live there anymore. I don't go there often, but all of my frame of references are from there. I still love the Phillies, the Eagles and the Flyers (Go Flyers!!!).

 

My kids have lived in this area most of their lives, but they would never be considered local, because we are not considered local. But they do say they are from here when asked. This is all they have known. But really, they don't fit. They are more like ex-pats from Jersey. They also follow the Philly teams, are as fimiliar with the highways and areas of my home as they are of here.

 

I would guess where you lived would make a difference. If we had moved from here to Jersey where I grew up, and they spent most of their lives there, they would be considered from there, and no one would question it. But in this area when you are not from here there is really no way in.

[Daisy]

Well, I'm usually very clear when asked...

 

I currently reside in CA. I've lived here 13 years, 10 months, 38 days.

 

I'm still hoping for an early parole for good behavior.

[SilverMoon]

I don't/can't claim myself to be a native of any one place. I was born in one state and played musical foster homes there, mostly "raised" in another state by grandparents, and I've lived in my current state for 5.5 years. I still feel like a newbie to my current state, and I don't think of either of my first two states as home. No one really squeaks about native or not a native in my area. It seems like there are more transplants here from the neighboring state than actual natives.

 

My hub on the other hand? He's a native Coloradan boy. Born there, and completely raised in a little mountain town that resembles Mayberry.

 

My kids identify with the state we live in now, though three of them were born in the last one. I've never heard anyone correct them, but again it's a mishmash of transplants here.

[Ester Maria]

No, I call myself Italian.

And my heart breaks every time I hear my daughters referring to themselves as Americans when we're abroad. :( But after periods of the italianization they go through in summer, they're "ours" again. :p

[DaffodilDreams]

No, even though I haven't lived in OK in years, it still feels like home.

[pooh bear]

I was born and raised in England, and moved to Florida 11 years ago. I am still English no matter what; I don't think I could ever think of my self as American.

 

We have live in the same town that my dh grew up in. Dh family is all Floridan, going back 6 generations. If you have dh last name you are in some way related to most of the people in town. My ds was born and raised here in Florida, but he sounds just like me, North West England accent. He is always being asked how long he is visiting for! When he politely tells them that he was born here in Florida, he sure does get some funny looks, poor kid. It doesn't help that he is pale as well, not your typical Florida kid tanned look.

[KatieJ]

I have lived here 14 years and while I no longer have to think about where I live, I do NOT consider myself a local. I am still a Minnesota gal at heart.

[Violet Crown]

I came to Austin in 2nd grade, so I feel free to call myself a Texan. Almost everywhere. But when I'm visiting family in New Mexico, I say that I was born in Albuquerque and living for now in Texas. I get along better that way.

[MomtoCandJ]

I feel your pain about the yooper accent.... now try that with a southern twang, I lived in Michigan until about 3 years ago when DH and I moved to Georgia.

[lionfamily1999]

You, know my neighbor's situation made me more aware of being welcoming to people. You definitely run into an "us" vs "them" mentality around here. Polite, but not really friendly.

 

On the other hand, people are sometimes like that when transplants move into the area and complain a lot. I can't tell you the number of people who move to Northern VA to work in Washington, DC, and complain about the "idiots down in Richmond telling them what to do". And the "bumpkin" comments they sometimes make about the southern/rural parts of the state are just heartless.

 

There was a "stink" in this county when a big, expensive subdivision was built near farm land. The people who moved in soon got up in arms about the smells from the farm. The battle that developed was not pretty. And really, it furthered the "us" against "them" thing.

It's the exact same here, only we get the Northern VA refugees (fleeing from the DC imports). I try to be nice, but I really do get sick and tired of hearing how there's nothing to do, nowhere to shop, and how great it would be if the people who've been here for awhile would just let the newer residents make all the changes they want to make.

 

Of course, I'm just a 'come-here' myself, from NOVA no less :lol:

[unsinkable]

My brother moved to Nebraska when he was 21 and he tells people he considers himself a Nebraskan since he had all his "major adult things" happen there -- career, wife, child, etc...

[lynn]

I am a New England Yankee and proud of it. It does not matter to me that I have lived in S Fl and Alabama longer than I lived in NE.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Well, when I used to tell people that I was from Japan (where I was born and lived most of the first 17 years of my life) people would tell me "no you're not". :glare:

 

Now if people ask me if I'm local, I'll just say, "I came for college and stayed in the area." If they want to get more specific they can ask questions and figure it out themselves.

[momofkhm]

I consider myself a local because I'm not a tourist. If someone asked me where I'm from, I'd say southeastern VA.

 

Although to be totally accurate, that's not true either. I was born in Ga. We lived there for all of 6 weeks though. So I can't really say I'm from there. So GA and then a few years in Germany. Virginia from the time I was 5 until 21. From 21 to now, NC.

[3lilreds in NC]

Nope. I am a Michigan girl. Michigan will always be "home" in my heart, even though I've lived in NC for 12 years now with no thoughts of moving back to MI in the near future.

 

And, no one in NC would EVER consider me a native. My kids are all natives, but I would never be one, even if I died here at the ripe old age of 122. That's OK. I don't want to be a North Carolinian. :D

 

That lady who told your neighbor she was "not from here," though, was a meanie. Don't take her any muffins.

 

I have to say, though, that we moved to our new town recently and have been made to feel far more welcome than we ever were at our other house. I think that was largely because we moved into another neighborhood of transplants, where here, everyone is mostly local. I can't tell you how much I appreciate their friendliness.

[m0mmaBuck]

I'm definitely not a local even though I've lived here for 12 years. I'll always be from WI. My husband will always be from NC. DSS is from GA. And our kids... well, they aren't Washingtonians either. That's fine with me. I find that all of my friends here aren't from here either. I've found that born and raised Washingtonian are less than than welcoming.

[Orthodox6]

I left the state of Virginia at the age of 15 months. My only years away from Texas (apart from college in N.C.) were ten years in AL, following graduate school. To call myself anything other than a Texan would be peculiar.