Southern cities with biggest cultural impact?

[jayden]

Which southern cities have the biggest cultural impact?

[BEER]

Atlanta, Richmond, Charleston, Miami, New Orleans.

[kingkirbythe....]

Through pop culture? Or museums and the arts?

[austlar1]

Pop culture (music) mostly. New Orleans, Nashville, and Austin.

[chris08876]

Atlanta by far.

Cultural change as a result of the recent events.

[iheartthed]

First place Atlanta. Miami second place.

[Labtec]

Atlanta

[KB0679]

Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston

[Handro]

1A. Atlanta
1B. Miami
2. Austin
3. Houston
4. Nashville.

[TexasPlaya]

Atlanta and New Orleans at the top. No clue what cultural impact means but I just went with media power and history/tourism.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Atlanta and New Orleans at the top. No clue what cultural impact means but I just went with media power and history/tourism.

It seems to me that there may be confusion between cultural and economic impact. I think places like New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis have an outsized cultural impact compared with the much bigger cities. When I think of New Orleans, I think of jazz and zydeco music, delicious and unique food, the French Quarter, Mardi Gras, etc - even voodoo Places like Atlanta, Houston, Dallas are obviously economic powerhouses and have plenty of culture, but I have a harder time thinking of truly unique cultural aspects of those cities that resonate nationally or even worldwide, which I am sure they have.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Atlanta and New Orleans at the top. No clue what cultural impact means but I just went with media power and history/tourism.

Does New Orleans even come close to Miami in media power and tourism?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Atlanta and New Orleans at the top. No clue what cultural impact means but I just went with media power and history/tourism.

I interpreted cultural impact to mean that there was some local contribution to mainstream/national culture. Atlanta and Miami both have had huge impacts on mainstream American music and entertainment over the past 30 years. Those two cities have probably contributed more than any other city besides L.A. and NYC.

[edale]

Originally Posted by DCReid

It seems to me that there may be confusion between cultural and economic impact. I think places like New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis have an outsized cultural impact compared with the much bigger cities. When I think of New Orleans, I think of jazz and zydeco music, delicious and unique food, the French Quarter, Mardi Gras, etc - even voodoo Places like Atlanta, Houston, Dallas are obviously economic powerhouses and have plenty of culture, but I have a harder time thinking of truly unique cultural aspects of those cities that resonate nationally or even worldwide, which I am sure they have.

Really, you can't think of cultural aspects that resonate nationally from Atlanta?

Atlanta dominated hip-hop and r&b for much of the 2000s. Outkast, Usher, Lil Jon, Ludacris to name just a few of the big name stars who came out of Atlanta during that time. I also think Atlanta is perceived as a bit of a modern "Black Mecca", and holds an important place in black American culture. With the legacy and associated museums of the civil rights movement, a thriving black arts/entertainment scene highlighted by Tyler Perry's massive new studios, HBCUs (Spelman, Morehouse, Clark)...it's pretty clear that Atlanta contributes quite a bit to the culture.

I agree that New Orleans is also a cultural powerhouse. Certainly with food and both historical music (jazz and blues) but also hip-hop. I give the nod to Atlanta as the southern city with the most cultural impact. New Orleans is probably #2, and maybe Nashville is #3? Even though Nashville's rise has been very recent, there is no denying the impact of country music, and Nashville has long been the center of the country music industry.

[pj3000]

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Originally Posted by edale

Really, you can't think of cultural aspects that resonate nationally from Atlanta?

Atlanta dominated hip-hop and r&b for much of the 2000s. Outkast, Usher, Lil Jon, Ludacris to name just a few of the big name stars who came out of Atlanta during that time. I also think Atlanta is perceived as a bit of a modern "Black Mecca", and holds an important place in black American culture. With the legacy and associated museums of the civil rights movement, a thriving black arts/entertainment scene highlighted by Tyler Perry's massive new studios, HBCUs (Spelman, Morehouse, Clark)...it's pretty clear that Atlanta contributes quite a bit to the culture.

I agree that New Orleans is also a cultural powerhouse. Certainly with food and both historical music (jazz and blues) but also hip-hop. I give the nod to Atlanta as the southern city with the most cultural impact. New Orleans is probably #2, and maybe Nashville is #3? Even though Nashville's rise has been very recent, there is no denying the impact of country music, and Nashville has long been the center of the country music industry.

Don't you know that Atlanta doesn't count in their eyes because its black? That's an automatic disqualifier. Sarcastic button off.....

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Originally Posted by DCReid

It seems to me that there may be confusion between cultural and economic impact. I think places like New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis have an outsized cultural impact compared with the much bigger cities. When I think of New Orleans, I think of jazz and zydeco music, delicious and unique food, the French Quarter, Mardi Gras, etc - even voodoo Places like Atlanta, Houston, Dallas are obviously economic powerhouses and have plenty of culture, but I have a harder time thinking of truly unique cultural aspects of those cities that resonate nationally or even worldwide, which I am sure they have.

Martin Luther King Jr ring a bell...?

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Handro

Does New Orleans even come close to Miami in media power and tourism?

New Orleans was the history/tourism part. Atlanta was just overall media.

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by edale

Really, you can't think of cultural aspects that resonate nationally from Atlanta?

Atlanta dominated hip-hop and r&b for much of the 2000s. Outkast, Usher, Lil Jon, Ludacris to name just a few of the big name stars who came out of Atlanta during that time. I also think Atlanta is perceived as a bit of a modern "Black Mecca", and holds an important place in black American culture. With the legacy and associated museums of the civil rights movement, a thriving black arts/entertainment scene highlighted by Tyler Perry's massive new studios, HBCUs (Spelman, Morehouse, Clark)...it's pretty clear that Atlanta contributes quite a bit to the culture.

I'd also add the large and growing presence of the TV & film industry in general. And it's not just all the movies and shows being filmed there but also an increasing number are set in Atlanta as well with a popular eponymous series being among them. One subset of this industry, as much as folks love to hate it, is reality TV.

Well-known corporations/corporate branding can also be a component of cultural impact and influence. Coca-Cola, Delta, Waffle House, and Chick-Fil-A would be relevant examples of such coming out of Atlanta. I would also say CNN but their NYC ties have been a good bit more prominent for a while.

[Shawn]

According to Hip-Hop Evolution, it's:

Atlanta
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.
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New Orleans
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.
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Miami
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Memphis
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Houston

But, this is only one view of culture. I don't think we can ignore how deep an impact New Orleans jazz and Memphis blues had on so many aspects of modern American culture. Global culture, even. Stuff we don't even think about that goes way outside music itself. You can draw a straight line from New Orleans jazz and its pentatonic scale to, well, pick whichever modern musical sub-genre you're in to. There's no Killswitch Engage metalcore or Nirvana grunge without New Orleans jazz and Memphis blues.

I tried to come up with famous Southern authors who were from cities, but most were from small towns in Mississippi or Kentucky or Texas. Margaret Mitchell was from Atlanta, although I don't know how much we want to celebrate Gone with the Wind these days.

Plus, Nashville. Not my thing, but there's no denying Country is popular and has impacted American culture at large.

So overall, I'd put New Orleans at the top, followed by Memphis and Atlanta. Nashville in 4th.