Toyota snubs Southern USA workforce...

[haley10]

Well, I wish Tennessee would have gotten the plant. We are educated. In fact we probably have more medical professionals per capita than most anywhere and the technology and support to go with it. I've heard it said that we have more MRI, CT scanners and the higher tech stuff than in the whole country of Canada. We are also a national leader in the consumption of prescription drugs.

We probably don't look so attractive to companies from a healthcare cost standpoint and our worker's comp. insurance is pretty punishing.

 

[brianl703]

I noticed that Fairfax county dropped from 92.0 in 2001 to 90.7 in 2003, wheras Prince William county increased from 87.8 to 91.3. For those who don't know, these are two northern Virginia counties which are suburbs of DC, with Prince William being further away from DC than Fairfax.

I wonder how accurate these figures are..did Prince William really increase 3.5% in just two years?

 

[XS650]

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Originally posted by JHZR2:

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Originally posted by XS650:

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Originally posted by Bryanccfshr:
I just love how ugly stereo types are perpetuated.

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No one said they were ugly, just “illiterate.”

High School Graduation rate at age 25

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Some of those results are misleading... look at Delaware: Ill venture to guess that new castle county has more PH.D's as a fraction of the population, than most any other location in the country... Yet delaware is ranked poorly in overall diploma/equivalent levels. Same deal for NJ, where there are a LOT of very educated folks, but the ranking is lousy,

JMH

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If the car companies primarily used college graduates in their plants I would have posted

Per capita bachelor's degrees at age 25 by state.

But they don't, so I didn't.

 

[JHZR2]

quote:

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Originally posted by brianl703:
I noticed that Fairfax county dropped from 92.0 in 2001 to 90.7 in 2003, wheras Prince William county increased from 87.8 to 91.3. For those who don't know, these are two northern Virginia counties which are suburbs of DC, with Prince William being further away from DC than Fairfax.

I wonder how accurate these figures are..did Prince William really increase 3.5% in just two years?

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That kind of was my point... I dont need to see the figures that XS just linked to... I automatically, and always assume that the numbers are incorrect. Becaue they usually are massaged to one extent or another... usually by excluding something or overlooking something, or just making "an assumption".

Just look how they compute unemployment, and how unrealistic those numbers are... do you think that the census numbers give any real data into the demographics of the local society as a whole, much less into the working population? I dont think so...

JMH

 

[motorguy222]

I tend to agree to a point that you cant go by numbers for some things.

During the last census,we didnt get counted.

The South is looked down on by many,I think it is safe to say that theres not one person on this board that hasnt heard a Southern slur at some time.They may even have said one themselves.

'You know,those red necks down south,they dont have any sense.There just a bunch of hillbillies.'

'All they want to do is fly that rebel flag and go possum hunting'

This is something that makes it harder for one to achieve and because of such,they give up.

This type of stereotype is hard to get around especially when it is so accepted.

If you think that it isnt so,notice how a Southerner is portrayed on television and in movies.

thayze talks likes this and thayze war dem oll coveralls all da time.thayze be good peeepl buts thayze aints to smart

The South has a rich and wonderful heritage.

Yes,they upheld things at one time that may be wrong but what part of our country hasnt done so at one time?

The Souths 'Good Ole Boy' can do a good job if given the chance.

 

[JHZR2]

excellent points, motorguy.

JMH

 

[y_p_w]

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Originally posted by motorguy222:
The Souths 'Good Ole Boy' can do a good job if given the chance.

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Sure. There's also the stereotype that the typical Southern driver owns a big-block American pickup truck with a gun rack on the bed. I've had many colleagues from the South, and the majority actually drive import makes like Honda and Toyota. Just because it's the South doesn't mean people don't want value and reliability.

But certainly people from the South can have fun with their image. My boss from Texas kinda smiled when I asked about the Suburban being the "state vehicle" of Texas. He said it was more like "the Cadillac of Texas". One of the strange things about meeting a couple of Texans this Spring was asking about the stereotype of the cowboy boot wearing Texan. They tugged on their pant legs and showed me their boot-tops. However - I never got the sense that Southerners were particularly unintelligent; the people I met were all college educated.

As an Oakland A's fan, I can comment that there are several players from the South on the team. Recently there was a public event with three players (all from the South), and they played a little game called, "Redneck Jeopardy".

http://athletics.scout.com/2/395747.html

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Paul Krugman was the author. He believes this nonsense of the redneck fool.

That's all you need to know.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by y_p_w:
I've had many colleagues from the South, and the majority actually drive import makes like Honda and Toyota.

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I see many more domestic vehicles in Fredericksburg, VA (halfway between Richmond,VA and Washington,DC) than I do in the DC area.

I also see many more domestic vehicles in the midwest (Chicago) than I do in the DC area, so I'm not sure what the South has to do with that.

 

[motorguy222]

A small town can have good schools.

The town I live in has around 10K people.

The Community school here usually scores higher than the state average.

It has a high,school to college ratio.

It all comes down to what the people want.

The school in question has around 1200-1500 students from kindergarten-12.

 

[haley10]

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Originally posted by 1sttruck:
There does seem to be a cultural difference in the appreciation of formal education, comparing north vs south. Looking at the top ranked universities (every ranking has it's flaws) in the US it seems that as one moves down the list it's about 4 or 5 to 1 north vs south.

It seems to extend down to all levels. A friend of one of my brothers moved to a smaller town in Missouri as land was affordable and it didn't seem too crowded, but they moved in about year, the main reason being that there were no book stores in the town that they lived in, and very few in surrounding areas.

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Every one knows the value of your education and degree depends on the ranking of the football team.

 

[kenw]

"...the main reason being that there were no book stores in the town that they lived in, and very few in surrounding areas. "


gads, you mean there is still a place not covered by Amazon.com?

They MOVED BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT A BOOKSTORE???? you are kidding, right? sounds a bit shallow to me. If it was that important they could have looked around 1st....probably would have made great neighbors...not..

we let the yankees think whatever they want. Too many of them are moving down here anyway.

 

[1sttruck]

"They MOVED BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT A BOOKSTORE???? you are kidding, right? sounds a bit shallow to me."

Bookstore, not amazon. We're visiting the coast often here in the Pacific NW, and in some small towns there are several bookstores. We end up at Powell's in Portland at least a couple of times a month, which I think is the largest private bookstore in the country.

 

[Meistersinger]

You know, it would be interesting to compare that graduation list up against the number of illegal immigrants in each state. Let's face it, most of the Southern states face a massive challenge of trying to educate illegals who don't speak english, or come from english speaking households.

 

[brianl703]

Or have a high school diploma..there is no free, public, K-12 education in the countries which the majority of illegal aliens come from.

 

[Gary Allan]

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we let the yankees think whatever they want. Too many of them are moving down here anyway.

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Hey, don't take all the bashing so personally. It's not that anyone from the south is inherently less intelligent. You couldn't tell it by the Texas Instrument senior engineer that my mother cleaned house for in neWingland when I was a kid.

..But it just sounds so much better when you guys say "Hang Heeim!"

 

[1sttruck]

There does seem to be a cultural difference in the appreciation of formal education, comparing north vs south. Looking at the top ranked universities (every ranking has it's flaws) in the US it seems that as one moves down the list it's about 4 or 5 to 1 north vs south.

It seems to extend down to all levels. A friend of one of my brothers moved to a smaller town in Missouri as land was affordable and it didn't seem too crowded, but they moved in about year, the main reason being that there were no book stores in the town that they lived in, and very few in surrounding areas.

 

[Alan]

quote:

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Originally posted by brianl703:

quote:

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Originally posted by y_p_w:
I've had many colleagues from the South, and the majority actually drive import makes like Honda and Toyota.

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I see many more domestic vehicles in Fredericksburg, VA (halfway between Richmond,VA and Washington,DC) than I do in the DC area.

I also see many more domestic vehicles in the midwest (Chicago) than I do in the DC area, so I'm not sure what the South has to do with that.

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In DC you can't throw a stick without hitting a BMW.

 

[y_p_w]

Just think of the Southern-dominated NASCAR and their resistance to import makes competing. Toyota had been trying for years to get into Winston (now Nextel) Cup racing, but many of the "good 'ol boys" involved in NASCAR wanted to keep it solely American manufacturers.

They've been making inroads, especially with Toyota competing in the Craftsman Truck Series. It didn't hurt that they had the backing of Darrell Waltrip. I hear that they're far less reseistance to Toyota (and VW?) now - to the point where there might be Camry-based cars competing in 2007.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by Alan:
In DC you can't throw a stick without hitting a BMW.

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Or a Lexus, in the suburbs anyway.