Is north capitalized in this sentence?

Yes.

Just a gut feeling.

If you are speaking about the US, and using “north” in opposition to “the South”, then possibly. But because there is no geographic region “the North”, I think there’s an ambiguity there.

But to be honest, that sentence is probably lacking some detail. The north of what? Once you flesh out the sentence, it might become more clear whether north should be capitalized or not.

http://www.proofreadnow.com/blog/bid/30440/North-East-South-or-West-Capitalize-or-Not

I struggle with this all the time. I would capitalize it, because it’s a region similar to saying the name of a state. I think I get the rules for capitalization for north, south, east, and west wrong quite often. Probably most people don’t know the rules.

GQ.

No additional responses are required, I think, since @gailcalled‘s reference.

@gailcalled Very interesting. I was taught to always capitalize the four compass directions, but good to know it’s a bit more nuanced…. or is that more a matter of bending the actual rule to fit popular usage?

This isn’t about a compass direction—it’s about a major region of the USA, and should therefore be capitalized.