What Southern States Would You Live In?

[vcczar]

Someone on Twitter posted: "Rank all of the states in the Southern United States by how much you would enjoy living in them!"

I was born and raised in Dallas, TX, but I also spent at least a year in Plano, TX, Greenville, TX, and visited family in Vernon, TX. I went to college and gradschool in the Austin, TX area, living in both San Marcos, TX and Austin, TX. I've also spent a lot of time in San Antonio, TX. Houston, TX is overrated. I've been to New Orleans, LA about a dozen times. I've also spent a lot of time in my youth in OK and AR. I've been to all of these states except for KY, WV, and FL. But I've only had extended stays in TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, GA, and TN. Aside from a bus station in Richmond, VA. I've only spent time in Arlington, VA and Staunton, VA. 

If I were given a billion dollars to live in the South again, I'd only consider moving back to San Marcos, TX, Austin, TX or living in New Orleans, outside of hurricane season. I have zero interest in living in OK, AR, MS, AL, TN, KY, WV, SC, or FL. I'd like to visit Miami and Charleston. I could feasibly live in Arlington, VA, just so I'm basically in DC. Overall, I have little interest in ever returning to the South. Like someone that might not identify with their birth gender, I don't identify with my birth culture. I identify as a Northeasterner. 

If I had to rank these states, I'd rank them: TX, VA, NC, GA, FL, LA, KY, TN, SC, MS, AL, OK, AR, and WV. This is primarily a political ranking here because politics really does dictate a lot about life. New Orleans is fabulous but the rest of the state is not. My ranking could change for any of these, however, because I haven't spend a lot of time in some of these places. TX reminds of France during the age of religious wars in which the Hugonauts had strongholds in the cities. Texas would be clearly a blue state if one looked only at the cities, of which the state has 5 major cities. 

Historically, I'd put SC last. That state has been the most oppressive to both blacks and poor whites and has given power to some of the worst people in US history: Ben Tillman and James Henry Hammond. They both might be the worst in US history, both from the same state! There's others in SC almost as evil. 

[ConservativeElector2]

If we rank these by interest, I go with AR, AL, MS, NC, VA, OK, TN, GA, SC, LA, KY, FL, TX, WV. Not sure about the whole ranking

If we rank these by comfort and urban commodities, I probably go with VA (government jobs), FL, GA, NC, TX, TN, LA, SC, KY, AR, AL, OK, MS, WV

1 hour ago, vcczar said:

Like someone that might not identify with their birth gender, I don't identify with my birth culture. I identify as a Northeasterner. 

Apparently you are good at conveying that identification. I mean I know you're hailing from TX, but considering your postings you come off much more as someone from MA. 

[vcczar]

4 minutes ago, ConservativeElector2 said:

If we rank these by interest, I go with AR, AL, MS,

I don't know if it is still the case or not, but at some point within the last 10 or 15 years, these states were like bottom 5 (if not all bottom 3) in qualify of life, life expectancy, education, income, healthcare access....I mean really 3rd world compared to a lot of states. I'm just wondering what you find appealing about them? Even though they dislike the federal government, they're also the states most dependent on the federal government money they receive. You'd think states lagging so far behind other states in quality of life wouldn't be one-party states. You'd think voters would routinely want change, never giving one party an advantage. I saw a map of states by happiness and these states were at the bottom too. I think WV is probably in their range as well. The unhappiness does make the Trump support make more sense because desperate people will want a bomb thrower that is hell-bent on taking on the establishment, whomever that might be. 

I guess what I'm saying, it that I find it odd that someone living in Vienna, Austria would seek Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. 

[ConservativeElector2]

1 hour ago, vcczar said:

I don't know if it is still the case or not, but at some point within the last 10 or 15 years, these states were like bottom 5 (if not all bottom 3) in qualify of life, life expectancy, education, income, healthcare access....I mean really 3rd world compared to a lot of states. I'm just wondering what you find appealing about them? Even though they dislike the federal government, they're also the states most dependent on the federal government money they receive. You'd think states lagging so far behind other states in quality of life wouldn't be one-party states. You'd think voters would routinely want change, never giving one party an advantage. I saw a map of states by happiness and these states were at the bottom too. I think WV is probably in their range as well. The unhappiness does make the Trump support make more sense because desperate people will want a bomb thrower that is hell-bent on taking on the establishment, whomever that might be. 

I guess what I'm saying, it that I find it odd that someone living in Vienna, Austria would seek Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. 

Well, if we go by interest about history and culture, I easily put these obscure states above NY, CA, or FL. Obscurity mostly triggers interest for me. I remember being first interested in pre-Civil War presidents like Tyler, Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan, because I wanted to understand why they faded into obscurity. In that aspect Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln seem boring to me. Everyone remembers them, even outside of America.

But this notion of mine is not just limited to the US actually. Connacht is easily the poorest historical province of Ireland and still I think it's the most interesting part of Ireland when it comes to studying their history. Limousin was a landlocked administrative region in France, probably not known for anything spectacular and I like it a lot more than French urban centers. In soccer I usually root for smaller teams (I am happy that Luton Town enters England's top flight again after like 31 years absence). I don't know, but I am more drawn into remote things. Like by living in AR, AL or MS, I think it would be interesting to see first hand why they are lagging behind in so much areas.

Considering economic oppotunities, I surely prefer living in larger settlements like NY or Los Angeles. Aside from studying history and culture there is almost nothing attractive for me about living in remote areas. I am quite dependent on technology, restaurants and stores with products from all over the world, so I can't afford having to take long drives to get these things. 

[vcczar]

1 minute ago, ConservativeElector2 said:

Like by living in AR, AL or MS, I think it would be interesting to see first hand why they are lagging behind in so much areas.

There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm wondering if you would attempt to do something about it. If so, what would you like to do?

For my part, I make sure to support federal laws aimed at raising quality of life and accessibility, especially for those below the median quality of life in these states. I support state efforts to do this when they can, but these states are so poor and many of the politicians so anti-humanistic as to not aid with the quality of life issue. I'm sure a lot of these people don't even want to be in these states, but they can't afford to move, in the event that they want to. I suppose most would rather stay and they just hope some change will occur. I sense there must be a lot of hopelessness too. I bet the poorest demographic groups probably have the lowest voter participation.

[ConservativeElector2]

5 minutes ago, vcczar said:

There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm wondering if you would attempt to do something about it. If so, what would you like to do?

For my part, I make sure to support federal laws aimed at raising quality of life and accessibility, especially for those below the median quality of life in these states. I support state efforts to do this when they can, but these states are so poor and many of the politicians so anti-humanistic as to not aid with the quality of life issue. I'm sure a lot of these people don't even want to be in these states, but they can't afford to move, in the event that they want to. I suppose most would rather stay and they just hope some change will occur. I sense there must be a lot of hopelessness too. I bet the poorest demographic groups probably have the lowest voter participation.

Personally, I see myself more as a spectator/reseacher or maybe a consultant rather than as an activist who would actually want to lead or to inspire a movement of change effectively. However, what I could imagine is to interview a lot of ordinary people about their states and what they think has gone wrong during the years. There must be reasons why people in NJ or MA are likely to make twice the income of people in AR or MS. Based on what I am hearing I could give assessments to the state governments, if they let me.

I guess it has a lot to do with large corporations not taking a foothold in these areas and I'd advise the state governments to do something about that. Once I read that Charlotte, NC is considered the banking capital behind NY, which was baffling information to me. If they can do it, other states can find a niche for them as well I guess. Doing so could help attracting a lot of jobs coming to these areas. This in turn would help the people there to make higher incomes and achieve a higher standard of living.

[WVProgressive]

4 hours ago, vcczar said:

Like someone that might not identify with their birth gender, I don't identify with my birth culture. I identify as a Northeasterner.

Reading that made me want to vomit. 
 

Anyway, this is how I’d rank the states designated as southern in the first post by how much I’d want to live there. If Missouri were an option it’d probably be between LA and TN. I admit that WV is only as high as it is because it is my home state.

1. North Carolina

2. Virginia

3. West Virginia

4. Georgia

5. Texas

6. Louisiana

7. Tennessee

8. Kentucky

9. South Carolina

10. Arkansas

11. Florida

12. Oklahoma

13. Mississippi

14. Alabama

[vcczar]

16 minutes ago, WVProgressive said:

Reading that made me want to vomit.

I'm allowed to not identify as a Southerner. I have never felt Southern at any point in my life. I felt awkard, out of place. Completely opposed to much--although not all--that is Southern. 

[Pringles]

16 minutes ago, vcczar said:

I'm allowed to not identify as a Southerner. I have never felt Southern at any point in my life. I felt awkard, out of place. Completely opposed to much--although not all--that is Southern. 

Is this part of what fuels your disdain for religion? And borderline bigotry towards southerners and people of faith alike? Sweet Home Alabama is a good song for Yankees like you. Though most of you will misinterpret the song completely. 😛

With that said I definitely don’t look like a “Southerner” to bigots. I love my state, though I like Charleston and a few other areas a lot more than where I currently live. SC will always be my home, but I’m always willing to travel and work elsewhere. Concerning other states my favorite might be Virginia because of its rich history. North Carolina because of the Mountains, Charlotte is lovely. Savannah, Georgia is beautiful, and has plenty of hiking spots in the Northern part. Tennessee is mountains galore, though I’ve been there so much I get tired of it. Florida is great for beach vacations and Kennedy Space Center, along with Disneyworld. But I probably wouldn’t live there. I haven’t been to Texas yet but I’d probably love it, especially for the food, and even more space stuff. Louisiana is a place I want to go to for the food. The rest, eh, maybe one day. 

Edited May 30 by Pringles

[WVProgressive]

12 minutes ago, vcczar said:

I'm allowed to not identify as a Southerner. I have never felt Southern at any point in my life. I felt awkard, out of place. Completely opposed to much--although not all--that is Southern. 

You're allowed to feel more at home in the North-East, but surely you can see how I of all people would be uncomfortable with you comparing being transgender with moving to a different state, right?

[vcczar]

Just now, Pringles said:

Is this part of what fuels your disdain for religion? And borderline bigotry towards southerners and people of faith alike? Sweet Home Alabama is a good song for Yankees like you. Though most of you will misinterpret the song completely. 😛

With that said I definitely don’t look like a “Southerner” to bigots. I love my state, though I like Charleston and a few other areas a lot more than where I currently live. SC will always be my home, but I’m always willing to travel and work. Concerning other states my favorite might be Virginia because of its rich history. North Carolina because of the Mountains, Charlotte is lovely. Savannah, Georgia is beautiful, and has plenty of hiking spots in the Northern part. Tennessee is mountains galore, though I’ve been there so much I get tired of it. Florida is great for beach vacations and Kennedy Space Center, along with Disneyworld. But I probably wouldn’t live there. I haven’t been to Texas yet but I’d probably love it, especially for the food, and even more space stuff. Louisiana is a place I want to go to for the food. The rest, eh, maybe one day. 

No. I wouldn't say I have disdain for religon. I have disdain for religious social conservatives who use their version of faith for political purposes (theocrats). It's the people and not the religion that i have an issue with. I just dislike a lot about Southern culture, but that's focused primarily in the areas I grew up. 

[vcczar]

2 minutes ago, WVProgressive said:

You're allowed to feel more at home in the North-East, but surely you can see how I of all people would be uncomfortable with you comparing being transgender with moving to a different state, right?

I'm not talking about the movement to a new states. I'm talking about the situation of being born as something (Southerner) without feeling that I have any identity with it and being uncomfortable being labeled as one because of how I sounded or even looked. It's obviously not comparable in many ways, but it's probably the closest analogy in my own biography that I have to being transgender. There is some overlap in the feeling, even if it isn't as big of a deal as gender identity. Probably one reason I was one of the only people in my community that I know of that was sympathetic to transgender people in the late 1990s, when I first became aware of transgender people, is probably because I had this cultural identity issue. 

I am sorry if my statement offends you, and I'll delete it if you wish me to, but it's the best analogy I can think of, at least at the moment. 

[Pringles]

8 minutes ago, vcczar said:

No. I wouldn't say I have disdain for religon. I have disdain for religious social conservatives who use their version of faith for political purposes (theocrats). It's the people and not the religion that i have an issue with. I just dislike a lot about Southern culture, but that's focused primarily in the areas I grew up. 

I dislike people who not only use faith to completely further their own flawed political agenda, but also those who worship their own flawed political agenda. They’re very similar in my experience. But I digress…

[vcczar]

3 minutes ago, Pringles said:

I dislike people who not only use faith to completely further their own flawed political agenda, but also those who worship their own flawed political agenda. They’re very similar in my experience. But I digress…

I agree. That's why I don't worship anything. I have humanistic impulses that decide what political plancks I support, but it's based on a philosophic impulse rather than a political agenda or party or political ideology. It's just that the two parties are so divergent as the moment that there's only one party capable of 270 EVs that makes any humanistic attempts. To me, the humanism should transcend politics--well, it does, but it's been politicized. Both parties are at fault for that, but at least one is somewhat embracing it, even if it is too often rhetorical only. 

I would have to have a very convincing argument for me to find humanism as a "flawed agenda." 

[WVProgressive]

2 minutes ago, vcczar said:

I'm not talking about the movement to a new states. I'm talking about the situation of being born as something (Southerner) without feeling that I have any identity with it and being uncomfortable being labeled as one because of how I sounded or even looked. It's obviously not comparable in many ways, but it's probably the closest analogy in my own biography that I have to being transgender. There is some overlap in the feeling, even if it isn't as big of a deal as gender identity. Probably one reason I was one of the only people in my community that I know of that was sympathetic to transgender people in the late 1990s, when I first became aware of transgender people, is probably because I had this cultural identity issue. 

I am sorry if my statement offends you, and I'll delete it if you wish me to, but it's the best analogy I can think of, at least at the moment. 

I guess when you lay it out like that it doesn't come off nearly as badly as it did at first.

Just to explain why I was so upset at first, I thought the comparison was belittling, I thought you were trying to say that 'cultural dysphoria' was one-to-one with gender dysphoria which upset me because I know first-hand how hard gender dysphoria is to experience, and how hard it is to correct that dysphoria. Furthermore I (someone who has never had 'cultural dysphoria') assumed that any discomfort you felt as a result of your 'cultural dysphoria' was minor, and easily treatable, and for that I apologize. I suppose we both stepped on each others toes, so, no need to delete your post. 

[vcczar]

Just now, WVProgressive said:

I guess when you lay it out like that it doesn't come off nearly as badly as it did at first.

Just to explain why I was so upset at first, I thought the comparison was belittling, I thought you were trying to say that 'cultural dysphoria' was one-to-one with gender dysphoria which upset me because I know first-hand how hard gender dysphoria is to experience, and how hard it is to correct that dysphoria. Furthermore I (someone who has never had 'cultural dysphoria') assumed that any discomfort you felt as a result of your 'cultural dysphoria' was minor, and easily treatable, and for that I apologize. I suppose we both stepped on each others toes, so, no need to delete your post. 

I appreciate you understanding, and I'm sorry for any triggering my language may have caused. I'd also like to underscore that my "cultural dysphoria" as major as it might be can never compare to the trauma and etc. that gender dysphoria must be. 

[MrPotatoTed]

For now, none.  I'm a single dad now with full custody of my daughter, so I want to keep her in Pittsburgh where we have my side of her extended family.  She gets to spend time with her grandparents, cousins, etc etc.  

Once she's old enough to be off doing her own thing and my dad eventually passes away, I could see myself moving to Florida or South Carolina, along the coasts.  I work from home permanently in a very relaxing, great-paying job, and wouldn't have to worry about local schools, etc, so it would just be about looking for good weather and fun places to be.  The other states hold no appeal to me.

[MrPotatoTed]

On 5/30/2023 at 2:44 PM, vcczar said:

 

I have zero interest in living in OK, AR, MS, AL, TN, KY, WV, SC, or FL.

I lived in Orlando for a while when I was 19-20 years old, while working at Disney World.  That was a really fun period of my life.  I wouldn't mind living there again one day, once my daughter's off having her own adventures.

[Pringles]

26 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

For now, none.  I'm a single dad now with full custody of my daughter, so I want to keep her in Pittsburgh where we have my side of her extended family.  She gets to spend time with her grandparents, cousins, etc etc.  

Once she's old enough to be off doing her own thing and my dad eventually passes away, I could see myself moving to Florida or South Carolina, along the coasts.  I work from home permanently in a very relaxing, great-paying job, and wouldn't have to worry about local schools, etc, so it would just be about looking for good weather and fun places to be.  The other states hold no appeal to me.

I think you’d really like SC’s coast. Old and pretty. Charleston especially. I don’t know where life will take me once I graduate but if I move it’d likely be down towards the Carolina coast as it’s some of the best areas in SC to me. 

[vcczar]

19 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I lived in Orlando for a while when I was 19-20 years old, while working at Disney World.  That was a really fun period of my life.  I wouldn't mind living there again one day, once my daughter's off having her own adventures.

I have an 86 year old friend from Texas that lived in Orlando in the 1980s and 1990s (early) and he was bored out of his mind, he said. He ended up divorced because his wife had a well paying job and didn’t want to leave. He visited it again in 2020 when his ex wife was dying and he said it had become, much much better, and he could conceive of living there now.  Both he and I judge a “real city” by the quality of their bookstore, coffee shops, and public transportation. Like me, he spent his late 20s and early 30s in NYC and became a Northeastener at heart and in mind. 

[Dobs]

1. Georgia

2. South Carolina

3. Texas

4. Florida

5. North Carolina

6. Virginia 

7. Alabama

8. Mississippi

9. Louisiana

10. Tennessee

11. Oklahoma

12. Arkansas

13. Kentucky

14. West Virginia

[DakotaHale]

I'm sick of you liberals not including Maryland as a southern state. Maryland is part of the South ayup

[Rezi]

23 minutes ago, DakotaHale said:

I'm sick of you liberals not including Maryland as a southern state. Maryland is part of the South ayup

Equally sick of West Virginia being included. It literally broke off from Virginia so it could not be part of the Confederacy. I don't care what anyone says, that is not a southern state.

[Pringles]

5 minutes ago, Rezi said:

Equally sick of West Virginia being included. It literally broke off from Virginia so it could not be part of the Confederacy. I don't care what anyone says, that is not a southern state.

I had a teacher from West Virginia in Middle School. She had the most northern accent ever I felt like. Maybe it just stuck out so much compared with others. But there’s no way I consider West Virginia Southern. Missouri is more of a Southern state than West Virginia. Just look and listen to Harry Truman’s accent. Maryland… eh. It’s a border state.

[WVProgressive]

20 minutes ago, Rezi said:

Equally sick of West Virginia being included. It literally broke off from Virginia so it could not be part of the Confederacy. I don't care what anyone says, that is not a southern state.

As a West Virginian, while I agree that we are more culturally similar to the Midwest - especially the rural south of Ohio, and the west of Pennsylvania respectively - I can personally attest to just how many people loath the fact that we broke away, and wish that we had joined the confederacy.

Also Maryland is as much a part of the South as New York is a part of New England.