People who live in the South what things you like about living in the South and what things you do not like about living in the South?

34 comments

  1. I don’t like the weather or the politics. I do like southern food for the most part and also Cajun and creole cuisine which Houston has in abundance.

  2. I love the food, my family, sports culture, nature. I don’t care for the political divide and some laws like the liquor laws in NC for example

  3. Climate is far more preferable to the North.

    I wished the cities were a bit more dense though. I just like looking at skyscrapers if I’m going to be honest.

  4. Used to live in Arkansas and Texas for a while.

    Likes: Food, cheaper rent and bills, the food again, bluegrass

    Dislikes: Racism, homophobia, the heat, gun violence, crime, bad infrastructure, poverty

  7. Like: the food, most of the people

    Dislike: the heat, that it barely ever get actually cold

  9. I’m originally from California, and my politics are left of center but I love the South. I wouldn’t live in any other region. I like southern time if that makes sense. People are friendly, take it easy types. I like other regions but whenever I travel and get back home and a random stranger calls me “sweetie” or “honey” etc., I fell like – yep, nice to visit but good to be home. I talk to a lot of southerners who are equally pleasantly surprised by California. Once you get out of LA and SF, we’re a lot more down home than the stereotypes.

    What do I dislike? It’s really hard to say. I love the climate and topography and the people are very cool as soon as they realize you don’t have a chip on your shoulder.

  10. Things I like: people are generally very affable, cost of living is cheap, property is cheap, trees and forests everywhere, lots of new development and growing immigrant diasporas give things a feeling of vitality

    Things I dislike: summers, overactive gun culture, no snow, fall is too short, seeing the enormous confederate flag on I-85 through SC

  11. Arkansas now.

    Pro: kindness, smaller community, “live and let live” attitude, city-wide familiarity, politeness and good spirits overall. Definitely calmer than non-South cities.

    Con: HEAT, not walkable at all, a ton of social events are Christian-centric, it’s hard to date, and I think my far-right government is actively harming the state.

  12. I’ve lived in the Northeast and the South (but I’m a born Southerner).

    In a nutshell, anything rightwing I cannot stand. I can’t bear the ignorance of the political climate here, such as what DeSantis is doing to Florida.

    But one thing I *do* like is the genuine kindness most people possess. Men *never* held a door open for me up North. They were rude, in general. Handsy, even.

    It’s not like that here.

    I read of a woman near where I worked in Philly who was in a reception area of a building and was *beaten to death* with a pipe by a man who walked in. Did anyone help her? No.

    30 people called 911….as they watched her beaten to death.

    I can ****promise**** you that here in Atlanta GA that man would’ve left the building one of 2 ways:

    On a stretcher going to the ER (and he’d need it, believe me) or

    On a stretcher going to the morgue.

    People up North carry guns too. I’m for gun control to a great degree, mind you. But the difference in our cultures is that men there will stand aside and say ‘Not my problem’ while men here would think ‘That could be my mother, my sister, my kid…’.

    When I moved to Philly and was just being myself, I said hello to my neighbors as I passed.

    *They thought my niceness was fake and that I wanted something from them.*

    That is so sad.

  13. Affordability, weather, food, culture, history, and having non-monotonous voices (looking at you iowa).

    Dislike: humidity

  14. Likes:
    – the people
    – things feeling a lot more slowed down; moving here has been great for my sense of inner peace vs. silicon valley
    – the weather (most of the time)
    – how quickly things are growing and improving, at least in the cities
    – not having to worry nearly as much about money
    – the sense that I’m inheriting a deep culture & history
    – the food. so long as I have reliable access to okra & grits, I’m happy.

    Dislikes:
    – higher crime rates than I’d like
    – a lot of the rural south goes out of its way to tell me that I don’t belong
    – torrential downpours and hurricanes
    – relatively few public transportation options

  15. Disclaimer that I consider myself Appalachian first and Southern second.

    I like a lot of aspects of the culture (the food, a lot of the music, the literature) and hate other aspects of it (mainly the reactionary politics and the seeming fetishization of ignorance, although to be fair neither of those things are unique to the South). I like firearms, but strongly dislike the type of people who make firearms their sole personality. I get very frustrated by how anti-union people are down here, while in the same breath complaining about how their jobs don’t enough, don’t give enough time off, and/or are unsafe.

    I absolutely despise the humidity, but I love the varied landscapes (mountains, swamps, beaches, primordial forests, decent-sized cities, etc.). The summers are long and brutal, and growing longer and more brutal thanks to climate change, and winter is more of an idea than a reality these past few years, even in the mountains, but spring and fall are still lovely.

    I like how prominent and influential black culture is here compared to other parts of the country I’ve been to, but I wish we had a stronger immigrant presence; increased diversity is always better for food and music.

    It’s the duality of the Southern thing.

  16. I like how centrally located Tennessee specifically is: if I drive further south I end up in the deep south and if I drive the same distance north I end up in the Midwest. Interesting fact but Tennessee actually borders the most states out of any state at 8 (Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky)

  17. New Englander living in the South. I like the Mexican food, barbecue, and the amount of ice put into drinks. I don’t care for the humidity and long summer, and a certain brand of redneck (not all Southerners are rednecks, but the minority that are suck).

  18. Likes: my favorite natural beauty in the states (east TN)

    Dislikes: very hot and humid. I don’t mind the heat but it bleeds into fall for too long.

  21. Like: the food, the weather, the polite people

    Dislike: all the rampant poverty and inequality

  22. Well I don’t know if central Florida counts as the south, but

    Things I like:

    -I’m close to family

    -lots of amenities

    -food

    Things I don’t like:

    -cost of living (everything keeps getting more and more expensive while wages are stagnant, highest inflation in the country, a house in my neighborhood is 2 bed 1 bath 800sqft and sold for almost 300k)

    -weather (so tired of 60% chance of rain everyday and constant humidity)

    -culture (if your neighborhood isn’t full of ghetto hillbillies, it’s full of snobby rust belt expats)

    -politics (morons keep gobbling up the culture war bullshit)

  23. What I like:

    The food is incredible.

    My neighbors wave at me when I drive by.

    Talking to people isn’t weird, but it’s also ok to keep to yourself.

    I grew up in Kentucky, went to school in TN, and those areas of this country are genuinely, stunningly beautiful. They’re always overlooked, so I don’t have to battle too many crowds to enjoy the view.

    I appreciate the laid-back style of life most Southerners have.

    Politeness is always expected, and is a priority.

    What I don’t like:

    The Politics.

    The way people don’t seem to want to move forward.

    It’s too focused on Religion for me.

    Seriously fuck all this humidity, bullshit.

    As the mom of young kids, I wish the schools were better, and that there were more services for my disabled child.

  24. **Likes:**
    1. Cost of living.
    2. *Most* of the culture (not the occasional, highly vocal bigots)
    3. The privacy.
    4. The nature.
    5. Most people are rather charitable, even when accounting for tithes.
    6. The wildlife (except for deer and mosquitos).
    7. The weather (outside of summer).

    **Dislikes:**
    1. Lack of education.
    2. Opioid and meth problems.
    3. Slightly higher rates of crime.
    4. When you find a bigot, they’re super loud.
    5. Bipartisanship is stark, especially in the advent of Trump.
    6. The deer and mosquitos.
    7. **The humidity** (my personal least favorite).

  25. It’s hot. Really damn hot.

    Yet, I’d rather be hot than cold. I grew up in the Virginia mountains and moved to Florida as soon as I could.

  27. Assuming North Carolina counts. (I’m coming from California and NYC.)

    Pros:

    BBQ. Relatively low cost of living. Tons of real estate. Slow pace of life. Politeness of many people.

    Cons:

    Humidity. Conservative politics/supporters. Hypocrisy of those polite people. Hurricanes. Inability to access numerous services way too much of the time. Gun culture.

  28. The good? The food and lack of snow.

    The bad? I went to a university in Mississippi, that summarily revoked my scholarship because I wouldn’t deny being gay. Not because of any activity simply because a rumor got out and I refused to deny it. The absolute existence of segregation riddled throughout the south. Outside of metro areas, the rural and even suburban south is about 50 years behind similar northern areas, socially speaking. From 2007-2013, I worked for a giant pharma manufacturing facility. When I would leave from Mississippi to Wisconsin or Chicago, my superiors would refer to the Mississippi facilities as “plantations” due to employment demographics. I have situations directly involving myself and the police refusal to investigate break-ins and other threats, but that would happen anywhere.

    I experienced the same vocabulary just a few weeks ago outside of Tallahassee. I hadn’t heard the term “the blacks” since I left the deep south ( for those who don’t know the panhandle of Florida is sometimes called South Alabama).

    [We could get into child labor laws.](https://katv.com/news/local/new-arkansas-law-removes-work-permit-requirement-for-children-under-16-department-of-labor-and-licensing-employment-certificate-fredrick-love-clint-penzo-child-labor-trafficking-youth-hiring-act-of-2023-act-195-act-687-protections-parental-consent).

    If you want more evidence that it’s not a safe place, check out what a Mississippi appendectomy is. Then glance at the states with the least medical bodily autonomy.

  30. I lived in Louisiana for nine years. I was a transplant so my viewpoint will probably be different than someone who was born and raised.

    I liked:
    The people

    I didn’t like:
    The humidity
    The heat
    The bugs
    The politics
    The education system
    The lack of infrastructure
    The hurricanes
    The crime

    Basically everything. We moved away last year.

  31. Like: things are generally cheaper

    Dislikes: politics, religion, small mindedness, the weather

  32. Lived in the South for almost 20 years, moved back West, and still miss the South.

    Loved:

    swimming in an ocean with warm water, going to state park beaches that were nearly empty (Huntington), shrimp off the boat

    accents, incredibly witty people (and sayings), a joyful kind of crazy not found in the west

    spring – there’s really no way to describe it

    Not Liked:

    palmetto bugs

    snakes in lakes

    snakes in rivers

    snakes dropping from trees

  34. Dislike: Northerners who move here but keep their politics hoping to change it to like back north.

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