Mississippi vs. Louisiana (minus New Orleans) (live, state, better, compare)

[AllTheWayToMemphis]

I'd like to keep this an open discussion, but apparently the moderators come through and delete your threads now if you don't list some "specifics" to compare. If you cut off New Orleans from Louisiana and left the rest of the state, how, in your opinion, would it compare to Mississippi? I think it's a pretty good match-up; you have the mid-size cities (Jackson vs. Baton Rouge), and then a few smaller cities (Lafayette vs. Gulfport/Biloxi) and a bunch of rural areas.

Because I have to, how do these stack up in:

Culture
Entertainment
Diversity
Friendliness
Scenery
Food

(but really, feel free to talk about anything you want).

[urbancharlotte]

Catfish vs. crayfish. Tough choice...

[annie_himself]

Louisiana still comes out on top for me. Lafayette is more cultural than most of MS combined, Baton Rouge is larger, more influential, and more important than Jackson, and don't forget the decently sized Shreveport-Bossier City MSA up in the NW.

Culture: Louisiana
Entertainment: Louisiana
Diversity: Louisiana
Friendliness: Tie
Scenery: Depends, we have rolling hills and swamps, just like the majority of Mississippi
Food: Louisiana, you can get the same things you can in Mississippi plus Cajun.

[nowincal11]

Mississippi because North Mississippi is so close to Memphis. Plus Mississippi is much cleaner and the highways are significantly better.

[DTL3000]

Culture: I'd have to go with Louisiana
Entertainment: Louisiana may slightly edge out Mississippi but just barely. I've always wanted to do a tour of the old blues spots in Ms. They both have Casinos.
Diversity: Probably Louisiana due to Cajun culture
Friendliness: Probably Mississippi. I lived in Shreveport and people didn't strike me as overly friendly. Maybe it's different around Lafayette
Scenery: Draw. Ms has nice rolling hills and beaches while Louisiana has a lot of wetlands. The northern part of La is extremely boring though.
Food: Louisiana of course

[Mutiny77]

Seems like Louisiana would still come out ahead in most categories. Good comparison though.

[ckhthankgod]

People forget that southern Mississippi has a strong French influence too. My dad said that there were Chinese and Jews in the Delta town he grew up in back in the 50's and 60's, as both groups owned stores there. This was the case in some other Delta towns. There is a strong Choctaw presence still in the state, especially in Neshoba County. So, there is more diversity there than people would think. Can't forget the people of Spanish, Italian and SE Asian backgrounds too.

[DownSouth88]

I'd probably have to go with Louisiana, although this is a great matchup. You have Jackson and Baton Rouge which pretty much cancel each other out. Then you have Lafayette which I personally believe is unmatched by similar-sized MS towns. I just think Louisiana has a unique and unparalleled vibe that cannot be replicated, although I do like a lot of the northern Mississippi area (not so much the Memphis suburbs, but many of the smaller towns north of Jackson).

[Champ le monstre du lac]

How do the Gulf Beaches compare in Mississippi to what are the seemingly inaccessable or limited access beaches in Louisiana?

[allenk893]

Definitely Louisianna. I remember we were at a McDonald's outside Baton Rouge. A Jr. cheerleading team came roaring in. We were wondering about the directions we had to take to get to wherever we were going. So my mother asked one of the girls on the team. She was so sweet and very well mannered and answered "Yes Ma'am" and "No Ma'am". I was taken aback. With the exception of the children in my own family, I thought children of the 21st century were complete spoiled brats and angry tirants. With all the liberal progressive parenting going on these days, most children do not know the line of respect between adult and child much less the proper way to adress one. So I was shocked and amazed that a child (of about 10 years) could be so well behaved. Lousianna parents got it down pat. And it's not only them but people as a whole over there were very kind. Much different from people in the west, east, and north. LA is also surprisingly diverse. We went to stop at a walmart somewhere in a nice suburban town and we were surprised to see so many Indian and Asian families. I could definitely see myself living there.