Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Based on what I hear from practically everyone, the Southern U.S. is the "Promised Land" so to speak. Is it really better than any other region?
What makes it better?
I hated living in the south. The weather is terrible, I don't appreciate the general culture (though there are some nice people), some of the landscape is pretty, but much of the south is really dirty, if you want beautiful beaches - WEST COAST.
So no, it's not all that great for everyone. I will get attacked for saying all this, so obviously, there are people who like the south. It's no "Promised Land" though.
No! It's definitely not "better", but different. The weather is awful unless you're a lizard - people don't go outside much from the spring to the fall (90's+ and 98% humidity), and the food is generally unhealthy, both leading to a larger percentage of obese people than you find elsewhere, and the cultural life is exceedingly provincial. Everything is so slow with no sense of youthful energy. No great art museums to speak of even in Atlanta and Birmingham; there are no world-class symphony orchestras like Chicago, Boston, NY, or Cleveland; and the universities are generally inferior to northern schools - way too much emphasis on athletics over academics - party schools like LSU abound. If your horizons extend beyond your couch there are better locations. The humidity is a great climate for mold and algae, snakes and other pests (horrible termite and red ant problem) but not for sentient beings. For those who want more than beer and fo'ball, it's far inferior to the East and West Coasts and to the upper Midwest, but if those (beer, football) are your interests then the South is going to be fine. I guess. Then let's talk about crime; where have the serial killers (with three names) mainly been? Right the South. Just about everyone has security systems due to the incidence rate of break-ins. In other places, such levels of personal protection are less important. Lastly, there is a constant undercurrent of racial and ethnic bias that is palpable however subtle. There are people who are still willing to fight for slavery and have said that the Jim Crow days weren't all bad - at least "they" knew their place" - horrible. And any comments about the North being just as bad are ridiculous and weak justification for what goes on in the South. There are more interracial couples in the North and Far West, which shows the rate of change that hasn't taken hold in the South as it has in other areas. As W.C. Fields said, "I'd rather be in Philadelphia." Also, most people who are from the South stay in the South and aren't very welcoming to those from the North for example. That whole Southern "charm" and friendliness is very superficial. If you haven't gone to their high school or go to their church, they look at you like you have one big eye in the middle of your forehead. If they don't know (of) your paw-paw or mee-maw, you're screwed. Sorry for my own biased, but first-hand experience, but that's the way it really is.
^Sounds like somebody is long overdue a trip to Nashville
There are several rivers & lakes in the Nashville area that keep people active outdoors during the peak of summer heat.
Mmmm southern food...meat & 3s are wonderful & definitely apart of the fabric that makes up our city but there are plenty of organic grocery stores, farmers markets & csa's to help people attain a healthy lifestyle.
Vanderbilt University is a top notch school.
The Schermerhorn has a world-class symphony.
Let's see, anything else on your list?
Oh yeah, the race card Interracial dating, not a problem in the Nashville area. Now an hour outside of Nashville, you're not going to see it much. But as far as Nashville proper, I see it all the time & have been in an interracial relationship myself...it's really no big deal here.
To answer the OP, no it's not better. Just different. People like different things. If it's not better for you, then so be it, but it's not better than any other region in the U.S. I don't like it either, but that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with me, or you, because you don't like it. There are many threads that address this, you just have to search, and you'll find that some people don't find that the Southeast is the "Promised Land".
Quote:
Originally Posted by annie_himself
Baton Rouge, that was a sad post. We don't like sardine cans as much, nor the rats and 6 months of snow covering the ground.
Does the South not have rats? And the Northeast isn't all urban and "sardine canned" either (the sardine cans wouldn't have so many people if they didn't like living there, so some people don't view them as such). Plenty of countryside as well. There's more suburban and rural areas in the NE than people tend to think. And six months is a sort of exaggeration. I'm not in love with the six months of sweltering heat either.
This 'troll' thread is really 12 pages long?..... But i guess some people just jump at the opportunity to say something negative about the south, which should tell you the south is doing something right.....
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,539,156 times
Reputation: 6253
Quote:
Originally Posted by VA7cities
This 'troll' thread is really 12 pages long?..... But i guess some people just jump at the opportunity to say something negative about the south, which should tell you the south is doing something right.....
I have nothing bad to say about the south. I have some issues with people in the Baton Rouge area specifically, but nothing bad to say about the south.
I love the south, always have. And I'm from the north.
In fact the hollow generalizations that still get thrown back and forth between the south and north are what I truly take issue with. The south is not all poor, uneducated and filthy, and the north is not all cities, rude, and wealthy.
To quote anp80 - "Where? Only if you include DC as part of the south."
Not true. There are hundreds of urban areas in the south. Florida's coasts are nearly entirely urban, you have the lower river cities of Memphis, Baton Rouge and New Orleans (St. Louis as well if you consider it southern). Texas has a few major metros. Virginia has some major cities. There's also Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, and so many others to consider.
You'd be a fool to think there are no urban areas in the south.
I definitely wouldn't put St. Louis in the South. It is a midwestern city.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,539,156 times
Reputation: 6253
Quote:
Originally Posted by Collins79
I definitely wouldn't put St. Louis in the South. It is a midwestern city.
That's why I said if.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Interracial dating, not a problem in the Nashville area. Now an hour outside of Nashville, you're not going to see it much. But as far as Nashville proper, I see it all the time & have been in an interracial relationship myself...it's really no big deal here. 
