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Yes, let's talk about Alabama, which after Mississippi might be the most maligned state in the Union.
It is actually a beautiful state; for starters, I-59 between Chattanooga and Birmingham is one of the prettiest stretches of interstate that I've seen. The AL beaches are unique and beautiful (Perdido, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island). The Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay is gorgeous, with charming communities like Fairhope, Daphne and Point Clear skirting its shores. There are some really pretty antebellum towns like Eutaw and Eufaula, and some picturesque and surprisingly livable cities in northern AL like Florence, Decatur and Huntsville. And then there's Birmingham's downtown, which is making a comeback, along with great southside communities like Mountain Brook, Highlands, Five Points, Homewood and Vestavia Hills.
Folks should give Alabama a chance.
I like West Virginia and Oklahoma a lot. West Virginia is a stunningly gorgeous place, and the people are salt of the earth, and friendly as hell as long as you don't treat them like they're less than you. Oklahoma has a surprisingly level of geographic diversity. If you had some kind of metric for geographic diversity per square mile, I'd think Oklahoma would win. You go from heavy deciduous forest and rugged low mountains, to a savanna transition area, to full blown prairie/plains cropland to high plains, to southwestern tableland deserts. Any other state with that many transitions (California and Texas are the only ones that come to mind) are much larger. Good people too.
However, I don't think of either one as particularly southern. I get that they are in the Census Bureau's definition of the South, but both have significant influences of other regions (Midwest/West in OK; Rust Belt/Midwest/Northeast in WV) that make them seem very different from Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, etc. I feel both of these states are just kind of their own thing, regionally. West Virginia actively seceded from the South, and OK was Indian Territory during the Civil War, so both lack that key component of southern heritage. West Virginia's ties to coal and manufacturing, and Oklahoma's ties to ranching/wheat/oil/wind also seem out of step with the industries and commodity production that have been associated with the south, historically.
I've visited both a few times, and always really enjoyed the feel, the people, and the topography.
I wouldn't say SC is underrated generally given the tourism, economic and population growth, and college kids from other regions attending SC universities.
SC (although much less so than it used to be; its reputation seems to have improved a decent bit, with the renewal of Charleston, although the rest of the state is still underrated), as well as Tennessee, besides Nashville.
West Virginia is southern, it just isn't of the typical modern perception of what southern is. It definitely has Midwestern and Northeastern influences...
I also don't find it underrated, though. It's got a creepy, Hills Have Eyes thing going on, isn't particularly kind to minorities, and there are enormous swaths of barely inhabited land. Driving through WV on the way somewhere else can be one if the loneliest rides ever...
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Originally Posted by murksiderock
West Virginia is southern, it just isn't of the typical modern perception of what southern is. It definitely has Midwestern and Northeastern influences...
I also don't find it underrated, though. It's got a creepy, Hills Have Eyes thing going on, isn't particularly kind to minorities, and there are enormous swaths of barely inhabited land. Driving through WV on the way somewhere else can be one if the loneliest rides ever...
That's exactly the BS I am talking about. It's not creepy at all. It's just people like anywhere else. You're just as likely to meet somebody with bad intentions here in NY, perhaps much more likely.
If you ask me, you're better off worrying about inner cities and self-important college towns that aren't too kind to white people.
I'll bet a lot of people have never or rarely been to the south based on this poll. The leader, Tennessee, is certainly more "highly rated" than underrated these days, thanks to not only Nashville, but other parts of the state enjoying its overfill, and of course its lifestyle is known all over much of America. Its states like Kentucky and Arkansas that seem to fly under the radar a bit more, in particular Arkansas, which seems overshadowed by its neighbors, even notorious Mississippi. The Little Rock forum is pretty dead compared to most other forums for a city of its size. They don't call it The Natural State for one thing, with the Ozarks, Hot Springs, plantation country in the southeast, and even some Texan influences on one side.
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