# Is the South the worst region in America to live in? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093 "2011-11-25T23:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/61 "2011-11-26T12:14:29Z")
As an Aussie who lived in Georgia as a teenager for a while in the late '80s, I have to say that it was a truly bizarre place. Maybe Savannah has changed since then, but that place was just disturbingly odd. And no, I didn’t learn anything from my time there, although I did gain a lifelong determination to not be a bigoted twat. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/62 "2011-11-26T13:20:43Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > While we’re talking 'bout them bigotted, small-minded, toe-the-line-or-else conservative folk down South, let’s not forget them biggoted , small-minded, toe-the-line-or-else liberal folk up > North. > > I recently spent way too much time with some people who have lived all their lives isolated on a small island called Manhatten. (In fact, some of them have almost never set foot off the island). They were seriously, totally, small-midned and bigotted. > If you were a Republican, or if you didn’t attend the right church (i.e. theater group, led by transgendered lesbians), or if you dared to have an actual, biological child of your own, they didn’t want anything to do with you. > > (oh yeah…remember… every single one of the 12 million people in NY are all equally bigotted. I know 'cause I talked to 'eml. See—My 12 million anectdotes beat your cite 🙂 You must have really good luck. I’ve lived in New York for my whole life, on Manhattan for the past fifteen years or so, and I haven’t found a good transgendered lesbian theater group. No wonder people treat me like I’m a Republican or something. What is a theater group, by the way? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/63 "2011-11-26T13:21:49Z")
It does have to do with personal preference. Heck, I only feel right where I live in a diverse community. (Currently Los Angeles area) I’ve met plenty of people from the south and they’ve all been, um, courteous. Until you tell them you voted for Obama, or that their imaginary god is simply a murderer, or that them there homos ain’t so bad once ya get ta know 'em. If I ever go missing, you can tell the FBI that Locrian is definitely NOT in the south US, the middle east, and North Korea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/64 "2011-11-26T15:05:14Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I recently spent way too much time with some people who have lived all their lives isolated on a small island called Manhatten. (In fact, some of them have almost never set foot off the island). They were seriously, totally, small-midned and bigotted. > … > (oh yeah…remember… every single one of the 12 million people in NY are all equally bigotted. I know 'cause I talked to 'eml. See—My 12 million anectdotes beat your cite 🙂 The fact is that NYC tends to be far more diverse and more highly educated than most other parts of te country. You can argue which part of the country is “worst” based on the subjective criteria of how well that region conforms to SDMB left-wing exceptionalist values. However, there are objective measurements for evaluating particular regions based on economic indicators, crime statistics, education levels, levels of health care and other measureable attributes. [You can see from this poverty heat map,](http://visualizingeconomics.com/2007/08/11/united-states-poverty-map/) much of the poverty in the US is centered around the Gulf States, Kentucky, West Virgina, Montana, South Dakota, New Mexico and Arizona. [From these high school and education completion level maps, you can also see that much of the south falls into the bottom two quartiles.](http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/rdrr98/rdrr98.htm) [And this map shows the “importance levels” of the rest of the world, relative to NYC](http://bigthink.com/ideas/21121).😉 You can’t realy argue that much of the South lags behind the rest of the country in terms of several key indicators. Although a lot of it depends on how far you are from major urban areas. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/65 "2011-11-26T15:14:02Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I don’t doubt that there’s some truth in the assertion that the small-town South is more religious, homogeneous, and conservative than the rest of the country on average. Some of us like it that way. I like living in my current hometown (Culpeper, VA., pop ~ 15,000) precisely because of those aspects of southern life and the culture that results from them. We have low crime, I feel safe walking anywhere in town at night, there are no strip clubs or porn shops, there are no bars that stay open late at night or anything else that makes noise which might wake me up. In addition there are the advantages that flow naturally from being a small town, such as less traffic and pollution. If I were to move to a big, left-leaning city such as Washington DC I would lose all of these advantages. Of course I would gain others, such as a more varied restaurant and music scene; overall I choose to have things the way they are here. > > The horrors of small-town southern living, as some folks describe them, don’t faze me. I have never had anyone in a grocery line ask me about church attendance or anything else personal, but suppose it did happen–so what? You may complain that it’s hard to make friends if you don’t share a lot with other people, but isn’t that true by definition? Friendship generally arises from shared interests and opinions. Culpeper? Do you know Wendy Pepper of project runway fame? 😛 SC, TX, OK and MS - nice to visit but you couldnt pay me to live there. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/66 "2011-11-26T17:21:07Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > no one ever made me have to go to church (:p), When I first moved to Atlanta, I was getting some things at the dollar store. There was a long line and I started talking to the woman next to me while we waited. When she found out I had just moved to the area, she got all excited and asked me if I’d found a church yet. I explained (politely) that I wasn’t a Christian and didn’t go to church, she did a 180 on the friendliness scale and started telling me why I had to become a Christian. She followed me into the parking lot after I’d bought my things, telling me how I was going to go to hell if I didn’t change my ways, etc. It was a little surreal. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/67 "2011-11-26T18:41:04Z")
I’m going to an Orthodox Jewish wedding in Atlanta next weekend. So that’s a counterexample to the assertion that everyone in the South must be a church-going Christian. ---
**Author:** ![Madame\_Joy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@Madame\_Joy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madame_Joy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/68 "2011-11-26T18:45:46Z")
This is very much an IMHO topic. I’d much rather live in the South (or at least parts of it) than in the New England area, or SoCal, or a few other parts of the US. I don’t mind the heat & humidity as much as I do cold and snow and wind chill factors. I used to live in the PNW and quite liked it, but I missed a lot of Southern things when I was there. I live in Florida (where I grew up), but NOT SoFla; the area where I live is more like the South than it is like the Miami area. People here say y’all, everyone waves at each other on the neighborhood streets, and there are a lot of culturally “Southern” aspects of life around here. On the other hand, I don’t feel persecuted or excluded because I don’t go to church or watch football or have a right-wing bumper sticker on my Japanese import coupe or live in sin. There are some people I meet that I don’t care for, but there are plenty of decent ones as well. One thing I don’t miss about living in the PNW is the panhandlers I had to encounter on the way to and from work every day. I don’t see many homeless drug addicts hanging around street corners here (I don’t know where they hang around, but at least they don’t bug me for spare change and curse at me if I don’t give it). ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/69 "2011-11-26T18:55:30Z")
Nowhere in America more closely culturally resembles Pakistan than Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/70 "2011-11-26T20:26:25Z")
> [@Molesworth\_2](#): > > As an Aussie who lived in Georgia as a teenager for a while in the late '80s, I have to say that it was a truly bizarre place. > > Maybe Savannah has changed since then, but that place was just disturbingly odd. And no, I didn’t learn anything from my time there, although I did gain a lifelong determination to not be a bigoted twat. Which is a bit ironic since Australia has an international reputation for being one of the most racist countries on Earth, especially where Asians are concerned. ([Recent study of Aussie racism](http://www.news.com.au/national/were-a-land-of-racists-survey-shows/story-e6frfkvr-1226010436251)) ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/71 "2011-11-26T21:06:28Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Some bad: strangers and acquaintances in the grocery line are likely to ask if you belong to a church, and if so, which one. Jeez, I HATE this one. I just moved to Virginia (Northwestern area, near W. Virginia border) and someone recently asked me what Church I belonged to. Cue embarassed stammering and evasive maneuvers. I wish it was polite to answer “None of your Damned Business!” I’m TRYING to remain in the atheist closet here! Other than the churchiness, I really like it here. It’s not a true “Southern” culture, not like the Deep South is. Haven’t encountered any outspoken racists or homophobes yet, unless you count the occasional person with a Confederate flag painted on their pickup. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/72 "2011-11-26T21:20:13Z")
> [@QuarkChild](#): > > Jeez, I HATE this one. I just moved to Virginia (Northwestern area, near W. Virginia border) and someone recently asked me what Church I belonged to. Cue embarassed stammering and evasive maneuvers. I wish it was polite to answer “None of your Damned Business!” > > I’m TRYING to remain in the atheist closet here! > > Other than the churchiness, I really like it here. It’s not a true “Southern” culture, not like the Deep South is. Haven’t encountered any outspoken racists or homophobes yet, unless you count the occasional person with a Confederate flag painted on their pickup. Well, this one is a no-brainer for me. Though I’d rather avoid this invasion of my privacy, I prefer to assume the person asking genuinely intends to welcome me as opposed to winning points for wrangling a new convert/congregant. So I tell them I’ve been attending with a friend or attending the local Unitarian. I can’t live with the idea that a kind hearted person might fret over my everlasting soul or waste prayers on me, so I’d rather lie than task them with begging God to save me. Since I know to expect this question from time to time, it’s easier to lie than to risk upsetting them, because I’d feel terrible if I left a stranger worrying over me unnecessarily. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/73 "2011-11-26T21:38:29Z")
I guess I don’t get out enough. I’ve lived in very religious Alabama for many years and don’t remember the last time my lack of church membership was a problem for me or for my non-church going mother even (who was from a generation that really defined themselves in part by church affiliation). Other than with my Holiness sister (and family doesn’t count), I associate with people who are either open minded Christians or non-theists like myself and it simply doesn’t come up. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/74 "2011-11-26T22:33:17Z")
I grew up in a tiny, church-y south Georgia town, and now live in a larger, less church-y south Georgia town. I’m seldom asked about my affiliation, but it very occasionally comes up. I tell those who ask (and it’s pretty much always a well-meaning preface to an invitation,) that I was raised in the Methodist church, and then change the subject to something innocuous. No fuss. It seems to me to be a cultural difference, akin to using ma’am and sir in polite conversation. In another part of the country, a new acquaintance might casually mention getting together for a drink sometime. Around here, it’s church. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/75 "2011-11-26T23:30:20Z")
> [@Sigma](#): > > Is the South the worst region in America to live in? Yes, but that’s because the weather is awful. I’ll take the cold of a Midwest winter over the hot of a Southern summer every time. Every place has good and bad people. My experiences in the South have been when I visited my friend who’s lived near Starkville, MS; Louisville, KY; and Durham, NC. We had some trips that took us to Nashville and Atlanta, and nowhere did I think the people were specifically more open- or closed-minded than in the Midwest, where I grew up. The only generalization I would make about the people (and this also based on some trips to Florida) is that Southerners don’t have great teeth. I have no explanation for that; it’s just something I started noticing. ---
**Author:** ![ProbablyProcrastinating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@ProbablyProcrastinating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProbablyProcrastinating)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/76 "2011-11-26T23:48:36Z")
> [@Beast\_Model](#): > > By far, the worst place is the Pacific Northwest. I mean it, it’s terrible. It rains all the time, there are no jobs, the people are all mean, and it just sucks. Avoid. Yep, it’s horrid. The Seattle Chill + The Portland Passive-Aggressive are enough to make anyone want to jump off a bridge. I don’t even know why anyone still lives here. Blegh. **msmith537** are you trying to use… _scientific studies_ to back up your argument here? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/77 "2011-11-27T01:04:41Z")
> [@Sigma](#): > > I’ve had a woman tell me point blank that she did not like black people. One guy I deeply respect and has been nothing but kind to me and others told me once that he disapproved of interracial marriages. Another guy I worked with had the habit of actually talking about killing politicians he didn’t agree with. Yet another person suggested that if a gay person were hired to his company, that person should be pushed out or fired. I’ve heard very unkind of words about Muslims with one suggestion that the whole Middle East should be blown up so that all the sand would be turned into glass. People I knew on two different occasions suggested that America should set up machine gun turrets at the Mexican border. > > Sure, these are separate instances made by different people but I heard all of these comments in the just the last five years. Added all together, it just seems ridiculous from the perspective of a laid-back guy like me who wouldn’t mind getting along with anybody. I have heard all of this and more from people right here in the heartland. ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/78 "2011-11-27T01:15:20Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > I have heard all of this and more from people right here in the heartland. Same. I’ve also heard some truly charming “jokes” about how the entire South should be blow up or cut off into the ocean. I grew up in a small town in Kentucky, the product of an interracial marriage, and a great big queermo. It’s not the nightmare people want to think it is. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/79 "2011-11-27T01:19:24Z")
> [@mkecane](#): > > Yes, but that’s because the weather is awful. I’ll take the cold of a Midwest winter over the hot of a Southern summer every time. I’ve often wondered which I’d rather experience. I detest Alabama in August and I’ve never minded very cold weather, BUT since it never gets really cold here for more than a few days at a time I’ve wondered how I’d mind an extended stretch. (I think all long-time southerners know what it’s like to wear heavy coats and tee shirts in the same week or run the AC and the heat within 24 hours of each other.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/80 "2011-11-27T01:21:12Z")
> [@Peeta\_Mellark](#): > > I grew up in a small town in Kentucky, the product of an interracial marriage, and a great big queermo. It’s not the nightmare people want to think it is. How in hell have you avoided doing a one man show in downtown Atlanta?😃 People seem disappointed when I tell them how many openly gay people and interracial couples there are down here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093.md?page=5)