# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/161 "2019-12-10T14:59:28Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Yeah but the biscuits make up for all that. Also the BBQ. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/162 "2019-12-10T16:02:34Z")
> [@Equqtor](#): > > What you experience is because you are a damnyankee and not a dumbyankee. > > Dumbyankees boast in their hostility they call “southern-hospitality” while damning their countrymen for living near them and for being loyal to their country. Damnyankees know the difference between hospitality and hostility. > > While knowing what an Aussie, a Kiwi, a Canuck, and a Brit are, dumbyankees are self-disenfranchised. Thus, they don’t know the nickname of their own US citizenry. Damnyankees do. > > Dumbyankees don’t know that “Yankee Go Home” applies to them, or that “Yankee doodle” is a patriotic song that applied to the likes of Virginians like George Washington. Dumbyankees don’t know that “The Yanks are coming” in the song “Over There” referred to all US servicemen in WWI. Similarly, they think the WWII hit “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy” didn’t apply to them. Damnyankees actually know. > > Dumbyankees don’t know that national heroes need to do good for their country and that having a heritage in dividing the country by treasonous traitors killing US servicemen isn’t good for the country, but rather destructive and divisive. Dumbyankees begrudge their country and are proud sore losers who think that what they term “War of Northern Aggression” (that they started at Ft. Sumter) is a current event. Remember, dumbyankees had only a 1/3 literacy rate at the time of the writing of their own “Declarations of the Causes of Seceding States;” that explains that they seceded because they were opposed to state-rights. Dumbyankee ignorance and ethnocentrism prevails till today. Do you agree with Sigma’s premise that residents of southern US states have to choose a particular football team? At the college level, which is usually where the team loyalty exists, nearly every southern US state has an instate rivalry. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/163 "2019-12-10T21:20:32Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Given that millions of people choose to live in the South, it’s a matter of opinion, isn’t it? I’m glad I found the best response right at the start. Saves me a lot of hassle reading the rest of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/164 "2019-12-10T21:23:47Z")
So Eurasia is the best continent because the most people decide to live there? It has the largest area. Ditto for the South. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/165 "2019-12-10T21:27:22Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Also the BBQ. I’ve found BBQ to be too divisive a matter. People like _their_ style of BBQ. I’ve seen full-on fist fights break out on the subject of vinegar vs mustard based sauce - at which point the Texan speaks up and all HAYLLL breaks loose. Grandma’s southern style biscuits may not be everyone’s favorites but I haven’t seen anybody turn one down yet. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/166 "2019-12-10T21:46:24Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Nowhere in America more closely culturally resembles Pakistan than Tennessee. You should tell that to a Pakistani woman or gay person. I’m sure they’d totally, 100% see your point. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/167 "2019-12-10T21:52:32Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 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.) I live in Iowa and have lived in the Midwest my entire life (IA, MN, NE and SD). I used to think the cold was more tolerable than the heat. Then I lost 80 lbs. Now I’m 5’4, 120 lbs and I FREEZE when it’s under 40. I keep my apartment at a nice 75 degrees, and even then I get chilled when the heat isn’t actually on. I’ve also discovered a new-found love for cardigans, and can play Pokémon Go in 90-degree heat no problemo! I need to move someday. Not necessarily SOUTH south, but someplace a bit more weather-neutral, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/168 "2019-12-11T23:23:58Z")
Just one anecdote, FWIW. When our whole family vacationed in Myrtle Beach, SC, we were warned by our DIL’s sister who then lived in Conway, about 15 miles inland, to never, ever, say anything political in public. And she had been living there for about 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/169 "2019-12-11T23:52:13Z")
My sister-in-law got a job at State University in Alabama, so she and my brother moved there over twenty years ago. (She has a Ph.D. in the sciences). While they enjoy some aspects of the deep south, as educated atheists who don’t care for football it has been difficult at times for them. My brother once described a conversation he had with a stranger while standing in line at Lowe’s: STRANGER: WHOEEEE! The Tide’s gonna be great this year! Gonna be great! Who you like? BROTHER: Excuse me? STRANGER: Who you like? Alabama, or Auburn? BROTHER: Sorry, what do you mean? STRANGER: Do you like Alabama, or Auburn? BROTHER: What are we talking about here? STRANGER: FOOTBALL! Do you like Alabama? BROTHER: Oh. No, I don’t watch football. STRANGER: [pause] So you like Auburn, then? They’re constantly asked about where they go to church (they’ve learned to dodge the question), dealing with “Creationism,” and “Intelligent Design” still has my SIL rolling her eyes, and I’ve been hearing about Judge Roy Moore for years. They had a campaign sign for Obama in their front yard, which local vandals lit on fire, so they replaced it with another one that was promptly torched as well, not to mention the mailbox getting destroyed and garbage thrown in their lawn. She’s looking to retire soon, and they are talking about moving to a more enlightened part of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/170 "2019-12-12T00:15:10Z")
> [@Kovitlac](#): > > I need to move someday. Not necessarily SOUTH south, but someplace a bit more weather-neutral, I suppose. Here is California we don’t really have weather, we have climate. A three degree increase over three days is a warming trend. The natives think 40 degrees is bitter cold. And if you want snow you drive to it. Given that we had 30 inches just before I left New Jersey, that works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/171 "2019-12-12T00:21:53Z")
If it’s such a horrible place to live then why is the majority of the migration over the last 30-40 years been from the North and East to the South and West? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/172 "2019-12-12T00:32:14Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > If it’s such a horrible place to live then why is the majority of the migration over the last 30-40 years been from the North and East to the South and West? The South is not located in the South and West. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/173 "2019-12-12T00:40:35Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > The South is not located in the South and West. True dat! ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/174 "2019-12-12T06:48:08Z")
I have been in every state in the Union except Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, and I don’t miss those much. I wore a US Army uniform over my tall white frame when white civilians in south Virginia beat and robbed me. I guess they didn’t like federal troops. ☹ I’ve been assaulted in Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. I didn’t stay in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama long enough to feel any wrath there. A robber in San Francisco pulled a knife on me once - he was disappointed I had nothing more than a Confederate dollar in my wallet - but otherwise I’ve not been molested outside the South, even in “bad” areas. (I often walked through Harlem at night, no problem.) Fuck the South. Let them secede. No loss. Give Florida to Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/175 "2019-12-12T16:08:28Z")
Pretty sure the South is located in the South. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/176 "2019-12-12T16:23:57Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Pretty sure the South is located in the South. :rolleyes: But the West isn’t. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/177 "2019-12-12T17:25:19Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > If it’s such a horrible place to live then why is the majority of the migration over the last 30-40 years been from the North and East to the South and West? Nobody lives in the North anymore. It’s too crowded. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/178 "2019-12-12T17:36:24Z")
> [@gnarator](#): > > My sister-in-law got a job at State University in Alabama, so she and my brother moved there over twenty years ago. (She has a Ph.D. in the sciences). While they enjoy some aspects of the deep south, as educated atheists who don’t care for football it has been difficult at times for them. My brother once described a conversation he had with a stranger while standing in line at Lowe’s: > STRANGER: WHOEEEE! The Tide’s gonna be great this year! Gonna be great! Who you like? > BROTHER: Excuse me? > STRANGER: Who you like? Alabama, or Auburn? > BROTHER: Sorry, what do you mean? > STRANGER: Do you like Alabama, or Auburn? > BROTHER: What are we talking about here? > STRANGER: FOOTBALL! Do you like Alabama? > BROTHER: Oh. No, I don’t watch football. > STRANGER: [pause] So you like Auburn, then? > > They’re constantly asked about where they go to church (they’ve learned to dodge the question), dealing with “Creationism,” and “Intelligent Design” still has my SIL rolling her eyes, and I’ve been hearing about Judge Roy Moore for years. They had a campaign sign for Obama in their front yard, which local vandals lit on fire, so they replaced it with another one that was promptly torched as well, not to mention the mailbox getting destroyed and garbage thrown in their lawn. > > She’s looking to retire soon, and they are talking about moving to a more enlightened part of the country. I wonder if people like the ones in your anecdote feel a sense of loss whenever they move to more urbane parts of the country? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/179 "2019-12-12T17:56:25Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > I wonder if people like the ones in your anecdote feel a sense of loss whenever they move to more urbane parts of the country? I was in Whole Foods the other day: STRANGER: Tsk tsk tsk. Cilantro or coriander? ME: Excuse me? STRANGER: Is it cilantro or coriander? ME: Sorry, what do you mean? STRANGER: What do you call it. Cilantro. Or. Coriander. ME: What are we talking about here? STRANGER: The annual herb prominently featured in both Mexican and Indian foods! Do you call it cilantro or coriander? ME: Oh. Either, I guess. STRANGER: [pause] So you call it Chinese parsley, then? ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093/180 "2019-12-13T00:59:11Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I was in Whole Foods the other day: > > STRANGER: Tsk tsk tsk. Cilantro or coriander? > ME: Excuse me? > STRANGER: Is it cilantro or coriander? > ME: Sorry, what do you mean? > STRANGER: What do you call it. Cilantro. Or. Coriander. > ME: What are we talking about here? > STRANGER: The annual herb prominently featured in both Mexican and Indian foods! Do you call it cilantro or coriander? > ME: Oh. Either, I guess. > STRANGER: [pause] So you call it Chinese parsley, then? I look forward to this exchange in an upcoming _Mallard Fillmore_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-the-worst-region-in-america-to-live-in/604093.md?page=10)