Northerners who moved south, what was your experience?
I once moved from Palo Alto to Mountain View. That was about 10 miles south. Does that count?
More to the point, are you asking about as specific country? Moving south in Canada means you’re moving to warmer climate, while moving south in Australia means you’re moving to a colder climate. Or are you referring to cultural differences, which would obviously also depend on the country.
I’m from Michigan, and was stationed about two and half years in Texas. Texas was cold, girls’ makeup was different, and people did something called “line dancing.” Oh, and I had to join Pizza Hut’s drunk club to order a beer with my pizza.
I miss the north. I hate the south. I’m paid well to stay. 'nuff said.
Wait… you’re from Michigan and Texas was cold? Surely you don’t mean in the climate sense…
My Daddy was a Marine, we lived all over. He decamped back to Arkansaa his home state. Ive been here since 9th grade. Married, built a house, raised kids and I’m still newcomer.
The wall is hard to climb over.
Check the history of threads started by the OP and it will clear things up for you.
My experience is more of a gradual move… First Mountain West, then Louisville (sort of border between North and South), then Nashville, then rural Tennessee.
Good:
Generally more friendly - Southen hospitality. Strangers wave at you when out walking the dog or whatever.
Different:
Accents and different terms (“hose pipe” for garden hose)
Not Good:
Some very poor houses, trailers (can people really live there?)
“Interesting” people at stores. Poor, backwoods, etc. (I have a contest when I go to Walmart to find the most interesting person)
Confederate flags, Gadsden flags (don’t tread on me), pickup trucks with lots of large flags in the back - American, Confederate and some I don’t want to know what they are.
Panhandle maybe?
In Amarillo, a guy I knew described winters as “Ain’t nothin between here and the North Pole but a barbed wire fence.”
Wisconsin to Alabama, then Tennessee
Huntsville has the Space & Rocket Center, & lots of Aerospace PhD s.
The rest of the State is Hell on Earth, if you have a brain, & can read.
Tennessee is Poor & Corrupt.
You can get a job in the South, but no money here.
Lost my job in Connecticut three years ago, moved to Florida two and a half years ago. Sarasota area. Beautiful beaches, friendly people, can’t get a good pizza or bagels but you learn to appreciate a Cuban sandwich or a fish taco.
Making less than half what I did, living expenses are about a third what they were. Bank account is holding more money.
Best decision we’ve made in thirtysomething years.
Moved to south GA from central IN. I taught high school science. I found time seemed to fly to Christmas because it didn’t get cold, but the clock quit running in March since it was warm out and warm out means school’s out soon back in Indiana. Getting paid monthly took a bit of getting used to, but I learned how to budget. I originally waned to move back after getting some experience, but that never happened. I’m retired now and remain south most of the time. I get a good break on Georgia income tax (I pay none) and my allergies to cool season grasses and hardwood trees are diminished a good deal here. I really don’t do well with cold any more.
Locals don’t understand this, but there are ZERO good tomatoes, sweet corn, or apples here in the deep south. Good varieties of sweet corn are finally being grown here, but they pick it too mature. Apples won’t grow well here due to not enough cold hours, and tomatoes won’t ripen on the vine due to the hot nights. I’m heading for the North Georgia apple orchards tomorrow!
My MiL tries this line with me. I’ll ask her what the temperature is and she’ll say “75” or “70”. My eyes cannot roll that hard.
I’ve actually looked at maps to verify that there are mountains of some sort between Texas and the North Pole, but then I decided I wasn’t going to change any minds and gave up.
My parents moved from Michigan to Texas when I was five. My sense was there just wasn’t enough snow.
I liked biscuits everywhere. But while it was nice that people were nice on the outside, I missed cranky old Yankee-ness. And holy fuck was everyone slow as shit. Oh, that light is green? Let me slowly go now. No, a little more slowly. And while everyone in MA drives like a maniac, back before smart phones at least everyone would all start creeping forward when a light turned green. But down south everyone would stay at a full stop until the car in front of them was already moving and gone.
And while I like biscuits, I missed my food and my grocery stores and my brands.
I’m not really from any place in particular (I’ve moved about 20 zillion times in my life), but from age 11 to 21 I lived in New Hampshire or Massachusetts, and then again for another 4 years from age 29-34. So I consider myself more or less a New Englander.
Following a career spent traipsing around the world, I moved to Hawaii for retirement, so the simple version of my geographic life is: New England-(some stuff)-Hawaii. Does that count as moving from North to South?
In case it does, my experience is swell! True, I miss beautiful, crisp autumn days, roaring fires and hot chocolate in winter, and summer nights that go on forever. But I could always take a vacation to New England if I wanted to experience that again. More importantly, I do NOT miss driving in ice and snow, having hands that ache and a nose that runs from cold half the year, and being unable to garden year-round.
People may not be thinking of Hawaii when they speak of “the South,” but it’s a southern destination that works for me.
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As someone who moved from the south to the north, I’d have a hard time moving back. Although technically I’m south of the Mason-Dixon line in the MD suburbs of DC. I certainly couldn’t move to somewhere Ms. P was the only Jewish person in town.
This thread makes me recall the quote, credited to JFK but apparently a quote he got from someone else, about Washington DC: “A city of northern charm and southern efficiency.”
Also keep in mind that this is a U.S. based board. That’s why we’re only supposed to post in English and the rule about advocating illegal activities refers to activities that are illegal in the U.S. I think it’s safe to assume that any question like this is about the U.S. unless otherwise specified.