I lived in Louisiana for about a year...hotter than hell, mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds....but they do know how to party down there.
I like the Western part of NC.....love moseying on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I go to an Americana music festival in Wilkesboro every couple years...the people are nice there too. Spent some time in Asheville too...very progressive city....liked it a lot.
Yes, there are things to like about the South. I don't have a problem with it the way some do.
That's because SF is being obtuse (surprise, surprise) or dishonest again. Across the board the south trails behind the rest of the nation in the major quality of life factors as health, family life, community life, material well being, political stability, job security, political freedom and gender equity. I'll be generous and give the south climate/geography. That's one out of the 9 major quality of life factors in the Souths favor mainly cause it's about the only one they can't fuck up!
So lets go down that objective list.
Health. The south leads the nation in the incidence of obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes and has the highest child mortality rate in the nation.
Family life - The south has the highest divorce rates in the nation.
Community life - The south systematically refuses to invest in community infrastructure such as education, public utilities, roads, public health, etc.
Material well being - The highest rates of poverty in the nation are in the South.
Political Stability - The south is the most politically corrupt region in the US.
Job Security - The south has systematically undermined workers rights. Most right to work States are southern.
Political Freedom - No region puts as much obstacles in the paths of minorities to fair political represntation as the south does.
Gender equity - The south has consistantly fought and denied women their reproductive rights and resist equal pay measures for women.
Climate/Geography - OK....I'll give that to some of the southern States but not across the board. Florida is a fucking swamp. I'd take a bitter cold Ohio winter any day over a Texas summer and the Mississippi delta region blows chunks big time but for the sake of argument I'll give you climate/geography.
So of the 9 objective quality of life criteria I listed the South trails the rest of the nation in 8 of those objective quality of life criteria. So yes, by the objective measures listed above, the South, as a region, has a lower quality of life than the rest of the nation does.