re: Rank the Worst SEC States To Live In

quote:

---

This is going to sound racist, but it's really just straight demographics... The smaller town in New England, Northern CA and the Pacific NW are mostly white... In the south that is not the case...

---

I consider all of Arkansas to be the South, but its quite eye opening when you look at the demographics. Though, over the last 15-20 years Tyson Chicken has helped that some with a lot of their positions at their poultry plants.

quote:

---

Also I think the worst part of living in a college town would be seeing what all goes down and being nostalgic despite being say 35, married and having 3 kids lol.

---

That's sort of why I think so highly of NWA. Its got a true college town if thats what you want. It has the largest world retailer on the other end. All meshed together by the small town feel. No sky scrapers, no huge signage(as its against city codes), no neon lights etc.

The only issue is the road structure, but it is slowly being corrected.

It is really tough to compare entire states b/c they are so large and have so many different conditions. For instance, I rank Arkansas far lower than Georgia, but I would much rather live in Fayetteville than in any number of tiny little Georgia towns.

So I'll compare the best parts of each state for my rankings. I would not want to live anywhere in Mississippi, Missouri, or Kentucky. Any of the other states there is at least one place I'd be happy to live. And I tend to think in terms of which cities I'd like to live in, climate, and whether there is a beach close by.

1. Mississippi (worst): I hate to pile on, and I hear Oxford is a nice little town, but Miss is generally just way too rural and slow for me. Jackson is pretty bad for the biggest city in the state. Low educational attainment and a slow economy.

2. Missouri: Still hard to believe this is an SEC state. Too far inland and too far north for me. I don't care for the cities.

3. Kentucky: Good bourbon and the Derby is fun, but it is too far north, and too far inland for me. There is not a city there I would want to live in.

4. Arkansas: NW Arkansas is pretty nice and there are scenic mountains, but the rest of the state is pretty rough.

5. Alabama: Huntsville seems nice, and I love Auburn, but since I am no longer a college kid I wouldn't really want to live there. Birmingham is an okay metro. Gulf Shores/Orange Beach are great.

6. Texas: I like Austin pretty well and San Antonio okay. Never cared for Dallas or Houston. And the "Texas is a whole other country" thing just rubs me wrong.

7. Tennessee: another inland state, but this one has Nashville which is a top 3 city in the SEC for me which pushes Tenn up the rankings. I don't care for the rest of the state. Memphis is okay for a short visit, but i would not want to live there. Mountains are nice, but I'd hate being so far from the ocean.

8. South Carolina: Great beaches, and two really nice mid-size cities (Charleston and Greenville). I like my cities slightly larger, but those two are nice spots.

9. Florida: all the beaches are great, plus you have some really solid cities, especially Miami and Tampa. Seems like even more crazy than the rest of the south though.

10. Louisiana: I love New Orleans, and the state has an appealing sense of uniqueness along with rich culture (particularly music and food). I do feel like the state is a bit of a one-trick pony though. If I wasn't in NOLA there isn't anywhere else I'd want to live in the state. To me La feels a bit isolated in that if you are in NOLA it is pretty far from anywhere else I'd like to be.

11. Georgia: I feel like Georgia is a really solid state. It has a big city with all the amenities that go with that (pro sports, strong food scene, musuems, shows, etc), it has a nice little historic city (Savannah), some beaches, and it retains a fair bit of "southern-ness". I also think its location and the presence of Hartsfield Jackson make it more connected.