[gtank]

As a former longtime resident of the south, including a few years in Tuscaloosa (we seem to have overlapped - 2008-2010), I'd advise against judging the region by the standard of Tuscaloosa. I know it's a huge college town and that seems like it should be a positive influence, but it's not. The University of Alabama is a lingering bastion of negative southern stereotype.

I suggest Atlanta as a counterexample - a real city, full of educated and inclusive people, art, culture, a nascent modern tech scene, and several good schools which notably lack racism as a cultural touchstone.

[reggie_n_DC]

Spending 6 years in a place like Tuscaloosa pretty much spoils any interest in spending more time in the south. I've heard lovely things about Athens but after my daughter came home from the University of Alabama preschool and announced that she did not like black people, I quit my job and moved my family to a Union state.

[jdc0589]

hell...Birmingham is better than Tuscaloosa. (To be honest, Birmingham isn't bad at all any more)

[Tloewald]

Birmingham is better but only in comparison.