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Lists about the life below the Mason-Dixon line just as fresh and cool as a glass of sweet tea on the back porch in the summertime. Y'all get votin'!

Vacations

Sanibel Island

What are the best beaches in the South? Southern beaches are among the most <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-beaches-in-the-us/island-hopper-dan" target="_blank">gorgeous beaches in the U.S.</a> Whether it's the fine, powdery white sands of beaches along the Gulf of Mexico in the Deep South or the gorgeous, tan sands of North Carolina's Outer Banks and the Atlantic Coast, the beaches are plentiful, the water sports are fantastic and, well, these places listed here are just first-rate. Vote for your favorite southern beaches and vote down any you don't like. Feel free, also, to add any beaches that are missing. While there's absolutely no doubt that <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-beaches-in-florida/island-hopper-dan" target="_blank">Florida's beautiful beaches</a> are among the best in the world, the state doesn't have a monopoly on the greatest beach vacation spots and towns. From the flat, sandy beaches of Texas to the breathtaking natural beaches of Georgia and South Carolina, it's not difficult at all to drive to the coast and wind up at one of the best looking beaches you've ever seen.If you've got a family vacation in mind, some of the best Southern beaches offer plenty of fun in the sun for all ages Massive resorts are plentiful, offering kids (big and small) access to huge swimming pools, water parks, aquariums and yes, of course, mini-golf courses (a beach tradition in our house). There is no doubt that these are some of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-u-s-cities-for-vacations" target="_blank">best U.S. cities for vacations</a>.The quaint beach towns of the South are hospitable, sometimes quirky and always interesting. They also feature excellent, memorable restaurants that serve up some of the best seafood in the country! If fresh shrimp and crab, along with all types of fish is your thing, you really can't go wrong with any of the beaches and beach towns listed here.

The South

North Carolina

The South is known for its gorgeous landscapes, its delicious foods, and its fun in the sun. Some of the best places to live in the country are in the south. Want gorgeous, sandy beaches? How about a quaint, friendly town? The south can provide you with all of that. But which states are the best to live in?Would you rather live in a big city or a small town where everyone knows you? Do you want to live near the beach or on a farm? Would you rather live in a house or an apartment? These are all questions you should consider when thinking about where you think the best places to live are.

Chain Restaurants

Sonny's BBQ

<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-fried-chicken-restaurant-chains/restaurant-chains" target="_blank">Fried chicken</a>, biscuits, barbecue, tacos... The American South covers a lot of area, and the variety of food its inhabitants love is just as wide. This is a list of the best Southern <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/top-restaurant-chains-in-america" target="_blank">restaurant chains</a>, including fast food, fast casual restaurants, and even single-state hole-in-the-wall-type places that only have a handful of (much beloved) locations. Is your favorite on the list? Here, you&#39;ll find the kind of places Southern ex-pats dream about - and drop in to visit whenever they&#39;re back &quot;home.&quot;&nbsp;

What boundaries would you draw around the South? Which fast food chains are officially &quot;Southern&quot;? The list includes restaurant corporations that originated in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States#Geography" target="_blank">Southern states</a> as defined by the U.S. census bureau: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. While some of these states fought for the Confederacy, others were heavily influenced by the cultures of Mexico, France, and, even just the Northern part of the U.S. Some are lush with trees and mosquitoes, and others have alligators or mountains or crabs or deserts. All of them will deep-fry just about anything. All of them.

Best Movies

When you think about the American South certain things probably come to mind, such as the Civil War, plantations, slavery, cotton fields, hospitality, southern charm, accents, a warmer climate, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement and fried chicken! Some of cinema&#39;s most classic films are set in the rich landscape of the South

The southern part of the United States is home to some of the most important historical events in the nation. It&#39;s known for its hospitality and comfort food, as well as movies like The Secret Life of Bees, Rambling Rose, and Crazy Heart.

This list features the best Southern movies including: Forrest Gump, Gone With the Wind, Steel Magnolias, The Client, The Notebook, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dark-moments-fried-green-tomatoes-film/megan-summers" target="_blank">Fried Green Tomatoes</a>, Ray, The Help, The Blind Side, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Radio, The Firm, The Prince of Tides, The Rainmaker, Where the Heart Is, and My Cousin Vinny.

Grab a plate of fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, fried anything else, and vote up your favorite Southern movie. Or, add a film not on the list.

poll

Grits

Head on down south of the Mason-Dixon Line, y'all, and make yourself at home! &nbsp;The best Southern dishes are a combination of sweet dishes, savory dishes, and the best Creole cooking in the world. Some of the <a href="/list/the-most-delicious-pies/chef-jen">best pies</a>, the <a href="/crowdranked-list/the-best-deep-fried-foods">tastiest fried foods</a>, and the guiltiest pleasures in food have their origins in Southern cuisine, and this list of greatest dishes from the South lets you vote on which of the tasty regional treats are the best.Think there's nothing better than biscuits and gravy? Love the spicy kick of some jambalaya? Ready to let loose on some key lime pie? You're at no loss for great Cajun delights and delicious Creole specialties on this list of Southern food favorites. If you don't see one of your favorite Southern dishes in the mix, make sure to add it so others can get to know (and taste), the best of Southern cooking.What are the best Creole dishes? What are the top Cajun specialties? What are the best foods from the South? You'll find some great Southern foods to love on this list of food specialties from the South. Just try not to get too hungry looking at it!

America

If you've never been to the southern side&nbsp;of these&nbsp;United States, here's your&nbsp;chance to take a virtual tour with this collection of outrageous&nbsp;southern signs. Just a hop and a skip below the Mason-Dixon line reveals a <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/what-are-rednecks/ashley-reign">trove of signs symbolic of the southern way of life</a>.&nbsp;When people say&nbsp;things are&nbsp;&quot;going south,&quot;&nbsp;they're referring to the&nbsp;skills of the people behind these postings for 'ho made' goods and 'computars.'&nbsp;So get your grits and sweet tea, because it's time to enjoy the Internet's southern hospitality with this collection of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/redneck-jokes/jack-napier">redneck jokes</a> and funny signs of the deep, dark South.&nbsp;

When flipping through the channels on your television set, you might quickly realize that most series are based out of certain locales. Many shows find themselves set in places like New York, Los Angeles, or some Midwest town nobody has ever heard of. That isn't to say there aren't shows set in the South, however, as not only are there plenty to choose from, but many of those series make up the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-shows-currently-on-the-air" target="_blank">very best in television</a>! Southern TV shows are some of the most interesting and captivating series ever made thanks to the rich culture found in the American South.Because TV shows about the South&nbsp;can run the gamut of any and every genre (and the same goes for <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-southern-movies/ranker-film" target="_blank">Southern movies</a>), you'll find hit series on this list like&nbsp;True Blood, which is set&nbsp;in Southern Louisiana. And&nbsp;while a sitcom like <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-golden-girls-guest-stars/lisa-waugh?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">The Golden Girls</a>&nbsp;may have been shot in Los Angeles, it&nbsp;was actually set deep in Miami, Florida. As you can imagine, this is likely the case for many of these southern TV shows. Whichever genre you prefer, there are numerous options of amazing television to choose from if your interests lie in the Southern United States.&nbsp;From sitcoms about the South to&nbsp;dramas, there's plenty of Southern TV to check out. For more recommendations, browse this list and feel free to add any similar shows you think are missing!

Steel Magnolias

Close-knit families, Southern hospitality, and a whole lot of good food make the American South a great place to spend some time in real life and in movies. The best Southern movies feature classic characters doing everything in their power to succeed. This is a list of the top movies set in the South including everything from Gone with the Wind to The Blind Side to Driving Miss Daisy.What films will you find on this list of the best <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-southern-movies/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">movies about the South</a>? The globe-trotting crowd-pleaser Forrest Gump&nbsp;begins during the title character's childhood in Alabama. Though Forrest (Tom Hanks) traveled all over the world, he always returned home, especially to visit his mama. No Country For Old Men is another good film set in the South. New York lawyer Vincent Gambini was a fish out of water when he traveled past the Mason-Dixon Line to defend his cousin in the 1992 movie My Cousin Vinny. Other good films found on this roundup of the best movies about the South include Sweet Home Alabama, Walk the Line, and Django Unchained.Which Southern-set movie is your favorite? Give the best films a thumbs up and please add any good features that are missing.

Beloved

A list of the best movies about plantations in the American South&nbsp;ever made, ranked by film fans&#39; votes. This list is ordered by popularity, so only the greatest movies about plantations&nbsp;are at the top of the list. If there are any great films you think we missed, please feel free to add them yourself.&nbsp;

The films on this list are the most famous plantation&nbsp;movies of all time, so use it to find some movies that you haven&#39;t seen already if you&#39;re a fan of the genre.

 
This list answers the questions, &quot;What are the best plantation&nbsp;movies?&quot; and &quot;What is the greatest movie about plantations?&quot; and contains items like Beloved and Cold Mountain.

 
Various bits of information are included with these popular plantation&nbsp;movies, such as who directed them, when they were released and who starred in the films. So whether you&#39;re watching these movies on DVD, Blu-ray or streaming, these are some good plantation&nbsp;<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-feel-good-movies/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">movies to enjoy</a>.

The American South is home to a wide swath of strange and unsettling tourist attractions, ranging from official sites to weird areas that travelers have to work to get to. These attractions are meant for the excited traveler who enjoys the darker side of life, and while many of them have depressing origins, they&rsquo;re worth checking out on a road trip through the South.&nbsp;

These creepy places in the South each have their own bleak backstory, many of them with an aggressive&nbsp;undercurrent, but there are plenty of places in the South that are simply weird. The area lends itself to being a little strange, which is why the South is the perfect place to get lost.&nbsp;

Austin

The South has some of the coolest cities and towns to live in in the entire country. Whether it's a bustling metropolis or a quaint town, the South has it all. There are so many different factors to consider when thinking about the best places to live. Do you want to live near a body of water? Consider Charleston, SC, right on the Atlantic Coast, or New Orleans, in the heart of the Gulf of Mississippi. How about in a big city? Atlanta is the 11th most populous city in the US. If you're looking to move to a small town in the USA, will you be able to find work there? Consider up-and-coming cities like Birmingham, Memphis, and Little Rock. &nbsp;Which cities in the South are the best to live in? Vote up all of your favorite Southern cities, and feel free to add any that aren't already listed here.

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Best Southern Cities To Live In | Top City in the South to Move To

The Best Southern Cities To Live In

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Asheville

Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The city's population was 83,393 according to the 2010 United States census. It is the principal city in the four-county Asheville metropolitan area, with a population of 424,858 in 2010. Asheville is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center, the world's largest active archive of weather data.

Charlotte

Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, the seat of Mecklenburg County, the second largest city in the Southeastern United States, just behind Jacksonville, Florida, and the third fastest-growing major city in the United States. In 2013, the estimated population of Charlotte according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 792,862, making it the 16th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area ranks 23rd largest in the US and had a 2013 population of 2,335,358. The Charlotte metropolitan area is part of a sixteen-county market region or combined statistical area with a 2013 U.S. Census population estimate of 2,493,040. Residents of Charlotte are referred to as "Charlotteans".
The city is a major U.S. financial center, with both Bank of America and Wells Fargo's East Coast operations headquartered in the city. Charlotte is also home of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League, the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association, the Charlotte Hounds of Major League Lacrosse, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Carowinds amusement park, and the U.S. National Whitewater Center.

boberton

Raleigh

Raleigh is the capital of the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County in the United States. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees, which line the streets in the heart of the city. The city covers a land area of 142.8 square miles. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city's population to be 431,746 as of July 1, 2013. It is also one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County.
Raleigh is home to North Carolina State University and is part of the Research Triangle area, together with Durham and Chapel Hill. The "Triangle" nickname originated after the 1959 creation of the Research Triangle Park, located in Durham & Wake Counties partway between the three cities and their universities. The Research Triangle region encompasses the U.S. Census Bureau's Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 2,037,430 in 2013. The Raleigh Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 1,214,516 in 2013.

Nashville

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. Nashville is the second largest city in Tennessee and is the fourth largest city in the Southeastern United States. It is located on the Cumberland River in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home to numerous colleges and universities. Reflecting the city's position in state government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for Middle Tennessee. It is known as a center of the music industry, earning it the nickname "Music City".
Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city-county government which includes six smaller municipalities in a two-tier system. Thirty-five of 40 members are elected from single-member districts; five are elected at-large. According to the 2013 American Community Survey estimates, the consolidated county population stood at 658,602; not including the semi-independent municipalities, the population was 634,464.

Austin is the capital of the US state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas, Austin is the 11th-most populous city in the United States and the fourth-most populous city in Texas. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. Austin is also the second largest state capital in the United States, after Phoenix, Arizona. Austin had a July 1, 2013 population of 885,400. The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 1,883,051 as of July 1, 2013.
In the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River. After Republic of Texas Vice President Mirabeau B. Lamar visited the area during a buffalo-hunting expedition between 1837 and 1838, he proposed that the republic's capital then located in Houston, be relocated to the area situated on the north bank of the Colorado River near the present-day Congress Avenue Bridge. In 1839, the site was officially chosen as the republic's new capital and was incorporated under the name Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F.

Savannah

Savannah is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. A strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War, Savannah is today an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fifth-largest city and third-largest metropolitan area.
Each year Savannah attracts millions of visitors to its cobblestone streets, parks, and notable historic buildings: the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the Georgia Historical Society, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the First African Baptist Church, Temple Mickve Israel, and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex.
Savannah's downtown area, which includes the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District, and 22 parklike squares, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States. Downtown Savannah largely retains the original town plan prescribed by founder James Oglethorpe.

Charleston

Charleston is the oldest and second-largest city in the State of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston–Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline and is located on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, or, as is locally expressed, "where the Cooper and Ashley Rivers come together to form the Atlantic Ocean".
Founded in 1670 as Charles Town in honor of King Charles II of England, Charleston adopted its present name in 1783. It moved to its present location on Oyster Point in 1680 from a location on the west bank of the Ashley River known as Albemarle Point. By 1690, Charles Town was the fifth-largest city in North America, and it remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840 census. With a 2010 census population of 120,083, current trends put Charleston as the fastest-growing municipality in South Carolina.

Greenville

Greenville is the seat of Greenville County in upstate South Carolina, United States. The city's mayor is Knox White, who has served as the mayor of Greenville since December 1995. With a population of 61,397 as of 2013, it is the sixth-largest municipality in the state. The population of the surrounding area was 400,492 as of 2010, making it the third-largest urban area in South Carolina as well as the fastest growing. Greenville is the largest city in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The MSA had a population of 850,965 in 2013, making it the largest in South Carolina.
Greenville is the largest city in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area. According to GSA Business Market Facts, the CSA had a population of 1,438,550 as of 2013, putting it in the position of largest in the state. The CSA, a 10-county region of northwestern South Carolina, is known as "The Upstate". Greenville is located approximately halfway between Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina along Interstate 85, and its metropolitan area also includes Interstates 185 and 385.

Fultongamez

St. Augustine

St. Augustine is a city in northeast Florida and the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States. The county seat of St. Johns County, it is part of Florida's First Coast region and the Jacksonville metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 12,975. The United States Census Bureau's 2013 estimate of the city's population was 13,679, while the urban area had a population of 69,173 in 2012.
Saint Augustine was founded on September 8, 1565 by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who named the settlement "San Agustín", as his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida on August 28, 1565, the feast day of St. Augustine. The city served as the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years, and remained the capital of East Florida when the territory briefly changed hands between Spain and Britain. It was designated the capital of the Florida Territory until Tallahassee was made the capital in 1824. Since the late 19th century, St. Augustine's distinct historical character has made the city a major tourist attraction.

Kassie Lanzarotta

San Antonio

San Antonio, officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh most populous city in the United States of America and the second most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population of 1,409,019. It was the fastest growing of the top 10 largest cities in the United States from 2000 to 2010, and the second from 1990 to 2000. The city is located in the American Southwest, the south–central part of Texas, and the southwestern corner of an urban region known as the Texas Triangle.
San Antonio serves as the seat of Bexar County. The city has characteristics of other western urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas and a low density rate outside of the city limits. San Antonio is the center of the San Antonio–New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. Commonly referred to as Greater San Antonio, the metropolitan area has a population of over 2.27 million based on the 2013 US Census estimate, making it the 25th-largest metropolitan area in the United States and third-largest in the state of Texas. Growth along the Interstate 35 and Interstate 10 corridors to the north, west and east make it likely that the metropolitan area will continue to expand.

Tampa

Tampa is a city in and the county seat of Hillsborough County, Florida, United States located on the west coast of Florida on Tampa Bay, near the Gulf of Mexico. The city had a population of 346,037 in 2011.
The current location of Tampa was once inhabited by indigenous peoples of the Safety Harbor culture, most notably the Tocobaga and the Pohoy, who lived along the shores of Tampa Bay. It was explored by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, resulting in brief and violent conflicts with the native peoples and the introduction of European diseases, which wiped out the original native cultures over the next few decades. While Spain claimed Florida as part of New Spain, it did not found a colony in the Tampa area, and there were no permanent American or European settlements within today's city limits until after the United States had acquired Florida from Spain in 1819. In 1824, the United States Army established a frontier outpost called Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, near the site of today's Tampa Convention Center.

Montgomery

Montgomery is the capital of the state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 Census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764. It is the second-largest city in Alabama, after Birmingham, and the 103rd largest in the United States. The Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area had a 2010 estimated population of 374,536. It is the fourth-largest in the state and 136th among United States metropolitan areas.
The city was incorporated in 1819, as a merger of two towns situated along the Alabama River. It became the state capital in 1846, representing the shift of power to the south-central area with the growth of cotton as a commodity crop of the Black Belt and Mobile's rise as a mercantile port. In February 1861, Montgomery was selected as the first capital of the Confederate States of America, until the seat of government moved to Richmond, Virginia, in May of that year. During the mid-20th century, Montgomery was a major site of events in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery marches.
In addition to housing many Alabama government agencies, Montgomery has a large military presence due to Maxwell Air Force Base; public universities Alabama State University, Troy University, and Auburn University at Montgomery; private colleges/universities Faulkner University and Huntingdon College; high-tech manufacturing, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama; and cultural attractions such as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Atlanta

Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the US state of Georgia, with an estimated 2013 population of 447,841. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,522,942 people and the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States. Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County.
Atlanta was established in 1837 at the intersection of two railroad lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the Civil War to become a national center of commerce. In the decades following the Civil Rights Movement, during which the city earned a reputation as "too busy to hate" for the progressive views of its citizens and leaders, Atlanta attained international prominence. Atlanta is the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States, via highway, railroad, and air, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport since 1998.
Atlanta is considered an "alpha-" or "world city", ranking 45th among world cities and 8th in the nation with a gross domestic product of $270 billion.

Key West

Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1, Sigsbee Park, Fleming Key, and Sunset Key. Both Fleming Key and Sigsbee Park are part of Naval Air Station Key West and are inaccessible by civilians. Key West is the county seat of Monroe County. Key West is the southernmost city in the Continental United States. It also contains the southern terminus of U.S. 1, State Road A1A, the East Coast Greenway and, before 1935, the Florida East Coast Railway.
Key West is 129 miles southwest of Miami, Florida, and 106 miles north-northeast of Havana, Cuba. Cuba, at its closest point, is 94 statute miles south. Key West is a seaport destination for many passenger cruise ships. The Key West International Airport provides airline service. Hotels and guest houses are available for lodging. Naval Air Station Key West is an important year round training site for naval aviation due to the superb weather conditions. It is also a reason the city was chosen as the Winter White House of President Harry S. Truman.

New Orleans

New Orleans (pronounced N'awlins or New Orlens by locals, the only time that a hard E is correct is while singing "Way Down Yonder In New Orleens" or Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleenz)) is the birthplace of Jazz, a major US port city, important in river transshipment, naval logistics, and the illegal drug trade.
New Orleans is located at the mouth of the Mississipi River, just south of where the river splits off into Lake Pontchartrain, which forms the northern city limit and a unique ecosystem because of the salt water boundary.  The Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest bridge in the world.
New Orleans is unique in the United States for many reasons.  It shares more in common with european cities and Montreal than most other American cities, and both historically and liguistically has more in common with other port cities like New York than other cities in the South (the local Y'at accent shares similarities with Brooklynese).  The architecture of the Vieux Carre, or French Quarter, mainly comes from the 18th century Spanish period, is reminiscent of many european cities, and changes are tightly controlled.  The Garden District contains many stately mansions built in the early 19th century, after the city was purchased by the US.   There are two distinct local cuisines, cajun and haute creole.  Culturally and economically, since the decline of the local oil industry in the 1970's, the city and the attitude of local residents have more in common with a banana republic or a small caribbean nation than most US cities.  Tourism is the major industry, and Mardi Gras is the major holiday.

Richmond

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond Region; since 1871 Richmond has been an independent city.
As of the 2010 census, the population was 204,214; in 2013, the population was estimated to be 214,114, the fourth-most populous city in Virginia. The Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,208,101.
Richmond is located at the fall line of the James River, 44 miles west of Williamsburg, 66 miles east of Charlottesville, and 98 miles south of Washington, D.C. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, and encircled by Interstate 295 and Virginia State Route 288. Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the northeast.
The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609, and in 1610–1611. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737.

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2013 census estimate, the population was 249,688, making St. Petersburg the 4th most populous city in the state of Florida and the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat. St. Petersburg is the second largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa, composed of roughly 2.8 million residents, making it the second largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in the state. It is also a popular vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists.
The city is often referred to by locals as St. Pete. Neighboring St. Pete Beach formally shortened its name in 1994 after a vote by its residents. St. Petersburg is governed by a mayor and city council.
The city is located on a peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It is connected to mainland Florida to the north; with the city of Tampa to the east by causeways and bridges across Tampa Bay; and to Bradenton in the south by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which traverses the mouth of the bay. It is also served by Interstates 175 and 375, which branch off I-275 into the southern and northern areas of downtown respectively.

Wilmington

Wilmington is a port city in — and is the county seat of — New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. The population is 112,067; according to the 2010 Census it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the principal city of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that includes New Hanover and Pender counties in southeastern North Carolina, which has a population of 263,429 as of the 2012 Census Estimate.
Wilmington was settled by European Americans along the Cape Fear River. Its historic downtown has a one-mile-long Riverwalk, originally developed as a tourist attraction, and in 2014 Wilmington's riverfront was named the "Best American Riverfront" by USA Today. It is minutes away from nearby beaches. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Wilmington, North Carolina, as one of its 2008 Dozen Distinctive Destinations. City residents live between the river and the ocean, with four nearby beach communities: Fort Fisher, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and Kure Beach, all within half-hour drives from downtown Wilmington.

ProgdenJimbot

Chatanooga

Chattanooga

Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with a population of 167,674 as of the 2010 census, and an estimated population of 171,279 in 2012. It is the seat of Hamilton County. Located in southeastern Tennessee in East Tennessee, on Chickamauga Lake and Nickajack Lake, which are both part of the Tennessee River, Chattanooga lies approximately 120 miles to the northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, 120 miles to the southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, about 135 miles to the southeast of Nashville, Tennessee, about 120 miles to the northeast of Huntsville, Alabama, and about 148 miles to the northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. Chattanooga abuts the Georgia border and is where three major interstate highways meet: I-24, I-75, and I-59.
The city, which has a downtown elevation of approximately 680 feet, lies at the transition between the ridge-and-valley portion of the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. The city is therefore surrounded by various mountains and ridges. The official nickname for Chattanooga is the Scenic City, being reinforced by the city's growing national reputation as a haven for numerous outdoor activities.

Williamsburg

Williamsburg is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2012 census, the population was 15,167.
Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bordered by James City County and York County.
Williamsburg was founded in 1632 as Middle Plantation as a fortified settlement on high ground between the James and York rivers. The city served as the capital of the Colony of Virginia from 1699 to 1780 and was the center of political events in Virginia leading to the American Revolution. The College of William & Mary, established in 1693, is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the only one of the nine colonial colleges located in the South; its alumni include three U.S. presidents as well as many other important figures in the nation's early history.
The city's tourism-based economy is driven by Colonial Williamsburg, the restored Historic Area of the city. Along with nearby Jamestown and Yorktown, Williamsburg forms part of the Historic Triangle, which attracts more than four million tourists each year.

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Houston

Houston is the most populous city in Texas, and the fourth most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2013 population of 2.19 million people within a land area of 599.6 square miles, Houston is the largest city in the Southern United States, the seat of Harris County, and fifth-most populated metropolitan area in the United States.
Houston was founded in 1836 on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded and won at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-twentieth century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.
Houston's economy has a broad industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation.

Knoxville

Knoxville is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Knox County. The city had an estimated population of 183,270 in 2013, and a population of 178,874 as of the 2010 census, making it the state's third largest city. Knoxville is the principal city of the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which, in 2013, had an estimated population of 852,715. The KMSA is, in turn, the central component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette Combined Statistical Area, which, in 2013, had a population of 1,096,961.
First settled in 1786, Knoxville was the first capital of Tennessee. The city struggled with geographic isolation throughout the early 19th century, though the arrival of the railroad in 1855 led to an economic boom. During the Civil War, the city was bitterly divided over the secession issue, and was occupied alternately by both Confederate and Union armies. Following the war, Knoxville grew rapidly as a major wholesaling and manufacturing center. The city's economy stagnated after the 1920s as the manufacturing sector collapsed, the Downtown area declined, and city leaders became entrenched in highly partisan political fights.

Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. With a 2013 estimated population of 235,527, it is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and the fifth largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is home to the tallest office building in the region, 100 North Main Street, formerly the Wachovia Building and now known locally as the Wells Fargo Center.
Winston-Salem is called the "Twin City" for its dual heritage and "City of the Arts and Innovation" for its dedication to fine arts and theater and technological research. "Camel City" is a reference to the city's historic involvement in the tobacco industry related to locally based R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's Camel cigarettes. Winston-Salem is also known for its traditional furniture company. Many locals refer to the city as "Winston" in informal speech. "The Dash" is referenced from the hyphen between Winston and Salem and was popularized by the nickname of the local minor league baseball team, the Winston-Salem Dash.
In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the U.S. by CBS MoneyWatch.

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Louisville

Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, with the other being the state's second-largest city of Lexington. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County.
Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France, making Louisville one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. Sited beside the Falls of the Ohio, the only major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the founding city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which grew into a 6,000-mile system across 13 states. Today the city is known as the home of the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the University of Louisville and its Louisville Cardinals athletic teams, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and three of Kentucky's six Fortune 500 companies. Its main airport is also the site of UPS's worldwide air hub.

Pensacola

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 51,923. Pensacola is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which had an estimated 461,227 residents in 2012.
Pensacola is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola; it is the base of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The main campus of the University of West Florida is situated north of the city center.
The area was originally inhabited by Muskogean peoples; the Pensacola people lived there at the time of European contact and Creek people frequently visited and traded from present-day southern Alabama. Spanish explorer Tristán de Luna founded a short-lived settlement in 1559. In 1698 the Spanish established a presidio in the area, from which the modern city gradually developed.

The South has some of the coolest cities and towns to live in in the entire country. Whether it's a bustling metropolis or a quaint town, the South has it ...