I lived in the Deep South, in Alabama for about year altogether between 2004 and 2008. The beaches along the Gulf of Mexico were fantastic and I loved Bellingrath Gardens. For much of the year the weather is idyllic but the summers are too hot and humid. It hit 106F when I was there which made it impossible to do anything out of doors. At other times it was nice to have early morning breakfast or an evening barbeque on the patio.
People didn’t seem to walk or cycle very much. To get anywhere you had to drive as public transport wasn’t very good. The supermarkets, shopping malls, fast food places, dentists everything was widely dispersed. Even the churches would be difficult to get to without a car and the church was a major way people made social contact.
I would go back to the States but not to the South. If I was to return it would be to the west coast as a visitor.
Many of the people I got to know in Alabama were not wealthy and many had never travelled outside of the USA. They seemed like people back home.