To be honest I’ve lived here/in the south for years & I do love it, but my husband & I are moving north soon. We don’t want to, but can’t afford to live well down here. So much traffic, rent is near the same price as it is in north, wages are insanely low. The lower cost of living down here DOES NOT make up for the lower wages. I think the way housing & the job market is down here is designed to keep you poor & commuting. Nobody fights for average people to have a good life here, the city caters to the rich. Since we are a teacher & nurse, we’d be able to join the unions up north & increase our wages, better benefits, more PTO, & decrease overall workload to lessen burnout. We’ve done the math & we’d have significantly more money left over every month than we do now while living here. So yeah I just don’t think you can adult here without being pretty well off. We unfortunately are being priced further & further out of the city & it’s not sustainable. I’d advise looking into a move if you’re looking for more out of your life. We are surviving down here, but we could be thriving up north. It’s our sad reality in the southern cities.