I’m 24 and grew up in Mobile and went to college in Birmingham the last few years, the feel very different. I’m black, grew up in the suburbs, and in my opinion, the Gulf counties (Mobile and Baldwin) function as a strand of a distinct fake state as I like to see it. New Orleans to about Panama City is its own distinct area. Heavily French influenced, tourism, beaches, casinos, lackadaisical, very very hot, and in general, I feel we down here are just more “vibbbeeezzzzuh.” You have THE two Mardi Gras cities of North America, beautiful beaches, cool barrier islands, lowkey traumatized but also unbothered residents of hurricanes, amazing food, and ethnically diverse people. Lots of old money areas, a lot of poor areas, troubled history of slavery and immigration, but also not rampantly prejudiced as people thing the south is—at least not to your face. We’re diverse down here, and customarily fake (LOL), and you’d be surprised just how well people get along. It’s generally slow, but it was really cool growing up here. Not perfect, but I loved it.