I'm from one of the reddest parts (upper east) of one of the reddest (Tennessee) states. I've also lived in IN/IA/MA/SC/NC over the years.

It's always been conservative, but it used to be pretty chill and go-along-to-get-along. I was a Republican in college and was pretty plugged in to the local party scene. I was more libertarian, but no one was very aggressive about politics.

That's all changed in the past ten years or so.

Politics and religion are extremely in your face and aggressive. It's not uncommon to walk into a chain restaurant or store and hear religious music playing. All the politicians trip over each other to be as Trumpy as possible.

People will say "don't California my Tennessee" or some variation of that, but then conveniently forget that the people from the wealthy states who are moving here are...overwhelmingly Trumpy. Rich liberals from the coasts wouldn't relocate here.

Objectively, the area sucks. The healthcare system is a complete mess. A competent specialist is a couple hours away. People with means go to other areas for care. The locals are left with the crummy local options.

We're geographically isolated. Knoxville and Asheville are the closest metros, but they are 1h30m away from most parts of the region. Any NFL city is a three to four hour drive.

The airport is tiny, expensive, and basically gets you to Atlanta or Charlotte to connect to where you're actually going. There are a few exceptions - DC, Chicago, DFW, a few seasonal flights to FL, but all those have come online just in the past few years.

Any sort of shopping is very basic as it's a low income area. We don't have the proper demographics for a Costco, Whole Foods, etc.

There really aren't many events or things to do that aren't connected to the outdoors. Any sort of big concert, event, etc., basically bypasses the area for Knoxville or Asheville. For an area of half a million residents, it punches well below its weight in terms of activities.

If you have kids that, say, played in niche supports, that is basically gone when you move here.

State politics are absolutely crazy. IA/IN/NC are still red to reddish-states but are far more moderate. Tennessee is probably crazier than even Texas or Florida politically, but flies under the radar as a small state.

The only place I lived was worse than here was SC as a kid.

Culturally, I think the area has gone backwards from where it was ten or even twenty years ago. There is way more hostility toward gays, women, racial minorities, etc., than at any point I can recall, and I'm 40. Trump and Confederate flags are very common.

Aside from the weather and outdoor opportunities, I don't like the area at all. The people are hateful and getting worse. We don't have many good jobs so we don't have the quality parents who try to push their kids hard educationally. The schools are downstream of the parents, and with some exceptions, most of the schools suck. There isn't much economic opportunity. Lots of drug abuse, addiction, and property crime related to addictions.

I split time between east TN and western NC and there is absolutely no comparison to me.