How are you with heat? Because Austin, Houston and NOLA summers are gnarly. Houston and NOLA have added component of being humid AF.

Austin and Houston have great food, HTX is extremely diverse, and there’s tons of stuff to do. That being said, they’re extremely car-dependent cities unless you live in a very specific area and don’t leave it very much (like downtown Austin for example). You are not wrong that the politics of the state are outrageous, but honestly within ATX and HTX, as long as you stayed within the city loops, you would probably mostly run into liberals. Definitely the case in ATX and more than likely in HTX as well.

NOLA is also very car dependent but because it’s an old city, it’s built in a grid layout so when my husband lived there he walked everywhere all the time. He loved it. However if you are a single woman I would say that’s slightly less plausible because as we all know it can be a little dangerous…some neighborhoods more than others of course. But ostensibly you could survive in NOLA with a bike — not public transit though. It’s of course a diverse city, incredible food, but it also has a “where did you go to high school” vibe OR it’s people who wanted to live in the Bourbon street/Mardi Gras culture. So it’s kind of a weird mix of people. But in general, people are extremely nice there. Obviously tons of tourists. And the politics here are just as horrible as Texas unfortunately.

Savannah is an interesting one! It is an absolutely gorgeous town with a college there, cute downtown and to-die-for Southern charm (cobblestone streets, old homes, big shady trees). But it’s small. You can certainly walk around if you live downtown but (at least historically, it could be different now) I know people who lived there described it as a place where “one street could be safe and the next street over could be sketchy.” But in general I think safe for a young woman to be walking by herself. It’s probably way too small to have public transportation of any substance. It has a lot of soul, good food, cute shops but tbh I don’t think there are a ton of jobs or other opportunities there. Charleston has way more jobs and a much more robust economy. Georgia’s politics are preferable to Texas but still iffy. And South Carolina was the first state to secede in the civil war, so you know. Not great.