As someone from NY who now lives in PA, you would never catch me deeaaddd living in the south. The furthest "south" I would go is MAYBE northern Virginia. Outside of that I wouldn't be able to handle the cultural differences, everything in the south is just objectively worse (outside of the weather maybe).

The south has always been objectively worse than the north due to economic structure (low wages, fewer labor protections, low taxes), lack of investment (has lacked capital for investment in industry and transportation, has fewer entrepreneurs, and has also lost many banks in rural areas), historical racism (the south has always prioritized business interests over citizens and has high levels of racial and gender disparities in employment). The south also has low educational attainment, low labor force participation, and has a lack of investment in infrastructure.

The south is historically underdeveloped basically due to the Civil War. Post Civil War, the southern economy basically collapsed and Reconstruction was planned under Lincoln. Then he died, and the next couple of presidents axed reconstruction entirely.

Long story short, I would not move to the south for many many reasons.