One city to represent the south?

[SatownSTL]

If you could pick one city to show someone who knew nothing about the souths style what city would you choose to represent??

[convulso]

too open a question to pick just one answer. do you want to typify the modern south; the old south; the mix between the two; mega-urban; small-town rural; do you want to impress or portray the good and bad, etc...?

montgomery, AL is a pretty good smaller southern city that shows off the old and a little of the new, and definitely includes the bad with the good. i hate montgomery, but in my experience it's pretty representative. columbus, GA is another smaller city that typifies the south pretty well. of course there's the impressive new south (atlanta) and the impressive old south (new orleans, memphis and plenty of others), the small-town feel (tallahassee, asheville, etc.), the genteel (savannah)...the list goes on - i'm just brainstorming. many southern cities that i love are rather unique, even in the south (new orleans, birmingham, miami - if FL counts), so it's not easy to find one that represents all things to all outsiders.

fun question, though.

[SatownSTL]

a city that represents what the south means to you

[krazeeboi]

I think Atlanta represents a little bit of everything about the South, past, present, and future.

[Charlotteman]

If you're talking about south of the Mason Dixon Line, north of Orlando and excluding Texas, I would vote Atlanta, hands down:)

[SatownSTL]

i would say atlanta or houston

[bluff2085]

Countless cities/towns represent the South in their own way. I would argue that four cities encompass "The South." Charleston, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Miami--the old South, the new South, the cultured South, and the international South. Purely speculative, of course! It would be silly to pick any one location indicative of "The South," but I'll do it anyway...Athens, GA.

[monsoon]

Another one bites the dust.