Alabama really is a lovely state and the people are exceptionally friendly. You’ll love the accent, it’s not what you might think it would be; the speech is rather soft and pleasant to listen to. Not true in all instances, of course.
One glaring exception to the hospitality feature: stay away from downtown Birmingham at night. This probably is true of Montgomery and Mobile, too.
As an Alabama resident, I thank you, OldPossum.
I moved away for over 15 years (including 8 years in Canada), but I always felt as if I was missing my home.
I’ve been back for 15 years now, and never regreted moving back.
In the northern part of the state (near Huntsville), I live among a fairly educated populace, a lot of gunuinely nice people, and experience 4 real seasons of weather.
Also - the state is overwhelmingly conservative (the Democrat party is an endangered species here with only one statewide elected official having a D after his name), and the people have an underlying attitude of “they aren’t going to tell me what to do”.
Is that because the "feral people" are roaming around at night?