Need a Southern U.S. location

Kay said:

I'm from the north and have only had very limited exposure to the south.

I need a city with a relatively warm late December. Around 50 degrees late at night, where you'd be chilly and probably want a jacket, but you wouldn't freeze your butt off.
I also need it to be a safe city, not a major city, (more like mid to smaller city) where a woman could take a cab to a bar by herself to a downtown-ish area and take a cab home without having to worry about her safety. If you heard of a store getting robbed in this city the news would be shocking, not par for the course.

Help me, Southerners!

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Most of the towns that came to my mind like Oxford, MS or Greenville, SC have lows in December that are more than a little chilly. (It can get down to high 30s.)

A couple of things. Look on the map, find the name of a town you like. But. And here's the real but. If you don't know the town, the town characters, the town stores, the heart of the town whether textile driven or tourist driven or socially driven, it might be best to make up a name.

If you don't know all the ends and outs of a specific town, it could cause your reader to distrust the writer right off the bat. Not something you'd want to do.

So on that note, make up a name. Combine a name. Perhaps find a name somewhere else, maybe some place in England, put it in the South.

My .02

Gringa

Gringa said:

So on that note, make up a name. Combine a name. Perhaps find a name somewhere else, maybe some place in England, put it in the South.

My .02

Gringa

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Yea.

First, readers will nail you to the wall if you don't get a particular city "right". It's easy to make up a city.

Second, weather is weird. We could tell you a city that is "generally" going to have the weather you want, but there area always years where you have snow or warm weather exceptionally early or late (like snow in oct/may or warm weather in feb/march or nov/dec). It happens. The world is unpredictable. Make up a city and go with it.

Some place on the Texas coast might work, and many places in Florida would work. A lot of the Gulf coast might work, but not as reliably as Florida. It also depends on the sort of location you want other than its weather.

Too small of a town won't have much if any of a taxi service. I lived in Starkville MS, which to MSU Bulldogs fan's dismay is similar to Oxford, for 11 years and of course there were cabs you could call to come get you, you're not going to step out of a bar downtown and fin one waiting.

I would be tempted to set it on the Gulf Coast. New Orleans to Florida is almost a contnuous town, and you can make up a more upscale town for your purposes (some places are pretty impoverished so do your research before you use a real one). The phenomenon of Spring Break and the casino industry might open up some story possibilities for you.

Kay said:

Very good advice, thanks. BUT . . . I at least need a state, and perhaps a major metropolitan area to be on the outskirts of.

In the research I've already done, I was thinking around the Tennesee/Alabama border. Or maybe the northern Mississippi/Alabama border. For unknown reasons, Alabama is stuck in my head whenever I think about this.

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I've not been there but Huntsville is reportedly a trendy place to be. Most other areas like Tupelo, Florence, etc are more agricultural and sleepy Old South. Oxford is a bit trendier than Tupelo.

Other than weather, why the South?

Cities along the Gulf of Mexico will be warmer. Like I think Houston is like in the 50s in December, even though in North Texas it snows on an annual basis. But Houston is a major city. So just pick a smaller city that's along the Gulf of Mexico and you should be good to go. Maybe check out Sugarland, Texas. It's near Houston, but it's got a reputation for being a family oriented city. But I do know of a murder that occurred there (it was on 48 Hours), but I remember it had shocked everyone.

Kay said:

Very good advice, thanks. BUT . . . I at least need a state, and perhaps a major metropolitan area to be on the outskirts of.

In the research I've already done, I was thinking around the Tennesee/Alabama border. Or maybe the northern Mississippi/Alabama border. For unknown reasons, Alabama is stuck in my head whenever I think about this.

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If you want Alabama, then try Mobile or Birmingham. You probably could find cabs in those cities; they are the largest cities in Alabama. Mobile is on the coast, and it might be in the fifties in early December, but I don't know that much about the place.

Average highs are in the low to mid 60's, and the average lows are in the mid to low 40's, see link, and Birmingham has similar averages.
https://weatherspark.com/averages/30927/12/Mobile-Alabama-United-States

I'd recommend Natchitoches, Louisiana. It pretty much meets your criteria and it's disarmingly picturesque. STEEL MAGNOLIAS was filmed there.

And by the way, the correct pronunciation is... nack-a-tish... get it wrong and you'll get a knowing yet sympathetic smirk from the locals. You might even get a gentle correction that starts with, "Well, bless your heart..."

http://www.natchitoches.net/

Try something around McAllen Texas it is located at the Southern Tip of the State right on the Mexico Border. It is a mid sized town with enough flexibility for what you seek. A quick Google search and brief background history of the area should give you plenty of info to go with.

Another possibility is Laredo,Texas also along the Texas/Mexico Border. Both places have moderate temps in the winter months for the most part.

If that helps then great! Best of luck with your project. I am from Texas and have traveled throughout the State and the entire Southern US for many years. So please do not hesitate to ask if I can be of assistance.

All along the gulf coast is more like in the forties in the winter. Not much difference from Houston to Pensacola. Near Houston, a lot of the places are more suburbs, bedroom communities rather than "towns," so you'd have to look into that. Alvin is one off the top of my head that's more "townish," that might work. Also, as you get away from the larger cities and also from the coast a bit, you'll probably find more "old south" kind of attitude. (Almost everyone I know around Houston is from somewhere else).

When I think of going west on the Texas coast, it does get a little warmer as it turns south. But a lot of those places seem to me to have a much more Hispanic flavor than what I'd really consider "southern." Also, "Texas" is kinda in its own category anyway, sort of south but sort of southwest.

And once you get far enough south in Florida for warmer winter weather than that, a lot of that seems like displaced retirees from the more northerly east coast, so that southern flavor is spotty there too.

Clearly, the only thing to do is take an extended vacation and check it out yourself!

One of your requirements was low crime, such that a store getting robbed would be a huge deal. Some of the cities mentioned upthread might not fit that description.

I'm from Texas and currently live on the Gulf Coast of Florida, in Sarasota. It's about 45 minutes south of Tampa, is right on the water, has very reliable weather in December (lows in the high 50's), with a very low crime rate. I can tell you that an armed robbery at a store here would be big news. We have a very trendy downtown, where locals and tourists mix and walk around the streets at night to shops, restaurants and bars.

Geez, I sound like the tourist board.

Beachgirl said:

One of your requirements was low crime, such that a store getting robbed would be a huge deal. Some of the cities mentioned upthread might not fit that description.

I'm from Texas and currently live on the Gulf Coast of Florida, in Sarasota. It's about 45 minutes south of Tampa, is right on the water, has very reliable weather in December (lows in the high 50's), with a very low crime rate. I can tell you that an armed robbery at a store here would be big news. We have a very trendy downtown, where locals and tourists mix and walk around the streets at night to shops, restaurants and bars.

Geez, I sound like the tourist board.

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Sounds like a good location, As mentioned much of Texas has a strong SouthWest/Hispanic culture. We call it TexMex and even the food is often related to as such. The mid areas of the State are so diverse these days it is hard to consider any of them Southern except the far eastern sections of the state. So you might have a really good idea for the location she wanted. You make me want to visit Sarasota just to check it out. LOL

RW Andrews said:

Sounds like a good location, As mentioned much of Texas has a strong SouthWest/Hispanic culture. We call it TexMex and even the food is often related to as such. The mid areas of the State are so diverse these days it is hard to consider any of them Southern except the far eastern sections of the state. So you might have a really good idea for the location she wanted. You make me want to visit Sarasota just to check it out. LOL

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Yep, as I mentioned, I'm originally from Texas. We were there last week for family stuff and we got our TexMex fix at all of our favorite TexMex restaurants. That cuisine is pretty scarce down here, though we do have some awesome seafood.

I'm originally from the Mobile area (actually lived in a tiny rural town just outside of Mobile, drove into Mobile every morning for school). The weather fits, but crime rates are pretty high there, especially downtown. Even in the rural areas, NO one is going to be shocked in the slightest at robberies/rapes/etc. I'm not sure if there's any (non-fictional) town left where that wouldn't be the case.

Plano, TX.
Garland, TX.

San Jose, CA
Fresno, CA

-cb

cbenoi1 said:

Plano, TX.
Garland, TX.

San Jose, CA
Fresno, CA

-cb

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All these are too up north. It is warmer in Cali, true, but in the winter it drops below 50 (and it's not in the South). It snows in Plano and Garland.

cbenoi1 said:

Plano, TX.
Garland, TX.

San Jose, CA
Fresno, CA

-cb

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chompers said:

All these are too up north. It is warmer in Cali, true, but in the winter it drops below 50 (and it's not in the South). It snows in Plano and Garland.

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Yeah, I spent most of my life in Plano (and Garland is right next door) and it can get downright cold in December. I'm talking 20's and 30's. Also, while Plano is considered a fairly safe community, a robbery wouldn't raise that many eyebrows.