Speaking to my friends at Smith County Republicans the other day, someone asked me what I most loved about moving to Mississippi from London.
There are so many things I love about the Magnolia state, the more I thought about it, the longer my answer grew. I thought I’d list a few of my favorite things about life in Mississippi.
1. Southern Civility. Yes, it’s a bit of a cliché, but as an outsider I can confirm it’s the truth; Mississippi folk are the friendliest people on the planet. Southern charm makes being here such a joy.
2. Mississippi BOOM! Since I arrived almost five years ago, economic output in the state is up about a third. There’s been a massive injection of inward investment. You can feel the growth. Coming from the other side of the Atlantic, it's uplifting to live in a place that is on the up.
3. Income tax on the way out. Mississippi is on the way to eliminating the income tax entirely, like Florida, Tennessee and Texas. It is great to live in a society where taxes go down and public officials can’t expect to keep taking more.
4. Space. With 3 million people spread out over 48,000 square miles, Mississippi has lots of space. There’s a great big outdoors. Our state might not have mega cities the size of Atlanta or Chicago, but having seen the boarded up offices and shops in Chicago, I wonder if modern technology means that being more spread out is actually the way to go.
5. Stunning small towns. Too often downtown America feels abandoned, people and businesses having moved to the suburbs. One of the delights Mississippi has to offer are towns that are actually prospering. Downtown Oxford, Starkville and Natchez, for example, are full of shops and restaurants – and thriving.
6. Universities. Our family is at the stage where we’re starting to think about college options. There are so many great choices in this part of the world. Sending your kid to a southern university reduces the chance they’ll become a communist – which is why, I suspect, we are seeing such a surge in applications from outsiders wanting to study in this state.
7. High school football. The football season is about to begin and when it does, the highlight of my week will be watching Friday night football. It is a festival of everything Americana…..
8. College football. The next best thing is college football. Sure, we don’t have an NFL team, but I genuinely prefer watching SEC teams play.
9. The weather. Some folk complain about Mississippi’s heat and humidity. Coming from London where one would sometimes seldom see the sun, I love the climate here. The sun in our state is up bright and early (almost) every day. Glorious.
10. Gardening. I love gardening, and it seems you can grow almost anything here. Sweet peas. Hibiscus. This year I’ve had a bumper crop of grapes and even starting to get some mulberries.
If living in America means you’ve won first prize in the lottery of life, being in Mississippi means you got the bonus ball!