I grew up in Louisiana and have been to NOLA a lot (also studied at Tulane). While there's NOLACon etc. there isn't much tech here and not a lot of jobs. Lots of us live in poverty. Laissez faire and corrupt politics have been in Louisiana for a long time. Lots of public schools are closing to be replaced by private schools. NOLA floods pretty good every 5ish years, so it's not a good place to live imo + the insurance and crime rates are very high.

However, I've lived in Chicago, Austin, KY and Omaha. I moved back and honestly I like it here. I hated it when I grew up, but the cost of living is cheap and the food is good. I got my real ID here back in 2016 when I got my learners permit which surprised people in Chicago. Also we got phone app IDs pretty early. It's getting a little better.