This list would be different for me depending on if we are talking about rating these SEC locations based on visiting, such as for a game, or actually living there. For example, in terms of places to visit, I’d probably have Austin as first. But as it is now likely the SEC city with the highest cost of living, it would be lower on my list in terms of places to live. If we are talking about actually living there, I’d have Knoxville first but I’m definitely biased as I was born there and lived there up until graduating from UT. I have lived in Atlanta for nearly 20 years now and find myself getting a little homesick for Knoxville from time to time (especially recently, although I’m not completely sure why). If I try to remove my bias, I think I may have to go with Nashville, although the cost of living there has gone up quite a bit over the past decade. I still think Knoxville is a good choice for first even if I try to remove my bias, although that is admittedly hard to do. I haven’t been to a few of the SEC cities, but of all the ones I’ve visited, I’d say I liked Baton Rouge and Columbia, SC the least. The actual campus and stadium at LSU were great but the city itself not so much. I think Baton Rouge has the highest crime rate of all the SEC cities as well (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). But Columbia, SC just felt like a depressing city for some reason. I can’t really pinpoint why, as when you talk about depressing cities, you’re typically thinking of somewhere cold and often in the Rust Belt (Gary, IN for example). Part of it was probably the heat. The combination of the heat and humidity there was just brutal every time I’ve been (twice in summer and once in Fall for a game against UT).
