I think a good thing to know is that usually academic areas are going to be a little more liberal than rural areas. Usually, professors and academic communities try to stay forward thinking.

Also, city areas, depending on the city, will be a little more liberal too. But yes... it is the south and there are definitely a lot more conservative people around. You can definitely find people that you'll get along with. It's just that not every person you pass on the street is going to be that way. I wouldn't argue that a lot of the social networking comes from church or kids, but that's true for many other places, too. You just have to work a little harder to find those groups that have people more like you if you're not a conservative, church going, child-rearer. I think that that will be much easier in a more urban setting.

The one downfall is that since it is so conservative in a majority of the state. You're going to usually have conservative politics in your town. If the politics and political actions taken in your town are important to you, definitely keep that in mind when moving to a predominantly conservative area. Now, I don't know how you feel about those types of things, but it is something to keep in mind.

I think "do your homework" is a good thing to say. Just be sure to know what you're looking for, what you want, what you don't want, what you can live with, and what you wouldn't be able to reconcile.