If anything it's exactly the opposite. Most of the South has been a stinking shithole since Reconstruction. The roads suck. The schools suck. The hospitals suck. The standard of living has been stagnant for generations. The only thing on the rise is hatred and violence from right wing extremists--how many mass shootings have there been in Texas alone? A half dozen or so come to mind.
And what do the yokels do down there...almost without exception, they keep re-electing republicans who have done nothing to try to elevate their states out of this generational poverty.
Why is it this way? Losers grow up in these places thinking that the way it is is how it has to be. Just like the Taliban keeps kids from looking at maps and reading books, the South tries everything it can to retard progress.