I lived for many years in the southeast (Auburn, AL) and have been to Gainesville several times. Gainesville is not a crappy town, it is a mostly middle class burb. It is like many of the outer burbs of Atlanta. Not many decent paying jobs around the town, and a long, traffic choked commute to Atlanta. Atlanta metro consists of 10+ different counties, most with different agendas, and they don't cooperate much on transit planning.

A house selling for less than $50K is mostly unheard of in the big coastal metro areas like NYC or like my location (Orange County, CA). In most of the southeast, great plains or midwest a modest small house for less than $50-60K is not so rare when it is not an urban, resort or vacation area.

I've been following this thread with interest because I have done a fair amount of exploring around the US to find a future retirement location (in about 3 yrs) that will serve as "home base" for most of the year. I live in a place that is almost bicycle paradise with mild year round climate and good on-street bike lanes in most directions in most of the nearby cities. However, Orange County cost of living is very high and CA taxes are also high. I will probably return to living somewhere in the southeast because I prefer green trees to the dry desert surroundings in the southwest. Not sure exactly which town or state I will land in, but there are dozens of good possibilities.