Ultimately it wasn't the right balance of priorities for me. No need to take offense though. I'm sure you're one of those people who either hates NYC or says "great place to visit, but I'd never want to live there". Doesn't bother me :)
And yeah, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but rural Tennessee is full of "backwards hicks". Doesn't make them bad people but our views do not align and I don't want to live in that culture any more than they (you?) want to move the Upper West Side.