Live in Detroit. I stayed in South for a while and picked up the accent. Then I moved back to Detroit. I have NEVER lost the accent. I STILL have that southern drawl years later. Idk what happened. It has rewritten my entire way of speech. People in my city don't believe I was raised a Detroit baby. Relatives have gotten used to it but still refer to me as "the southern one" on occasion.
People liken me to having that Atlanta drag-on despite me having been in NC and not Georgia. NC accents are more smooth than GA accents. People in GA drag a syllable out which extends words longer than they should be. NC has that smooth twang that is so cute when a pretty southern girl does it. Don't care what anyone says, best accent is a beautiful southern belle one.