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You're joking...right? Ask four Texas people how to pronounce Mueller and you'll get the same number of pronunciations as 'pecan'.
Puh-cahn Pee-cahn
Puh-can Pee-can
Heck, growing up, 'we' pronounced the large group of trees as the PEE-can grove; but the ice cream was butter puh-cahn. I reckon we could ask how to pronounce praline
You forgot Puh-Cun. That is what old time Texans say.
There was a discussion way back when that asked this same question. These are my thoughts on the matter, after having lived in the Northeast (PA), Midwest (KS), West (CA), Southeast (LA), and Southwest (TX).
The main difference between Austin and other Southern cities is that it doesn't obsess about its past. If you think about New Orleans or Savannah or Charleston, there's this OCD thing about the past, from Civil War re-enactments to story telling grandparents talking about the old days. The South has one foot in the past and one foot in the present. Austin has one foot in the past and one foot in the future. Everyone laments about how great the "old days were" and how bad things have gotten, but they have a lot of cures for the future. It's the same vibe you get in Phoenix or Tucson, where locals talked about the days prior to Midwesterners relocating, when there was just plenty of open space.
Texans in general are a bit more hardy than Southerners (sorry to any Southerners). A lot of Southerners I knew just simply sat in the A/C all day. Their interests were eating, drinking, and entertainment around the family. Exercise was a dirty word, it meant you would be doing a lot of lawn work that day. Here in Austin, even on a 105 degree day, you'll find plenty of people jogging, kayaking, paddle boarding, running, just about doing anything.
Food is different in Austin than other Southern cities. Most of the people I know don't eat grits, most don't have fried chicken that much at all. In fact, eating chicken is a very southern thing, Texans simply prefer beef.
The Mexican food is worlds above anything you can find in the Southeast. The BBQ is dry rub based and the sauces are robust tomato and sometimes mustard based semi-spicy concoctions, not that vinegar, tabasco like sauce in the Southeast.
There are very few African Americans in Austin compared to other cities, there are probably more Africans than African Americans, and they are not concentrated in the city center, they are located in the Northeast suburbs. There are many more Hispanics in Austin than any other Southern city.
Austin country music is much different than Nashville country. Nashville country is mainstream, Austin country is more "rebel" and "cowboy" country.
The climate is much hotter but drier than the Southeast.
Religion does not play as big a role in daily life as in the Southeast. Yes, there are plenty of Christians, but life does not revolve around the church. Most people do the one day a week service and that's about it.
People are far more open on social issues than most of the South. Everything from gay rights to legalizing weed, it's pretty much a live and let live society.
Corruption is less rampant than in the Southeast. Connections are important but there's far less nepotism than in the Southeast.
Texans in general have more aspirations towards the "good life" than I saw in the Southeast. Many people in the South were content with living in a trailer and as long as they had A/C and adequate food and drinks they were okay. There's more of the American dream thing going on here. It's more like the hard work ethic of people from the Midwest or Northeast. I do admit this is changing in parts of GA and NC though.
I would say that TX is part of the Southwest, but then again I'll just say it's like "a whole 'nother country" as they say.
Just don't be expecting TX to be anything like SC. To someone from Boston, the differences would be negligible. But to someone from SC, the differences would be quite noticable. TX may even be a more difficult adjustment than CO for you because at least in CO you could just think "Okay, nothing is the same, I need to relearn things here." However, in TX, things would be just enough similar that you would be in your comfort zone, and then you'd be surprised by something.
Though we don't really worry about it, we've felt the constant pressure to keep up with the Joneses here, especially when it came to housing.
Thanks because in the deep South there can be a trailer next to a mansion. There is more acceptance of neighbors having different socioeconomic status than yourselves.
In Texas there is a lot more keeping up with the Joneses, I'm afraid to say. You either compete against the hipsters in SoCo seeing who can build the best eco home or the standard competition of bigger and better (Riverplace).
I think it is a little more nuanced than that. Yes, there is an appreciation for fine things here, and what can be done with enough money. After all, we are the home to Neiman's! But here, money and possessions doesn't translate into "status". I don't think you would say Jed Clampitt had status, and heavens knows Texas has seen its share of rich oil field trash - who remained just that. Texas has been a place where material wealth didn't confer status because of the very transitory nature of most of Texas wealth. We are the poster children for nouveau riche. Wildcatters broke yesterday, ridiculously wealthy today, and broke tomorrow.
We don't hold a candle to status consciousness to many cities in the South because of the relative youth of Texas. One place I know well is Charleston, which may be the most status conscious city in America. Charlestonians are the warmest, most gracious people on Earth, because honey, no matter how much money you have, you will NEVER be one. You can have a big house south of Broad, and give money to the Gibbs Art Gallery. Shop for the latest fashions at Christian Miche's or Krawchek's. Throw big parties for all the finest in the city, who will gladly drink your bourbon and chuckle at the idea that your daughter will ever be presented at the St. Cecelia's ball. Why? Because your family hasn't been here for three hundred years, dahlin'. That is status conscious, and no place in Texas comes close to that.
You just described Charleston so perfectly if I didn't know any better I'd say you were Pat Conroy.
The obsession with status has infiltrated just about everywhere, so I knew we wouldn't escape it entirely. I actually grew up in the second capital of Florida in Western NC, which was a whole lot of money that didn't belong to anyone actually from there, if you get what I mean. I guess my family was middle class, maybe lower middle class. Status wars were rampant, but I never paid them much attention. My parents were of the mindset that you buy what you can afford, not what someone else wants you to afford. With each subsequent place we've moved the status wars have become more apparent and impacted me more, although I honestly don't think geography had a lot to do with it, but rather it's been my getting older and society as a whole changing. I think I started noticing it the most in CO because we kind of fell into a much different crowd when we moved here. Back East hubs (who works in IT) had a decent enough job, but he was also working in the town where he graduated from college, and when we met was still working his right out of school job. Fast forward some years and he's made the appropriate advances in his career and proper contacts, and now we're in a much different place financially than we were straight out of college. However, we're still in that same mindset of years ago, and I don't really want to change that.
Let me give you an example of what I hope to avoid: When we moved to CO it was basically sight unseen, so the logical thing to do was rent an apartment for a while until we got our bearings. We're church people, so we were able to make a lot of friends (er, acquaintances) quickly because of that, the vast majority a few rungs up the socioeconomic later from what we were used to in SC, but on even footing with us. Things were fine and dandy up until about six months in, when the house questions started, and have continued in constant bombardment for two years. There was all this concern about zip codes and school districts and which address had the best reputation, and the more it went on the more ridiculous it sounded. We were, and are, financially stable and can buy a home, but I loathe the thought of being pressured into a certain area because it looks good. The long and short of it is that after some of those folks figured out we weren't what they thought we were (and in this case, I'm glad we're what we are), they dropped us like a bad habit. That's the kind of thing I'd like to avoid again.
Now, after that dissertation, are there any areas outside of Austin proper that might fit the bill? I know that you can't speak for the actions of individuals, but what about community mind set? I know a lot of folks choose where to buy based on school districts, but that isn't a concern of ours. We'd been looking at some places in Manor, mostly because it seems that we can get quite a bit of bang for our buck there, but have been getting the Interwebz eyebrow and a "don't go to Manor," but never with a reason....we kind of like the looks of Pflugerville, too.
I think it is a little more nuanced than that. Yes, there is an appreciation for fine things here, and what can be done with enough money. After all, we are the home to Neiman's! But here, money and possessions doesn't translate into "status". I don't think you would say Jed Clampitt had status, and heavens knows Texas has seen its share of rich oil field trash - who remained just that. Texas has been a place where material wealth didn't confer status because of the very transitory nature of most of Texas wealth. We are the poster children for nouveau riche. Wildcatters broke yesterday, ridiculously wealthy today, and broke tomorrow.
We don't hold a candle to status consciousness to many cities in the South because of the relative youth of Texas. One place I know well is Charleston, which may be the most status conscious city in America. Charlestonians are the warmest, most gracious people on Earth, because honey, no matter how much money you have, you will NEVER be one. You can have a big house south of Broad, and give money to the Gibbs Art Gallery. Shop for the latest fashions at Christian Miche's or Krawchek's. Throw big parties for all the finest in the city, who will gladly drink your bourbon and chuckle at the idea that your daughter will ever be presented at the St. Cecelia's ball. Why? Because your family hasn't been here for three hundred years, dahlin'. That is status conscious, and no place in Texas comes close to that.
You are right about that type of upper crust old money in the South. In New Orleans they call it the "Mardi Gras royalty". These are the people whose great great great grandfathers made a lot of money in one of the oldest cities in the country at a time when the city was increasing in population each day the same way Austin is now. If you want to get into that crowd, you will be disappointed. The Americans on the Uptown side of Canal would marry into the French Creole elites and that was the only way they would be recognized. In a lot of these times, it was bringing new money back into a decaying old money family that had almost tapped out the trust funds, so the new blood was welcomed. I admit, in the South, if you are "new money" you will never fit in with the "old money" crowd.
However, scratch a little beneath the surface and you will find some big differences between the South and Texas. Yes, the Uptown elite in New Orleans will never accept those noveau riche people, but look at their neighbor. You see them, the ones with the shotgun house? It used to be a slave quarter but is now being rented by a hipster couple who have remodeled the place to be eco friendly. On the other side is a school teacher in a rundown shutgun as well. Guess what, they all get along and there's no keeping up with the Joneses. They all know they are different but are fine with it.
Now in Texas, because most cities don't have zoning, you end up having a situation where an HOA takes over for the lack of zoning, and thus you have stringent requirements meaning only a certain socioeconomic status can live there. Everybody examines everyone's house and makes sure they have the best granite countertops or the best hardwood floors or the best looking bathroom.
In areas without HOAs, in Austin you still get socioeconomic segregation because of ridiculous ordinances that drive up the cost of making improvements to property to the point that only wealthy people can do so. So the core city is getting increasingly rich, with various suburbs for each and every socioeconomic class. Thus people mainly hang out with people of their same class. That is a foreign concept in old deep South cities.
And also, if you think there's no old money in Texas, look at Highland Park in Dallas or Rice University area in Houston or Tarrytown in Austin. It's just not as pervasive as in the South.
The other point is that in the South, besides the Uptown elite types, socioeconomic status is not as important as in Texas and I believe it has to do with lack of zoning, which ironically creates extreme zoning because of HOAs.
You can get a lot of bang for your buck in Manor, but it was one of the areas hit hardest by the recession. Schools have never been all that great, and regardless of whether you intend to make use of the local schools, it will affect resale if you do intend to move. Also, financial appreciation will be a long time coming out there - there were a LOT of foreclosures in that area, and some abandoned properties, but there are probably some decent areas. For where you are talking about working, it would be a nice fit, geography-wise.
Wut?
Zoned - Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Hutto, Pflugerville, Manor, Buda, Kyle, Dripping Springs, Westlake, Leander, umm...can't really find an un-zoned one off-hand around here.
Houston is not zoned (nor Galveston, I think, not sure), but other than those two notable exceptions, what cities are you referring to?
You just described Charleston so perfectly if I didn't know any better I'd say you were Pat Conroy.
The obsession with status has infiltrated just about everywhere, so I knew we wouldn't escape it entirely. I actually grew up in the second capital of Florida in Western NC, which was a whole lot of money that didn't belong to anyone actually from there, if you get what I mean. I guess my family was middle class, maybe lower middle class. Status wars were rampant, but I never paid them much attention. My parents were of the mindset that you buy what you can afford, not what someone else wants you to afford. With each subsequent place we've moved the status wars have become more apparent and impacted me more, although I honestly don't think geography had a lot to do with it, but rather it's been my getting older and society as a whole changing. I think I started noticing it the most in CO because we kind of fell into a much different crowd when we moved here. Back East hubs (who works in IT) had a decent enough job, but he was also working in the town where he graduated from college, and when we met was still working his right out of school job. Fast forward some years and he's made the appropriate advances in his career and proper contacts, and now we're in a much different place financially than we were straight out of college. However, we're still in that same mindset of years ago, and I don't really want to change that.
Let me give you an example of what I hope to avoid: When we moved to CO it was basically sight unseen, so the logical thing to do was rent an apartment for a while until we got our bearings. We're church people, so we were able to make a lot of friends (er, acquaintances) quickly because of that, the vast majority a few rungs up the socioeconomic later from what we were used to in SC, but on even footing with us. Things were fine and dandy up until about six months in, when the house questions started, and have continued in constant bombardment for two years. There was all this concern about zip codes and school districts and which address had the best reputation, and the more it went on the more ridiculous it sounded. We were, and are, financially stable and can buy a home, but I loathe the thought of being pressured into a certain area because it looks good. The long and short of it is that after some of those folks figured out we weren't what they thought we were (and in this case, I'm glad we're what we are), they dropped us like a bad habit. That's the kind of thing I'd like to avoid again.
Now, after that dissertation, are there any areas outside of Austin proper that might fit the bill? I know that you can't speak for the actions of individuals, but what about community mind set? I know a lot of folks choose where to buy based on school districts, but that isn't a concern of ours. We'd been looking at some places in Manor, mostly because it seems that we can get quite a bit of bang for our buck there, but have been getting the Interwebz eyebrow and a "don't go to Manor," but never with a reason....we kind of like the looks of Pflugerville, too.
I second "Don't go to Manor" unless you want poor schools, trailer parks everywhere, road construction everywhere, chain restaurants, and horrendous traffic. Manor is one of the worst places to be in Austin, in my opinion.
If you want "churchy" suburbs then Cedar Park or Round Rock are good choices.
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