Laws or oddities that are particular to TX/Austin that a new resident should know??? (Houston: 2014, weddings)

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

Apparently, if you're from Houston (and maybe East Texas) you call them "the feeder".
In Dallas/Ft. Worth they're referred to as service roads or access roads.
El Paso folks call them gateways.
Native Austinites know them as frontage roads.

All the official signs I've seen on the highway call them frontage roads, so that's what they should be called in Austin.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by passionatearts

All the official signs I've seen on the highway call them frontage roads, so that's what they should be called in Austin.

By that rationale we should all be calling Mopac "Loop 1".
Not gonna happen.

[mamacatnv]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

Have y'all actually heard someone refer to I-35 as "the 35"? Or Mopac as "the Mopac"?

Wow.

I used the in front of Mopac, 183 etc when we first moved here. It seemed the "proper" way to form a complete sentence. I got over it

Cannot conceal/carry in an establishment that serves liquor - this one annoys my DS who is often the designated driver and he carries just about 24/7

No open carry, another weird one considering how "liberal" everyone seems to think Texas gun laws are.

The state has very strict attendance rules for school children.

Everything from art to science has some sort of competition, its not just the athletics and band

People wear their religion and politics on their sleeves, they openly discuss their views. Coming from the West where these two topics are taboo, this was a major albeit refreshing surprise.

[JH6]

Mostly anyone over age 21 can drive with a loaded handgun in the car, so long as it is out of plain view.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by mamacatnv

I used the in front of Mopac, 183 etc when we first moved here. It seemed the "proper" way to form a complete sentence. I got over it

Cannot conceal/carry in an establishment that serves liquor - this one annoys my DS who is often the designated driver and he carries just about 24/7

No open carry, another weird one considering how "liberal" everyone seems to think Texas gun laws are.

The state has very strict attendance rules for school children.

Everything from art to science has some sort of competition, its not just the athletics and band

People wear their religion and politics on their sleeves, they openly discuss their views. Coming from the West where these two topics are taboo, this was a major albeit refreshing surprise.

Now, I keep hearing this, and yet in over four decades in Austin I haven't had this experience. In fact, one of the things that I like about the city is that you can live in a neighborhood and, unless they put out political signs, have not clue one what the politics/religion of one's neighbors is, the only thing that matters is are they good neighbors.

I don't know, maybe I don't have a "tell me all about your politics/religion" sign on my forehead or something?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by mamacatnv

I used the in front of Mopac, 183 etc when we first moved here. It seemed the "proper" way to form a complete sentence. I got over it

Cannot conceal/carry in an establishment that serves liquor - this one annoys my DS who is often the designated driver and he carries just about 24/7

No open carry, another weird one considering how "liberal" everyone seems to think Texas gun laws are.

The state has very strict attendance rules for school children.

Everything from art to science has some sort of competition, its not just the athletics and band

People wear their religion and politics on their sleeves, they openly discuss their views. Coming from the West where these two topics are taboo, this was a major albeit refreshing surprise.

Oops on that one, mama

Carry is not permitted in an establishment with a 51% license. Plenty of liquor-serving restaurants out there where CHL holders may carry...just not in your typical bar that derives 51%+ of its revenue from alcohol sales(or is incorrectly licensed by the state as a 51% business). DS is good in the vast majority of restaurants in central Texas.

[mamacatnv]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Oops on that one, mama

Carry is not permitted in an establishment with a 51% license. Plenty of liquor-serving restaurants out there where CHL holders may carry...just not in your typical bar that derives 51%+ of its revenue from alcohol sales(or is incorrectly licensed by the state as a 51% business). DS is good in the vast majority of restaurants in central Texas.

My bad, I did mean bars, I neglected to post the percentage of sales - thank you for the clarification

[SickOfCalifornia]

-In Texas, you may turn right on a red arrow light. The only time this is prohibited is if there is an accompanying sign specifying no turn on red arrow. No sign, you may turn.

-You now only need to take a four-hour class to legally carry a concealed weapon on your person. Next time you sit down at a restaurant, consider that probably half the people in there are carrying loaded weapons. You will never see them, but they're there. However, there are no shooting ranges inside the city limits. (If Red's South is in city limits, it is the only one grandfathered in).

-No helmet laws in Texas for motorcyclists. But we do have seatbelt laws.

-Locals favor the gringo pronunciations. So "Guadalupe" is never "Gwad-a-loopay" but "Gwad-a-loop"

-Your kids will start their school day by first pledging allegiance to the US Flag, and then pledging allegiance to the Texas flag.

-You may not know more about the Alamo other than Davey Crockett died there. But, in Texas, the Alamo is taken very seriously. Jokes about the Alamo do not go over well.

-We have snakes here. If you see a snake and it is not a rattlesnake, local custom is to leave it alone, because it is eating rodents. If you kill the non-poisonous snake, a poisonous one will move in to eat the leftover food.

-People here are super friendly, but you don't need to provoke them by driving around with your California plates on. Get them switched immediately.

-If you hear a car horn honking, there is likely about to be an accident. People here don't honk the horn rudely or simply to move people along (see previous entry about everyone carrying guns).

-There are a million places in Austin selling Tacos. You will be hard pressed to find any selling burritos. Don't call your breakfast taco a breakfast burrito.

-Nearby Williamson County has an outlandish reputation as being extraordinarily tough on crime, a reputation the Sherriff claims to be proud of on his webpage. You don't speed even one mile over the limit in Wilco. You don't dare drink/drive in Wilco. If Austin wants to Keep itself Weird, then the law enforcement in Williamson County wants to Keep Austin in Austin.

-Lady Bird Lake used to be called Town Lake. If you call it Town Lake, no one will blink and you will not give away that you just got here.

-Start saying y'all.

-Austin is the allergy capital of the world. You have no idea how many different types of pollen we have that can mess you up.

-If you are coming from a major metro and when standing in line to checkout if you get upset at the checkout person for gabbing about personal items with the person paying, prepare to have that flipped upside down. Out here everyone talks to the checkout person and you are not an jerk for holding up the line. It's called being friendly.

-Saturdays in the fall and winter, you are required by law to wear burnt orange clothing. You may apply for an exemption that will allow you to wear maroon. If you can't be bothered to watch football, make every effort to find out what happened in that weekend's game, especially if it was a big memorable play or an important loss. During college football season, when someone says "Man, how about that game last night?" you had better know what they are talking about or else be socially ostracized. Seriously.

-You don't have to wear Wranglers, but you had best not wear Levis.

-Highways out here have names. 1 is "Mopac". 183 is "Research". 360 is "Capital of Texas Hwy". 290 is "Ben White". and 2222 ("Twenty-two, Twenty-Two", not "TwoTwoTwoTwo") has at least three names.

-There is no dress code in Austin. I can think of only 2-3 restaurants in which you would be out of place in shorts and flip flops. In fact, I think I've seen those in there, too. People do not bother to dress up much. Casual appears to be mandatory.

-Lake Austin is part of the Colorado River. It looks like a river. But it is a lake, not a river.

-If you order a drink with Vodka, order it with Tito's.

-And finally: Texan love being Texan. They love it. They are extremely proud of being Texans. If you speak ill of Texas or make a joke about someone's Texas pride, you may very quickly make an enemy for life. Seriously.

[10scoachrick]

I don't think it's taught here; but it is apparently perfectly OK to stop 6 car lengths away from the next vehicle at a red light(presumably to continue your texting, grooming, newspaper reading, whatever). It is then optional to creep up to the vehicle in front, keeping a reasonable distance OR just stay 60 or more feet away, thus extending the queue line so the vehicles behind you have no chance to make it through the light on the next cycle...You, of course, WILL make it through the light even on red.

[sanmiguel]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

Although it is spelled out, plenty of people I know, including native Austinites, will say it straight as shorthand in casual conversation.



I'm starting to feel like this fight is a losing battle.

You've got to wonder why Californians added the "the" in the first place... I'm guessing it might be because their highways became places they spent so much time on sitting around in traffic that they became worthy of putting a "the" in front of. You might as well write off an hour of your time if you get on "the 405" in Los Angeles.

Given that no improvements will probably happen to I-35 through Austin in the next ten years. It might be worthy of a "the" in front of at some point as you are likely to spend half your day on it if you choose to get on.

That being said, I refuse to ever allow a "the" in front of Mopac since "The Mopac" just sounds idiotic.

In California, the freeways were originally named after places rather than using numerals which is a later accretion. For example, the Hollywood, Santa Ana, San Bernardino and Golden State. It made sense to preface them with "the" and it just carried over when they were numerically renamed. Do Texans omit "the" when referring to Sam Houston and Katy Tollways? Would Houstonians give a direction like "Take Beltway 15 miles"?

"If I could just get off this LA freeway without gettin' killed or caught"