Is Austin a southern, southwestern, or western city? (Orange, Lawn: 2014, universities)

[portlanderinOC]

Originally Posted by cBach

What little southern influence Houston has is from Cajuns from Louisiana and you claim Cajuns aren't "southern" so by that logic Houston isn't either.

I admit southern Louisiana is different than other southern states because of the French influence, but northern Louisiana is very much the deep South.

I also have to add that Houston does feel very Southern because of the culture and the history. Yes it has more Hispanic influence than places east of it, but that's becoming more and more common in other Southern cities as well. Houston is green, has lots of pine trees, and a semi-tropical climate, all are things that I would associate with coastal areas in the South. A lot of the local architecture in Houston is more traditional to the South than the Southwest. There are stucco homes in Houston, but they are few and far in between the many brick and wooden, plantation style homes. There's also plenty of fried foods and sweet tea to go around.
To me, Houston is like a flatter, larger version of Atlanta, and on top of that Houston has more in common with most large Southern cities like Atlanta than it does with El Paso, and in some cases it may have more in common with cities further east of it than San Antonio or even Austin. Galveston definitely has more in common with New Orleans than most cities in Texas.

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Driving North on MoPac today from Circle C I saw numerous clumps of prickly pear cactus growing in the wooded undeveloped areas along side the highway. It reminded me of this post. You can go walking in the woods and greenbelts all around Austin and find cactus in most of them.

Native Cactus grows all over Texas and even in tropical climates. Cactus is not just a desert plant.

I've seen some really cool looking cactus growing on top of a rocky a cliff above the ocean in the Virgin Islands, where they get tons of rain.

My apologies. I have noticed that in Austin, but I always assumed that they were brought in by people from elsewhere and became common through 'invading' as a non-native species, kind of like how eucalyptus are common in Southern California despite being non-native. However, evidence to the contrary has been shown to me, and I can accept that.

[michaeltx94]

As someone who has lived in the Deep South, I feel Austin Southern, but not truely Southern like Deep South. Texas, in general, doesn't feel like truely Southern or Southwestern, either. I also agree that Texas itself is in another universe as well as Oklahoma. But some Central Texas areas tend to share lots of common things with the South(although Wikipedia says that Austin is in the Southwest) in terms of population, history and cuisine. If you have ever visited Austin or have lived there for years, you might have noticed about the natural scenes of Austin -- lakes, hilly areas, cedar trees, etc. which are non-existents in the dry, desert Southwest. Personally, many things east of i-35 seem more like South -- the further east you go, the more Southern. I noticed that Austin was built to segregate between White and Black along the highway i-35, which was called "Negro District" at the time. And that feels very "Southern" when it comes to the our slavery history of the South (Please don't forget that TX was one of the confederates) As someone above already has mentioned, Hays HS has a football team named "Rebels". That being said, Austin has more Black population than any other Southwestern cities. Well, you hardly see any black people nowadays in Austin, the city is experiencing Black Flight because of the ongoing gentrification of the area and the Hispanic population has been increasing during the decades due to their higher birth rates, those remained early Tejanos and the proximity to Mexico also played a significant role in the demographic changes. I mean, unlike South Texas area or the Southwest, Hispanic population in Austin seems slightly newer than San Antonio but a bit older than my hometown (Now, my hometown has many Hispanics, too). Speaking in terms of food --- The sweet tea, BBQ and fried chickens(Church's is a Texan thing, although it is headquartered in GA now) which are very common things in the South. The Mexican food? Where in the US can't one find Mexican dishes? Chicagoland has more Mexican dishes than Austin as far as I know. Damn, I love tacos!! You can also find Southern Hospitality in Central Texas. Have you ever been to Giddings? Bryan? Or am I the only one who has experienced their Southern Hospitality? As we go back to the geography of Austin --- in the outskirts (mostly SW/NW) you can find some scorpions and more nopals than eastern portion of the city which shares more things with the Southwest. And the weather in that area tends to be slightly drier and cooler. Another reason why Austin is in the South can be described with the automobiles that Texans drive, they drive more American, especially the trucks. Oh, I almost forgot about their music scene....the country music.... the Mr. live music festival "South by Southwest" maybe lots of Austinite or Central Texas things have to do with these words.

[Franko]

Austin has elements of all, but I think Austin is mostly Southwestern.

[homeinatx]

For me, and certain Austinites might object, Austin feels definitely and defiantly Texan. Of the other big cities, Houston is the largest city in western Louisiana or the Dubai of the U.S., San Antonio in many ways a Mexican provincial capital (a smaller Monterrey), Dallas (A rich man's OKC) is the largest city on the southern great plains, has as much in common with Denver as it does with Houston or Austin or San Antonio. Fort Worth is the charming cow town where the West begins. El Paso should have been the capital of New Mexico. They are all Texan cities, but only Austin is only Texan. Jerry Jeff Walker once called Austin the eastern most city in California but he is wrong, Austin is neither southern, nor southwestern, nor Western, nor Californian, or it is all of them. Basically it is just Texan.

[ericsami]

from a nature point of view Austin is quite southern and no western at all.
That is we have no beautiful mountain vista in our horizons.

From political Point of View Austin is probably right in the center. with that respect you could compare Austin to Colorado kind of place.

From a cultural point of view Austin is more Texan than southern.

if it was not university of Texas, some other educational institutions and the state capital my guess is that Austin would have been more like Dallas.

[EmergencyOps]

In case anyone hasn't mentioned it yet, there is a book on this very topic. Where the West Begins: Debating Texas Identity

[ericsami]

IMHO Texas identity is misnomer.

people in North Texas are really more of Oakie than Texans.

People living within 100 miles Elpaso has more of West Identity than Texas.

People living in East Texas are probably more similar to folks living in Arkansans and Louisiana.

That's because Geography has a gravitational pole where folks living close to the border will inherently have different lifestyles.

[Jennibc]

After driving extensively through the South, I've determined that since Austin does not have a Waffle House at every Interstate Exit, it can NOT be considered part of the South.

[cBach]

Topography explains everything.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by cBach

Topography explains everything.

What topographical feature is "confused"?