Where do Austinites consider Austin to be regionally? (Lubbock, Vidor: racist, area)

[jobert]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

I'm not from West Austin at all and have never lived there, but West Austin is more Southern than East Austin is, and I don't believe there is a soul who can legitimately argue with that.

Downtown/Central Austin, South Austin, and NW Austin are all more Southern than West Austin is, but all of these areas are more southern than East Austin, which is either Southwestern or Mexican culturally for the most part.

okay. My comment was based on attitude, the architecture vernacular, origin of sunbelt transplants, etc.

I see - you're talking 'bout Mexicans. Would you consider NE Austin as "deep" southern then?

[ATX Homeboy]

Today, Austin is more Southwestern geographically and culturally speaking. Our proximity to Mexico and cultural mix of Tejanos, music, food, language, and art. Some people of native american descent still live here, even though Texas forcibly removed indians from our borders. Two of the largest cattle trails in the west passed through Austin: The Chisholm and Sedalia. Cattle, Cowboys, and Currency are what brought Texas out of the financial ruin of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Unlike many Southern states, beef allowed Texas to emerge from the aftermath of the war much quicker than Alabama, Georgia, or Mississippi. We continued to grow cotton of course and later came oil, then World War II and military industrial complex. Now it seems the tech industry, government jobs, and infrastructure are keeping us out of the current unemployment/housing crunch.

That said, my family has lived in Austin for well over 100 years and my family tree indicates that, on one side of my family, we owned slaves and fought for the Confederate States of America. Keep in mind that most "Original Texans" moved here from South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Louisiana prior to The War of Northern Aggression. So there are some in Austin and Central Texas who will and often do associate themselves as southern.

[doctorjef]

Oh please don't call it "the War of Northern Aggression". You may as well call it "the War for Southern Secession". The normal term is "
Civil War", although "War between the States" was the traditional, if rather inaccurate, Southern term. We don't need your injection of secessionist treason here.

[jdevelop2]

I'm not from West Austin at all and have never lived there, but West Austin is more Southern than East Austin is, and I don't believe there is a soul who can legitimately argue with that.

NO way. I say the opposite of this is true and I live in West Austin. The area of West Austin I live in (360 and 2222) has more in commom with OC SoCal than with say Birmingham AL.

[gpurcell]

West Texas is Southwestern without any doubt.

East Texas is Southern, although it fits uneasily there in some ways.

Austin is much closer in feel to West Texas than East Texas.

Therefore, if you have to place it, Southwest is the place to put it.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Oh please don't call it "the War of Northern Aggression". You may as well call it "the War for Southern Secession". The normal term is "
Civil War", although "War between the States" was the traditional, if rather inaccurate, Southern term. We don't need your injection of secessionist treason here.

Actually, it is VERY important whether you call it the Civil War or the War Between the States - though I didn't realize that consciously until I was in my 40's. If you think about what the two names mean, they signify what the root cause of that war actually was, when you remove all the propaganda on BOTH sides.


"Civil War" is the "normal term" for the victors who write the history books (and dictate what the children of the conquered are taught).

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Actually, it is VERY important whether you call it the Civil War or the War Between the States - though I didn't realize that consciously until I was in my 40's. If you think about what the two names mean, they signify what the root cause of that war actually was, when you remove all the propaganda on BOTH sides.


"Civil War" is the "normal term" for the victors who write the history books (and dictate what the children of the conquered are taught).

I've seen "War Between The States" in approved history books in Texas, though I'd say "Civil War" is more prevalent.

I personally usually call it the "War Between the States" when writing, because I think it sounds better and is more accurate, and "Civil War" when speaking, simply because it's easier to say.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by ATX Homeboy

Today, Austin is more Southwestern geographically and culturally speaking. Our proximity to Mexico and cultural mix of Tejanos, music, food, language, and art. Some people of native american descent still live here, even though Texas forcibly removed indians from our borders. Two of the largest cattle trails in the west passed through Austin: The Chisholm and Sedalia. Cattle, Cowboys, and Currency are what brought Texas out of the financial ruin of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Unlike many Southern states, beef allowed Texas to emerge from the aftermath of the war much quicker than Alabama, Georgia, or Mississippi. We continued to grow cotton of course and later came oil, then World War II and military industrial complex. Now it seems the tech industry, government jobs, and infrastructure are keeping us out of the current unemployment/housing crunch.

That said, my family has lived in Austin for well over 100 years and my family tree indicates that, on one side of my family, we owned slaves and fought for the Confederate States of America. Keep in mind that most "Original Texans" moved here from South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Louisiana prior to The War of Northern Aggression. So there are some in Austin and Central Texas who will and often do associate themselves as southern.

I lived in Round Rock near the Chisholm trail. Another characteristic that gives Austin a more Western feeling.

[L3XVS]

Austin's in central Texas, and depending on who's doing the classifying, Texas is ether a southern or southwestern state.

Personally though, I'm more inclined to classify Texas as southwestern, as its largest cities are more in tune with southwest/midwest cultural norms than they are traditional southern ones.

Prior to traveling to Austin when I lived in the midwest, if someone took me, blindfolded, to the middle of downtown Austin, I may think I was in Minneapolis, Des Moines, or Indianapolis.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by L3XVS

Austin's in central Texas, and depending on who's doing the classifying, Texas is ether a southern or southwestern state.

Personally though, I'm more inclined to classify Texas as southwestern, as its largest cities are more in tune with southwest/midwest cultural norms than they are traditional southern ones.

Prior to traveling to Austin when I lived in the midwest, if someone took me, blindfolded, to the middle of downtown Austin, I may think I was in Minneapolis, Des Moines, or Indianapolis.

I disagree completely. No city in Texas has a midwestern/Rust Belt feel at all, and the two largest cities are both much more Soutern than Southwestern. SA and El Paso are pretty Southwestern, and Ft Worth and Austin are borderline between Southern and Western/Southwestern.

However, the largest cities in Texas are definitely not Midwestern.