Newcomers to Austin - Do you identify yourself as Texan to folks back home? How much do you identify with being a Texan? (San Antonio: live in, military)

[SmartGXL]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I've had several clients from the West Coast (not just California) who have told people they were moving to Texas and got the "you must have lost it" look. And they have acknowledged that they, themselves, had those misconceptions about what the State of Texas (not just Austin) is all about and when they got here, their minds were blown by how very different it is than the stereotypes they and their friends who'd never been here took as gospel about what Texas is. They love it here, in fact, and are encouraging friends and family to visit and see that, yes, those are really stereotypes that don't apply at all. (One of them has even started researching where the stereotypes came from, starting with those about what Texas looks like physically, taken from old Westerns that were filmed in Arizona and California but said it was Texas, and moving on to the others.)

The only sense in which Austin is not Texas is the same sense in which Austin is not Dallas is not Houston is not San Antonio, and East Texas is not North Texas is not West Texas is not Central Texas is not South Texas. They're all different in some respects and they're all the same in some respects, and they're all part of what goes into making up Texas.

Austin is just as much Texas as any other part of the State, and the similarities would surprise some, as well. Especially those who have never been here or never scratched the surface of the State but settled for the stereotypes.

Hey TexasHorseLady,

I agree 100%.

A couple years ago, I told my GF I was considering moving to TX; she could not understand at all why I want to move there, as she loved San Diego and wanted to move there. So her and I went on a vacation down to Dallas, and rented a convertible when we were there. She loved it! She wants to move down there with me, too! We also took a separate trip a year ago to Austin and rented a convertible when we were there as well (she also flew down to visit me when I was in Austin last month as well, and she still loved it - proof that she absolutely loves the state and wants to live there).

And of course - her friends give her the same thing, "Why would you want to live there"? She just tells them they have to visit to understand.

[1mintjulep]

I definitely identify more as an Austinite than a Texan. I feel like a Southerner for sure, but Texan? Not so much. I'd be fine in Houston and perhaps Dallas, but put me someplace like Tyler or Lubbock, and I'd feel like a fish out of water in a really big way.

I've lived here 8 years and moved here from Louisiana, so I didn't experience quite the culture shock on moving to Texas than someone from the Northeast would. If someone asked me where I'm from, I'd say Austin. If they pressed me, I'd say I was born in Louisiana, but it's not something I'll otherwise bring up. It never felt like home to me, I haven't been back to the town I was born in years, and if I never go back again, that'll be perfectly all right with me.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by eichlerfan

Well lets put it this way - When I tell people we are moving I always say "Austin" because truth be told if I just said "Texas" they would think we've lost it. Of course then when I do tell them Austin I still get "but what happens when you have to step out of Austin into the rest of Texas. Hopefully when they come to visit they will see what we see.

A friend of mine who relocated from Seattle to San Antonio recently said that she faced the same kind of horrified disbelief (as did I). She's been here a few weeks now and really likes it (she came because of a job transfer). She's convinced if more people actually visited the state, they'd think more highly of it.

[Jennibc]

We've only been back 10 months and were only here a year and half before, but we consider ourselves Texans. I think it has to do with us WANTING to be here rather than being forced to come here because of a job transfer. We own a home here, we don't plan to move again. I suppose we are Austinites too, but I primarily self-identify as a Texan.

[inthecut]

excellent replies.....Texas, as a whole, grows on you......and what IS there takes time, but far more substantial when you get the gist of the whole.....it's really an entire world and culture, and pretty far away from everything as well......east of Houston, nothing but small-town Deep South and NO, North of Dallas just great plains for days, west of El Paso inner range mountains to the coast...Texas is pretty much in the middle of nowhere per the bottom central location....but, ironically, you have a country just to the south of it composed of 160,000,000 people, called Mexico......

So Texas is at the same time, in the middle of nowhere and everything....

[orngkat]

Though born in Colorado, I grew up in San Antonio. Texas history and culture was a huge priority in public schools way back when. In elementary school, we sang the Eyes of Texas after the Pledge of Allegiance. Texas pride was pumped into our psyches and may be one of the reasons so many native Texans seem a breed apart. So, if I claim anything it will be Texas first as that is how I was raised.

[harrison512]

Ha. Definitely not Austinite. Definitely not Texan. Everyone I know calls me The Californian.

[Cardiff Giant]

Interesting question ITC. Up until recently, I would always wear a Mets or Giants cap on the weekends while running errands. I recently purchased a Texas Stars cap that I've been wearing proudly around town. So, I guess that after 4 years I'm finally starting to identify myself as a Texan. Well, a naturalized Texan at least.

I'll always be a New Yorker no matter where I go but Texas is my home and we're not leaving! One of things that attracted us to the state was the fact that the natives are so proud of where they're from, very much like my home state.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by orngkat

Though born in Colorado, I grew up in San Antonio. Texas history and culture was a huge priority in public schools way back when. In elementary school, we sang the Eyes of Texas after the Pledge of Allegiance. Texas pride was pumped into our psyches and may be one of the reasons so many native Texans seem a breed apart. So, if I claim anything it will be Texas first as that is how I was raised.

The beauty of that is the love of place and sense of belongingness...having that drummed into you is in this case a good thing!
In a time and place where little is constant, and we seem to be losing touch with groundedness, a place with a "sense of place" like Texas is simply a "port in the storm".....

It may take time to creep up on you, but when Texas Pride gets you it gets you, even for a transplanted Illinoisian like me.....I'm starting to actually love the state. It started with the clapping per "Deep in the heart of Texas" at Longhorn games I went to when I first came here, and just grabs my heart now......

[staubach]

I become an official Texan tomorrow when I close on my house..More importantly I will legally become an ex-Memphian!!