Why I miss you, Big D.... (Houston, Dallas: transfer to, purchase, schools)

[btheferrett]

About 7 months ago I put in for a transfer to Portland OR. Now that I have a good taste of life here as opposed to Big D, I thought I would say why I miss DFW (as well as what I don't miss)

1. Originally, I thought that (and please, no offense to anyone) "what kind of person would ever EVER vote for Bush or Rick Perry in the first place, let alone AGAIN????" I now think that because we live more liberally in Texas in general, we sort of savor the IDEA of conservativism. Up here in Portland, they live so conservatively that they savor the IDEA of liberalism, which makes it a blue state, as blue as Texas is red. Both sides seem fake to me

2. I was so sick all the time with allergies in Dallas. Now I can sleep, breathe, and live up here with no problems

3. Recycling goes without saying here. It is as much the way of life as driving, using the phone, or working. I love it!

--now what I miss--

1. As a gross over-generalization, I have never seen such a group of un-ambitious, un-determined, lack-of-interest, non-goal-oriented, non-competitive people in my life. It is incredible to have so many people who drive 20 yr old cars and work as barristas after having dropped out of school, and think this is the greatest life they could have.

2. The streets are poor, and the drivers are extremely slow and frustrating

3. The schools are horrific, and nothing can be done about them because everyone is union, and no one wants to put any more money into them. WOuld you work hard as a teacher if you knew that you would likely never get a raise? Or that if you did want a raise you could just sit out with the rest of your union?

4. Because of the lackadaisical culture, the kids' sports here are kinda pathetic. They must have recruited most of the Oregon football team from other places

5. It is way too "white" for my taste, although I would think there are many of my Texans reading this who would think that 94% white population would be a good thing. I hate it. It scares me, in fact.

Of course it is absolutely gorgeous here. I don't miss the ugliness of DFW, or the allergies as mentioned. The grass up here in Portland is ACTUALLY greener, but proverbally, not so much

[kreeyax]

I miss Krispy Kreme

[portorro]

I used to live in Miami. I remember loving the ocean and the beautiful people.

I remember missing the organization and efficiency of DFW. Compared to Miami, DFW offers a convenient life. Another thing I missed was the manners. People in DFW were sooo polite compared to Miamians. Thank you, opening doors, hello's, You welcome, May I help you, are words you rarely use down in Florida. When the bad manners started to rubb off on me...I thought it was time to come back. 4 years later here I am in DFW. Im happy.

Good luck in Portland!

[Willsson]

The most amusing post of the day. Many years ago, I made that move from Houston to Seattle. Also spent some time working in Portland. I totally get what you're saying. I was amused one fine day, some guy complaining about it being 95 degrees outside and he was wearing those hot levi's. Yeah, in Texas we wear levi's in cool weather.

Beautiful place but I really don't go for football at ten a.m. And what's with that ethnically correct politics anyway?

Ten months later I reassessed. Great place, but it wasn't anywhere. Didn't take me long to get back to Houston.

[artsyguy]

The kids are brainwashed with football and athletics in Texas: it's insidious and distracting: it should stop immediately. Other than that Dallas is a good city aside from it being in the middle of the bible belt.

[Haute Mom]

1. As a gross over-generalization, I have never seen such a group of un-ambitious, un-determined, lack-of-interest, non-goal-oriented, non-competitive people in my life. It is incredible to have so many people who drive 20 yr old cars and work as barristas after having dropped out of school, and think this is the greatest life they could have.

2. The streets are poor, and the drivers are extremely slow and frustrating

We moved from Texas to the NW in 2004 and lived there 5 years. It was a culture shock and it was the same mindset as the first 2 things u mentioned. We were in Spokane, Washington and I couldn't wait to get the heck out of there. I don't care how ugly Texas is, I would much rather be here than there. :/ Thankfully for us, Spokane was the more conservative side of the state!

[cBach]

Originally Posted by btheferrett

1. Originally, I thought that (and please, no offense to anyone) "what kind of person would ever EVER vote for Bush or Rick Perry in the first place, let alone AGAIN????" I now think that because we live more liberally in Texas in general, we sort of savor the IDEA of conservativism. Up here in Portland, they live so conservatively that they savor the IDEA of liberalism, which makes it a blue state, as blue as Texas is red. Both sides seem fake to me

I agree with the rest of your post, but I don't understand what you mean by this at all.

When I lived in California, they lived a liberal lifestyle, much more liberal than Texas, and they voted liberally. Texas is pretty conservative, most people are about as conservative as can be and vote that way. Austin is the lone exception. Even then, Austin would be viewed as moderate in states like CA and OR.

[artsyguy]

How is Austin the exception? I did not meet a single person who lived liberally in Austin. What did I miss out on aside from bars and hills?

Originally Posted by cBach

Austin is the lone exception. Even then, Austin would be viewed as moderate in states like CA and OR.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

How is Austin the exception? I did not meet a single person who lived liberally in Austin. What did I miss out on aside from bars and hills?

I don't know, perhaps the lax alcohol laws (in many counties in the Dallas area you have to join a club to purchase alcohol in bars, never in Austin), the allowing of toplessness at Barton Springs (not that many women go topless there, but could you imagine such a thing in Dallas/Houston?), a nude beach (Hippie Hollow), the prevalent hippie culture, lax values about weed, the environmentalism, the abundant parklands that are protected, the leftist political involvement.

All of these things have a counterpart in San Francisco: lax alcohol/weed laws, Baker Beach (nude beach in SF), hippie culture (Haight/Ashbury), environmentalism, abundant parklands, and leftist political involvement.

Dallas and Houston just ain't liberal, sorry. Austin can at least claim some liberalness. I don't know how Portland fares, but my impression is that it is a mini San Francisco.

[ClarenceBodiker]

I don't know, perhaps the lax alcohol laws (in many counties in the Dallas area you have to join a club to purchase alcohol in bars, never in Austin), the allowing of toplessness at Barton Springs (not that many women go topless there, but could you imagine such a thing in Dallas/Houston?), a nude beach (Hippie Hollow), the prevalent hippie culture, lax values about weed, the environmentalism, the abundant parklands that are protected, the leftist political involvement.

All of these things have a counterpart in San Francisco: lax alcohol/weed laws, Baker Beach (nude beach in SF), hippie culture (Haight/Ashbury), environmentalism, abundant parklands, and leftist political involvement.

Dallas and Houston just ain't liberal, sorry. Austin can at least claim some liberalness. I don't know how Portland fares, but my impression is that it is a mini San Francisco.

Austin might vote moderately more democratic than Dallas or Houston, but you can keep Austin's "liberal" weirdness. Austin is full of people exactly like what the OP was referring to in #1 of things they miss about Dallas. Unamibitous, non-driven people who lack realistic life goals. Austin is chock full of these people, and they have little to do with a real, modern and progressive movement.