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Old 09-24-2007, 06:15 PM
 
Location: West Bloomfield
418 posts, read 1,785,124 times
Reputation: 136

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Have you guys ever spoken to people that have never been to Dallas? Or Texas for that matter? I'm curious to see what they thought it was like.

I moved to the metro Detroit area a few months ago, due to my husband's job. I was born and raised in Dallas, and leaving was the hardest thing we've ever done (we plan on being back in a few years, yay!). Anyway...when people up here ask me where I'm from and I tell them, almost ALL of them think Dallas is some lone prairie with the occasional tumbleweed or two drifting by. They will say things like, "OH, WOW...this must be a huge change of pace for you!" Well, it is...it is MUCH slower up here. But they think the opposite - they think I must be thrilled to have left dogpatch! I don't mind at all, because honestly I thought Michigan was some pit until I actually moved here. It's all in what you know.

I guess I just thought everyone knew that Dallas was super cosmopolitan, large, thriving and fun. Not so much!
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Old 09-24-2007, 06:21 PM
 
Location: Dallas, Texas
506 posts, read 2,149,512 times
Reputation: 385
Your description of other people's perceptions of Dallas is dead-on. I travel all around the country for work and people always say, "You don't seem like you're from Texas." I'm never sure what that means but it's supposed to be a compliment, I think...LOL!
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Old 09-24-2007, 06:31 PM
 
16,087 posts, read 41,162,235 times
Reputation: 6376
I'm still looking for a "I didn't vote for Bush" shirt to wear to Europe.
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Old 09-24-2007, 06:59 PM
 
Location: Zone 6- South Jersey
258 posts, read 1,176,269 times
Reputation: 90
I moved here from NY, Dallas definitely gets a bad rap up there. People are ignorant.
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Old 09-24-2007, 07:19 PM
 
Location: West Bloomfield
418 posts, read 1,785,124 times
Reputation: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by kt2le View Post
Your description of other people's perceptions of Dallas is dead-on. I travel all around the country for work and people always say, "You don't seem like you're from Texas." I'm never sure what that means but it's supposed to be a compliment, I think...LOL!
Hilarious!
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Old 09-24-2007, 07:24 PM
 
Location: Big D -Dallas TX
100 posts, read 455,486 times
Reputation: 57
I agree. The only major metro area that seem to know what is going on in Dallas is Atlanta. The rest of the country is completely in the dark. The light isn't switched on until their current employer relocates there company here. Then people are completely amazed when they get here and realize that Dallas is a major city and not just the home of the Cowboys.
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Old 09-24-2007, 08:27 PM
 
2,531 posts, read 6,251,007 times
Reputation: 1315
Growing up in Cali, I constantly traveled to Mississippi and more often than not, we would change planes at DFW. I noticed that a lot of guys were wearing 10 Gallon hats in the airport, and for many years, that colored my perception of what Dallas was (also, I grew up in the 1980's, when the TV show "Dallas" was at its peak of notoriety). But I was a KID for crissakes. I'm old enough to know better now...

Many years later, I would go to Texas on visits and realize that Dallas was NOTHING like the way people portrayed it. I found it to be a large, cosmopolitan, exciting place to be. It's crazy that people still think this is a city in the middle of tumbleweeds where everyone rides a horse to work rather than a large metropolitan area of 6 million people (4th largest metro in the country if you don't lump San Jose together with SF/Oak, or Providence and Manchester w/Boston or Baltimore w/DC, but I digress).

Quote:
I agree. The only major metro area that seem to know what is going on in Dallas is Atlanta.
I notice a lot of people compare the D/FW area to Metro Atlanta, and say that they're more alike than they are different (terrain and climate aside) I currently live in the Atlanta area, and while Atlanta has had better PR in terms of people's perceptions, there are a lot of misconceptions about the Atlanta area as well, if that makes you D/FW folks feel better. :-) Case in point, one of my aunts from California came down to Atlanta to visit, and lets just say her views on the south are a bit outdated (She left Mississippi when she was 18 and has been living in LA for the last 50 years). We were driving past Lenox Square (which is a mall similar to Northpark or the Galleria) and she said "I hear that us black people aren't allowed in that mall". I gave her the sideye and told her she needed to get out more...
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Old 09-24-2007, 09:45 PM
 
Location: Lakeview, Chicago
436 posts, read 1,348,230 times
Reputation: 364
Quote:
Originally Posted by khfar View Post
Have you guys ever spoken to people that have never been to Dallas? Or Texas for that matter? I'm curious to see what they thought it was like.

I moved to the metro Detroit area a few months ago, due to my husband's job. I was born and raised in Dallas, and leaving was the hardest thing we've ever done (we plan on being back in a few years, yay!). Anyway...when people up here ask me where I'm from and I tell them, almost ALL of them think Dallas is some lone prairie with the occasional tumbleweed or two drifting by. They will say things like, "OH, WOW...this must be a huge change of pace for you!" Well, it is...it is MUCH slower up here. But they think the opposite - they think I must be thrilled to have left dogpatch! I don't mind at all, because honestly I thought Michigan was some pit until I actually moved here. It's all in what you know.

I guess I just thought everyone knew that Dallas was super cosmopolitan, large, thriving and fun. Not so much!

I feel your pain. When I attended grad school at Michigan State and worked at a camp in Northern Michigan before school started, I had a taste of exactly what you're talking about. Did I live on a ranch? Uh, no. Yes, my parents have what is known as a ranch house but it's only called that because it's a one story house. Did I own a horse? No. I know some people in Texas do own horses but so do some people in Michigan. I swear, even in 1990, people still thought that I came from a Southforkesque world. And they were serious!!!

I think they were also surprised that I owned a car. Not sure if they thought I got around by horse or stagecoach but a car wasn't the expected vehicle of choice. Fortunately, I drove a Chevy at the time which worked well in union and auto plant heavy southeast and southcentral MI. Foreign cars (even when built in the US) were really frowned upon. I found out they call Japanese cars "rice burners". Very classy .

I used to tell people that Dallas was similar to Detroit only further south in terms of being a big city with big city amenities but now that Detroit is losing businesses left and right and has generally gone downhill, I wouldn't make that comparison anymore.

BTW, if you love the lake or golf or just beautiful scenery in general, you must head up to Northern Michigan. It's just stunning up there. The Leelanau Peninsula (far NW MI), Traverse City and then up toward Petoskey and Harbor Springs are great places to visit. If you and/or your husband golf, there are some amazing courses up there too. If you ski, well, it's not Colorado or New Mexico, but there is decent skiing up north. Mackinac Island is lovely as well. Yes, it's touristy but who cares. There are stunning homes on the island...take the horse carriage tour around the island. Stay at the Grand Hotel if you can. My parents stayed there a few years ago. Definitely a blast from the past but in a good way! I'd love to stay there myself. Take advantage of the stunning autumn and winter (if you like snow) because as you know, we just don't get the beauty of those seasons down here. I'm going to Petoskey in two weeks. Hope to hit the leafs close to their peak color!
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Old 09-25-2007, 04:18 AM
 
Location: Dallas, Texas
3,589 posts, read 4,148,839 times
Reputation: 533
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakewooder View Post
I'm still looking for a "I didn't vote for Bush" shirt to wear to Europe.
Don't bother; they'll still give you a hard time no matter what. I lived in Europe for years during the Bush II administration and it didn't matter that I'd never voted for him. Sew a Canadian flag to your backpack instead...it's just easier.
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Old 09-25-2007, 05:29 AM
 
Location: Fondren SW Yo
2,783 posts, read 6,676,273 times
Reputation: 2225
Quote:
Originally Posted by nativeDallasite View Post
Don't bother; they'll still give you a hard time no matter what. I lived in Europe for years during the Bush II administration and it didn't matter that I'd never voted for him. Sew a Canadian flag to your backpack instead...it's just easier.
As one who has traveled thoughout the Continent (including central europe this summer) may I suggest you just ask those holier-than-thou Euros that many are so bent on getting approval from how many genocides and world wars their continent has been responsible for over the last 100 years or so, how many thousands of senior citizens the French let die in the heat wave of a couple years ago, how much racism and anti-semitism they still tolerate and embrace, etc, etc, etc. Who cares what they think of Texas, George Bush, the U.S. or Canada for that matter..... I'm always surprised at how much Americans are blinded by the veneer of civilization that most European cultures live under. There lies beneath the surface of their societies a great deal of ugliness. Why do we crave their approval and feel ashamed of how we appear in their eyes?
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