Dallas-Ft. Worth....southern, western, or plains? (Houston, San Antonio: homes, live, vs)

[destinedtodave]

Some friends and I have been having a disagreement about which parts of Texas are southern or western in culture. However none of us have lived there so I ask all of you, which section of the country do texans in your area identify with?

[Guerilla]

DFW is mostly plains. It feels western once you hit Fort Worth (on west).

[socketz]

Plains for sure (Arid except for 2 hours before or after a rain squal)

Austin/San Antonio and Houston = Coastal Plains (much more humid and green)

El Paso = Feels more like New Mexico or CA than TX (Mountains!)

As for Fort Worth, it sits up against that really flat open area to the west and it appears to take on alot more harsh weather that comes in off that area than does DFW. In a way, it's a nice little shield for us out here.

Wait, I just realized my post had nothing to do with your question. Anyway. If you want Western, Fort Worth is much more Western (in a cool way, not hillbilly like many think).

If I never heard anyone take here, I'd say most of DFW reminds me of the nicer parts of Socal (minus the terrain and architecture of homes) - very educated, cosmopolitan and suburban. This blows everyone away that comes out to visit me from CA. This area is not at all how it is painted out west on the coast.

[Flylooper]

Someone said that Dallas is the westermnost eastern city in the country and that Ft. Worth is the easternmost western city. My experiences in the Metroplex pretty much confirm that. There ain't no stockyards or Billy Bob's in Dallas.

[socketz]

Ewww. They identified Dallas with the East. I'd have to disagree.

Dallas is more midwestern with some of the better parts of a southern lifestyle built in. It's really its own entity and doesn't fit well in the East vs West vs Midwestern comparisons.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by socketz

Plains for sure (Arid except for 2 hours before or after a rain squal)

Austin/San Antonio and Houston = Coastal Plains (much more humid and green)

El Paso = Feels more like New Mexico or CA than TX (Mountains!)

As for Fort Worth, it sits up against that really flat open area to the west and it appears to take on alot more harsh weather that comes in off that area than does DFW. In a way, it's a nice little shield for us out here.

Wait, I just realized my post had nothing to do with your question. Anyway. If you want Western, Fort Worth is much more Western (in a cool way, not hillbilly like many think).

If I never heard anyone take here, I'd say most of DFW reminds me of the nicer parts of Socal (minus the terrain and architecture of homes) - very educated, cosmopolitan and suburban. This blows everyone away that comes out to visit me from CA. This area is not at all how it is painted out west on the coast.

Well, actually Austin is not the coastal plains. It's too high up. And I would have to say that Dallas is not the westernmost eastern city. San Antonio is. It's much greener, and several cultures within the city are under the the southeastern influence.

[socketz]

Your probably technically correct. Austin feels alot more like the coastal plains to me, but I'm pretty new to TX.

[GoPadge]

If you'll read the intro data (available at http://www.garreau.com/main.cfm?action=book&id=3) to Joel Garreau's book the Nine Nations of North America, you'll find he defined Dallas as the western most city in Dixie, with Fort Worth being the eastern edge of the West. Of course like any border region there are times when the cities have been more inflenced by one region over another.

Before I read Garreau's book, I defined Dallas as a crossroads between the South and SouthWest.