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I'm not sure I understand the original intention of this post, but here goes. First, yes, I have been in Texas. I grew up all over the States but mostly in Houston, from about age eight to twenty. I have also visited San Antonio, which is lovely, and I have also been to a football game at Texas A & M university in College Station. I would also love to visit Austin one day.
I found each of these three cities to be radically different. Anyone who says that Texas is conservative or racist, if this is what this thread is really about, just hasn't traveled there enough to judge. Racism is alive and well all over the U.S. There are simply different types of racism, running the gamut between overt to covert. Truthfully, as a Black woman I prefer the overt variety. At least then you can see it coming, and you can usually trust that when someone of another race is friendly they are more genuine and not being passive-aggressive or (yuck) "politically correct." Who needs that hypocrisy? lol.
Many New Yorkers hail from other cities or states, and/or take vacations in other cities or states. I don't think it's so unusual. I also don't think it's useful to compare places. New York is New York. Texas is Texas. And Texas is a huge state with a variety of cities and sensibilities. Both New York and Texas have their good points and their not-so-good points.
Some--repeat some--New Yorkers do seem to think of NYC as the center of the world, being so in love with NYC. I love NYC, too, but because I have traveled so much, I also enjoy something different from time to time. Me and my little travel bug. lol.
I went to Dallas once, years ago (early '80's). It was like visiting a different country. I had a lot of fun, though. I couldn't get over all the cowboy hats and expensive boots--it was like something out of a movie. Also, the heat was unbearable (this was in June) and I had a few moments of panic when we left town to go to a rodeo about fifty miles outside of Dallas with some guys we met at a club. I had never before been anywhere that absolutely FLAT, with only a lone tree here or there, land going endlessly without any break. It was sort of the opposite of claustrophobia.
People also seemed more openly racist down there--don't know if that's the same today, but they used the "n" word all the time with abandon, and I couldn't get over the fact that everybody has a gun. Even my friend that we were visiting (knew her from the NY area, but her mother was from Waco) and her mother had guns!
The people we met were genuinely very friendly to us. Kept offering us "tea" and I'm thinking "isn't it a little HOT for everyone to be drinking tea all the time?" Turned out they meant iced tea, they just don't say it. And my Dallas friend's SIL made us a country-fried steak dinner one night, which I had never had and have loved ever since.
Oh, and I got a kick out of the idea that Burger King offered jalapeno peppers on their burgers down there.
I'm originally from both Texas and Louisiana and after living in NYC for two years I can honestly say that the south is no more racist than NYC. The difference I would say is that in the south you know who is racist and in NYC it's not always so obvious.
I also think the reason why people notice soooo much racisim in the south is that they are looking for it. South is historically known for it so you look for it.
So were you all shocked to hell to see there are major cities in Texas with freeways, busy streets, traffic lights, glass skyscrapers, and other buildings? Did it surprise you beyond belief when you discovered we have indoor plumbing, electricity, and air conditioning and that the majority of the landscape here is actually prairie? That's what a lot of my classmates seemed to think when I lived in Long Island. The only desert region is in the extreme far west near El Paso. Most of those John Wayne cowboy movies were actually filmed in Monument Valley along the Utah/Nevada Border. The guy from New York I brought back to Houston actually thought we all ride around on horses, wear cowboy hats, and hang out in saloons. Those other characteristics I just mentioned blew him away when he observed those. The biggest surprise of all was when he noticed there were ubiquitous pine and oak trees around Houston and the majority of Southeastern Texas was comprised of forests and swamplands
Who believes this crap? How can a state with the second largest population not have all those you listed and more? I have spent time in Rochester and NYC and didn't come across any of those ignorant people, New Yorkers are smarter than that. It's no different than Texans thinking all of New York state is just like Manhattan, which I haven't met any of those Texans either.
I've only been to Dallas. I was sent there two weeks for job training in 2002. I remember in June it was already too hot for me (I'm not a fan of hot weather). I remember a Mary Kay (?) convention was taking place at the hotel (all the ladies with lots of makeup and big hair). Between classes we went to a rodeo in mesquite which was fun and a new experience for me (I was born and raised in Brooklyn). On my own I visited the Sixth Floor museum and Dealey Plaza which was the highlight of my time there. We also went to a mall and I recall thinking it's 6pm...where are all the people? The mall was practically empty. I'm so used to crowded malls in NYC with no space to move, lol. The people were very friendly. Strangers smiling and saying hello to me for no reason was very disarming to this native New Yorker.
I moved from New York to Dallas and promptly left after a year. Not my cup of tea. However, I had been to Texas before. Texas is really too big to stereotype.
Dallas has its pros and cons, but I could not come to terms with the materialism coupled with religious zealots. The worst drivers outside of Baluchistan too. But there are worse places to live I suppose. Its dirt cheap which makes the money boasting so comical- almost anyone can live well there.
Houston is ok. But Austin- now there is a cool place to live.
This will stoke controversy on both sides, but I think Texans and New Yorkers are actually very similiar, at least when it comes to stereotypes. Both are loud, brass, and think their state is #1
Who believes this crap? How can a state with the second largest population not have all those you listed and more? I have spent time in Rochester and NYC and didn't come across any of those ignorant people, New Yorkers are smarter than that. It's no different than Texans thinking all of New York state is just like Manhattan, which I haven't met any of those Texans either.
Who believed this hogwash? Lots of people I've met Back East did when I was in middle school. I knew a guy who had a law degree from Harvard who thought Texas was all sand and cacti. Then I met another woman who thought we were all cowboys out on the frontier. Of course, neither of them had ever been outside the Northeast anywhere except Florida. Like a lot of the other Easterners I met, the only place they'd ever visited in America was either Miami or Orlando.
Then when the lawyer visited Houston, he was mesmerized because he'd never seen so many Vietnamese or Greek people in his entire life. Then the other woman thought the Alamo was the only real building in San Antonio until she went to the River Walk. She said it reminded her of Venice. Needless to say, they were both disappointed when they never saw and tumbleweed, buttes, or plateaus or anyone riding around on horses, and that it was hot and muggy rather than hot and dry..
I moved from New York to Dallas and promptly left after a year. Not my cup of tea. However, I had been to Texas before. Texas is really too big to stereotype.
Dallas has its pros and cons, but I could not come to terms with the materialism coupled with religious zealots. The worst drivers outside of Baluchistan too. But there are worse places to live I suppose. Its dirt cheap which makes the money boasting so comical- almost anyone can live well there.
Houston is ok. But Austin- now there is a cool place to live.
This will stoke controversy on both sides, but I think Texans and New Yorkers are actually very similiar, at least when it comes to stereotypes. Both are loud, brass, and think their state is #1
I couldn't agree more. I'm not like that, but many of them are. Believe it or not, my favorite state is California because I love the climate out there, and the scenery is incredible. I majored in geography, so the landscape has several different contours. When I visited Los Angeles, I noticed many of the people there had a lot in common with New York City. This may strike up even more controversy, but they also thought they were the center of the universe like many New Yorkers.
I know the only center of the universe is a medium-sized star 93 million miles away which omits UV radiation and photosynthesizes all lifeforms on earth (including those picturesque broadleaf trees in Central Park; not to mention those Redwoods in California.) I think many people from global cities period have that mindset let alone New York and Los Angeles. I surmise people in other global cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai Moscow, Mexico City, Jakarta, and wherever feel that way about their locale. There are even many Texans who think that way, but I know better than that. We all need the son to survive. The rest of the world could go on if one global city disappeared.
07-22-2010, 06:05 PM
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Nala8:
You seem like a wise New Yorker!
I like your attitude about loving New York City, but being to respect, appreciate and enjoy other places too and seeing how every place offers its positives and negatives.
What do you think is the percentage of people in New York that has similar attitudes like us? I really hope it is at least 70%.
Even though it doesnt seem like it sometimes, I think its a very small percentage of people in New York City that are close-minded, arrogant, and snobby and dont see how there are other great places out there. Probably less than 10%.
Do you think that is true?
Im a native New Yorker who lives in Seattle right now and I love both places. I would like to live back in New York City one day for my career but what Im trying to find out is if most people that are in NYC have attitudes like us.
I visited Houston, TX and got a bit sick and called a friend of mine in Manhattan he asked me if Texas had any doctors offices
Of course they have doctor's offices. In fact, the UT-Medical Center in Houston is one of the most reputable hospitals in the world. Does your friend know we're more sophisticated than the media gives us credit for? After all, NASA is located in Houston, and astronauts, astrophysicists, and aeronautical engineers are some of the most brilliant people on Earth. My cousin from Washington State tried to get into Rice University in Houston. That's the Harvard of the Gulf Coast, but she couldn't get accepted because she didn't have a 4.0 average. As a result she went to Smith College in Boston.
That's one place I did not like at all. When I visited Boston, many of the people there had a very elitist attitude. I liked the food but I couldn't stand the hospitality or lack thereof. Boston and Paris are two cities where I'd never felt so out-of-place in my entire life. Whenever someone in Boston made some crass remark to me asking why I came from Texas and didn't wear a cowboy hat, I'd respond asking them why they didn't come from New England and didn't dress up like pilgrims. And when they asked if I rode around on horses, I asked if they still churn their own butter or burn people at the stake whom they don't understand. I liked visiting some places in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., but I wasn't the least bit impressed with Boston or Baltimore.
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