Texas; is it part of the South or the Southwest? (Houston: activities, land)

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by michaeltx9412

Texas is so big that it varies greatly even within its each subregion. For example, in East Texas, Beaumont and Port Arthur remind me of SW Louisiana whereas Tyler and Longview share similarities with Arkansas or Central Mississippi. In West Texas, El Paso could be somewhere in New Mexico while San Angelo has more of a Hill Country and Texan feel. Wichita Falls, Amarillo, Fort Worth all could be in Oklahoma/Eastern NM. The Rio Grande Valley region is its own thing just like Central Texas and is heavily Mexican, but visually it looks like somewhere in Florida with its own coastal vibe. Laredo, TX is like 99% Hispanic and while it's not in the RGV, it doesn't resemble Mexico nor anywhere in Texas both culturally and aesthetically. WOW! Texas is so weird!

Good grief, there's nothing about Tyler and Longview that reminds me even remotely of Arkansas, and I am very familiar with both states.

To me, Tyler and Longview both remind me more of the northern regions of the other Gulf states - especially Louisiana. With a dash of Dallas thrown in, especially in Tyler. I don't see a shred of Little Rock or Hot Springs in NE Texas. But hey, that's just me.

[Desert kid]

Obligatory:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREkqCvLzSo

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Good grief, there's nothing about Tyler and Longview that reminds me even remotely of Arkansas, and I am very familiar with both states.

To me, Tyler and Longview both remind me more of the northern regions of the other Gulf states - especially Louisiana. With a dash of Dallas thrown in, especially in Tyler. I don't see a shred of Little Rock or Hot Springs in NE Texas. But hey, that's just me.

I disagree (having been born and bred in the region of East Texas that you're referring to). They don't remind me at all of northern Louisiana. As a romantic child, I WISHED growing up that they were more like Louisiana, but sadly I had to bow to reality.

[R1070]

They got Dallas right.

[soletaire]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Good grief, there's nothing about Tyler and Longview that reminds me even remotely of Arkansas, and I am very familiar with both states.

To me, Tyler and Longview both remind me more of the northern regions of the other Gulf states - especially Louisiana. With a dash of Dallas thrown in, especially in Tyler. I don't see a shred of Little Rock or Hot Springs in NE Texas. But hey, that's just me.

I would say that Tyler Longview and Marshall remind me of a blend of Northern Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. With atyler having the slightest sprinkling of a Dallas influence.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I disagree (having been born and bred in the region of East Texas that you're referring to). They don't remind me at all of northern Louisiana. As a romantic child, I WISHED growing up that they were more like Louisiana, but sadly I had to bow to reality.

OK. We'll just have to agree to disagree. My experience (which is bountiful after living in Texas 30 years, and also living in Louisiana - New Orleans native here with many relatives in the Shreveport and Natchitoches areas - and having spent a lot of time in Arkansas since my parents were born and raised there and lived there for many years) is that east Texas is more like north Louisiana than it is Arkansas. But of course, take Texarkana for instance - of course that area is going to be similar no matter whether you're standing on one side of the street in Arkansas or the other side of the street in Texas.

Of course, east Texas is not much like south Louisiana - no place on earth is like that place.

East Texas is east Texas - as a border region sharing a border with Louisiana, and a smidgen of Arkansas as well as a bit of Oklahoma, of course there will be some similarities with those states butting up against the state line. I mean that's common sense and common throughout the world for border regions. In fact, when I go out to the Midland area (which is as little as possible, but hey, it happens), I can't tell much difference between Seminole, TX and Hobbs, NM. If I didn't know I had crossed a state line, I would just think I was in about the same place.

[madrone2k]

This is an interesting discussion, but it occurs to me that another thing to take into consideration is that we're talking about cultural differences that are pretty recent ... i.e., since European-derived people started coming into what is now "Texas" in the early-to-mid 1800s. Otherwise, we'd be talking about Karankawa vs. Apache vs. Comanche and other cultures.

Anyway ... if I were to plunge into the conversation already established ... I'd say that I think of north Texas as having more in common with Oklahoma and Kansas. A lot of white, chamber-of-commerce, booster mentality. Houston, a horrible mess that somehow developed into a major port and center of the world's oil industry. SA, a metropolis based on having the major military bases guarding the US's southern border, then pivoting to find other economic foundations after the military aspect shrank. Austin ... well, finally finding a niche after the 70s as a hub for tech companies, but not preparing well-enough for the population growth that comes with that.

As for Texas being south vs. SW ... it's a fun conversation topic, but I think that it is also very fuzzy. It is what it is.

[JesseD]

Seminole to Hobbs. Heh, heh. Did that many times, once in March, 1982 in a masssive Blue Norther with lightning. We were ready, though. Flashlights, food and water, and a pee bottle. We pulled over, got the car tarp from the trunk and put it over the car, and then squeezed our way back into the car seats to wait it out. Scary! Thirty minutes later we got out of the car and there was a layer of fine red sand everywhere, would have fouled the engine and we’d been stuck there for two days. Fun times.

[madrone2k]

Good idea to have a tarp to shield from hail, as long as you can secure it well. Not sure how much protection it would provide for really big hail, though. I recall one of those sudden hailstorms striking years ago as I was driving through the panhandle into a small town ... and was lucky enough to pull into a Sonic drive-in just in time to get under the metal-roof cover.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by madrone2k

This is an interesting discussion, but it occurs to me that another thing to take into consideration is that we're talking about cultural differences that are pretty recent ... i.e., since European-derived people started coming into what is now "Texas" in the early-to-mid 1800s. Otherwise, we'd be talking about Karankawa vs. Apache vs. Comanche and other cultures.

Anyway ... if I were to plunge into the conversation already established ... I'd say that I think of north Texas as having more in common with Oklahoma and Kansas. A lot of white, chamber-of-commerce, booster mentality. Houston, a horrible mess that somehow developed into a major port and center of the world's oil industry. SA, a metropolis based on having the major military bases guarding the US's southern border, then pivoting to find other economic foundations after the military aspect shrank. Austin ... well, finally finding a niche after the 70s as a hub for tech companies, but not preparing well-enough for the population growth that comes with that.

As for Texas being south vs. SW ... it's a fun conversation topic, but I think that it is also very fuzzy. It is what it is.

actually Spaniards are from Europe so the Spaniards were the first European derived people to come to Texas and they came before the 1800s.