Texas and Oklahoma... what's the difference? (Houston, Dallas: homes, neighborhood, schools)

[blkgiraffe]

Don't won't to get too detailed, but I'll say the differences outweight the similarities. Oklahoma to me is just an extension of North Texas with a twist.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by griff09m

JJG, not really sure what you're deal is. I'm not from Oklahoma, so I'm not sure why you are talking like I am. I sounds like, though, that there is a difference for people who think of Texas in terms of the big cities. I am usually in West Texas, and up in the panhandle there's not all that much diversity. You cross over into OK and I'm telling you, there's not a lick of difference.

Well there ya go.

When you get around to the ENTIRE state, you'll see more.

[IrisMGOK]

Originally Posted by griff09m

Enlighten me. I've lived in Texas for five years now and been to Oklahoma several times. To someone like me, who is not a native, there doesn't seem to be a lick of difference between the two places. Texas has more variety, true, but it seems that, culturally speaking, you could merge the two and few would notice.
Am I wrong? Tell me why.

Well now that we have a Republican governor again, I'd say the two states were quite red. Texas wants to secede from the union while Oklahoma does not, and I think Texas is big enough to actually pull it off, although it would suck to have to have a passport just to go to Costco. You did suggest culturally they were the same though and I'll have to say based solely on that I'm not sure. However, I will say that not even Texas is the same everywhere and therefore culturally not the same.

Driving from Oklahoma City to DeSoto to visit relatives I notice that as soon as I'm out of Ardmore the big difference is being able to hear jazz music on the radio. We have no smooth jazz station in Oklahoma City and haven't for years. (NPR carries the Bob Parlocha show which is traditional jazz, but it's late at night. And Tulsa is lucky enough to have the Oasis station, but then Tulsa is so much like Dallas, down to the short on-ramps, it's not even funny). Since jazz is a part of American culture, I'd say that on that score alone North Texas was very different than OK.

I've also noticed how hard it is to sightsee and enjoy the Dallas architecture while on the highways down there because of the high rate of speed one has to keep up while in the DFW area. And I notice people don't wear blue jeans as much. And that there's a whole northside-southside cultural divide in Dallas, as well as a Dallas - Fort Worth snobbery that exists on a much smaller level between OKC & T-town. It's also half again to twice as expensive to live down there, but maybe no sales tax & no income tax evens things out. Maybe that's nothing to do with culture? I don't know. I guess it's hard for me to see how a blanket statement about one region or the other is accurate.

[d234e]

Well JJG, I have traveled this state of yours for years now, and I've come to a conclusion. Oklahoma is simply an extension of Texas by another name. If it had that blessed, narcotic-like label "Texas" on it, then it would be adored just like every other patch of land in the lone star state. But since it doesn't, Texans are able to see it for what it is: a mostly unlovely place (with exceptions). What they don't know is that Texas is exactly the same.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by d234e

Well JJG, I have traveled this state of yours for years now, and I've come to a conclusion. Oklahoma is simply an extension of Texas by another name. If it had that blessed, narcotic-like label "Texas" on it, then it would be adored just like every other patch of land in the lone star state. But since it doesn't, Texans are able to see it for what it is: a mostly unlovely place (with exceptions). What they don't know is that Texas is exactly the same.

Nice first post....

[jr1038]

I've lived all over both states. There are many similarities but many of them are more superficial - sprawling cities, boring landscapes (relatively speaking), and hot summers. Culturally they are more different than some are suggesting. The biggest difference is in the diversity: there's not much to speak of in OK, but you see it in even the farthest-flung suburbs and wealthiest corners of metropolitan TX. The people are much slower paced in OK, and religion, while highly visible in both states, is more in-your-face in OK than in TX.

Comparing the cities individually, some are more similar than others. For example, Tulsa and Houston are VERY different cities in most aspects, whereas OKC and Ft. Worth have a lot more in common. Tulsa in particular is more like a midwestern/rust belt city from both a demographic/economic perspective and in terms of its look and feel. Of course nothing in Oklahoma remotely compares to Houston or Dallas - not just in terms of the size, but in terms of wealth, big business and economy, amenities, etc.

Texas is a much more dynamic place than Oklahoma. Houston and DFW both grew by the population of the entire OKC area (1.2 million) in the past decade. Even though OK has a "robust" economy by national standards and OKC in particular has improved significantly in the past decade, things seem to change so much more slowly in Oklahoma.

[Pooua]

Originally Posted by IrisMGOK

I've also noticed how hard it is to sightsee and enjoy the Dallas architecture while on the highways down there because of the high rate of speed one has to keep up while in the DFW area.

Drive 635; problem solved!

Originally Posted by IrisMGOK

And I notice people don't wear blue jeans as much.

That used to be a joke about the difference between Dallas and Fort Worth. Maybe it still is?

Originally Posted by IrisMGOK

And that there's a whole northside-southside cultural divide in Dallas, as well as a Dallas - Fort Worth snobbery

Snobbery? Who, us?

Originally Posted by IrisMGOK

that exists on a much smaller level between OKC & T-town. It's also half again to twice as expensive to live down there, but maybe no sales tax & no income tax evens things out.

We have sales tax. Much of the state charges about 8.25% sales tax. We don't have income tax. We have astronomical property tax.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by Pooua

That used to be a joke about the difference between Dallas and Fort Worth. Maybe it still is?



Snobbery? Who, us?

... here's a DFW Forum:

Super Bowl revisit

Just take a look at some of the things said about each other's cities.

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by JJG

Nice first post....

And back under the bridge he/she goes.

[homeinatx]

Surprised that no-one has mentioned OK's 3.2 beer problem.