Larry McMurtry ranks Texas cities: Houston, Austin, Ft Worth, & Dallas (San Antonio: weddings, school)

[ScoPro]

Frame Switch, Texas is my favorite "city".

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Brokeback Mountain is something I would never have wasted my money on, ever. I couldn't even sit through the movie on standard cable TV--it was sick to the core, and so was AP, for having written the piece of trash.

What about it did you find sick, just the homosexuality?

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by justme02

There is very little about Dallas that is Texan except being next door to Fort Worth which is extremely Texan. Dallas could really be in any state from Iowa to the West Coast and not stand out too much. Thats why I say Dallas is the most American city in Texas. Houston is the most international and you will get no arguement from me there, but (thanks a huge part to the oil industry) it is extremely Texan. To this day, when I go to meetings in Houston Im the only one in a suit and tie and Im also the only one from Dallas. Houston is much more a boots and jeans kind of place. Houston IS the oil city and all that comes with it. Dallas is more of a financial city/tech city.

To expand on that, I live in Collin County. I cannot find one thing in the populated areas of the county that I would classify as Texan other than the occasional livestock grazing from people who never sold out to the commercial and residential development.

As an added disclaimer, I love all the cities in question. People say Dallas is trying to be LA, but its just being itself and it happens to not be a very Texan city so its easy to generalize. Its a fashionable, trendy, and very fun city. Houston is an oil town, a boom town, and an international town thats genuinely laid back. Fort Worth is the most Texan/Western of the bunch, but it wears its colors with pride and it wears those colors well.

Really?

Houston has the same high end shopping Dallas has.

Anything I can find in Dallas, I can also find in Houston & if I can't that means I don't really need it anyways.

Fact: More Miss Texas' call the Houston area home than Dallas.

[TheOverdog]

most un-Texan thing about Dallas is the fact that there's no HEB

There are too HEB's in DFW - they are just called "Central Market" instead of HEB. They sell a lot of the same products, the stores are just setup a bit differently.

And Larry McMurtry's singer son James talks more trash publicly about the western 2/3s of Texas than anyone, but since it comes from the heart, he is given a pass. Youtube Levelland or We Can't Make it Here as examples.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Really?

Houston has the same high end shopping Dallas has.

Anything I can find in Dallas, I can also find in Houston & if I can't that means I don't really need it anyways.

Fact: More Miss Texas' call the Houston area home than Dallas.

There was nothing in your response that addressed anything I wrote.

There is very little you cant find in Dallas that you can find in Houston and vice-versa. Who gives a ****? That has nothing to do with the thread.

Dont turn this into another Dallas/Houston bit*h thread.

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by justme02

I drove from Dallas to Grand Island, NE a year or so ago and I was amazed that the topography didnt change at all. But that is a part of my arguement that Dallas feels more "American" vs. "Texan".

And you didn't do much more that scratch the surface of the great prairie country of this continent because you could've continued on north going across the national border into Manitoba & Saskatchewan and even west to Alberta and still been in the prairies. If you've ever been to Calgary you know it looks very much like the Dallas area until you gaze west and see the spectacular vista of the Canadian Rockies jutting out of the prairies.
But I to would take the N.Texas weather over Houston's, but I'd also take it over the climate of Chicago and I doubt that many would say Dallas is superior to ChiTown ? Not that I'm saying Houston is in the same league with Chicago, but I do think that Mcmurtry was talking more about the current status of economic and cultural assets in expressing his opinion of Houstons superiority over Dallas.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by JimBaker488

but I do think that Mcmurtry was talking more about the current status of economic and cultural assets in expressing his opinion of Houstons superiority over Dallas.

I read the article in question. McMurty was just talking about the fact that he likes Houston more than Dallas. Nothing more, nothing less. Thats fine that he likes Houston more. Everyone has their opinions which makes this thread stupid. You have a man giving his thoughts on the major cities in Texas. Thats it. He is an author, not some sort of end all be all authority.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by justme02

What about it did you find sick, just the homosexuality?

The sick part was that they were married to unsuspecting spouses and had families.

Anybody that marries an unsuspecting straight spouse--and then has homosexual extramartial relations--should be taken out and beaten thoroughly within an inch of his/her life. Then, left totally destitute!

Also, as another poster said--if they truly lived within that culture, they would not have given in to it, but kept it hidden. Glorifying that sort of stuff in a movie is just sicko.

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by justme02

I read the article in question. McMurty was just talking about the fact that he likes Houston more than Dallas. Nothing more, nothing less. Thats fine that he likes Houston more. Everyone has their opinions which makes this thread stupid. You have a man giving his thoughts on the major cities in Texas. Thats it. He is an author, not some sort of end all be all authority.

I took it to mean his evaluation of the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the major Texas cities to
a certain extent. For example he was very specific as I recall in praising Ft Worth for its museums and its "glorious" stockyards building. Now I gotta admit he did seem to be almost personal in describing Dallas as a "second-rate" city which struck me as odd since he's practically a North Texas native himself ? There seems to be almost a hostility there towards Dallas ?

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by justme02

Nah, Dallas is the least Texan city in Texas.

Houston may be more international than Dallas, but Houston is also more Texan/Southern than Dallas. Dallas is more American with a huge immigrant population than anything else. To clarify, I speak not of the topography but of the city and it's people.

Being that Dallas has more of an stereotypical identity that is Texas and the fact that they tend to stand by it Dallas is more "Texan" then Houston. And I don't think anything is wrong w/ that. I mean it's the home to the Texas State Fair and Big Tex(R.I.P.)

It has plenty of monuments dedicated to that stereotype of Cowboys,rough and tumble this that and the third. Dallas does have elements of Midwest but also take into consideration Dallas is in a more centralized location then Houston so you have people from all over the state that migrate to Dallas on a regular more so then Houston. You have Waco/East Texas/West Texas/North Texas that are in close proximity to Dallas.

I live in Houston I rarley see anybody wearing snake skin boots and cowboys hats unless i'm in Tomball or something. I see older Mexicans at clubs wearing boots and cowboy hats but I see that all over the state.

I think Houston has a more southern international feel to it with of course some deep Texan roots in there. It's more of a big pot of gumbo then Dallas to me.