Texas being excluded from the South (San Antonio, El Paso: finance, coastal, cultures)

[TheOverdog]

I was half trolling. While not trolling about that being a better map than Dopo’s. In reality, I view El Paso as were the west fully begins. Places like Midland in west Texas are a sort of hybrid of south and west. The entire triangle south. Even down to South Texas imo

IMO the distinction between the 'west' and the 'south' is kind of weak. Who mostly populated the west when it was being formulated? People from the midwest and the south displaced by the dustbowl. The west is pretty darn southern IMO.



So IMO Dallas and El Paso are as southern as the rest of the west, all except the far northwest. That's where the Canadian influence overwhelms the southern influence.

[atadytic19]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I was half trolling. While not trolling about that being a better map than Dopo’s. In reality, I view El Paso as were the west fully begins. Places like Midland in west Texas are a sort of hybrid of south and west. The entire triangle south. Even down to South Texas imo

I agree. I view the South more as a way of life than a racial category.

Just because Texas gained Hispanics doesn't mean it lost its southerness. Similarly, during the great migration the north did not lose its Northerness.in each case each area just became culturally richer.

The South has over 100M people.
Texas and Florida has 50M of that.
Mississippi and Alabama has about 8M altogether.
I keep asking myself why such a small area is represtative of such a huge region?

If you add up Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina you finally add up to Texas population. That's pretty much all of the Southeast. So I am really reluctant to limiting the south to just the Southeast when the Southeast only has a 3rd of the southern population.

I like the Census break down of the south into the east/west south central and the southeast because it shows that the south has different flavors. That group with Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana fits very well with each other as a cohesive group of southern states. We need to compare those to each other and stop comparing it to Jackson or Montgomery (although I get San Antonio vibes in Montgomery).

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Here’s a more accurate map of the parts of Texas that are southern.

Lots can be argued, but no way on earth is El Paso Southern.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I was half trolling. While not trolling about that being a better map than Dopo’s. In reality, I view El Paso as were the west fully begins. Places like Midland in west Texas are a sort of hybrid of south and west. The entire triangle south. Even down to South Texas imo

I lived several years in San Antonio and there's NOWAY that San Antonio is culturally Southern.

[atadytic19]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I lived several years in San Antonio and there's NOWAY that San Antonio is culturally Southern.

I lived in San Antonio for 4 years. Right in the city.
It had a different demographic but it felt southern to me.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

I lived in San Antonio for 4 years. Right in the city.
It had a different demographic but it felt southern to me.

I think youd have to be looking for it to feel southern for San Antonio to feel Southern. Almost nothing about that city reminds me of the South.

[dcb175]

I lived 10 years in Dallas as a native northeasterner, met my wife there who was born and raised in San Antonio (and is a UT Austin grad). I always considered TX a state with southern tendencies, but was maybe too big to be put into a single category. Actually felt Dallas was really a blend of Atlanta and Phoenix - both from a climate perspective (hotter & drier than Atlanta, cooler & wetter than Phoenix) but culturally as well.

But if forced to pick a region, yeah it's southern. San Antonio as well, even though there is a large Mexican population there, I'd say at least within the Caucasian population it was fairly southern feeling - football & barbeque, etc.

[atadytic19]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

I think youd have to be looking for it to feel southern for San Antonio to feel Southern. Almost nothing about that city reminds me of the South.

Actually I didn't have to at all.
As a visitor I didn't see it, but when I moved there and lived in a neighborhood instead of being in a hotel in a touristy area I saw it immediately.

Central San Antonio is gritty like Southeast Houston.
Even the nicer areas, such as Monte Vista and Alamo Heights reminded me of cities to the east rather than to the west.

I was also tricked into believing that San Antonio was more Mexican than Houston or Dallas. WRONG! The Mexicans in San Antonio has been there for many generations. Tons don't even speak Spanish. The San Antonio Hispanic population are more southern than the Houston ones.

And that's coming from my opinion of living among them which is different from my opinion when I popped up on the Riverwalk for a margarita after visiting the Alamo.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

I think youd have to be looking for it to feel southern for San Antonio to feel Southern. Almost nothing about that city reminds me of the South.

Maybe if your eyes are closed and you have noise cancellation headphones on

[KathrynAragon]

I was down along the Frio River one time and this man, with one of the thickest southern accents I've ever heard, said, in all seriousness "We aren't southern." Whale, slap mah face!

Texas is more southwest than deep south but it's a serious and erroneous stretch to say it's not a southern state.

But I have yet to eat a bowl of grits worth anything here. Like I said, it's not a DEEP SOUTH state in my opinion.