What is the most "country town like" city over 100,000? (Abilene: suburbs, small towns)

[NeoPlanner]

Odessa or perhaps Lubbock? Check them out.

[tgannaway89]

SA and FW are not "country" at all. You can't have 10+ lane freeways, stacked interchanges, and skyscrapers and still be considered "country". Anyone that makes that claim obviously has never been (or has never been in the country). Abilene is one of the most "country-like" cities in Texas. Waco, Odessa, Amarillo, Lubbock, and Tyler are also very "country" cities.

[tgannaway89]

Originally Posted by karnival96

outside of the fact that waco doesn't have public transportation, 5-star restaurants, highly regarded museums, fortune 500 corporate headquarters, skyscrapers built within the last 50 years, light rail, major league sports teams, world-class shopping, vibrant nightlife, and high-end neighborhoods, it's exactly like dallas and houston.

:d

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by tgannaway89

SA and FW are not "country" at all. You can't have 10+ lane freeways, stacked interchanges, and skyscrapers and still be considered "country". Anyone that makes that claim obviously has never been (or has never been in the country). Abilene is one of the most "country-like" cities in Texas. Waco, Odessa, Amarillo, Lubbock, and Tyler are also very "country" cities.

I wouldn't exactly call the "City of Tyler" country, surrounding towns now thats a different story.

[jluke65780]

Originally Posted by tgannaway89

SA and FW are not "country" at all. You can't have 10+ lane freeways, stacked interchanges, and skyscrapers and still be considered "country". Anyone that makes that claim obviously has never been (or has never been in the country). Abilene is one of the most "country-like" cities in Texas. Waco, Odessa, Amarillo, Lubbock, and Tyler are also very "country" cities.

I think people are sort of misunderstanding what the words "country" mean. your all saying every city under about 300k is country. You can't place these cities in the same catagory as you do with cities like FW,HOU,DAL,and SA. For a city about 125k, Waco does not feel country and feels sort of like a big small town. You got fashionable people, night clubs, strip clubs, gambling, street racing, protests, a bus system, expanding highways, hills, lakes, rivers, boat racing, Baylor University. Pretty much anything you'd expect for city its size.

[TXTwizter]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

I think people are sort of misunderstanding what the words "country" mean. your all saying every city under about 300k is country. You can't place these cities in the same catagory as you do with cities like FW,HOU,DAL,and SA. For a city about 125k, Waco does not feel country and feels sort of like a big small town. You got fashionable people, night clubs, strip clubs, gambling, street racing, protests, a bus system, expanding highways, hills, lakes, rivers, boat racing, Baylor University. Pretty much anything you'd expect for city its size.

I think country could also mean the mentality of a cities citizens as well. I give Baylor credit for bringing outsiders that arent so "country" to our city, but at the same time, Waco still has alot of folks who still want our city to be a country town. I think once we reach 150-175K population in the city limits (not suburbs), that country mentality will simmer down. At the rate Waco is starting to grow, it could be sooner rather than later. Waco isn't as country as it was say 15 years ago, so in another 15 years it'll be even less. We can thank the growth of Austin and Dallas, and our proximity to both to thank for that!

[jluke65780]

Originally Posted by TXTwizter

I think country could also mean the mentality of a cities citizens as well. I give Baylor credit for bringing outsiders that arent so "country" to our city, but at the same time, Waco still has alot of folks who still want our city to be a country town. I think once we reach 150-175K population in the city limits (not suburbs), that country mentality will simmer down. At the rate Waco is starting to grow, it could be sooner rather than later. Waco isn't as country as it was say 15 years ago, so in another 15 years it'll be even less. We can thank the growth of Austin and Dallas, and our proximity to both to thank for that!

I've never heard people say they want Waco to be country. I always hear people wanting more in Waco, but the people who run the city have never exactly been progressive.

[TXTwizter]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

I've never heard people say they want Waco to be country. I always hear people wanting more in Waco, but the people who run the city have never exactly been progressive.

Well a lot of my experience with people here, have been that they always complain that there's nothing to do, and always want stuff that larger cities have, at the same time they don't want Waco to get too big. What I don't think they realize is that for a city of its size Waco actually has more than other cities its size. Now don't get me wrong I don't want Waco to become an overgrown mess like Dallas or Austin, I think it would lose its character, but at the same time I don't want us to let Big opportunities pass us by (like it has so many times before). There has to be some medium that would make EVERYONE happy!
Our city leaders in the past have been awful IMO, but I really think Mayor DuPuy, and City Manager Groth have the right idea to get us started on the right track, without becoming like Dallas or Austin and at the same time keeping the charm that we have!

[JamesAbilene]

Abilene fits the bill. What other city over 100,000 is as country? Our suburbs and small towns around us even have country sounding names--Buffalo Gap and Clyde for example.