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Per U.S. Georgraphy. Texas is in the Southwest. The Southeast ends at Louisiana.
The cities you mention in California are in the Pacific Region, not Southwest.
Texas is not generally considered SW except the western part. New Mexico and Arizona are the core of the SW and then there are parts of other states that fit.
Phoenix and DFW urbanized areas are close in density at around 3,500 ppsm compared to just over 2,000 in Atlanta.
All preference, but I much prefer the Western landscape of Arizona to anything in Texas or the South. Far fewer bugs to begin with, but the cacti, palms, and mountains make it far more interesting than anything I've ever seen in other suburban sunbelt areas. I also find expansive front yards repetitive and boring. Endless blades of grass in one lot next to the other puts me to sleep. If I had to live in a traditional sunbelt city it would be Phoenix easily.
LOL. Beyond stretch of the actual truth. If you like one are better than the other thats fine as its a personal preference but the sububs of PHX are notoriously monotonous and monochromatic.
Density is nothing if you dont have urbanity and not much urban about PHX and especially its suburbs.
Endless track housing that are all exactly the same with gravel and sand flat yards. You cant tell which is your house or your neighbors.
Before you say it ,every suburb in PHX is not Scottsdale.
In this video of most boring places ,several were out West including Mesa and I have been there and agree.
Same goes for Lubbock ,TX in the list. That whole N.Texas is just awful. From Wichita Falls to Amarillo just one big dust bowl of boring uninspired Americana
It is really a matter of preference but was wondering how many had a certain preferred suburban style.
The Piedmont region including Georgia and the Carolinas have low density suburbs with tree cover and mostly governed on the county level for services and improvements.
The Southwest including Texas and Arizona have more of a high density suburban development and for the most part seems more City like in operation with most of these services and infrastructure improvements and schools at the city level instead of at a county level.
To add contact this
Piedmont counties are small ”especially in Georgia” where in Southwest counties in TX and AZ they are huge.
In Georgia municipalities are in general smaller.
In TX Harris Co. 1,777 sq mi and Dallas Co 909 sq mi. and In TX the larger cities are 200 to 400 sq mi, While AZ Phoenix is 500 sq mi. Suburba vary but DFW have a lot suburbs in the 50 to 100 sq mi area. In Az Mesa 139 sq mi. and Scottsdale 184 sq mi.
This is important to note because Atlanta is just 136 sq mi, And with the exception of two counties Fulton Co 534 sq mi and Carroll Co 504 sq mi All other Metro Atlanta counties under 500 sq mi. Most in the 300 sq mi range. And most Atlanta suburban cities even the largest like Sandy Springs are under 40 sq mi.
So bassically Atlanta suburban counties are so small they are the size of the TX major cities in area. With most of the metro being unincorporated, the small area counties in GA basically govern as cities.
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For development wise it's important to consider environment, In Texas where it's forested in eastern TX it's not as Hilly, And where it's hilly in some of Western and central TX it not Forested. You could same the same for AZ of the last. In Piedmont region it's both forested and very hilly. Which makes the large grid pattern in TX and AZ suburbs not feasible in GA and NC suburbs.
Another important thing to consider age and again county sizes. GA and NC suburbs are older than TX and Az suburbs. With there being more counties this means more counties seats, which means more traditional downtowns in the suburbs. And in general this cities furcation as small satellite cities before becoming a part of their larger metro. Around these area in NC and GA these suburbs were have more Craftmans or Virtorian homes built on medium size yards. They are more similar to some historic east coast suburbs. Like example Pretty little liar was set in fictional northeast town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, but Rosewood had similar vibe as Marietta, Decatur, Cartersville, conyers, Newnan etc in GA, or Concord NC etc by default.
I mention sizes vary in piedmont because despite the environment there are a few cases of developers actually powing hills and just clearing the forest to have small yard cul de sac similar to TX. but obliviously this is in the minority of developments.
But what stand out between TX and GA, NC are Ranch style homes neighborhoods built between the 1940 to 1970. In these neighborhood GA and NC ranch neighborhood have far bigger plot sizes..
TX has some of the least appealing suburbs to me. Single Family tract cookie cutter homes. Lots of stucco.
Piedmont all the way.
Maybe down closer to Houston, but for the I-35 corridor it's all or partial brick veneer. I've never understood the fascination with those style of houses, either. Spent several years in DFW, and it's pretty easy to tell the subdivisions/suburbs that have sprung up since 1990. They're full of boxy, lookalike brick blobs that you have to landscape the bejeezus out of because they have almost zero curb appeal. It literally looks like someone dumped a pile of bricks on a lot, arranged them into a rectangle, threw a roof on it, and called it a day. The builders will add "upgrades" like giant brick archways and bump outs made by changing the direction of some of the bricks on the front of the house (most notably around the windows). Anything that doesn't look like those brick boxes sticks out like a sore thumb.
Last edited by bluescreen73; 05-10-2021 at 04:08 PM..
Maybe down closer to Houston, but for the I-35 corridor it's all or partial brick veneer. I've never understood the fascination with those style of houses, either. Spent several years in DFW, and it's pretty easy to tell the subdivisions/suburbs that have sprung up since 1990. They're full of boxy, lookalike brick blobs that you have to landscape the bejeezus out of because they have almost zero curb appeal. It literally looks like someone dumped a pile of bricks on a lot, arranged them into a rectangle, threw a roof on it, and called it a day. The builders will add "upgrades" like giant brick archways and bump outs made by changing the direction of some of the bricks on the front of the house (most notably around the windows). Anything that doesn't look like those brick boxes sticks out like a sore thumb.
lol...this made me chuckle...there is some great landscaping jobs around here!
Texas is not generally considered SW except the western part. New Mexico and Arizona are the core of the SW and then there are parts of other states that fit.
It may not 'feel' deep Southwest such as, Arizona or New Mexico, but Texas is definitely the Southwest in terms of regions.
Similarly, one could make an argument and state that Washington D.C. feels like a Northeastern City, but it is technically apart of the Southeast.
National Geographic is a magazine, and not actually authoritative. Regardless though of how you decide to split it, in common parlance Dallas is not considered a SW city by most anyone. It’s either Texan or Southern. El Paso is the major Texas city that is usually recognized as being part of the American Southwest. El Paso to Vegas would probably fit most people’s definitions, though there are quibbles on the edges. But the edge is several hundred miles west of Houston. Geographically, the Southwest is associated with the arid desert, so the Chihuahuan Desert is as good an eastern boundary as you could find.
Take my home state. NC is technically an Appalachian state, but only in part. Raleigh is not an Appalachian city. Only the western parts of NC are in the Appalachian region. The American Southwest is mostly seen as an ecoregion, not strictly along state borders. Only Arizona and NM would be seen as strictly SW states (like only West Virginia is the only strictly Appalachian state).
Makes sense but just something that makes it look more monotonous I guess. This is more in the Ausyin and above than in Houston but even Houston, some of the neighborhoods remind me of those in LA. Especially in the lower middle class neighborhoods which look much better in the Atlanta area
Quote:
Originally Posted by Need4Camaro
[b]That part is true. The lower/middle class and even unsafe areas in Atlanta can look deceptively safe or well kept. In Houston when you go east or southeast of Downtown you know immediately what areas you’re in. I think in Atlanta the forestry and somewhat uniform scenery between every class of area helps with that. That plus in Houston, those homes deal with flooding and hurricanes where Atlanta may get some bad tropical storms here and there but it’s not on the same level of the environmental abuse Houston’s more characterized neighborhoods have to endure.
Ehhh I actually think Atlanta's lower middle class neighborhoods on average look worst. I know Atlanta might have more favorable topography in those areas but some of those areas you speak of could look depressingly ugly and a bit rural. Maybe I'm just use to lower middle class hoods in Houston but I don't think it looks any worst. I do agree that LA and Houston lower income neighborhoods do favor in a way. I think it's a combination of the grid layout and the compact shopping centers that close to residential neighborhoods. Granted Houston hoods have more of a country look as well compared to LA's concrete suburbia look.
I will say East of downtown and I'm talking far East going pass 610, Houston starts to look really unattractive. I think that's more to that area being closer to the ship channel. Honestly from East of downtown all the way down to Baton Rogue IMO isn't the best looking stretch of America. That stretch of I-10 is mostly made up of town, cities heavily dependent on O&G and it shows.
Quote:
Originally Posted by demonta4
The underground is nice, but on the street level, Houston is one of the most underwhelming Downtowns I've seen in the south. Other Texas cities like Dallas and Austin are more my style.
I can understand if you think Houston downtown is underwhelming but when's the last time you been where Dallas is more of your style? DT Dallas and DT Houston are pretty neck and neck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Need4Camaro
It may not 'feel' deep Southwest such as, Arizona or New Mexico, but Texas is definitely the Southwest in terms of regions.
Similarly, one could make an argument and state that Washington D.C. feels like a Northeastern City, but it is technically apart of the Southeast.
Yeah those maps change on any given date though. Growing up in Northeast Texas we were always confused on why certain maps labeled us as a Southwest state. I do believe that's an outdated categorization. No different IMO than the Midwest. Yes it made sense to label the middle of America west then because America didn't take any lands beyond the Midwest at that time. But now geographically it makes little sense to be called the actual Midwest but I get it. The name just sticks and sounds fitting.
Same thing applies to Texas. Only the western portion of the state belongs in the Southwest conversation. That's also the less populated part of the state. When looking at the logistics industry (which in my opinion is much more accurate) Texas is rarely grouped in with Arizona and New Mexico unless it's West Texas/ El Paso.
Texas is generally placed in the South-Central region. Those states consist of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana. These states interact with each other on a average basis. Louisiana might be labeled a southeast state according to some maps but it has a closer relationship with Texas than any state in the southeast pass Mississippi.
I can understand if you think Houston downtown is underwhelming but when's the last time you been where Dallas is more of your style? DT Dallas and DT Houston are pretty neck and neck.
My last visit to Texas was in 2018 (and I will probably visit again next year to volunteer in Houston) and Dallas came off to me as having more street retail, parks, and connectedness to surrounding neighborhoods like Uptown and Deep Ellum. I didn't like that a lot of the highrises still had blank walls or simple plazas with no other uses but that's an issue with every southern big city. I still prefer Atlanta's DT to Dallas and Houston.
My last visit to Texas was in 2018 (and I will probably visit again next year to volunteer in Houston) and Dallas came off to me as having more street retail, parks, and connectedness to surrounding neighborhoods like Uptown and Deep Ellum. I didn't like that a lot of the highrises still had blank walls or simple plazas with no other uses but that's an issue with every southern big city. I still prefer Atlanta's DT to Dallas and Houston.
Atlanta has a very impressive downtown. But that's a subject for another thread the metro area has hundreds of square miles of suburbs that most of the people in the area live not in the core.
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