Is Arizona More Like California or Texas? (appointed, house)
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Yes, I am very much honestly telling you that. It's not even a matter of "trying". It is what it is. Sorry if you don't like it. Of course Scottsdale is different in this aspect, but Scottsdale is just one pocket of the Valley.
Now, are YOU honestly going to try to tell me that West Phoenix, Glendale, and Peoria aren't redneck? "Please" back at you.
What I've been smoking, is the actual experience of having lived in all 3 states. Can you say the same? Have you ever lived in Texas? I grew up in inner loop Houston, not some backwater panhandle town. I know very well that there are tons of rednecks in Texas, just as there are in almost every state in America, but not so much where I grew up. Scottsdale aside, I found the Valley to be a good deal more redneck than Houston, and several other Texas cities, so spare me the stereotypes.
Again we'll have to agree to disagree. And no I wouldn't call Glendale, Peoria, or West Phoenix redneck. Most of those areas have a high Latino population with a mixture of blue collar whites which I would say are similar to those you would find in the I.E. There are actually decent pockets out there like Arrowhead. Most of the people even in those cities are refugees from the Midwest or Californians. They're not a bunch of Okies. I've never been to Houston but the people I've met from there come off as far more redneck than Arizona. Some of them are nice people but definitely different. I've been to Dallas and it had areas that are more redneck than any part of Arizona I know. I know modern Texas is not all cowboys and hicks but that culture is FAR more prevalent in Texas than in Arizona IMO. Texas is also more religious and socially conservative.
Well I experienced L.A. and Phoenix very differently than you did, I guess. I'm not sure what part of L.A. you live in. I lived in Hollywood, Los Feliz, and Venice during my time in L.A., and I can't think of a single neighborhood in the Valley of the Sun that even remotely resembles those parts of L.A. on a cultural level. The only part of Southern CA that even came close to Phoenix, in my experience, was the Inland Empire suburbs (San Bernardino, Fontana, Riverside, etc.). Whole different culture from L.A.-proper.
However, I did see more than a few similarities to El Paso in Phoenix. Maybe not the Eastern half of Texas (ie. San Antonio), but AZ felt more in step culturally with the Trans-Pecos part of West TX to me than it did with Santa Monica or Culver City.
Also, I noticed during my time living in Phoenix that most of the California transplants weren't from L.A. Proper. Most of the ones I knew moved to Phoenix from the IE suburbs, Central valley (Fresno, Bakersfield), and a few from Orange County.
Hmm. I think when most people compare Phoenix and LA they mistakenly think people are comparing the coastal cities with Phoenix. Obviously there is no place Santa Monica, Malibu, Palos Verdes, etc. in Phoenix. I think people are saying the inland areas of Southern California are similar to Phoenix which it sounds like you agree with. I would say inland OC and Palm Springs remind me of some area in the Phoenix area and the SFV definitely reminds me of some areas of Phoenix. I disagree about El Paso having that many similarities with Phoenix aside from being in the desert. Tucson yes. Phoenix not really. As far as California transplants in Phoenix I must know and be running across a different crowd than you did. Most of them I know or have met are from OC, the SFV, yes some IE, Santa Clarita, lots of SD(A lot of back and forth between these two cities) and even some Bay area. I've rarely come across many people from the Central Valley. I don't know of many people from Bakersfield or Fresno in Phoenix.
AgI've been to Dallas and it had areas that are more redneck than any part of Arizona I know. .
Are you sure you werent in Fort Worth? I cant, for the life of me, think of an area of Dallas proper that I could even remotely say was redneck. Maybe you went to the Red River Club on Northwest Highway????
I've never been to Houston but the people I've met from there come off as far more redneck than Arizona. Some of them are nice people but definitely different. I've been to Dallas and it had areas that are more redneck than any part of Arizona I know. I know modern Texas is not all cowboys and hicks but that culture is FAR more prevalent in Texas than in Arizona IMO. Texas is also more religious and socially conservative.
Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to refute me with stereotypes. I'm guessing you think that not having a Southern accent automatically disqualifies one from being a redneck. Sorry. I know better. 8 years of living in the Valley gave me a pretty good feel for the place, and I assure you, there were plenty more urban cowboys, gun-totin', jacked-up pickup driving, mulleted good ol' boys, and hardcore SOCIALLY conservative, flag-waving, intolerant white people in the greater Phoenix metro than I ever came across in either Houston, Dallas, or Austin. The only thing missing from the AZ breed of redneck was the bible belt religious fervor. Just because you "met" a few people from the Houston or Dallas areas that fit the stereotype doesn't make your claim that Texas is far more redneck than Arizona valid. I actually lived in these places.
Look, I'm not trying to spew hate on AZ. There were actually quite a few things I loved about living there. I'm just relating some actual experience I have had living for extensive amounts of time in each state, and forming my comparisons and opinions from said experiences. You're from Scottsdale, which is hardly an accurate representation of the entire state of Arizona. Not too many cowboys hang out in Old Town. Scottsdale really is kind of an anomaly in AZ. Also, I'm not painting the entire state of AZ as some backwards hick state, but to deny that it has more than it's fair share of rednecks is just that - denial.
Last edited by Bobloblawslawblog; 10-10-2014 at 04:39 PM..
Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to refute me with stereotypes. I'm guessing you think that not having a Southern accent automatically disqualifies one from being a redneck. Sorry. I know better. 8 years of living in the Valley gave me a pretty good feel for the place, and I assure you, there were plenty more urban cowboys, gun-totin', jacked-up pickup driving, mulleted good ol' boys, and hardcore SOCIALLY conservative, flag-waving white people in the greater Phoenix metro than I ever came across in either Houston, Dallas, or Austin. The only thing missing from the AZ breed of redneck was the bible belt religious fervor. Just because you "met" a few people from the Houston or Dallas areas that fit the stereotype doesn't make your claim that Texas is far more redneck than Arizona valid. I actually lived in these places.
Look, I'm not trying to spew hate on AZ. There were actually quite a few things I loved about living there. I'm just relating some actual experience I have had living for extensive amounts of time in each state, and forming my comparisons and opinions from said experiences. You're from Scottsdale, which is hardly an accurate representation of the entire state of Arizona. Not too many cowboys hang out in Old Town. Scottsdale really is kind of an anomaly in AZ. Also, I'm not painting the entire state of AZ as some backwards hick state, but to deny that it has more than it's fair share of rednecks is just that - denial.
Again. You must've run into different people in Phoenix than I ever have and I know the entire valley pretty well. On the extremely rare occurrence of running into the urban cowboy as you call them they are usually viewed with amusement. It's usually people from the Midwest or east who move to Arizona to live out their cowboy fantasies. I used to work in the same building with a guy from Brooklyn who wore boots and a Stetson sometimes. I thought it was funny. I saw FAR more people dressing like this in Texas. I know most people in Texas don't dress that way today but I saw it way more commonly than I ever have here. But I've never lived in Texas so maybe I don't have any credibility. Are there rednecks in Arizona? Of course. They exist everywhere. I just think the stereotypical redneck isn't all that prevalent in the Phoenix area. There are pockets of it sure but you can find them just outside of most every big city in the West. Again I'm sorry you ran into such knuckledraggers when you lived here. Most people I have encountered in the Phoenix area may be fiscally conservative but it is far from a socially conservative bible belt area. The social conservatism that does is exist is mainly attributed to Mormons. The evangelical presence is very minimal.
Again I ask LAX-PHX, what parts of Dallas were you in that felt redneck? I would be curious to know specifics, not just "Dallas" or the "Dallas area" or "DFW".
Again I ask LAX-PHX, what parts of Dallas were you in that felt redneck? I would be curious to know specifics, not just "Dallas" or the "Dallas area" or "DFW".
Mostly Arlington. Went there for an ASU-Notre Dame game last year. Great time and great stadium. Ran into some locals. Some very nice people. Just seemed very culturally different. Didn't remind me of anyplace in Arizona. Maybe unfair to label them redneck. Just some of the accents and general vibe felt that way. Maybe it's unfair. Not right in Dallas and small sample size but I ran into people that might fall into the stereotypical redneck category that I don't encounter in Phoenix.
Again. You must've run into different people in Phoenix than I ever have and I know the entire valley pretty well. On the extremely rare occurrence of running into the urban cowboy as you call them they are usually viewed with amusement. It's usually people from the Midwest or east who move to Arizona to live out their cowboy fantasies. I used to work in the same building with a guy from Brooklyn who wore boots and a Stetson sometimes. I thought it was funny. I saw FAR more people dressing like this in Texas. I know most people in Texas don't dress that way today but I saw it way more commonly than I ever have here. But I've never lived in Texas so maybe I don't have any credibility. Are there rednecks in Arizona? Of course. They exist everywhere. I just think the stereotypical redneck isn't all that prevalent in the Phoenix area. There are pockets of it sure but you can find them just outside of most every big city in the West. Again I'm sorry you ran into such knuckledraggers when you lived here. Most people I have encountered in the Phoenix area may be fiscally conservative but it is far from a socially conservative bible belt area. The social conservatism that does is exist is mainly attributed to Mormons. The evangelical presence is very minimal.
Well, the ones I ran into definitely weren't transplanted Brooklynites playing "cowboy". These were mainly desert-rat types. My guess is native, or at least from the desert Southwest somewhere, but I can't be sure, since I never really got chummy with these types enough to have a conversation with them and ask them where they grew up.
I mainly lived in Phoenix during the 90's, and in the very early oughts. I lived mostly in central Phoenix - Camelback and 12th St. being the nearest main crossroads, and then a few months on the West side in the Metrocenter area (35th Ave. and Dunlap), which is where I most commonly (and frequently) encountered these types. Knuckledraggers would definitely be the proper adjective. Sure, these types are everywhere, but I never had to deal with so many of them concentrated in one city as much as I did in Phoenix.
And that's just Phoenix. Some of the small towns in AZ were far scarier. I almost got lynched by a bunch of bloodthirsty cowboys in Ajo, simply because I had green hair. That was in 1992. Kind of late in the game to be harassed for being a punk rocker. I'm 50 years old and got into punk in 1979 when it was still a new thing, and having short, spiky hair dyed unnatural colors was still considered "freakish", yet I very rarely got hassled for it in Houston even way back then. I ran into the same kind of intolerance in places like Quartzite, Payson, Kingman, and Winslow.
Again, I'm not trying to paint the whole state as some kind of bastion of redneck intolerance, but I ran into these kind of people far more frequently in AZ than I have anywhere else I've lived. And I've lived in 8 different states. One thing I noticed about AZ is that people seem to be either one way or the other there. Either the scary, belligerent, intolerant rednecks that I described, or quite liberal, laid-back, and open-minded. I found Tucson to be a pretty liberal and somewhat hip little city, and Flagstaff was like a little chunk of Boulder, CO placed in AZ... a very hippie-friendly little college town. And then there was the whole new-agey thing in Sedona.
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