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Old 02-12-2009, 08:20 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
8,891 posts, read 19,889,370 times
Reputation: 6360

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Texas is not the deep south despite the thoughts of others. We are more Southwest like Florida is more Southeast.
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Old 02-12-2009, 09:41 PM
 
Location: Upstate NY native, now living in Houston
663 posts, read 2,255,753 times
Reputation: 211
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfre81 View Post
Anyone from north of I-10 is a yankee. Including The Woodlands.
lol!! & ouch!!!!!
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Old 02-12-2009, 10:01 PM
 
Location: Houston
6,004 posts, read 3,708,109 times
Reputation: 4158
Ummm...the OP was an obvious troll. Don't feed it!!!
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Old 02-13-2009, 07:27 AM
 
Location: ITP
2,138 posts, read 6,299,370 times
Reputation: 1391
Quote:
Originally Posted by txedghill View Post
Dear south-to-west:
From your previous posts, it appears as though you are trying to say that anywhere that once instituted slavery would be considered the South. That, of course would dictate that most of the Caribbean would be part of the South. If, however, you are trying to say that slave holding regions in the continental United States would be the South, then I would have to ask you if Maryland, Kentucky, or Missouri would be considered "southern"? Point being that the old definitions of the South are dead. In so many ways, the citizens of a city will identify themselves with others whom they share common ideals, beliefs,and interests with. Venture an hour northeast of Houston and I will agree that East Texas is southern in nature. And I would dare to say that many East Texans would agree. But Houston and it's citizens (the old-timers at least) see themselves as Texans. Just like the people in San Antonio and Austin do. Texans first, whatever else second. And I believe it would be very presumptuous for anyone to try and explain to Houstonians who they should identify with regionally.

(I'll step off my soap-box now)

Greatness!!
That's an over-simplification of the point I was trying to make. I was using Houston's history of slavery in order to underline the point that:
  • Houston has historically reflected similar economic patterns found in the greater South
  • Houston has historically reflected similar cultural patterns found many places elsewhere in the South

And may I also mention that Galveston, which is part of Metro Houston, has long been considered one of the great older Southern cities as it was once one of the busiest ports in not only the South, but the entire country. Cotton exports predominated there.

There's absolutely no doubt that most Houstonians and other Texans identify themselves as Texans first. That's how it has always been and that's how it will always be. However when identifying with a particular US region, most people from Houston that I know, as well as most Texans, identify themselves as Southern.
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Old 02-13-2009, 07:31 AM
 
Location: ITP
2,138 posts, read 6,299,370 times
Reputation: 1391
Quote:
Originally Posted by azriverfan. View Post
I'm originally from California living in Arizona. Phoenix feels so much more liberal and western than Houston and its not really liberal. It just seems ridiculous that Houston residents think of themselves as western and not southern despite the fact that they are so close to the Lousiana border? I understand that Houston is a large and financially secure city. However, culturally, it's pretty Bible Belt if you ask me. It's clearly a southern city but why don't you guys embrace that? Why are you always denying it when no one outside of Houston sees you as anything but a conservative city?
It's interesting how you conveniently forget that the most famous Phoenix resident, Barry Goldwater, was the founder of the modern day conservative movement.

In regards to ignorance, it's interesting that you forget that the state of Arizona probably elected the most ignorant governor in the US in the past 30 years when they elected the very racist Evan Mecham. Yeah...you folks out in Phoenix have always been so liberal and tolerant...
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Old 02-13-2009, 08:39 AM
 
37 posts, read 70,449 times
Reputation: 20
My Grandfather use to say anything north of Conroe makes you a yankee...How bizarre bow i live in Willis just north of Conroe
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Old 02-27-2009, 10:11 PM
 
10,238 posts, read 19,516,642 times
Reputation: 5943
Quote:
Originally Posted by south-to-west View Post
There's absolutely no doubt that most Houstonians and other Texans identify themselves as Texans first. That's how it has always been and that's how it will always be. However when identifying with a particular US region, most people from Houston that I know, as well as most Texans, identify themselves as Southern.
You are very correct, South to West! When asked and/or given a choice, the majority of Texans consider themselves to live in the South and be Southererns. Here are some stats -- and a preface from the original source -- to back it up:
******************

WHERE IS THE SOUTH?

The South has been defined by a great many characteristics, but one of the most interesting definitions is where people believe that they are in the South. A related definition is where the residents consider themselves to be southerners, although this is obviously affected by the presence of non-southern migrants.

Until recently we did not have the data to answer the question of where either of those conditions is met. Since 1992, however, 14 twice-yearly Southern Focus Polls conducted by the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have asked respondents from the 11 former Confederate states, Kentucky, and Oklahoma "Just for the record, would you say that your community is in the South, or not?" Starting with the third of the series, the same question was asked of smaller samples of respondents from West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and Missouri (all except Missouri included in the Bureau of the Census's "South"). Respondents from the 13 southern states were also asked "Do you consider yourself a Southerner, or not?," while starting with the second survey those from other states were asked "Do you consider yourself or anyone in your family a Southerner?," and if so, whether they considered themselves to be Southerners.

It is clear from these data that if the point is to isolate southerners for study or to compare them to other Americans the definition of the South employed by the Southern Focus Poll (and, incidentally, by the Gallup Organization) makes sense, while the Bureau of the Census definiton does not. We already knew that, of course, but it's good to be able to document it.

--John Shelton Reed


Percent who say their community is in the South (percentage base in parentheses)

Alabama 98 (717) South Carolina 98 (553) Louisiana 97 (606) Mississippi 97 (431) Georgia 97 (1017) Tennessee 97 (838) North Carolina 93 (1292) Arkansas 92 (400) Florida 90 (1792) Texas 84 (2050) Virginia 82 (1014) Kentucky 79 (582) Oklahoma 69 (411)

West Virginia 45 (82) Maryland 40 (173) Missouri 23 (177) Delaware 14 (21) D.C. 7 (15)

Percent who say they are Southerners (percentage base in parentheses)

Mississippi 90 (432) Louisiana 89 (606) Alabama 88 (716) Tennessee 84 (838) South Carolina 82 (553) Arkansas 81 (399) Georgia 81 (1017) North Carolina 80 (1290) Texas 68 (2053) Kentucky 68 (584) Virginia 60 (1012) Oklahoma 53 (410) Florida 51 (1791)
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Old 02-27-2009, 10:29 PM
 
Location: Hell's Kitchen, NYC
2,271 posts, read 5,125,075 times
Reputation: 1613
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstone View Post
If by Southern, you mean Mississippi style, then no. I don't think anyone denies it's southern, though- as in Western South (vs. Eastern South). Texas "Southwest" here is different vs. Arizona "Southwest." There has been anthropological research on this, and honestly this topic has been beaten to death on the Texas forum if you look for it. Complete with maps and everything.

Certainly the Louisiana influence is here, being ~100 miles from the border. But so is Central (German) & South Texas (Mexican), not to mention all the different domestic & international influences. I also believe Houston is the only southern city to have a 40% Hispanic population, probably more like 50% counting the 'undocumented'. The metro is at a cultural crossroads:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-by-County.jpg

So it's hard to just slap on a generic label to the entire area.

As far as religion goes, the plurality in all but the very small counties in the metro is Catholic, not Baptist:
http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/archives/church_bodies.gif

Just because church is big here doesn't mean that it's 'bible belt.' A mega-church doesn't necessarily mean anything more than Deist. And last I read Southern Baptist was #4 or #5 most common here.

Here's another map that's also been beaten to death:
http://images.newsmax.com/misc/2008_Election_Map.jpg

That's ''conservative'' Houston - the big blue county in SE TX. (The little one is Beaumont) Houston overall is more 50/50 moderate than anything. If you're coming from the west, of course it's going to seem conservative!!

I'm not sure what we need to ''embrace.'' The proof is in the figures. Quit trying to paint the area with a broad brush. And do you think you're actually going to change anyone's mind when you rip through here with judgmental posts such as these?

//www.city-data.com/forum/7433108-post34.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/7433045-post60.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/7432990-post49.html


This is an awesome post! I mean...I can't do anything but agree. (I was looking for something to disagree with.)
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Old 02-27-2009, 11:11 PM
 
10,238 posts, read 19,516,642 times
Reputation: 5943
Quote:
Originally Posted by theSUBlime View Post
This is an awesome post! I mean...I can't do anything but agree. (I was looking for something to disagree with.)
*snaps fingers as in 'darnit'* SUBlime? You beat me to giving acolades and reps!

Quote:
} Originally Posted by tstone
If by Southern, you mean Mississippi style, then no. I don't think anyone denies it's southern, though- as in Western South (vs. Eastern South). Texas "Southwest" here is different vs. Arizona "Southwest." There has been anthropological research on this, and honestly this topic has been beaten to death on the Texas forum if you look for it. Complete with maps and everything.
Well summed up and said, Tstone! That has always been my own outlook and position as well...!
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Old 02-28-2009, 02:41 AM
 
Location: Washington D.C. By way of Texas
20,501 posts, read 33,335,740 times
Reputation: 12109
Great immediate replies everyone.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverWings View Post
This post makes no sense at all.

Houston is not Conservative (That would be Dallas)


.
Correction. Dallas isn't conservative either. In fact, no large Texas city is conservative.
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