Texas cities and their out-of-state equivalents (Houston, Dallas: places to live, vs., moving)

[jackalope48]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

San Diego's Texas counter part is San Antonio. LA & Houston are similar enough for me. The smaller cities of Dallas (Plano, McKinney, etc) are exact copies of south LA suburbs like Anaheim and Irvine. Albuquerque and Amarillo are close enough. Phoenix and Dallas are similar.

LA is also a large city and some of it has a coastal climate and some of it is worse than Dallas in the summer temperature wise, it's just not as humid. I know it's mountains are 'mountains' but most of the popular ones in the city are very similar to the hills around Austin & hill country, in flora, fauna, and dirt if not in spirit.

San Diego's counterpart is Corpus Christi not San Antonio. Most of their industries and culture are the exact same. They are more the same than any other combo on this thread.

[R1070]

Dallas and Dallas County in general appear to be more liberal than Houston and not that much different than Austin. The sheer size of Dallas waters down the in your face liberalism you feel in Austin.

Houston continues to have struggles with LGBTQ non-discrimination legislation and their gay scene is no longer visible in the community. The major religion in Dallas County is Catholicism just like many major metros. Houston just feels way more Libertarian than Liberal to me.

[R1070]

Originally Posted by Cowboys fan in Houston

Yeah, that was a ridiculous comparison. Dallas is not like a big OKC at all.

Fort Worth and OKC are similar in ways. Dallas, no... not at all.

[R1070]

Originally Posted by madrone2k

Just for fun: years ago, an LA cousin visiting Houston commented that it reminded her of LA and Dallas reminded her of San Francisco. An entertaining -- albeit kinda ridiculous -- opinion I think. Despite that, I do think Dallas does have some aspects similar to both SF and LA ... albeit, without the Pacific Ocean, coastal climate, and mountains. Houston, not so much, especially since LA no longer has several major oil companies based there. (E.g., Chevron, Unocal, and Occidental.)

I agree with the person(s) who said that Houston really has no out-of-state equivalent. In fact, I don't think any of the Texas cities do, even though its fun to point out certain individual aspects that are similar.

For instance, El Paso may be reminiscent of Albuquerque in some ways. However, ABQ is not a big city on the border with Mexico that is tied to a bigger twin (C. Juarez) on the other side. That's a big, big component of its identity. In that aspect, the only other place like it would be San Diego / Tijuana. Despite that, does anyone want to say that San Diego is the out-of-state analog for EP? :-)

The "West LA" areas and Dallas are VERY similar. I think more so than a lot of the Dallas/ATL comparisons.

[RJ312]

Originally Posted by R1070

The "West LA" areas and Dallas are VERY similar. I think more so than a lot of the Dallas/ATL comparisons.

Although imperfect, I would call Dallas' out-of-state equivalent as Los Angeles.

[walker1962]

Originally Posted by MrJester

What are some out-of-state equivalents to Texas cities?

Austin seems thoroughly Califonia-ized, with its high-tech sector, college hipsters, indie bands, draconian zoning ordinances, expensive real estate, Whole Foods, hilly scenery, and wine country. Austin is the Silicon Valley or Bay Area of Texas.

Houston is unique; I can't think of any out-of-state equivalents. We here in California laugh at how backwards Texas is (without any justification), and I get the feeling that the rest of Texas bashes Houston. No one roots for the Astros or Texans outside of Houston, Houston real estate is the cheapest among the four major Texas metros, Houston is unplanned even by Texas standards (no zoning ordinances), Houston is the most religious and conservative among the four major metros (although Harris County leaned towards Hillary), Houston has the "awful" Florida-levels of humidity and mosquitoes and hurricanes, Houston's economy is the most oil-dependent among major Texas metros, etc. Houston will always be the Texas of Texas.

El Paso would certainly be most akin to Albuquerque or Phoenix (although not as cold as Albuquerque nor as hot as Phoenix). But its desert climate and Southwestern heritage says it all.

Houston's diversity is very much on par with Los Angeles but it lacks the profile and different economies.
Sorry but Astros fans were evident in San Antonio and Austin as their broadcast are heard there. Rangers are no bigger and no more successful. The no zoning aspect of Houston is somewhat overstated as masterplanned communities around the city have been the norm since the 1970s. Within the city, the government has been much more cognizant of organizing redevelopment.


The humidity...that's the WHOLE gulf coast. Hurricanes...in the past 30years, there been 3 maybe 4 hurricanes and one tropical storm. Houston being in the far western Gulf, is not as prone to storms as those east and certainly not Florida, a peninsula.


Houston is the most CONSERVATIVE!? God YOU don't know this state! Harris county didn't "lean" Hilary, it voted more for Clinton than Dallas (which she also won) or Collin county. Tarrant (Fort Worth) voted for Trump. Houston has had two black mayors AND in THIS decade, elected an openly GAY woman mayor! Oh and Crazy pastor Jeffries of the large Dallas 1st Baptist Church LOVES Trump. Joel Osteen in Houston is no evangelical.


No the rest of Texas doesn't bash Houston. Why would they when you say "Houston will always be the Texas of Texas"?


Fort worth is as much Texas as Houston with its nick name Cowtown as that's where Cattle drives used to go for meatpacking. It still has a rodeo and stockyard show. Dallas is more glitzy..growing north like Atlanta but more like Denver in temperament and the most diverse metro in the Sunbelt in terms of corporate mix and size. That's what's really kind of nice about D/FW, its a mix of places all nearby.


San Antonio...the more latin version of San Diego but without the ocean front. Both economies are two things...military and tourism. Austin - northern California but less expensive, Seattle due to its Tech vibe and hipster vibe but Portland due to its size and hipster vibe is the most like it but lacks the job growth.

[walker1962]

Originally Posted by RoamingTX

There’s not much remotely accurate about this post. Even the Austin/Bay comparison is miles apart - aside from the tech sector being a piece of the employment picture. Heck - I’d have to double check the source, but I think that Dallas actually has more IT/Tech jobs than Austin - it’s just not as hyped.

And El Paso is far different from Phoenix.

I don’t think you can make an accurate comp for any of the TX cities

Dallas does have more tech jobs but Austin is more IT centric because there, you have IT HQs and regional offices where as in D/FW because of its large, diverse corporate base, IT support is larger. Just saw at report where DFW was second only to NYC in H1B visas. Austin has a higher % of tech workers than D/FW as a percentage of its workforce so it is more of a tech hub.

[walker1962]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

San Diego's Texas counter part is San Antonio. LA & Houston are similar enough for me. The smaller cities of Dallas (Plano, McKinney, etc) are exact copies of south LA suburbs like Anaheim and Irvine. Albuquerque and Amarillo are close enough. Phoenix and Dallas are similar.

LA is also a large city and some of it has a coastal climate and some of it is worse than Dallas in the summer temperature wise, it's just not as humid. I know it's mountains are 'mountains' but most of the popular ones in the city are very similar to the hills around Austin & hill country, in flora, fauna, and dirt if not in spirit.

Phoenix is NOTHING like Dallas beyond summer heat to some extent. Its not as wealthy, its more latin, its not nearly as economically diverse. AND most important which may kill its future growth in 15years is that is has NO water. Phoenix is an unsustainable metro area.

[RJ312]

Originally Posted by walker1962

Phoenix is NOTHING like Dallas beyond summer heat to some extent. Its not as wealthy, its more latin, its not nearly as economically diverse. AND most important which may kill its future growth in 15years is that is has NO water. Phoenix is an unsustainable metro area.

I have lived in both Phoenix and Dallas. I transplanted to both places. There's more similarity than you acknowledge, but I agree with your overall point that there are more similar cities to Dallas besides Phoenix.

The biggest difference between Phoenix and Dallas is the business climate. The business climate was the primary reason that I left Phoenix for Dallas. For a city of its size, Phoenix is woefully inadequate on quality of jobs. Phoenix has very few notable corporate HQs for a city of size. This has gotten even worse since I left, as in 2017, consumer products giant Henkel (parent of the Dial Corporation) left Phoenix. Much of it is because Phoenix was a nothing of a city prior to advent/mass market of air conditioning in the 1950s. Dallas had more of a population base prior to the 1950s than Phoenix.

If you are wealthy in Phoenix, it is likely that you brought your wealth in from somewhere else. The best way to live in Phoenix is to make your money somewhere else (NYC metro, Chicago, or California are common examples in the more affluent Phoenix population) and then move to Phoenix once you are more affluent. There are two common ways this is done: A person around age 45 or so will take a senior executive position there and then serve out the last 15 or so years of their career there or someone will retire there in their 60s.

I made the mistake of having Phoenix be the first city I lived in after finishing undergrad and I found it very difficult to establish a career there.

The Hispanic population as a percentage of population is similar in Dallas County to Maricopa County.

There is similarity in the nightlife and mating scenes in the cities. Old Town Scottsdale and Uptown Dallas have a similar vibe. There are many physically fit, attractive women with bad attitudes populating the bar scenes in both cities. There is sort of an "Image is Everything" mentality in both cities.

Phoenix is unsustainable, but there are certainly sustainable concerns in Dallas.

Overall, the Dallas metro area has been a better fit for me. The stronger business climate in Dallas has been a big reason for this. Additionally, the quality of people in Dallas is better from my vantage point.

[Irishtom29]

I now live on the South Side of San Antonio after living most of my life in Chicago and I’m reminded of the South Side of Chicago. A similar vibe. Most Cita Data users, even those from Chicago (most of whom are North Siders and transplants at that) probably won’t get it though.