Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why does it seem so many people here on CD are always bashing Texas and Texas cities, particularly Houston.
I mean these threads on here are sometimes downright ridiculous. I am sometimes guilty of partaking in them so I have no room to talk, but why is it when Texas is mentioned, its as if pandoras box has been opened?
In all reality no state or city is any better than the other...
The only state I have seen people from, NOT bash Texas or Houston are those from New York, but I'm sure I have missed a few here and there.
Californians always find something wrong with us, yet they are flocking here in droves. Californians are always spouting off how conservative and backwards Texas and Texans are, yet they just passed a referendum taking away peoples civil rights. Texas has yet to do that.
Chicagoans seem to have a deep hatred of Houston for some unknown reason. Why? Is it because Houston may/will surpass them as the 3rd largest city? Is it because Houston is the "Energy Capital of The USA"? Headquarters to NASA?
Some of you will spout off that Texas is home to George W? In some of your opinions the worst POTUS ever. OK fair enough, but what state just had their Governor arrested?? Nope NOT Texas! Oh yeah that would be Illinois!
So in all honesty why do so many of you bash Texas and Houston when your oh so called "paradises" are far from perfect.
I am not trying to troll, I just honestly want to know why does it seem that Texas and Houston gets more than of its share of hatefilled bashing? Is it just in reality, JEALOUSY?
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,842,829 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heimdall
Just saw a great quote on Houston by one of my favorite columnists
HOUSTON—The remote outskirts of this city stretch forever across featureless land under gray skies, endless parking lots mostly empty, nasty malls, elevated highways roaring and almost uncrossable by pedestrians, of whom there are almost none. Full article
The same thing could be said about Dallas and many other major U.S. cities like Cleveland, Phoenix, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver and so on.
I wouldn't call that a "great" quote.
Hanging out in the "remote outskirts" of the city? So, some boonies in unnamed suburbia? Why bother? It's about as funny as making fart jokes.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,049,308 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by SillySammy
There you go. Congrats, OmShahi, you have only proven my point.
As for "who I am", this thread asked why yous get bashed. I only answered it. Free forum, anyone can voice their opinions. As for "I <3 NY" shirts, New Yorkers typically don't wear those or even own them. You see those shirts out of state or even in-state worn by tourists. Tourists. People from all over the world.
We don't need to be. But on that note, NY is the finance capital of the world (wall street) and contains the United Nations in present day. I'm not trying to go pro-NY here, just defending my state like you did yours. Though at least I said something pro about Texas... unlike you.
I didn't. I only said it was another big city in America.
There isn't a best. Only your personal opinion. However, one really shouldn't say NY doesn't have a beautiful skyline in general. It does.
First I would actually like to apologize. I wasn't really completely in my senses either. I had been buzzed off some drinks. And I normally get frustrated.
Because Northeasterners really do bash Texas more than anyone else. Example see the Hoboken Vs Austin thread see the criteria. It's just made to ridicule beyong point how the cities are made in the sunbelt.
People really need to understand though, most Texans aren't bragging, people go off and say some of the dumbest things like "Dallas doesn't have any upscale shopping" or "Houston's economy is one sector" and people from Texas start listing things to which other people then comment on saying "you're being arrogant". Quite frankly, I don't blame anyone here, there's a lot of mis-communication between everyone here. And frankly, it's this site- where everyone wants to wear that number 1 glove when talking about their place. Lol.
So I'm actually sorry for sounding harsh. That really isn't very much like me and how I generally do post. I am just fed up of these things. A comparison of 1.3 square miles 40,000 people per square miles Hoboken to Austin with the criteria being "Accessibility, transportation, walkability, density" what do you expect me to think? I thought of it as an agenda based thread, one in which that poster can bash how large layout cities are inferior lifestyle type of cities. Well obviously with the given criteria Hoboken is going to win, the OP of that thread went as far as asking based off the criteria "which one is the better place to live overall?" Which isn't fair. He knew damn well he shouldn't have made that thread.
There are countless threads like that. Where people exchange fouls with each other by calling each other "Yankees" or "Rednecks". Quite frankly, Southern posters do get the worst end of the deal, Yankee's have a great baseball team, their negative connotation can be covered, there is nothing beautiful about being called a "redneck". You see the frustrations people have to deal with?
As for the person who said the Texas chest thumping covering up for something. Read my post again. I didn't brag about Texas. Just explained the flag and vented how I hate traditional building, which of course is my opinion. It's a lovely skyline to most people, lol. But I like glass gleamers everywhere, so I can't criticize the skyline because it's not the residents faults. That person needs to show me where I was bragging about Texas. Because I haven't even tried yet, I know Texas well enough to say it has a lot of fault, I don't brag, I defend. (this would be an example of the mis-communication I talked about earlier)
No one from New York has to wear those shirts for it to annoy the locals. I see people in Chicago, they get irritated seeing it. It's overrating a place.
I like the state of New York, but I guess my bitterness comes from the fact that I have always liked Buffalo the best- so I can't stand how New Yorkers treat even their own state brethren little less other people from other states, it frustrates me and it ticks me off very fast, especially when I see them here.
How would you feel if I went into the New York board and went off saying all the things I hated about NYC? Sure, you'd think I'm just doing what I'm entitled to do, but you would think "why is this guy here bashing a city for no reason... this isn't even where he lives" a lot of people will think that.
Generally I hate arrogance, I hate it when people display arrogance a lot. I hate people who ARE arrogant, so that does get the best of me and gets me worked up really fast especially when I misunderstand someone from what they're doing and think it's arrogance.
But I'm sorry for the harsh words all in all. I didn't mean to offend you or anyone here. I was just in a bad mood, and it has a lot to do with people always bashing EVERYTHING... it's life, whatever. Lol.
Here is an example as of 30 seconds ago:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o
PHX for me. San Antonio is a bit too much of a dump for my tastes. Overall PHX is much cleaner, and has better suburbs. Id still rather shoot myself with a bazooka before moving to either, though.
^^^ See it's comments like those. A Phoenix/San Antonio thread. And all he has to do is pick one, not insult where millions of people live and then drag his ego of coming from what he derives as a "superior city" by saying the last aprt where he'd rather shoot himself than either. It's like, "why were you in that thread anyways? To bash one to no end and then bash them both... why did you even open the thread?" That's what people typically think. And that's the mentality that comes out that annoys me.
You live in NYC, when people bash your place, you have 4957539 people supporting it, and posting up stats imagine how others feel, they get bashed and are expected not to respond by people who have either never visited or hate it because of where it's located. When someone bashes Chicago, there's 47973593 people ready to defend it, when someone bashes Houston, there's like 4 people and they get called a booster/homer just for defending their home.
You'll see how everyone rags on Phoenix on this site because no one defends it. Mark my words, just play close attention from other peoples shoes and see how they feel of day to day life. No one in Houston thinks they live in the South on an everyday basis until someone who hates it from the Northeast says "What a typical Southern city you live in". No one thinks about where they live until they're reminded of it, and how some people will always be there to remind you of where they come from compared to you.
I have given New York City it's share of props countless times before, I don't ever bash a place... this would be amongst one of the first times where I did when i called it's skyline ugly- which is best left off as subjective to each their own opinion.
I'm done with my vent, and I'm old enough to know yes, it goes both ways. But that explains a bit of my psychology and my thought process to describe the course of my actions. Hope you understand.
If you're from Texas, you can't win. Someone makes a ridiculous comment and you try to defend it, you come off as arrogant even though just about every other state and many cities do the same thing.
I think that Houston is a great city! I was born and raised here! It may not be the most beautiful city but it is starting to get nicer. I think that it is a great place to live though. It is a nice place to raise a family and to live in a nice house that is cheap and have a good job. Houston also has the Texas Medical Center so if anything ever happens there is good drs not too far.
Everyone says how it is such a horrible city but you have to realize that Houston is a younger city compared to a lot of the Northern cities it will take some time for it to get better!
having lived in TX my whole life and just recently Houston the past few years, I'll say that Houston is underrated, and it gets dumped on a lot more than it deserves even by Texans. before I moved from Austin, all anybody had to say about Houston was how bad it was. no one had anything good to say about it except this one guy and the only good thing he had to say was that Houston has "good highways." having only heard bad things about Houston before moving here, I can say it is a lot better than I expected and it doesn't deserve such a bad rap.
I will say, though, that while there are good things about Texas, Texans tend to over rate their own state. if you've been to one small town in Texas you've pretty much been to them all. most small towns you'll find a dairy queen and/or a whataburger. most small towns are also in bad shape w/ old buildings that have been poorly maintained over the years. additionally, save for maybe fredricksburg and their German & Czech roots, white Texans lack a shared cultural heritage or identity other than having lived or been born in Texas.
I've never really felt that the "southern hospitality" the southeast is supposedly known for also exists in Texas, though Texans say it does. Texans are more polite/sociable than New Englanders, from my experience as an average suburban white guy who has experienced urban, suburbuban, and rural living, the Texan version of southern hospitality is "if you look like us and act like us, yer fine by us!" the overly self-righteous Texan pride and the ford truck drivin' bud light drinkin' good ol' boy attitude gets pretty annoying at times. the good ol' boy attitude is mostly found in the rural areas but can be found in the suburbs, while the Texan pride can be found anywhere in the state. "the democrats are in power! they'll destroy the nation, it's time to cede from the union again! we're Texas, we can do whatever we damn well please!" gtfo w/ that ridiculous talk.
the typical rural Texan as well as many suburban Texans are not very open minded and weary of "different" people. you can expect the typical rush/o'reilly/beck spoon fed knee jerk reactions in regard to any liberal belief or proposal in rural areas and most suburban areas. that might all be true of most rural areas in the U.S., I don't really know. anyway, family aside, suburbanites care about their property value and their money above everything and everyone else. etc., etc...I didn't originally mean for this to turn into a rant, oh well
Last edited by TXpackerbacker; 07-22-2010 at 04:11 PM..
Who are you? And why are you in the Texas board bashing us and our state?
You want to bash Houston go do it in the New York board, where no one will care.
Want to know why Texans pride themselves with the flag so much?
Although I do agree that state flags are meaningless compared to our unified system, even though state flags carry the distinction of every states identity and nature, coming from Illinois, we could care less about our state flag. And as a Chicagoan, I can tell you this much in all honesty, Chicagoans and their suburbanites could care less for the rest of the state of Illinois in general. It is very sad to say such, but that is the typical mentality we have.
Sometimes I think we think of our city as not Chicago, Illinois but more over as Chicago, USA first before we acknowledge being apart of Illinois. (just my opinion)
In contrasting belief, after having attended school in Texas, I can actually state the reasons as to why. In defense of Texas, it's mainly because of the pride & honor it comes with once being a nation of it's own. In fact when Texas was admitted into the union, it was the only state to enter upon treaty, giving it certain rights that other states that were annexed in were not granted. Flying the state flag at the same height and length as the American flag was simply one of those rights.
Texans from what I have seen do take an immense amount of pride in their state, and if you ask any of the native Texans, they can recite the Texas history for you, they are very into that. I would say that the pride and blood runs through many native Texan veins (not all, but many), the massacres and sufferings in Goliad and at the Alamo are always a reminder for Texans as to what the state has been through and how it's been through heaven and Earth to get to where it is today. In continuation, boasting the flag is a simple gesture of honoring the states history at most. It's not there to offend anyone else.
You do not see that mentality much in the Texans from the big Texas cities, but you do out in small towns and medium sized cities of Texas.
In a heartbeat they would tell you from the day Texas was founded to the latest occurrence as of the last 10 minutes in Texas's history.
I'm not saying all of them rave on about the Texas Flag for that reason though- but a lot of them do, based off of what I have learned in school & observed with the native population.
Has your state ever been a country before? You show pride different ways, you think I like seeing those damn "I love NY" T-Shirts in Illinois/Texas?
I sure don't.
So stop trying to make it out to be like it's just us.
You guys over inflate your city like it's the pride and joy of America and that everyone has to live there. Give it a break, normally you'll notice Texans aren't bragging- they're just defending their cities because people always say some of the dumbest things like "I was in Dallas and they didn't have any museums or anything".
Go to the New York Board and bash Texas there, people are not interested in how you feel about the flag, don't like it- don't live here.
I'm sorry, I just get really ticked off when people always try to play the one way game as if they are not guilty of doing it too.
FYI: We're not New York & we're not LA. I don't kn ow why you're comparing yourself to LA, they're so much more different than you, and if that's all you think it takes to be a city, then I'm glad we're not like you. Why would every city want to be the same? Can imagine how the country would look like if every city looked like this:
And another thing- you guys act like you're skyline is the best in the world when it's not. I see the overall skyline and I see some ugly traditional style buildings, I'm into modern/post modern. Stop trying to glamorize how you've got the best skyline in the world when it's a subjective quality, I like Hong Kong's. You guys brag and boost as much as anyone, so I don't know why you're over here talking about Texans...
S-P-O-T ON! I'm going to start calling you kick-azz, and I mean that in a good way.
I think we need to delineate between people who bash Houston, Dallas, Texas, etc. and those who try to make us feel ashamed for living here. Each state has its pros and cons, as does each city. While I might not ever live in Houston or Dallas because these cities are too big for me (too much sprawl), I would never be ashamed to say that I lived in them. When people "bash" Texas, there seems to be that undertone--that we should be offended by our state's existence. Why is that? Cultural ignorance, I suppose. Or non-Texans have bought into the media representation of Texas, which is entirely skewed to make us look like a bunch of throw-backs when in reality, the media singles out the worst stereotype they can find and capitalizes on it.
I wouldn't say that I'm "proud" to be a Texan anymore than I would had I been born, raised and lived in any other state. But I'm not embarrassed to live here either. Nothing to be embarrassed about.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm going to start calling you kick-azz, and I mean that in a good way. 
