CNN political experts: Texas is SouthWest, not Southern. (Houston, Dallas: schools, universities)

[case44]

Originally Posted by stan4

Texas is different enough from the other states that it may defy categorization.

Great post.

/thread

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by stan4

Texas is different enough from the other states that it may defy categorization.

Not as much, though, as it is that Texas is a state that sits in different regions. I don't think you'll find much difference between East Texas and Mississippi or Alabama.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

Not as much, though, as it is that Texas is a state that sits in different regions. I don't think you'll find much difference between East Texas and Mississippi or Alabama.

You won't. But you will find a difference between Central Texas and Alabama or West Texas and Mississippi or South Texas and Georgia. All of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi is Southern. The same cannot be said of Texas. It is essentially a Southern state. But deep down inside. Texas is just simply TEXAS.

Now back in the day. Some West Texans did indeed indentify with people from the Old South because that's where many settlers went. But nowadays, if you go to West Texas, you'd be hard pressed to find a difference between New Mexico and West Texas (meaning Permian Basin and the Panhandle). Their mannerisms are become the same with each passing year which is just about the opposite of Southern. With that said, I would like to know what the guy based other states as the Southwest. Because if he says Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and etc. I strongly disagree. Most Texans live east of US 281 and they identify more with the Southern region than anything (although they too would say we are Texans first).

[TexasHorseLady]

I grew up in East Texas. My ancestors were all in East Texas. I say we're more Southwestern than Southern, in most of the state (though we're, as said, Texas more than we're any other region of the country).

[Spade]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I grew up in East Texas. My ancestors were all in East Texas. I say we're more Southwestern than Southern, in most of the state (though we're, as said, Texas more than we're any other region of the country).

Interesting. You're the second person from East Texas on this board to say this.

[houstoner]

It depends on who you ask. From where I'm sitting, most Texans live in the eastern half of the state, therefore, the Texas most of us live in doesn't look a thing like Arizona or New Mexico, which is undoubtedly southwest. Ergo, we are more southern than southwestern, IMO, although I mainly agree we are just Texans, especially since the rest of the South doesn't like to claim us much either. Texas is too big to fit neatly into any one category, and so we stand alone; the Lone Star state. Fitting moniker we've got there, isn't it?

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

I don't think you'll find much difference between East Texas and Mississippi or Alabama.

I beg to differ. You'll find some glaring differences, namely the lack of cowboy culture and Mexican influence that is so prevalent in Texas is largely absent from the Deep South, which is much more... genteel? Refined? Feminine? Moonlight and magnolias? Can't put a word to it, but there's a definite difference beyond the obvious. Not to mention the poverty levels, poor education, and lack of opportunity in those latter states... makes for a very different kind of South than even East Texas is used to.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by houstoner

It depends on who you ask. From where I'm sitting, most Texans live in the eastern half of the state, therefore, the Texas most of us live in doesn't look a thing like Arizona or New Mexico, which is undoubtedly southwest. Ergo, we are more southern than southwestern, IMO, although I mainly agree we are just Texans, especially since the rest of the South doesn't like to claim us much either. Texas is too big to fit neatly into any one category, and so we stand alone; the Lone Star state. Fitting moniker we've got there, isn't it?

Even the eastern most part of Texas is west of the area many would consider south. Therefore, I'd say the entire state is southwestern, and except maybe (as everyone else believes) the small sliver of east Texas that borders Arkansas and Louisiana. I certainly wouldn't lump Houston in with the south, as it definitely doesn't fit in that category... except maybe the climate. Now Beaumont, maybe. That would probably be the largest TX city in the "sliver" area between the main population of TX and the traditionally southern area of the US. Austin and San Antonio lie right along the line where the climate changes and begins to look a bit more like west Texas... and west Texas, is of course more southwestern than half of New Mexico. DFW seems more like the plains to me, more panhandle-like and possibly midwestern or southwestern, but still defiinitely Texas.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Even the eastern most part of Texas is west of the area many would consider south. Therefore, I'd say the entire state is southwestern, and except maybe (as everyone else believes) the small sliver of east Texas that borders Arkansas and Louisiana. I certainly wouldn't lump Houston in with the south, as it definitely doesn't fit in that category... except maybe the climate. Now Beaumont, maybe. That would probably be the largest TX city in the "sliver" area between the main population of TX and the traditionally southern area of the US. Austin and San Antonio lie right along the line where the climate changes and begins to look a bit more like west Texas... and west Texas, is of course more southwestern than half of New Mexico. DFW seems more like the plains to me, more panhandle-like and possibly midwestern or southwestern, but still defiinitely Texas.

The geography fits quite well with that of the Southern/Southeast United States. Cuisine-wise there is a fair argument, but I see the actual physical geographic continuity of a region as the most important factor.

Breakdown (as I see it):
El Paso: Southwest
Austin Southwest
Fort Worth: "Where the West begins"
Dallas: Mid-northsouthwestern
Houston: South

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

Have you ever seen Houston before? I mean look at a picture. It's a rainforest, the geography fits quite well with that of the Southern/Southeast United States. Cuisine-wise there is a fair argument, but otherwise

Yes, sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant that the climate of Houston was much like the Southern/Southeastern part of the US. But the culture, etc, not so much. And I did live there for a short time. A very diverse city, and not in the typical southern way (not just black/white). A cosmopolitan city, like Dallas is, but Houston's brand of cosmopolitan strikes me as trying to be more like NYC, where Dallas' is a bit more midwestern. I suppose you could call the friendliness of both cities to be a southern quality, but it could also be just a Texan or even midwestern quality.