Is Texs in the Southwest or South? (Houston, Dallas: architecture, retire)

[royal744]

This is all a spurious if interesting discussion. Let's just all agree that "Texas is Texas" and the rest of country can be whatever it decides to be. I NEVER think of mysef as a Southerner, which I feel is a rather insulting appellation, implying backwardness and troglodytic attitudes.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by royal744

This is all a spurious if interesting discussion. Let's just all agree that "Texas is Texas" and the rest of country can be whatever it decides to be. I NEVER think of mysef as a Southerner, which I feel is a rather insulting appellation, implying backwardness and troglodytic attitudes.

Most Texans certainly agree Texas is Texas. As to whether or not you personally feel yourself to live in the South and/or be a Southerner, it up to you. I can say most Texans don't agree with you according to the cultural surveys done. If you think the appellation "Southern" is insulting, then consider that perhaps it is you who has the issue. That is to say, you are perhaps accepting that negative opinions many in other parts of the country have of the South, are in fact, true. And like it or not, Texas' roots are Southern, as are its basic history and culture.

By the way, are you a native Texan? Just curious.

Personally, I am both Texan and Southern. Proud of both.

[hype]

If you look at it geographically, then of course you would classify it as in the "south", but I would consider the culture to be more "Southwest". Especially, in the major cities.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by hype

If you look at it geographically, then of course you would classify it as in the "south", but I would consider the culture to be more "Southwest". Especially, in the major cities.

"Southwest" as in grouped with what other states? Arizona and New Mexico? And for what reason?

[Texana1]

"Southwest" as in grouped with what other states? Arizona and New Mexico? And for what reason?

I am new to the place and say I agree here. I lived in the real southwest and found most of Texas nothing like it at all. I also spend a few years in the deep south and people in Texas seems a whole lot more like those states so far as how they live and think than New Mexico. Just my opinion. I don't mean it in a bad way. There is nothing wrong with being Southern and Texas mostly seems Southern.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

There is a point to be made there, and while Texas IS indeed the state where "The South meets the West" such doesn't necessarily translate into that it isn't still essentially the South. It just means it is the "South's west." Same as a state like, say, Kansas, is the "Midwest's west."

As to the famed Ft. Worth slogan "Where the West Begins"? A misconception about it all is that it was intended to suggest one was entering a totally different region when getting into West Texas. Thus, IMHO, over the years, it (the city moniker) has been taken totally out of context. For one, it never even originated with Fort Worth. Actually, it sprang from a poem written in 1911, which itself was in reply to an ongoing national debate as to exactly, where indeed, the "West" did begin. Some argued the Mississippi River, others the Allegheny Mountains, and etc.

Here is a link to it: Texas, The Lone Star State: “Where the West Begins” (Fort Worth slogan):

Texas, The Lone Star State: “Where the West Begins” (Fort Worth slogan)

However, to put it all into perspective? The natural and long-standing rivalry between Ft. Worth and Dallas prompted some Dallasites to begin calling themselves "Where the East Ends." Here is the link to that "twin."

Texas, The Lone Star State: “Where the East Ends” (Dallas slogan)

Anyway, the point to be made is that 'Where the West Begins" (MANY cities made the same claim...particularly St. Louis with its "Gateway To the West" arch) was never intended to mean -- and no one took it that way -- particularly those early Texas settlers who were likely to have been Confederate veterans -- that "The South Stops Here." Any more than the St. Louis Arch meant one was leaving the Midwest. This is evidenced - I would think -- by the Dallas response itself. It didn't say "Where the South Ends", but "Where the East Ends."

This is an important distinction. The "West" was not thought of -- at that time -- as a coherent cultural region per se. Rather, a largely unsettled half of the country (postbellum settlement, frontier drama, etc) different from the "East". When the West did become just that (a region in the proper sense), it did not include Texas. Same as the "East" did not include Georgia. For good reason. The West as a region was very much different from the "west" as an era.

....in Minnesota, where St. Paul is the "last city of the East", while Minneapolis is the "first city of the West". of course, they're both Northern and Midwestern at the same time, so the debate isn't quite the same as in Texas.

I will say, however, that the countryside west of San Antonio all the way to El Paso is Southwestern in orientation.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by MassVt

....in Minnesota, where St. Paul is the "last city of the East", while Minneapolis is the "first city of the West". of course, they're both Northern and Midwestern at the same time, so the debate isn't quite the same as in Texas.

I will say, however, that the countryside west of San Antonio all the way to El Paso is Southwestern in orientation.

Yes, for sure topographically, large parts of western and southwestern Texas more resemble the lower parts of the true Southwest (that is to say, the "interior Southwest") than the Southeast. The trans-pecos extension area has always been more southwestern anyway (even though it actually did go heavily for secession back in the day! LOL). But anyway, I will generally agree with what you say so far as physical features go.

[hype]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

"Southwest" as in grouped with what other states? Arizona and New Mexico? And for what reason?

Yes, that would be what you call the "Southwest". Texas as a whole couldn't just be considered "Southwest" and the reason for that is East Texas. I have family there and live in Dallas. They are very "country" and enjoy the "simple life". I'm simply disgusted. But, calling it what it is, Texas does have very southern/southeastern qualities in that particular region and it is a part of Texas. Living in Dallas I would just say there is a "city" culture, but venturing west of Dallas-Ft. Worth you'll find a more "southwestern" culture. And that is fact. I've lived in Texas from day one and that is the gospel truth.

[desert sun]

Originally Posted by hype

Yes, that would be what you call the "Southwest". Texas as a whole couldn't just be considered "Southwest" and the reason for that is East Texas. I have family there and live in Dallas. They are very "country" and enjoy the "simple life". I'm simply disgusted. But, calling it what it is, Texas does have very southern/southeastern qualities in that particular region and it is a part of Texas. Living in Dallas I would just say there is a "city" culture, but venturing west of Dallas-Ft. Worth you'll find a more "southwestern" culture. And that is fact. I've lived in Texas from day one and that is the gospel truth.

Is Amarillo,Lubbock and Dallas really comparable to Albuquerque,Tucson and El Paso? I dont see too many Southwestern qualities that these places share.

[breeze823]

I voted south west. Texas seems more western to me but then it is a huge state, more southern to the eastern borders.