I was just curious as to how this place feels about Texas.
It would be fine if not for all of the Texans®. By that, I don’t merely mean residents of Texas, but the Texans® who believe that Texas is really a separate and divinely inspired nation that is being repressed by being associated with the rest of the United States.
I could give Houston a miss, though.
Stranger
Born in Dallas, currently live in Austin.
Dallas = mostly business, no fun. Houston = unbearably hot and humid in summer. Austin = fun big college town, but gets tiresome after a few years; also, home of activists who complain about income inequality while driving Mercedes and having $35,000 weddings.
Texas is all about things that sound good in theory (“our own independent power grid, deregulated!”) but not in practice. And about draconian prison sentences (I do prison ministry here and it is appalling how people get threatened with, or sentenced, to 30-50 year long prison sentences for crimes that deserve only a small fraction of that.)
The lack of state income tax is nice, though.
Weirdly, despite having lived 14 years here and being a Spurs fan, I have never once set foot in San Antonio.
It’s a state that’s a fine place to live if you have your act all together and all things in your favor. If you are disadvantaged or have had a tough life, tough luck.
All things considered, I’d rather be in California.
Yep, something about the combination of crude oil and steer manure affects their brains in way that gives them an inflated sense of self worth, along with the thin skin that seems to go with that.
How do I feel about Texas?
Well, usually I feel my way down Oklahoma until I hit a long east-west line and then I feel about Texas until I reach Mexico.
Speaking purely from a visitor’s point of view, I’ve enjoyed my travels in Texas very much. The people I’ve encountered have been friendly and helpful. There are a bunch of places I’d like to go back and check out, including a return visit to Balmorhea State Park for a dip in that big spring-fed pool they have there.
I have family in Texas and I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years. (At this point, the amount of time I’ve spent in Texas probably adds up to a few years.) I’ve always enjoyed my time there.
But I will agree that Texans have the own way of thinking and doing things.
I love Texas. I could do without its politics, but it really is an amazing state.
It really is interesting how San Antonio is kind of a forgotten city. I’ve been to almost all of Texas’ major cities, except for McAllen/Brownsville and San Antonio. I’ve been in the hill country around SA but never in the city itself.
None of my exes live there.
So I got that going for me.
I have to admit, not all the barbecue in Texas is good. But Killen’s in Pearland is mighty fine.
There’s a lot of beautiful country (Big Bend and the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge are a couple of favorites).
Sometimes I miss the big sky at our old place. Laboring in the yard and garden at 8 a.m. when the heat and humidity were already becoming unbearable, and stacking sandbags when the bayou floodwaters were rising, not so much.
I have no strong feelings about Texas, but can really do without Texans.
I think that it would make a fine economic hub for red state America, should they ever get it together enough to actually secede. Until then, I’m embarrassed by it.
The big question, @CastletonSnob1, is how do you feel about it? That is the only thing you can do anything about.
All I really know about Texas, on a personal level, is the only story my father ever told us about being in the Army Reserve was he once had to drive across Texas and “it was really boring,” and everyone I’ve ever met that’s from Texas profess to love it like it’s their mother, but they couldn’t leave it fast enough the first chance they got (granted, this is 100% a self-selected group of ex-Texans).
I spent a decade in the oil fields so a lot of my friends are Texan, I’ve also lived in Corpus Christi, Midland, and Houston. Texas is ok. If I had to move there I’d pick the hill country in a heartbeat and then coastal south Texas next. Houston is the second worst place I’ve ever lived (Bakersfield, CA for the win). One of my favorite pastimes is giving Texans shit so it’s hard for me to say much nice about Texas.
There are certainly worse states than Texas but it doesn’t have a whole lot going for it either. I think that’s what’s hard about Texas is that Texans are so proud of what should be their mediocrity. An example would be an average regional beer like Shiner Bock gets turned into the greatest beer ever in a can.
Texas is more like California than Texans wanna admit; California is more like Texas than Californians wanna admit. And of course, they hate each other.
You are correct, and that is a weird thing. But we don’t miss the people who haven’t bothered to visit. They’re the ones who have missed out.
Such a Texan attitude. 
I’m a native with deep roots in Texas, going back to the 1830’s. My relatives have been storekeepers, bankers, lawyers, and preachers. It’s hard for me not to love the place, but I’ll admit the people (especially politicians) make me cringe. Back in the 1980’s I was part of the writing community of the DFW metroplex and met a lot of interesting, intelligent, and creative people. Everyone has their own experiences to relate to, but Texans, for good or bad, have always had an independent streak. As for this recent debacle with the weather, I really can’t blame people for thinking we’re a bunch of dumb rednecks.