Texas

Yes

Sugar Land, TX is great. The nicest homes, easy living, chain restaurants all over the place. Just massive Costco living.

Houston here. American who happed to be born here. Nothing more, nothing less.

[quote]The nicest homes, easy living, chain restaurants all over the place. Just massive Costco living.

That sounds like hell.

OP = Ted Cruz, eating a booger while launching a campaign.

Sugar Land mega murder. Rolexes, McMansions, chain restaurants.

I helped made it great.

Sugar Land GOP utopia. Big ugly houses, lots of BBQ, huge carbon footprints, big lawns, chain restaurants (steakhouses are big), megachurches, SUVs galore. Sam's Club and Walmart.

Texans are arrogant idiots.

I like Houston. SugarLand not so much. I can see how it’s fine for a family. Costco Living is a great description.

What makes Texas is it’s size. So much space and so many different parts. Tons of room for cheap growth. Dallas and the panhandle is a different world from Houston which is different from the Rio Grande Valley.

Some very hot All-American types in their 20s with a cowboy attitude. But overall not the best looking. Having to drive everywhere and having great Tex Mex is highly conducive to obesity. There is a reason 600-lb Life hospital is in Texas.

Horrible weather. No, thank you.

Texas is great because of all the hot Latino men living there now replacing those boring white boys.

Costco living -- those huge furniture sets for the backyard. Like Frontgate. Just mega consumption of everything.

R12, did you mean to post that pic?

Do they even have a health insurance market/exchange for the ACA? Is every health insurance company just a ravenous for-profit company? Do private companies own the highways? Is everything privatized?

Hellish.

Never seen anything so ugly as Houston Texas. The mind boggles

You pretty much know what people are like if they mention Sugarland or The Woodlands.

That should read “if they mention living in....”.

R17, what does the Woodlands say about someone?

And in Plano bliss is everywhere.

Sugarland and The Woodlands are full of materialistic, pretentious mass consumers who vote GOP.

I wouldn’t step foot in Plano.

[QUOTE]did you mean to post that pic?

Fuck yeah.

OMG, R23. That's painful to look at.

Living there for a while helps you to understand the mentality. Stand your ground, every man an island of self-sufficiency makes more sense when you are surrounded by tons of space. Always thought the movie Giant captures the Texas identity really well.

The most interesting thing about Texas is the fact that it is not interesting at all.

I imagine it'd be great to really fit in in places like Sugar Land, because life is so easy and there are so few choices to deal with. Go to school, play football, go to church, then one of those gigantic Texas universities (Texas Tech ... other ones I don't remember), get married, wife stays home, buy a big house like your parents, drive a huge car, never having to think. So easy.

[QUOTE]That's painful to look at.

The painful part is the part you can’t see.

R28, that's very unique taste you have there. Wow. I never see anything like that in real life.

Spent 2 months in Houston last year. It is pretty awful. Huge city with 2.3 million people and the only interesting thing to do is to eat at some fancy food courts.

Why don’t you show us your taste, R29.

Um R30 Houston has one of the most dynamic food scenes in the country. If all you ate in was food courts your hosts, coworkers, family or friends owe you a huge apology.

Sugarland is approximately 30% Arab and Nigerian, 30% Vietnamese, 30% Mexican and 10% white. Whatever you think it is, you're probably wrong.

I thought that was Missouri City which is practically part of Sugarland R33.

Yeah -NYer here and I thought Houston food was awesome. Of course, I love TexMex so a bias.

The Monstrose is a nice walkable gayborhood. And River Oaks is a beautiful oasis in the unzoned insanity of Houston sprawl, Menil is also a cool little museum with the Rothko Chapel.

R33, 2010:

The racial makeup of the city was 52.0% White, 7.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 35.3% Asian,

Has it changed dramatically since then?

R36, I really don’t go near Sugar Land but everyone I’ve met from there is white, affluent, shallow and very, very “suburban”. Missouri City was known for a large population of wealthy minorities. Maybe it’s changed.

It is so great that Nancy wrote a song about it.

No. I did, R7

Life isn't easy there, it just appears to be on the surface. I've lived in four Texas cities. Texas is a big state and there are differences, but in all of them obesity and alcoholism were rampant. Sometimes I felt like Texas was a more prosperous Mississippi. The weather and traffic are awful. The number one thing to do in any major Texas city is go out to eat. Texans live to eat and their health/bodies reflect it.

Stuff is cheap in Texas, I've read. Cost of living is low. Homes in Sugar Land are surprisingly inexpensive. 4000 square feet for $400K.

But property taxes are sky high there.

The electric bills on a house like R41 must be crazy with that ridiculous weather.

Do they make rooftop solar illegal in Texas? Seems like a state that would. Are Teslas allowed there? Or does everyone have to drive a Tundra truck?

Texas has no state income tax therefore it needs to be generated elsewhere.

R44 lots of solar and wind power here and, yes, people drive electric cars. I think the price of Tesla’s makes them not as popular though Ford Fusion and Toyota Prius are frequent sights.

Dallas can be 100F-plus at midnight in the spring and fall, let alone the summer. Houston's just as hot with more humidity. In the summer, the seawater temps at Galveston (a beach resort, btw) can be 90 degrees.

No thank you.

Houston’s humidity is fantastic for our skin though. Keeps it moist.

That's horrible, R46. It's going to be hell in the coming decades.

San Diego seems to be the only place in America with great year-round weather.

[QUOTE]The atmosphere gets even wilder on weekend evenings, when all of “A” list members of Dallas go out to shop, eat, and mingle.

This description of gay life in Dallas tells you all you need to know.

Good point R40. I think that’s why it has a certain appeal being from a “coastal elite” city. No guilt for being completely decadent in food and drink. Seems like everyone eats and drinks in excess and nobody is out exercising. So getting sloshed and gorging on TexMex is not frowned upon. Guilt free. But if I lived there full time I’d be 400 pounds and an alcoholic.

San Antonio is rated as the most obese.

r38 Nancy didn't write shit.

[quote]Dallas can be 90F-plus at 10 p.m. in the summer. Houston's not quite as hot due to the greater humidity. In the summer, the seawater temps at Galveston (a shithole slum on the coast, btw) can be 90 degrees.

R46 edited for accuracy.

Obesity + humidity + sweat / BO + refinery fumes + attitude sounds like hell.

Not to mention the loud “clip-clops” of all those cowboy boots on tile and concrete at every store.

R20

I know the one of guys who was behind all that. My partner grew up with him, and his parents are long time family friends. His family are very well off, and after the heat started to come down, they sent their son on a year long stay in Switzerland. Then off to Australia for another year.

Here's one good thing about Texas.

The only thing refined in my part of Texas is oil. I refer to pick-up trucks as Texas cars. I'm the only one on my block who doesn't have a pick-up in his driveway. They suspect I'm really a Californian (true). Hey, the price of housing is still cheap in many parts here and a good place to retire. My better educated friends are online and live on the coasts.

Chance Crawford when young was a good example of what Texas does well. Blond, blue eyed, “All American” 18-28 year olds.

California does that way better than Texas.

"All American" lol, what a pathetic joke.

Weren't they part of the Confederacy?

Love the Tex-Mex aspects of the state.... The young latinos all know how to dance the traditional way!

Dallas. Terrible.

Houston. Ugh.

Houston. Looks like bacterial growth in a Petri dish.

We really are a cancer on the planet.

Sugarland - lots of parts underwater during Hurricane Harvey..........why would anyone choose to live there?

What have they contributed other than Enron and fossil fuels?

Chili, some good music, great bbq....

With global warming - Houston is in for regular flooding. Dallas will see even more insane storms. And the entire South will be unbearably hot (well, already is) and water will be an issue. There is a reason Texas is so cheap. Americans love cheap things regardless of quality.

Houston is pretty much the only major city in the US I've never visited (unless you count the airport.) Worth adding to my bucket list?

A huge state full of bigots and hate mongers and racists who all think they are the supreme example of 'murikkkans.

Yet, getting more and more purple. Openly gay elected officials so they can’t all be bigots and haters, eh , R73?

If you want to visit Houston, I recommend April or October as the best months. Avoid from June 1 through about October 1. It's a great place to visit for food and medical care (God forbid you're sick). I'd watch for a concert or art exhibit you're interested in and schedule around that.

If you're into art, I recommend a visit to the Menil collection. If you avoid the summer, the Rothko Chapel is within walking distance from there. And it's in the south part of the gayborhood, Montrose.

A high-end boutique hotel on Montrose Blvd, la Colombe d'Or would put you walking distance or a very short drive to gay bars. I don't know anyone who's stayed there, but I've eaten there and enjoyed it. There are plenty of more affordable options.

La Colombe d’Or is fab but VERY expensive.

Houston is worth a visit. I spent a lot of time there for work and enjoyed it. Not the history of San Antonio and the Riverwalk. But vibrant and more interesting than Dallas or Austin. Like it much more than any other Southern city including Atlanta, Nashville. Great food. A gayborhood. Art. The Rothko Chapel alone is a reason to go. Check out the Dan Flavin exhibit next door also.

I usually try to do an Airbnb in Montrose/Museum district. La Colombe d’Or is overpriced - and usually filled with weddings on weekends. Hotel ZaZa is also good. A short taxi away - but a cool boutique hotel and better than staying downtown. It’s near Rice U which is worth a walk as well.

Hugo’s near Montrose is a great restaurant. But the city has a lot of great food. Ninfa s for TexMex, Nikos Greek.

Houston is underrated. Probably the most vibrant and diverse city in the South.

Super lustful state. #1 in lust.

And Hotel ZaZa would put you across the street from the Museum of Fine Arts, two blocks from the Contemporary Arts Museum and three blocks from the Museum of Natural Science. It has beautiful views of Hermann Park. And it's on the Metro Red Line train, which would take you south to NRG stadium, north through Midtown (straight clubs and restaurants), downtown (Toyota Center & Geo. R. Brown Convention Ctr), and further north.

There's plenty to do and see in Houston, but you'll want to plan a bit.

Dr. Elby was right all along! I can't count on Cliff or Dusty or Bobby to save me! I'm going to stop JR mah-self!

R17 Sugar Land. Two words.

R73

Texan born and bred here. I've lived here most of my life. Mostly between Dallas and Austin. I'll say, the longer I live here, the less I like it.

Back in the 70's and 80's, at least Texans aspired to something. They aspired to be "world class" and have taste and culture and class. My parents even emulated that back then.

Now, most people outside of the cities aspire to nothing more than cammo-wearing, gun-toting, bible-thumping MAGA devotees.

JFC, there's over a quarter million square miles in Texas and half these posts are about Sugarland and Plano of all fucking places. You queens seriously need to get out more. Go camping or something.

R83, thanks for that. That actually gives me some hope.

Is Plano still a good place to score drugs? If so I will make a trip.

R86 you can score drugs anywhere.

Houston has some nice things-great shopping, restaurants and entertainment. But it's hotter than hell in the summer. My electric bill in my 1400 sq ft home is $600 in July, August and September. My taxes are nearly $5000. per year. I could live with the high cost but still the damn heat is miserable and actually seems to be getting worse. You literally can not be outside at all in summer. Mosquitos everywhere too. Hateful hateful weather.

Yeah - most of Texas in the summer is brutal. This time of year is nice (though this week is bizarre - freezing even in South Texas). But whenever people complain about the winter cold up north, just remember the intense heat for 6 months is no fun.

Texas will continue to grow - just so much space plus internal and external immigration. Affordable housing and growth in jobs. But not a place I would choose to live full time.

My friends in Sugar Land are Pakistani. So they don’t eat the BBQ, but they eat everything else.

R84 Sugar Lander and Austinite here: agreed. Terlingua is a must-see for anyone who truly wants to get off the grid.

[quote]My friends in Sugar Land are Pakistani. So they don’t eat the BBQ, but they eat everything else.

Why would they not eat the BBQ -- isn't most Texas BBQ beef? (Brisket, right?)

Don't care for Texas, Texans, or the Texas attitude.

Well, Yeee-Haaaw, R93!

Why do Texans think they are special? It is as charming as 7 days of constipation.

Texas BBQ is generally not halal.

Starring Beverlee McKinsey!!

Please give Texas, including all of it's 'muricians, back to Mexico. Then we can build the wall.

I'll take Houston over New York City. Yuck.

I lived in Dallas and Fort Worth for about a year. My husband at the time was doing a job in those areas,so as usual I would pick up little jobs to have something to do. I was waiting tables at a Dennys and there were a group of little old church ladies that looked so sweet and so Norman Rockwell that I was absolutely astonished to hear the vile bigoted racist shit coming out of their mouths . Another time I was in a grocery store and the cashier was being an absolute cunt to an elderly mexican gentleman to the point I cursed her ass out and made a big old scene. They offered my husband a permanent position and I told him point blank he could stay but I was leaving and would never set foot in that shithole state again. My fathers family was from Texas,and after having lived there I understood completely why they were all such racists. That being said,I thought the men were exceptionally hot (when young) and I got the best dammed weed dirt cheap ! Also,the thrift stores there were loaded with amazing finds,we had to rent a uhaul to drive back to florida!

Nailed it R100. Dallas at least. Good for you.

Houston is much more livable because it is so ethnically diverse - and generally less “Texas”. Dallas is the epitome of the Texas stereotype and the worst part of TX in my opinion.

[quote]Texas BBQ is generally not halal.

But there's no reason it couldn't be made with halal meat, right?

Houston has some nice architecture. Dallas is Ugly with a Capital U.

I remember visiting there back in the day, they had a radio station which advertised, and without any irony, "Music for your Upward Mobility"

One of the most handsome guys I knew came from Longview, and I don't think he's willingly spent an hour in Texas in his adult life.

Yeah I'm sure R84 has spent time camping in Santa Elena canyon....not.

Texas is the land of monotonous bland scenery. Even its mountain manage to disappoint. And the misnamed "hill country" would be overmatched by Kansas' Flint Hills in a scenery contest.

What it does have are scary forests like the Big Thicket, filled with violent inbreds and the ghosts of murdered strangers.