Hey there CutiePie2000! I wish I could have gotten on this post sooner! I looove to brag about Texas! Hopefully you aren't tired of reading about Texas yet (not possible). I had no idea that there are so many Texans in here!
I grew up in East Texas and I now go to school in the "Piney Woods" of Texas... exactly what it sounds like. And it's soooo very beautiful this time of year. It's green green green everywhere. I went to school at Texas Tech for a few years (in Lubbock) and it is dry as he** out there. Great for my asthma but bad for skin (no huimidity, dry dry dry). It's beautiful out there. The wind is a pain in the butt, though. It wasn't odd to have 60 mph wind gusts. We had beautiful winters there. It snowed quite a bit, usually after Thanksgiving. But the funniest thing about Lubbock was that they have a severe lack of drainage for the roads. When it rains, it goes on for 30 solid minutes and then the entire town floods. Crazy. The boys there... yummy. But I felt so isolated and missed trees. I wanted to be closer to home so now I go to school in Nacogdoches (the oldest town in Texas!) at a smaller university. Growing up in East Texas, we frequently traveled to Dallas/Ft. Worth for better shopping and baseball games. So I have always been more familiar to the Dallas area. It is so friendly there. The weather isn't too bad, they even get snow occasionally during the winter month (yea, anywhere east of Abeline in Texas has a winter MONTH). My boyfriend is from Houston so I have gotten to know Houston really well over the past few years. It's a high-class town with various job opportunities. But the humidity... oh Lord, it takes some getting used to (esp. for you). To compare and contrast Houston & Dallas, Dallas seems to be a more functional, "get down to business" town. While Houston is more prissy and showy. *I am not trying to piss anyone off, I love every part of Texas with all of my heart. So don't send me any pissy posts.* I have lotsa family in Austin and the cost of living there is outrageous, compared to other parts of Texas. But the lakes and golf courses in Austin are absolutely top notch.
Where you live in Texas depends on what kind of environment you are looking for. We have a varity ot choose from! Personally, I find myself feeling more cozy in Houston. There are so many tucked away areas and suburbs that much of Houston doesn't have that big city feel. My boyfriend lives in River Oaks, a very old Houston neighborhood. It's so comfy there that we take walks at night and I feel safe. Haven't had a gun pulled on us yet!
I see Austin as more compact. Everything seems to be so squeezed into one particular primo area. I considered attending UT but I just couldn't get used to the idea of the school being right downtown. Sure, it's convenient. But it was difficult to tell where the school actually "began". It just blends into the downtown area.
I love that you said you have "romantic pre-conceptions" about Texas! Yes, you will probably get teased for being a Yankee!
Anyone who has ever been here will tell you that Texas is it's own country. And so it is. I absolutley love it and I don't ever want to leave. I love telling people where I am from, although my accent usually gives it away. And not everyone in Texas has a twang (at least I don't notice it) but I have been told that people from East Texas tend to have a more pronounced twang than most areas. But I find it charming.
I am sure I can come up with pages and pages of Texan bragging rights. Bottom line, don't go to California. Eventually, it's going to "earthquake" itself right off of this continent, which I believe is a part of God's plan.
And George W. ROCKS!!!!! Texans are just going to take over everything (again, all part of God's plan)!
