I was born in Cali, lived there for a year (which i don't remember of course)....then after some moving around, have been in texas for 10 years. Too be honest, I'm not too proud of Houston's lack of public transportation, sites, blandness. I am proud of the sports teams, no income tax, and ease to get around town. I love NY...I love all states.
California is pretty cool because it has everything. Not that surprising because it is the most populous, one of the biggest, and definitely the richest state in the Union. California's economy is the sixth largest in the world. We fall in right after Great Britain. We have beaches, sure, but what about skiing? Check. Deserts? Check. Forests? Heard of Yosemite? Sports? Pretty much all of them. If it didn't cost so damn much, there is no better state in America.
I use to work for the Armed Sevices during the summers on Okinawa (I think they thought it kept us dependents off the streets) and met a lot of GIs (and a lot heading to Vietnam). And I have to say that those boys from Texas with their attitude, their way of talking, the pictures of their girlfriends convinced me that whenever I get stateside, Texas will become my home state. I LOVE TEXAS. RR
oh, there's other states besides texas? i never hear anybody talk about them. except cali cause yeah... my brother is being forced to live there, but he'll be back when they let him out.
While I'm sure some other states know at least something about basketball, I have to say that Illinois is one of the few states besides Texas that I'm fond of and that I could probably spend some extended time there. Champaign-Urbana is a great college town(s), and Chicago is a great city. Even Decatur was nice enough for what it was (one of the times I went to Illinois, I visited someone in Decatur for a spell). I love New York, as well. But I don't think I could actually live there (and didn't like living New York adjacent in Connecticut when I lived there for nine months or so back in the '80s). I could live in Chicago or some of the other places in Illinois. California has a lot of plusses, too, though I haven't been there since 1982 (when I was 11), so I don't know if I could live there or not or how much I would like it there now. D/FW is the only place I feel at home, though (the metropolitan area, not the airport).
this turned from state pride into trashing other states. to all the haters who claim to know what the "NY Attitude" is, are you really basing it on reality, like people whom you have met, or are you just assuming NY is the way it is based on what you watch on TV and the movies? New YOrk is not Seinfeld folks. At least visit the damn place before you diss it. If not, then you know not the feeling of waking up in Manhattan every morning and going out and facing the day in the greatest city in the world. All I'm saying is that I am damn proud to be a Texan and proud to be a New YOrker. Hell I was born in Louisiana! edit: ridiculous. you say NYC sucks, then you say youve never been but you wanna see it. THEN you compare the Beaches of Califonia to the beaches of Texas! I've never been to California , but I know better than that!
WHOA WHOA WHOA, settle down. I'll be honest. That is the image I get of New York City. Cocky and brash, and arrogant. That is what I see on TV, and people I see off the internet. But I know this small majority doesn't actual represent NYC. I know Galveston sucks ass. It's not too shabby, it's just that the water isn't crystal clear, and the beach is well, not really there. This is not right, but trashing other states is kinda like state pride. I know it's stupid, but does it not seem that way? I hate the fakeness of California.
I just moved to New Zealand now, but some part of me will always be a Texan. Specifically, a Houstonian. Austin is nicer, Dallas has more going on, but I was born in Houston. There are good and bad things about Houston, Texas and America, at large. What I love about Houston is the friendliness and unpretentiousness of the people, the pace of life and the best mexican food on earth. Still, the city is too polluted and has too much traffic. Nine months of blast furnace heat may not be for everybody and dodging mosquitos the size of condors is a reality that not everyone on earth would want to share, either. Some people may find New York to be too hectic and California too plastic. The point is that home is not about weather, statistics, economy, clubs, culture or sports. Home is about friends and family and memories, ultimately. There are people in hopeless places like Beirut, or Belfast who love their flawed and battered cities as much as people in Katy, or Soho love where they live...and they are not idiots for doing so. I don't know why loving different cities in the world is like some monogamous relationship. You can love Houston and Paris and Des Moines and nobody gets hurt, right?
I was born in Houston and lived there until I left to go to college at SWT. After graduating from there I've moved to NY where I've been for ten years. I still visit Houston once or twice a year. It will always be home. Now here's my list of good and bad for NY Good: great place for music of all varieties. Great place to see foreign, idependent, and art house films. Great place to find rare books. You can chose just about any hobby or interest and find classes to take or places to pursue that interest. The Bronx Zoo is really terrific. People - There are some really nice people here. Public transportation - You can get just about anywhere in the city for $1.50 There is no better place for theater than the big apple. The city is, in part, a living museum of the country's history from pre-revolutionary war, to the Harlem Renaissance, etc. Bad: No decent Tex Mex in the city. Bar-B-Q to NYorkers means chicken, and ribs. It's hard to find any BBQ beef, or link sausage at all. There are a few Carolina BBQ places, which I'm not that fond of either. I did find one place with 'decent' Texas style BBQ but it's in Queens. The grocery stores in this city are the WORST I've seen anywhere. They are crowded, small, poor selection, and especially poor selection of produce. Public transportation - The subway stations are crowded very hot during the summer and have no real ventilation. Then often to get to your destination, to the subway, or both it requires a walk in the elements whether they are burning hot and humid, or Freezing, and snowing, or raining. Also the subway cars at rush hour can be extremely crowded. The bus can take a long time due to frequent stops, and traffic. Parking - If you do drive in the city parking is a pain. You can park on the street, but your car is at risk, and you have to find a spot, which can take hours sometimes. If you pay for a spot to park it can easily cost $500 per month. I never realized how convenient it was to have huge parking space in front of the store/mall/bank/club/other location you are destined for. Once again walking blocks at a time in snowy slush or pooring rain etc. can really suck. Summer-In the summer the city can take on an unpleasant order. Swimming -Public swimming pools are over crowded and there aren't very many places to swim. Living space - Unless you are very very wealthy one's living space will be much smaller than Texans are used to, may have few windows, and no closests or very tiny ones. Rent is also sky high. I know salaries are higher here too, but I don't think it evens out. Some people - There are plenty of really nice people, and some rude ones as well. Even some nice New Yorkers lean toward the idea that NY is the center of the universe. Many NYorkers wouldn't believe it if I said there were better restaurants in Houston than there are in NY. Many New Yorkers tend to believe anything worth having is here in NY. If it's not in NY it can't really be that great. Free refills(ice tea) - It's hard to find ice tea that's not pre-bottled at restaurants here. When you do ice tea and soft drinks are not free to refill in most places. It's insane. No drive-throughs - There are very few drive throughs. I never how convenient it was after going out for an evening to grab a Whataburger, order of Chicken Nachos etc. on my way home. Well that's my list. And it's all my own observations. Other people may have had different experiences than I did.
<b>Bar-B-Q to NYorkers means chicken, and ribs. It's hard to find any BBQ beef, or link sausage at all. There are a few Carolina BBQ places, which I'm not that fond of either. I did find one place with 'decent' Texas style BBQ but it's in Queens. </b> Wouldn't be Pearson's would it? The problem with bbqing in Manhatten it that there are restrictions on the type of smokers that can be used. Very hard to get Texas style bbq when you can't slow smoke. Dallas BBQ isn't bad if you have to do Manhatten. <b>The grocery stores in this city are the WORST I've seen anywhere. They are crowded, small, poor selection, and especially poor selection of produce. </b> Citarella is the only place my wife will shop. There's one on the UES and UWS. Excellent meats, produce and cheese. There's also the Whole foods on 23rd and 7th. um... Dallas bbq and Whole foods.....
Citerella is freakin nice. they started out here in the hamptones I belive. they also just opened a new location in East hampton. parking in EH is vallet. hows that??? hehe who needs drive through when our grocery stores have valet parking. oh, and actually long Island is likely more what you miss about your texas sized sprawls. there is a great deal of simularity between the sprawl of nong Island and the sprawl of Houston or Dallas. think of manhattan as a once in the world annomaly. there is no other place where we built exclusively up. we had extreem space restrictions. down town Boston is just about the only comparison i hace seen (in the USA
the girls look the best out here in texas. i've seen girls up north, especially boston area, and they are nothing compared to the ones out here. have they heard of make up at all. friends who have gone to school up north, complain that they only see one good looking girl a day, whereas when they used to live in texas they used to see one good looking girl every minute. i'm not complainin!
Citarella is good, but it's always too crowded. I get a littl insane when I'm in there. It's not as bad as Fairway though.
