Life in Texas - Texas - page 715

If Texas is a 'Whole Other Country,' as the tourist board
claims, then Austin is another country within that country. The
progressive politics and creative inhabitants of the capital city
are just way too far out there for many Texans. Hippies moved
in during the 1970s and their legacy lives on. Green is not an
idea here, it's a way of life. Even the dot-commers who came
next were totally cool. Today, the high-tech workforce pool (and
favorable tax structures) continues to attract employers like
Facebook and eBay. Downtown especially, the population is
youngish, hip, athletically outdoorsy, and probably has the
highest number of tattoos per capita. Other-city dwellers are
likely to admit Austin's a great place to visit, they just don't want to live there. Austinites
are more than OK with that.
In the Big D you'll find more shoppers and socialites - it's the see-and-be-seen set of
the Texas crowd. And it's not all show. Dallas is sixth on the list of cities that house the
most billionaires (with a 'B') in the world - 14 live in Dallas, to be exact. That's not to
say people aren't friendly - this is Texas after all. Folks here will smile and call you
sweetie-pie along with the best of 'em. Thankfully the big hair and rhinestone-studded
style days passed with the '80s (OK, the '90s). This is the new Dallas , complete with a
new TV show.
In Dallas the money's new, and everyone flaunts it. In Houston the money's old, and
nobody gives a damn. This is the kind of town where the guy in old cowboy boots drink-
ing a Lone Star at the bar might be an oil-company millionaire. Or he might just be a guy
in old cowboy boots. Wearing jeans to a fancy restaurant is not frowned upon, as long as
they're starched. Although completely casual, Houston retains a strong conservative
streak. Even though the city has a large gay and lesbian population and parade, you're un-
likely to see much PDA on the street.
San Antonio is probably the most Tex-Mexican of the bunch, and locals are proud of
their Hispanic art and culture. Town-wide festivals, or fiestas, are common, and you can
hear mariachis on the Riverwalk nightly. These festivities are just a natural out-growth of
the warm, extended-family get-togethers that happen every weekend all around town. If
you're lucky enough to be invited, you'll be calling the matriarch abeula (grandmother, or
beloved older woman) before long.

Kinky Friedman's Guide to
Texas Etiquette (Kinky Fried-
man)

Just a Guy: Notes from a Blue
Collar Life (Bill Engvall)

There's Nothing in the Middle of
the Road but Yellow Stripes &
Dead Armadillos (Jim
Hightower)

Fixin' to be Texan (Helen Bry-
ant)