5 ms·

Not too surprising. The major cities in Texas are very diverse, dynamic places, with a lot of bootstrapping/entrepreneurship in the culture. I lived in Houston

Not too surprising. The major cities in Texas are very diverse, dynamic places, with a lot of bootstrapping/entrepreneurship in the culture. I lived in Houston for a bit, and one thing I noticed is people there never ask “where do you work?,” they ask “what do you do?” It was incredibly common for someone to answer with something like: “I’m a carpenter and I’m building up my furniture-design business. I’m also working at a bank for now while I get that going.” Underrated place.

randyrand 8y ago
It could be surprising to some people that it's in conservative state - one of the most conservative.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  It could be surprising to some people that it's in conservative state - one of the most conservative. You've really got to let go of your stereotypes and do some actual research. For example, in the most recent election the results for senator were 50.8% Republican, and 48.3% Democrat. That's not hardcore conservative by any definition. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-texas-elections.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/...
  - randyrand 8y ago
    A single data point doesn't have enough data imo.
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      So follow the link and explore. There's tons of data there. Here’s one for free: The previous mayor of Houston is openly gay, and currently CEO and President of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute. That doesn’t sound like “most conservative” to me. There’s plenty of other data points out there. But the best way to overcome bigotry is to do independent research.
vertline3 8y ago
Diversity may be a piece of the puzzle, but there are other diverse places, so possibly more is contributing?
- bazooka_penguin 8y ago
  Cheap labor?
  - vertline3 8y ago
    I don't know, I was thinking maybe because Houston is a large trade/energy hub. But maybe that is also too simple. Probably a lot of factors
- reaperducer 8y ago
  No income tax helps.
  - mywittyname 8y ago
    The gov't still get their money through higher property taxes. This has been a problem recently, as property values and accessed values have gone up dramatically in the past few years. Lots of this money gets funneled up to the state to help pay for programs. It's gotten bad enough that the state is looking to cap property tax growth, much like California currently does. We have a good idea how that will turn out. And it will likely stress budgets enough to require implementing state income tax, or raising sales tax (maybe both). https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/growth/article213050609.html https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/growth/article21...
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      The Metroplex (North Texas) is not all of Texas.
reaperducer 8y ago
Underrated place The problem is that a large portion of the nation enjoys clinging to their stereotypes of Texas and Texas cities. A place could be more liberal than Berkeley, but if it's in Texas a certain segment of the population will think it's nothing but King of the Hill. This is what happens when people get their information from the internet echo chambers and talking political heads instead of going places.
- amyjess 8y ago
  Ultimately, there are two issues that come into play: 1) Our state government is often at odds with the cities on this. Case in point, the Lieutenant Governor and the state legislature nearly passing a bathroom bill in 2017. It was only stopped because the Speaker of the House put his foot down and refused to allow a vote. Businesses were vehemently opposed to a bathroom bill, but that didn't matter to the Lt. Gov, the state Senate, and all the members of the House who would've voted for it (it would have been a majority) if the Speaker allowed it. The extreme conservatism of the state government also means that there's no statewide non-discrimination laws (and the legislature came within a hair of revoking the ability of cities to have their own non-discrimination ordinances in 2017, but Speaker Straus squashed it along with the bathroom bill), which means that if you're openly LGBT and you set foot outside one of the little urban islands of blue, you're basically screwed. The state government will also regularly target blue cities' regulations, as well. In 2017, the state legislature revoked the cities' ability to regulate rideshare companies in response to Austin passing consumer-protection laws that Uber and Lyft didn't like. More recently, the state AG is suing Austin for passing a mandatory sick-leave law arguing it violates free enterprise. If you're a blue person living in a blue city in a red state, this is what you'll have to deal with. 2) King of the Hill is never far away, no matter how blue your city or neighborhood is. If you're in Deep Ellum, a very blue hipstery neighborhood of Dallas, you're only a stone's throw away from Garland, which King of the Hill was actually based on. If you live in deep-blue Austin, you're not far from Pflugerville and Round Rock, which are much more conservative. Now, personally I don't mind it. As liberal as I am, I live in the suburbs, and I love living in the suburbs, but well, you get the confluence of both this point and the above one... Keep in mind the way our cities are laid out, there are seamless transitions between cities and suburbs, and our embrace of edge cities means that much of the local economy is in the suburbs. People who live in blue cities may very well end up spending most of their time in red suburbs. This means that a) the lack of statewide discrimination laws and other protections will affect you personally, and b) people who don't want to set foot in Arlen will often end up having to do so. You can't just say "I'm going to move to Deep Ellum and never set foot outside the neighborhood" because the metro area isn't set up for people to get everything they need from one neighborhood or even from one city. You can expect to have to set foot in some deep-red parts of town for work or shopping or some other essential service. For the record, I'm a liberal LGBT Texas native who has never moved out of town and currently lives in a conservative part of Dallas proper and works in a very conservative suburb. I've only ever considered moving out of town when a bathroom bill was on the table, and the Lieutenant Governor's recent announcement that he's given up and isn't going to pursue it this year has made me decide against a move I was considering. I love Dallas to death, and I never really wanted to move even in 2017 when I was worrying myself half to death over the bathroom bill (I would have moved if it passed, but I would have seen myself as a refugee, and I'd never stop pining for home), but it's despite the state government's shit, and I can understand why a lot of people just don't want to deal with it at all.

randyrand 8y ago

It could be surprising to some people that it's in conservative state - one of the most conservative.

reaperducer 8y ago
It could be surprising to some people that it's in conservative state - one of the most conservative. You've really got to let go of your stereotypes and do some actual research. For example, in the most recent election the results for senator were 50.8% Republican, and 48.3% Democrat. That's not hardcore conservative by any definition. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-texas-elections.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/...
- randyrand 8y ago
  A single data point doesn't have enough data imo.
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    So follow the link and explore. There's tons of data there. Here’s one for free: The previous mayor of Houston is openly gay, and currently CEO and President of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute. That doesn’t sound like “most conservative” to me. There’s plenty of other data points out there. But the best way to overcome bigotry is to do independent research.

vertline3 8y ago

Diversity may be a piece of the puzzle, but there are other diverse places, so possibly more is contributing?

bazooka_penguin 8y ago
Cheap labor?
- vertline3 8y ago
  I don't know, I was thinking maybe because Houston is a large trade/energy hub. But maybe that is also too simple. Probably a lot of factors
reaperducer 8y ago
No income tax helps.
- mywittyname 8y ago
  The gov't still get their money through higher property taxes. This has been a problem recently, as property values and accessed values have gone up dramatically in the past few years. Lots of this money gets funneled up to the state to help pay for programs. It's gotten bad enough that the state is looking to cap property tax growth, much like California currently does. We have a good idea how that will turn out. And it will likely stress budgets enough to require implementing state income tax, or raising sales tax (maybe both). https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/growth/article213050609.html https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/growth/article21...
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    The Metroplex (North Texas) is not all of Texas.

reaperducer 8y ago

Underrated place The problem is that a large portion of the nation enjoys clinging to their stereotypes of Texas and Texas cities. A place could be more liberal than Berkeley, but if it's in Texas a certain segment of the population will think it's nothing but King of the Hill. This is what happens when people get their information from the internet echo chambers and talking political heads instead of going places.

amyjess 8y ago
Ultimately, there are two issues that come into play: 1) Our state government is often at odds with the cities on this. Case in point, the Lieutenant Governor and the state legislature nearly passing a bathroom bill in 2017. It was only stopped because the Speaker of the House put his foot down and refused to allow a vote. Businesses were vehemently opposed to a bathroom bill, but that didn't matter to the Lt. Gov, the state Senate, and all the members of the House who would've voted for it (it would have been a majority) if the Speaker allowed it. The extreme conservatism of the state government also means that there's no statewide non-discrimination laws (and the legislature came within a hair of revoking the ability of cities to have their own non-discrimination ordinances in 2017, but Speaker Straus squashed it along with the bathroom bill), which means that if you're openly LGBT and you set foot outside one of the little urban islands of blue, you're basically screwed. The state government will also regularly target blue cities' regulations, as well. In 2017, the state legislature revoked the cities' ability to regulate rideshare companies in response to Austin passing consumer-protection laws that Uber and Lyft didn't like. More recently, the state AG is suing Austin for passing a mandatory sick-leave law arguing it violates free enterprise. If you're a blue person living in a blue city in a red state, this is what you'll have to deal with. 2) King of the Hill is never far away, no matter how blue your city or neighborhood is. If you're in Deep Ellum, a very blue hipstery neighborhood of Dallas, you're only a stone's throw away from Garland, which King of the Hill was actually based on. If you live in deep-blue Austin, you're not far from Pflugerville and Round Rock, which are much more conservative. Now, personally I don't mind it. As liberal as I am, I live in the suburbs, and I love living in the suburbs, but well, you get the confluence of both this point and the above one... Keep in mind the way our cities are laid out, there are seamless transitions between cities and suburbs, and our embrace of edge cities means that much of the local economy is in the suburbs. People who live in blue cities may very well end up spending most of their time in red suburbs. This means that a) the lack of statewide discrimination laws and other protections will affect you personally, and b) people who don't want to set foot in Arlen will often end up having to do so. You can't just say "I'm going to move to Deep Ellum and never set foot outside the neighborhood" because the metro area isn't set up for people to get everything they need from one neighborhood or even from one city. You can expect to have to set foot in some deep-red parts of town for work or shopping or some other essential service. For the record, I'm a liberal LGBT Texas native who has never moved out of town and currently lives in a conservative part of Dallas proper and works in a very conservative suburb. I've only ever considered moving out of town when a bathroom bill was on the table, and the Lieutenant Governor's recent announcement that he's given up and isn't going to pursue it this year has made me decide against a move I was considering. I love Dallas to death, and I never really wanted to move even in 2017 when I was worrying myself half to death over the bathroom bill (I would have moved if it passed, but I would have seen myself as a refugee, and I'd never stop pining for home), but it's despite the state government's shit, and I can understand why a lot of people just don't want to deal with it at all.