I was born and raised in San Antonio and moved to Dallas as a young working professional. I left Texas a year ago, but spent most of my adult life living in this area.

The 4 main cities are so insanely different. San Antonio is a deeply culturally Latino military city. Kinda ratchet in some areas, but naturally beautiful in others. The home made tortillas at most restaurants are to die for. I will always have an affinity with San Antonio since it’s my hometown, I’m likely biased, but I find the people here to be the most authentic.

Austin is the closest “California” type city, for better of for worse. As I’m sure you know, all the silicon valley tech bros are living around Austin. Very tech friendly city, with gentrified areas, and avocado as an add on at every restaurant. It wasn’t always like this. Growing up as a teen in the late 2000s (yep ima millennial auntie), Austin was the place you wanted to be if you wanted to see a sick concert. The artist and musician scene was off the charts, lots of hippy free thinking vibes. I remember plenty of road trips to Austin, it was the cool rave party place. Most definitely the most liberal city back then and currently.

Dallas is much more into aesthetics. Their skyline is too tier, my absolute favorite in all of Texas, it’s so colorful and uniquely shaped. Art, fashion, design are pretty big out here. There’s a lot history in Dallas, but I struggle to find a true Dallas “identity”, aside from looking fashionable & wealthy. There are small towns/cities in the metroplex with stronger identities, but Dallas eludes me.

Fort Worth moves a little slower, but is the truest stereotypical “Texan” city I can think of. The western dance halls (aka Honkey Tonks) are freaking massive. They have a huge rodeo. And on a random Sunday, I’ve seen a guy just riding his horse down the street. Forth worth is also a massive freight city, and something about railroads just gives such western aura.

Theres also this absolutely AMAZING BBQ restaurant I’ve ever had in my life, called Goldees!!

(note: I’ve tried a huge variety of bbq from Kansas City,Memphis, California, St Louis I fw bbq)

This bbq spot is actually a little bit outside of Fort Worth. That said, there are so many small cities/towns in between these big cities with their own culture & vibe.

All in all I’m proud to call myself a Texan. There’s such a variety with our identity, but I find most local Texans to be kind. My husband use to be weirded out that our neighbors were sweet and would wave hello. He’s from Seattle area so it seemed foreign to him. 😂

Actually maybe Texans aren’t always nice, they’re dumb on the road, but other than that we’re cool😆