There's a fundamental misunderstanding on here --- by people who have never lived in Texas --- about the people and the culture there.
Just as the Texans have their stereotype of "New Yawkers", so do the Northeasterners have theirs of Texans. Both of these stereotypes are wildly inaccurate. Unless of course, you really are like Archie Bunker, Tony Soprano or one of the ladies from the SNL skit "Coffee Talk".
I lived in Texas for five years and loved it. It wasn't the scenery. It's plug ugly. The weather is bad ... unless you compare in the Central and Western NY. What makes Texas a good place to live is the Texans.
As opposed to being "problem-oriented" with a never-ending list of complaints --- like the typical NY'er --- the Texans are optimists. It's a place where people feel good about themselves, their lives and their prospects. Versus the never-ending kvetching that you hear from Boston to DC.
After years of being an Iggles season ticket holder, I was disoriented when I went to games at Cowboy stadium. Who were all these polite, knowledgeable, well-dressed fans? Where were the crowds of belligerent, foul-mouthed drunks booing and fighting I had become used to at The Vet?
High school football is a huge deal down there. It's what binds some of these places together as a community. Towns pour a lot of money into it, some of which is at the expense of things like school libraries. But its no worse than the teacher's unions have done to the school systems in the Northeast. I was shocked to see the large number of teachers in Montgomery County MD earning over $100K for 180 days of work a year in front of smaller and smaller classrooms.
