Texas

Cameron County, Texas, USA (North America) – April 2019 —   The city of La Feria, located in Cameron County, Texas was one of the poorer counties in the state in the 1980s and probably still is. Growing up as a child in the deep South, I remember three things that are specific to that small town. In the Summer months, pieces of cotton that would tumble down the street when the agricultural trucks would deliver it to the weighing station near home. The diesel smell was thick in the unbearable heat; the lunch time siren going off at noon was reminiscent of a warning for a tornado. Making it into town took no more than a ten minute walk down the street to one of the main roads – the entire town was pretty walkable depending on where you wanted to go. As a child, the Dairy Queen and the snow cone stands were huge attractions – if you had more money, the DQ was the better option. The strip of land that held many of the retail stores in town (including one of two local grocery stores) was always bustling since people would spend time with their families cooling off in the summer heat. With temperatures running daily over 100 degrees and with many families experiencing little to no air conditioning options, it made the trip to the grocery store or the gas station a vital trip I’ve heard a few more stores have been added and the town has become a bit bigger (not as safe as before), but those changes were to be expected.

Atascosa County, Texas, USA (North America) – February 2019 —   My hometown is Jourdanton, Texas; located in the county of Atascosa and is about 50 miles south of San Antonio in the United States. I grew up there in the 70’s but you wouldn’t know it was the seventies because it was a small rural town and it was about two decades in the past. I liked that it was a peaceful town with very little crime. There was a lot of racism though and diversity was not only discouraged it was resisted. Girls signed up for Home Economics and boys signed up for shop class. There wasn’t a Walmart or a Walgreens but there was a Dairy Queen and a Dollar General. If you wanted more like maybe a Pizza Hut or an H.E.B. you had to go to the nearest next town. The town’s ethnic makeup consisted of Polish Americans, German Americans, Czech-Americans, and Mexican Americans. Everyone ate tacos and kolaches and for the most part got along all right. The small town being in Texas meant the summers are very hot and the winters are relatively mild but temperatures can and do reach freezing in the winter. The topography is flat with mesquite trees, oak trees, and cactus. The sunrises and sunsets are very beautiful. There is a small public library and the historic county courthouse is situated there much to the chagrin and envy of the surrounding small towns.

Dallas County, Texas, USA (North America) – February 2019 — I grew up in Dallas, in the late 1980’s. As a huge city, I have fond memories of the cultural diversity of it’s various neighborhoods and suburbs. Growing up I had friends of different races and different economic statuses and they all had unique modes of living, both in method and location. I felt like I had something to learn from all of them. Dallas had an explosive and influential Music and Arts culture in the 80’s. I used to love taking the DART bus down to ‘Deep Ellum’ which was the club district on Elm Street at the heart of downtown. It was a place that was constantly changing and evolving. Graffiti was legal in that area and the walls of all of the buildings were covered for several blocks with amazing works of art that were perpetually being overwritten with new art pieces daily. There was always music of all genres streaming out of the clubs and into the street and all types of cuisine from street food vendor carts to the high-profile sushi bars and fusion restaurants. All types of people congregated there and it was always humming and bustling with throngs of patrons. Sitting with my underage friends on the street corner eating hot dogs and listening to the live bands play from inside the clubs are still some of my fondest early teenage memories. I moved away from Dallas to a much smaller town around 1992, but I have gone back to visit several times. Every time I go, I look for all of the small things that have stayed the same. Some small stretches where the street art is still encouraged. Live music clubs that still exist and hold fond memories. While the trendy restaurants have all reinvented themselves 20 times over, I still recognize the mixed groups of people- young, old, Black, White, Hispanic- congregating there and interacting with each other in familiar ways. So much has changed in that area, but some things seem to be permanently etched into the face of that area.

Travis County, Texas, USA (North America) – May 2018 —Austin is an incredible city to live in. There is always something to do whether you want to be outdoors, listening to music, eating amazing food, or living the lake life. The ONLY thing that I could truly complain about is the traffic and it exists because Austin is so awesome and so many people are moving there every day. With that being said, it is getting more crowded and expensive but it makes sense. People are friendly so it is so easy to meet people and they are NICE people too! Austin feels like a somewhat big city but in comparison to a Los Angeles or something similar it really isn’t that big. The summers are brutally hot so you will spend most of your time in air conditioning, swimming pools or lakes but you get used to it. It can be cold during the winters and you will come across some beautiful thunderstorms so watch out for flooding because there isn’t a whole lot of drainage in the city. That is probably the only other con in addition to the traffic. Otherwise, Austin is just a wonderful place to live for persons of all ages and backgrounds. There is so much to do, it’s beautiful, the people are great, the food is addicting and I would recommend it to anyone!

Bexar County, Texas, USA (North America) — April 2018 — San Antonio Texas is known for the Alamo, and Spurs basketball. There is so much more to this city. It is so deep in cultural history that it is just bursting at the seams. The food here is amazing. If you have never been able to drive thru to pick up a chorizo and egg taco and a cup of coffee on your way to work, you have not lived! The festival’s here run back to back of exciting events. Next week kicks off our 10 day fiesta. It is held downtown, on our beautiful river walk and full of food, fun, crafts, art, music, and so much more.

Dallas County, Texas, USA (North America) — April 2018 — I currently live in Dallas, Texas. It’s one of the largest cities in the United States and home to the headquarters of some of the major corporations. It’s also commonly referred to as DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth). The city is bustling with activity. In the heart of Dallas, there’s an active lifestyle during the day as well as the night. During the day, there are people working in the skyscrapers throughout downtown. During the night, there are people out and about at the numerous restaurants/bars situated in the heart of Dallas. It’s always busy wherever you go. That’s one of the things I don’t like about Dallas. The traffic can be horrible at times, especially during rush hour. However, the food scene is one of the best in the country. There’s a variety of restaurants that serve world class cuisine for all types of palettes. When you go on the outskirts of Dallas, there are cool, trendy places to eat, and you can also hike one of the many surrounding trails. There is a wealthy neighborhood, referred to as Highland Park. People would sometime just drive in the neighborhood to take a peek into Dallas high society. Besides the food scene, it also has one of the best nightlife. There are numerous bars, and uptown is the hot area on the weekends. Dallas definitely encompasses everything you need in a city in a very small crowded area.

Bexar County, Texas, USA (North America) — March 2018 — I live in San Antonio, Texas. I generally enjoy my time here, especially the fall and winter when weather is cooler. I’m not fond of the heat. It easily surpasses 100 degrees in the summer daily. We have a strong Latino culture of which I am a part of. We have taco shops, or taquerias scattered throughout the city, and people visit these daily for breakfast or lunch. We have a conjunto music festival in the spring time, Hispanic Heritage celebrations, and Spanish peppers everyone’s English in some way. We have a large Asian festival every Chinese New Year, where people with Asian heritage invite others to lean about their cultures, from Chinese cultures to Punjab culture. We value diversity here, so we have many Catholic churches, protestant churches, a few mosques, a few gurdwaras, and Buddhist temples throughout the city that I like to visit. We have LGBT pride events in the summer. I like to attend sci-fi conventions that pop up around the city with my sister. Locals don’t really visit historical sites that we’re known for besides the missions, or old convents used to convert Native Americans, because of the parks and wildlife around them. As a fairly active person, I like to visit the parks here for their walking trails.

Midland County, Texas, USA (North America) — March 2018 — I live in the Permian Basin. It is west Texas, in a place called Midland, Texas. It is in the United States. It is a small town where the nearest towns are very isolated and there are not much fun things to do. The landscape is mainly a desert style with cactus. It gets very hot during the summer and can get very dangerous ice storms during the winter. This is a place for oilfield workers to migrate to to make a lot of money quickly. Because the town is small it can not adapt to the high population arriving daily. Every day there are always reported car accidents and lots of deaths. This is one of the deadliest places I have ever lived. The rent and cost of living is high because there are not enough homes to live in. There are are only basic things here, such as Walmart and lots of churches. There is crime here, where you hear people’s homes were broken into and things were stolen. The quality of education is not that good as you hear kids getting pregnant and teachers having sex with students. If I could move I would, but I have no choice since my husband works in the oil field.

Hood County, Texas, USA (North America) — March 2018 — Granbury is a wonderful city on the outskirts of the DFW metroplex. I love living here because it still has a small-town feel even though we are close to the city. We have a wonderful historic Square that showcases our downtown area. Shops and restaurants line the streets, and our Opera House offers a variety of plays and musicals all year long. The city often has seasonal festivals and craft fairs on the Square. Granbury is growing very quickly, and its having growing pains. Our schools and roads are not quite ready for the huge influx of people that live in all of the new developments that are springing up. New store are going in quickly. Some people do not like all of the growth and wish that Granbury would stay small.