This is a question for those of you from Texas. The only place in Texas I've ever been is the Houston airport, so I am operating blindly and from those often ill-informed stereotypes we all have about other places. So, please don't get the spirit of this question wrong.

A young family with children that we are close to is moving from a pretty liberally-oriented area of the Twin Cities to Fredricksburg, Texas. While not being at all vocal about it or political activists, they are non-religious and don't attend church, in favor of universal healthcare, in favor of choice, in favor of gay rights, in favor of gun control, believers in complete gender equality etc. I'm sure you get the picture. Their circle of friends now and in college was well-educated/professional, quite politically liberal while still being traditional, family-centered around their children if that makes sense to people.

If you are a Texan, how do you think they will fit in, and do you think they will find a peer group they mesh with? Thanks for your perspectives.

A much better forum to ask questions of this type in is:

http://www.city-data.com/

Great site bachslunch.

Yes. Most men drive pickup trucks and drink beer as they drive. Most men also chew tobacco and own at least one firearm. Nobody plays hockey and football is the state sport. Bar-b-que isn't that ketchupy stuff up in Yankeedom. Every town has a Baptist or Methodist church and towns with a large Hispanic presence will have a Catholic church. Half the state attends church on Sundays so it'll be lonely on Sunday mornings until church lets out. People don't believe much in Hubert Humphrey-style welfare in Texas. People like their taxes real low. Winters aren't six months long. Almost everybody white outside of Austin votes Republican. George W. Bush is considered a liberal Republican in Texas.

I've lived in Texas my whole life and know plenty of people with all or some of the above views. I personally don't think they will have a problem fitting in at all.

Most of the people that I have met over the years (with the exception of a few) don't have a problem with opposing views, and they don't push their agenda on you.

I've been invited to events, etc (particular church, bible study, petitions for some cause, etc) that didn't agree with my opinions and I have declined with a polite "no thank you" and it never changed their attitude toward me and not brought up again.

The hot topic around here seems to be illegal immigration.

I know the hill country is growing, but I find Fredericksburg to be an interesting choice for a young family. Most of the people I know are more in the retirement phase of their life. (But I really don't know that many people there)

Best of luck to your friends

OMIGOSH how horrible for your friends! They must realize that everyone in Texas lives and interacts with each other through their political and religious beliefs instead of evaluating the quality of the person with whom they're dealing. Therefore, your friends are in for a real shock when the come down here with their crunchy ideas and look for gays to befriend.

Of course, liberal Minnesotans won't have a peer group in Texas because there are no well-educated professionals here south of the Mason-Dixon line. After all, there are no quality schools in Texas that match the University of Minnesota or St. Cloud State. And the state in which Whole Foods Market started is a terrible place for those seeking green grocers and organic food.

Honestly, the spirit of the question is hard to get wrong. The question itself is insulting and demeaning. People are who they are and if they have redeeming personal merit they won't and shouldn't be judged by their politics unless their politics are so integral to their personalities that they have none other than their political beliefs. Funny that those who seem to preach tolerance and acceptance seem to approach others from a political perspective whilst those who just try to live and interact with others as "jus' folks" don't worry about that issue first.

And if your friends are coming here for the purpose of agitating for a Euro-style welfare state, Obamacare and California-level personal income taxes, they will feel completely out of place.

We also don't have ice-fishing.

Big Russ might be surprised to find out the road goes both ways. I used to work with a woman who moved from Alabama to Seattle and was concerned that the only worship she'd find there would be Satan-worship.

julies, one of my best friends moved to Dallas a number of years ago. She wasn't a member of any church and was closer to the liberal end of the politicals spectrum and she loved both Houston and Dallas. She found plenty of friends, enjoyed its cultural attractions, and learned to like BBQ. I hope your friends have a similar experience.

Many, many years ago, I moved from California to Texas, much to the chagrin of my liberal friends, who thought that my only scenery would include rolling tumbleweeds.

Fredricksburg is a wonderful town, and, I'm sure, has its share of liberals and conservatives. After all, you get to pick the people that you hang out with, so choose wisely! I'm sure that you will.

They would fit right in in Houston or Austin. I can't speak to Fredericksburg though since I haven't lived there. It's kind of a tourist town with a lot of B&Bs and little shops - very small. I think the bigger issue here is going from a large city to a little tiny town.

bachslunch-- a great site with lots of interesting info to delve into. I wasn't familiar with it, so thanks.

Thanks to most of the rest of you for honest, balanced, thoughtful opinions and appraisals. jcb--I've also heard that this is more typically a retirement community than a place young families gravitate towards.

Big Russ--sorry if I have offended you, but your statements also just reinforced my own stereotypes. I do think it was a legit question when I compare the well-known and well-documented voting tendencies of the state of Texas with the fact that the town to which they are moving, according to the data, has a population that is much less educated than the demographic of the neighborhood/community they currently live and the fact that Texas is a part of the Bible Belt. In a small town the combo of those things can sometimes prove to be problematic. And, let's be honest, as far as close friends and those we tend to chose to spend a lot of time with, we all typically select those with similar situations, viewpoints, interests and demographics.

Well-known and well-documented voting tendencies? What does that mean? Sounds like another Texas bash. Texas voted Democrat for decades before Reagan. George W. Bush was the first Republican governor ever to be re-elected in Texas, and only the second Republican to hold the post after 1874; and until Bob Bullock died in '99, Democrats held the Lt. Governor post (which is where the real power in Texas politics resides) for 125 straight years.

And I'd hardly call San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Dallas "Bible Belt" cities. Considering that three of those four have populations in the top 10 of the US, someone who is urban, well-educated and professional could assume that large Texas cities have a significant spread of cultural, political and sociological outlooks.

And 321go, I'm not surprised, but your statement reinforces my point. The "well-educated" professionals who are urban, sophisticated and allegedly knowledgeable should know better. An uneducated Alabaman does not raise such expectations.

Ultimately, what I said stands, the question is insulting. How that reaction "reinforced" your stereotypes is mysterious (perhaps folks are offended when insulted and act accordingly?). I'm not a native of this state or this region, I'm probably as well or better educated than your friends, and I'm certainly not in the religious majority. Somehow, I've survived and this is a fine state in which to do so.

But what does San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas have to do with her friends? They are moving to Fredricksburg, which seems like a pretty small town.

"""Big Russ might be surprised to find out the road goes both ways. I used to work with a woman who moved from Alabama to Seattle and was concerned that the only worship she'd find there would be Satan-worship."""


Yeah, right, I think everyone knows that the northwest is the least-religious area of the country. "Satan" is yet another fictitious religious character.

Rural Texas has two kinds of music- country and western.

Texans don't put kidney beans in their chili.

Lone Star is the beer of choice. Long Live the Long Neck.

For a more vivid portrayal of rural Texas, watch Peter Bogdonovich's "The Last Picture Show." It hasn't changed much since.

Julies -- It is comments/sentiments like that – spoken or unspoken – that might get your friends in trouble, mainly because, whether you intended it or not, you make it sound as if being politically liberal, non-religious, highly educated and Northern is "right" and being politically conservative, religious, less educated and Texan/Southern (not necessarily the same thing) is somehow amiss. Perhaps not what you intended, but it certainly can come across that way. Your friends need to make sure that they do not keep comparing Fredericksburg and Texas to the Twin Cities and Minnesota. That is a quick way to turn people off - especially Texans.

The situation is Fredericksburg is no more "problematic" than any set of characteristics that differ from what one is used to. A move to the Twin Cities might be equally problematic to someone from Central Texas.

All that said, your friends sound like they would be much more at home in Austin, which is much more liberal (in most ways) than the rest of Texas, than in Fredericksburg. I don't know Fredericksburg that well, but on the whole it is going to be more conservative than what they are used to. As I mentioned before, they will need to be perceptive as to when to voice their opinions and when to keep silent, so that the people around them do not write them off as smart-aleck, know-it-all, good-for-nothing Yankee carpetbaggers. And don't think it is only the more conservative locals who will do that!

And for what it is worth, I - a politically conservative, religious, highly educated Southerner (but not native Texan) - managed to make plenty of friends (albeit mostly conservative ones) and survive (and even enjoy) living in liberal Austin for a number of years.

This isn't travel related and should be in the Lounge.

By the way, WHY are they moving to Fredericksburg?

And do they know it is birthplace of World War II Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and home to the National Museum of the Pacific War? If they have not already, they might want to check out the museum's website, http://www.nimitz-museum.org

The fact that the museum is there probably tells you something about the town's character.

This isn't the lounge?

Liberal, urban Minnesota to small town Texas--will there be culture shock? Posted by: julies on Jun 16, 10 at 9:25am
Posted in: Fodorite Lounge

Or is my sarcasm meter broken again?

Just to clarify - this thread was started in the US forum and has been moved to the Lounge.

"A young family with children that we are close to is moving from a pretty liberally-oriented area of the Twin Cities to Fredricksburg, Texas"

What the hell for?... because they are going to hate it.