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Is Plano The Armpit Of Texas?


happytown

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I have a friend whose ex-wife is very manipulative, pretensious, and dishonest.

After their divorce many years ago she moved to Plano and still lives there. Was she seeking her element? I'm sure there are many fine people in Plano. Please don't miss my point. What I want to know is, does Plano have a disproportionate share of people like her, compared to suburbs like Sugarland, etc etc.

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You could no more generalize the Plano population than you could the New Orleans population, as many people did over the last several weeks. Just as there are some bad apples in the New Orleans crowd, maybe even more than a usual group, there are some manipulative uber-materialists in Plano, maybe even more than a usual group.

What there is probably more of in Plano, is pressure to conform, and conform in a shallow materialistic way. Is there more of this pressure, and more people succumbing to it, than Sugarland or the Woodlands? Hard to say. One could only observe that it is not attractive in any place, or in any segment of the population.

Frankly, I've noticed more and more of this personality trait in the inner loop as well. It's just the price we pay, living in a rapidly gentrifying or "upscaling" area, as some on this forum like to say.

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Plano is a text book case of zoing gone overboard.

Being someone who grew up in Plano, and have lived off in other places and traveled plenty. Plano is not the norm when it comes to avg income and quality of life. That is true. Now the media LOVES to play up stereo types. I can tell you that the "newer" Planoites do have some issues of having to have a the right stuff blah blah blah. I can also tell you that it is no different then going to other suburbs. My brother lives in Pearland, and its forming yes, and he says the people are so real. But on my visits there and meeting his neighbors on several occassions, they are NO different the people I grew up with. They are obsessed with having the newest and best electronics, the best cars, who can put in the swimming pool first, getting their toddlers into the right beginner schools, driving them to their spanish and music classes for 2 yr/olds. Its called NEW MONEY, and get that especially in any suburb where the houses are built big and cheaply, where people associate big with quality of life, and where there is a serious disconnect with day to day life of basic human interaction because people are trapped in their cars, brick veneer cheap homes, and the lastest electronic gadgets. I have found this to be so true just even here in Dallas after living in the uptown area for the past 3 years (previously Manhattan). People here in the uptown area have such a higher tolerance of social acceptance then people in (yes) Plano, Carrolton, Rowlett, Oak Cliff, Woodlands, Pearland, Katy..etc.

Plano is not a book case of zoing gone overboard. Its a city that has learned and morphed over the years to plan their city following trends of similar suburbs throughout the US. Frisco is your poster child for that.

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I think happytowns observations are what the rest of the world hates about the whole of the US.

However, not to bring the subject matter to a downer I am very good friends with a BBC correspondent in France. He said to me that Texas and the city of Houston have been looked at differently ever since Katrina. They think that Texans in general are good people.

I think that is a big improvement from them thinking that we are mindless cowboys who elect people into office like G.W. Bush. So that they can pledge war against who ever they want.

--

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You said:

I think that is a big improvement from them thinking that we are mindless cowboys

I say:

Get out more and travel to the EU. They DON'T think of us that way.

Keep your politics out of it.

Sorry, MidtownCoog

What I wrote earlier was not politics. I was simply repeating and relaying what my friend said to me. He alluded to me that some people think that way.

Perhaps it should not have said

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Let me tell you about Pearland, not even 10 yrs. ago it was all cow patures,trailer parks and "hole in the wall" dives, that you wouldn't go to without taking your local chapter of the "Hell's Angels" with you, and "might" make it out alive. A very sleepy little community, where you did NOT want to get pulled over by the local police in a "speed trap". Then about 7 years ago, "BOOM", Pearland is the new Sugarland ? What happened? A bunch of developers bought a bunch of SWAMPLAND down there, and believe me, it is swampland, and they turn it into FUNCITY ! That's what happened. Amazing, truly amazing, you really can polish a turd !

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You said:

I think that is a big improvement from them thinking that we are mindless cowboys

I say:

Get out more and travel to the EU. They DON'T think of us that way.

Keep your politics out of it.

I think it's interesting that you and I have had very different experiences with the perception of Texas abroad. Most likely this is because there are so many people and it's likely that neither of our experiences are typical. Here's a brief summary of my experiences off the top of my head:

Czech Republic - Don't care that you're from Texas. Only care that you're from America. Think Americans are cool. Please bring more American dollars.

Austria - Think everyone from America is a cowboy hat-wearing, horse-riding yahoo. Very hostile toward Americans, with some exceptions. Look down on American money.

Hungary - Believe they're too cool to care that you're American until it comes time to pay the bill, then they're all about it. Only reference for Texas is "Dallas" reruns on Russian television.

England - Pretty much accepted as one of them. Can go unnoticed. Telling them you're from Texas receives a nod of recognition, but no over hostility. TV and newspapers more focused on New York and Los Angeles than Texas.

Canada - When I drove across the border from Washington State the lady at the booth looked at my license and said, "You're from Texas. Where are your guns?"

Again, a variety of different experiences from a variety of people over three years. None of them are probably typical.

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