Another oddball question! (Dallas, Austin, West: fit in, houses, high school)

[gigi927]

I know someone else here posted an oddball question, so I am going to post one (actually a few) also!

1. I've lived in a few places (Scottsdale, southern California) that I've felt are very image conscious. A lot of attention is paid to what brand of clothes you're wearing, what kind of car you drive - even going to Target I will see women completely decked out in Juicy Couture sweatsuits and such. I'm not that sort of person at all...will I see a lot of that in Austin? On both of our trips we did not notice that sort of "lifestyle" at all and we were refreshed by it. I saw a lot of gals in baseball caps, tshirts and shorts...I was so happy! I am hoping someone can confirm our initial impressions!

2. Is going to church on Sunday morning as prevalent in Austin as most other Southern towns? Are eyebrows raised if you don't go to church? I.'m guessing because it's more of a progressive town that it's not an issue, but still just curious.

3. Are there places to find good sushi? My husband is a sushi freak and he is afraid he will never eat good sushi again. he is happy to become a BBQ fanatic but is kind of worried about his sushi cravings!

thanks as always!

[Marat]

Originally Posted by gigi927

I know someone else here posted an oddball question, so I am going to post one (actually a few) also!

1. I've lived in a few places (Scottsdale, southern California) that I've felt are very image conscious. A lot of attention is paid to what brand of clothes you're wearing, what kind of car you drive - even going to Target I will see women completely decked out in Juicy Couture sweatsuits and such. I'm not that sort of person at all...will I see a lot of that in Austin? On both of our trips we did not notice that sort of "lifestyle" at all and we were refreshed by it. I saw a lot of gals in baseball caps, tshirts and shorts...I was so happy! I am hoping someone can confirm our initial impressions!

2. Is going to church on Sunday morning as prevalent in Austin as most other Southern towns? Are eyebrows raised if you don't go to church? I.'m guessing because it's more of a progressive town that it's not an issue, but still just curious.

3. Are there places to find good sushi? My husband is a sushi freak and he is afraid he will never eat good sushi again. he is happy to become a BBQ fanatic but is kind of worried about his sushi cravings!

thanks as always!

I don't think it is that image concious. It's hot, so people wear what is comfortable. Overall, pretty casual. You'll fit in wearing anything. I don't think anyone is going to care, or notice, if you don't go to church. Sushi, I don't know about, since I don't do anything sea related other than tuna salad. My best friend eats sushi all the time with no complaints. I'm going to guess you can find some good places around for it, but I couldn't recommend any particular place.

[Spookmeister]

Sushi Sake, Mikado Ryotei, on Research (US183) and Umi in South Austin will surely be enough to sate those cravings.
Austin has its fair share of fashionistas but in my opinion they don't waste their time and taste on grocery store runs!

[bumpy_1954]

There is a sushi chef at the local supermarket (HEB), and the selections looked well prepared, tho I am not a fan - tried it but did not fall in love.

No one cares what you wear. My son, 21 yrs old, gets most all his clothes at goodwill. I see young women wearing saris, and they don't look Indian to me at all. 'Comfortable' is the code. Then, of course, there is that Leslie character we ran into at Batfest on the bridge the other day - a tall guy in drag with a leopard-skin bikini and make-up, apparently locally famous guy that everyone just points and laughs at. If he can get away with that, no one will look twice if your shoes don't match your purse around here!

No one looks at you funny if you don't go to church. My husband and I are actually looking for a church just for the social aspect - we are not bible-thumpers by any means. I kinda like the Presbyterian church - they don't push guilt and let you have your doubts without looking down their noses at you. Just my opionion - not to get into a religious vein....

[momof2dfw]

1. Juicy Couture. Yes you will see people wearing it along w/ some teens that wear it. BUT, that is not everyone or everywhere. You will see every dress of sorts out. Sloppy t-shirts w/ stains hanging out w/ ripped shorts and worn out shoes/sandals all the way to the person that just got off work at their "stuffy" office or the one headed out for a nice dinner for a special occassion. I'd actually say that the "formal" dress of going out has declined in recent years from what I have observed. Now for the fru-fru charity parties for the socialites they do get all decked out (like I go to those, LOL!!!! hahahaha).

2. Why does this question or similiar come up everytime someone is relocating to Texas or a Southern state? We don't care, really . You don't go to church, we do. I've said this a million times. You never see someone posting on California or the Northern states about how will they be accepted because they do go to church. All I will say is this, if you meet a neighbor or befriend someone that does go to church on a regular basis, don't call during normal church times regularly(Sunday mornings till noonish) and don't think they are snubbing you if their Sunday is busy w/ church activities. Besides, Austin is a huge college city. How many college kids REALLY get involved in church when they are away from home? Now, this is not to say you will not run into the person that believes that the only way someone can be "saved" is by hitting them over the head w/ a 100lb Bible. Those people do exist but they are more from small (very small) churches that usually are not growing and have not in decades. There are radicals everywhere.

3. Sushi is big. You will find it no problem.

[gigi927]

momof2...I hope I didn't frustrate or offend you...I think the question comes up because, at least from my experience in CA, being outdoors is "church" for a lot of people and the liberalness of the state means that there are more alternative lifestyles than perhaps what you see in other parts of the country. People don't ask "will I be accepted if I attend church" because there is no predominant religion, lifestyle, etc. It's so diverse. I know I was shocked moving from Chicago (where almost everyone I knew was Catholic and went to church on Sunday) to CA (where no one I knew was catholic and no one went to church).

It's good to know that people may be busy on Sundays with church stuff and not to take it personally. I don't care either way - I didn't actually say I didn't go to church...I actually am looking to find a better church. I was just curious if there was a prevalence or pressure to attend. Thanx for the info!

[laguna1995]

Gigi-Too true about the clothes the women wear just to go to Target. It is all about image around here in So Cal. It is hard to grow up around it if you don't have tons of money. If you didn't sport all the name brands when I was in high school you were so looked down on (we didn't have Juicy Couture back then, it was just Guess and Esprit - man, I sure feel old now!!lol)

How is your move going by the way? Have you closed escrow yet?

[momof2dfw]

Gigi, no I was not offended in the least at all . I just thought it rather ironic that this same question keeps coming up all of the time. Like I said, by even looking on other states that I am interested in for trips or a 2nd home it just cracks me up that so many people are so concerned over this issue. I can tell you as a Native Dallasite there have been MANY times that being a Christian and involved in church that I felt like the oddball out. Even a kid in school way back when, and I ain't saying how far back . Then the last house we lived in amoungst our neighbors we were it. Seriously on a block of 14 houses we were the ONLY family that went to church regularly. You have to remember and see that with the huge number of people that are relocating to Texas and have been since the early 80's that most are not from Texas at all. So you will not be alone at all. But there are pleny of churches around if you do want to find a new church home and get involved. Plus the churches do provide a great source of family support. A lot of them have great mdo (mothers day out) programs that range all the way from just a babysitter to having a great and recognized curriculum for the youngsters. There are many other programs that you can find for whatever your desire or need may be.

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by gigi927

...I think the question comes up because, at least from my experience in CA, being outdoors is "church" for a lot of people and the liberalness of the state means that there are more alternative lifestyles than perhaps what you see in other parts of the country.

I was born and raised in Santa Barbara, went to nude beaches starting at age 11 in the 1960s, lived in the Bay Area for 12 years, lived in Amherst, MA, and spent lots of time in Seattle. I feel like there's more tolerance for diversity and more progressive attitudes in *central* Austin than in any of those places, because it not only tolerates extremely non-conformist and leftist views and lifestyles but it also embraces other points of view as well. You can encounter a kind of left wing fascism in some parts of the country, it gets to me in places like Eugene where I feel guilty for owning a car.

Having said that, I must warn that central Austin is a unique blue island in a sea of red. Example: last November there was a ballot initiative to change the Texas constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. It won overwhelmingly in every county in the state except Travis (Austin's county.) There was one district in south-central Austin that voted against the ballot measure by a margin of 93%. Hopefully you can see how radically different that is from the mainstream Texas way of thinking, in which the measure won by something like 76%.

I'm not arguing for or against a political viewpoint in this post, what I'm saying is that Austin is very liberal but also very diverse and tolerant of different points of view. Whatever your religion, your way of life, your voting habits and your style of dress, you can get along fine here, but I'm only talking about the city itself and not all the surrounding areas.

My general impressions:
West Texas is a live-and-let-live region, very libertarian and very friendly.
North Texas is extreme Bible Belt country
East Texas is like Louisiana, very Southern
South Texas is Northeast Mexico
Central Texas is a blend of all the above.

[momof2dfw]

And no one has mentioned that Austin is the home of Hippie Hollow