Which state is more like Mexico, California (particularly the LA area) or Texas?

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lightning80

I'd say Texas.

I grew up in Dallas (10yrs old to 22) and then moved to LA, Anaheim, and now Ventura County and have been around SoCal for more than 10 years.

Since both states are huge, the amoung of Mexican influence varies greatly depending on which part of the states you look at. Usually, the further away from the border, the less Mexican it becomes.

The border towns are a good indicators. El Paso and Brownsville are basically almost all Mexican. There is very little American influence along the entire Texas border. For California, there aren't really major border towns on the US side. San Yisdro and Calexico are villages compared to the Texas border towns. And in these places, you can still see quite a bit of American influence. Even their counterparts on the Mexico side, Tijuana and Mexicali, are somewhat Americanized. You can actually speak English and get by. You'll have a hard time doing that along the Mexican towns along the Texas border.

By the way, the City of San Diego DOES border Mexico. The land occupied by the City of SD is not continuous. It breaks of at Chula Vista then picks up and continues to the border. Even if you just consider downtown SD as SD, it's still less than 20 miles from the border. And like the others have mentioned, the Hispanic % is really low in SD (and that includes the entire City of SD).

If you want to look at LA (46.5% Hispanic), you might also want to look at San Antonio (61.3% Hispanic).

So, it's pretty clear that Texas is more Mexican than California. It's not even close.

Paris Hilton

Texas, but volumes could be written on thiese subjects you raised...

James Dean

Texas. Make no mistake about that. El Paso and San Antonio have more than 70 percent Hispanic population. Don't forget Corpus Christi too. Regarding California, the percentage of Hispanics is high in MANY areas, but VERY LOW in others.

As for the landscape, I'll definately go with Texas. If you look into a map, you'll find that Texas is deep into Mexican territory. Also, Texas appears relatively primitive compared to the very sophisticated state of California. In fact, San Diego which is on the border with Mexico is less Hispanic than East L.A.

West of Encino

you're kidding, right???

Kobe

texas

keanan w

texas

L!ZZi3

texas.

copestir

First of all Mexico is a beautiful country with very diverse cities ranging from those in a high altitude and then tropical jungles. Neither Texas or Los angeles has this. Mexico has Aztec and Mayan ruins. Where both LA and Texas do not.

Los angeles has a hugh Hispanic population. Not all Spanish speaking people are from Mexico. These are representatives from several Central, and South American countries.
I would say there is a lot of Mexican influence in LA and Texas but neither are like Mexico at all.

beygrl

Have you ever been to LA??? If you had been you would not be asking this question..

david T

LA and San Antonio comparison isn't a valid one. LA is a mammoth global city with 4 times the population in city limit but nearly 12 million contiguously. LA is also a global city whereas San Antonio isn't. Moreover, there are other cities in California that reach an 85% latino population like Santa Ana in OC, so forget about LA being latino. A more valid comparison is to compare smaller cities that are less global.

TX2step

We moved from the LA area to Dallas, TX a year ago, and there is absolutely NO COMPARISON! Los Angeles IS part of Mexico!! The store names are in Spanish; "no credito" is plastered across the store fronts; everything is in Spanish!! San Bernardino County is about 65% Hispanic now, and the other counties aren't far behind.......In Dallas, however, nothing is in Spanish. The store names are in ENGLISH; there's no graffiti anywhere, and certainly nothing in Spanish splashed across the store windows!!

Sav

CA has more latinos but it also has more people. Percentage wise it's fairly similar.

But I think TX, particularly West Texas, has a much stronger latino culture and heritage than CA. In a few weeks is "Fiesta" in San Antonio, which is a week long celebration of mexican culture and they have parades and bunch of other things. Laredo also has some similar big festival that celebrates mexican culture and traditions. CA does not have big festivals like that celebrating mexican culture and heritage.

San Diego does border Mexico; San Ysidro is a COMMUNITY within the city limits of San Diego. And SD is a fairly white city, over 60% of the residents are white and the northern suburbs are VERY white. South of I-8 there is a high percentage of mexican but north of I-8 there are not that many. But if you look at the border cities of TX they are much more heavily mexican. TX also has a much longer border with Mexico than CA and there are more large border cities on both sides. In Ca it's just SD and Calexico . In TX you have El Paso, Laredo, Brownsville, McAllen plus all of their sister cities on the other side of the Rio Grande. TX is also closer to major Mexican cities like Monterey, which is much bigger and more important than Tijuana.

edit: Lavadog, You don't know what you are talking about. I live in San Diego and know for a FACT that San Ysidro is part of the city of San Diego. It has city services like SDPD, SDFD, is part of SD Unified School district, ect... There is no SYPD, SYFD or anything like that. A thin strip of San Diego City limits runs down the middle of SD Bay and connects San Ysidro with the rest of the city. Go and try to find a website for the City of San Ysidro and get back to me. There is NO City of San Ysidro. Imperial Beach is an independent city and has an independent city govt just like Chula Vista and National City. You can read it here for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ysidro%2C_San_Diego%2C_California

San Ysirdo is NOT an independent city and is part of the CITY OF SAN DIEGO. Try to find information that says otherwise b/c you won't.

I'm an urban planner and know all about this stuff.

Perro De Lava

Im gonna have to say neither...

I would guess Montana, or North Dakota..J/K

They are the same..Not all of Texas is like the border towns and Texas is a huge state...Just as is California...

San Diego is not the city that borders Mexico..The city is called San Ysidro and that might as well be Mexico..Also another border town is Calexico..which is just like Mexico except its on the US side

The border towns in Texas are more traditional Mexico lifestyle because the city allows them to live like they are back home.(shacks for homes, wild animals, etc, etc)..In the California side we have way more of a Mexican population but they are more "Americanized" except for those few border cities

The LA area is NOT like Mexico..anyone who says it is is comparing some parts of LA to Tijuana which does NOT represent Mexico..The more traditional Mexican "like" towns would be in Texas .and those few towns along the CA Mexican border.

I just wanted to correct the person below who says that San Diego is the city that borders Mexico..And he also states that San Ysidro is a community in the city limits of San Diego..WRONG AND VERY WRONG..San Ysidro is a city in the COUNTY of San Diego..the same way Imperial Beach is a city inside the County of San Diego...National City, Chula Vista San Ysidro are examples of cities in San Diego County..they are NOT within the city limits of San Diego and in no way shape or form does the city of San Diego butt up against the US /Mexico border..

CarlisleGirl

OHO! You raised quite a fuss! Mexico is more like itself, and both Texas and California are like themselves also. I think this points out the folly of national borders having quite so much importance in our minds.

Think like a citizen of the world and let the blend start a few hundred miles from the border, whichever side you approach it from, not worrying too much about the line itself. Just let the border guards worry about that! :)

phstriton

California definetly

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