656993 Sun Oct 04 15:10:16 -0700 2009 11 30 Site Talk 0 5078602 I may be opening a can of worms that has been discussed ad nauseum, so please excuse the question, if such has been the case. I'm new to this site and while I was perusing its amenities and options, I clearly noticed all the major cities in the country have their own board. With that being said, Austin has its own board but Dallas and Houston, two of the largest metropolitan areas in the country (top 6) do not? As an expat Houstonian having lived in NYC for well over a decade, I am well accustomed to the almost rote condescending remark, "Oh, I hear Austin is cool." from any acquaintance or newcomer once they learn your hidden stigmatizing identity. In other words, I know from the dominant ideologies on the coasts, Austin is viewed as an oasis of intelligence, culture and probably food, unlike the rest of the state and cities. But as most on these boards know to varying degrees, I presume, Houston (and Dallas from what I've heard) have much more to offer in culinary options than Austin. Not to diss Austin, but outside of BBQ I've never had a meal that couldn't be equaled or exceeded tremendously in Houston. I love coming home to Houston and seeing just how much it has to offer, especially in terms of ethnic diversity. Humorously, I was sincerely asked by one New Yorker a few years ago whether Texas has Asian people and whether sushi ever made it there. He is college educated and works for a major media company. Ignorance manifests itself in many ways. Coastal ignorance, myopia, and elitism from the website? Or "pragmatics" that they would not get enough traffic independently. Granted, studies show over and over, that traffic usually increases when options are opened up. Sun Oct 04 15:10:16 -0700 2009 1113871 cwmills 1 5078651 There is a breakaway group called Houston Chowhounds. I have ongoing bewilderment at the way Texas is seen by others. Whether it's Food Network or whomever doing their obligatory buying cowboy boots scene, or ESPN, ( I think it was them during the Houston baseball all star game), doing a decent spot on Houston, and then cutting to the real Texas, a pig farm. As A Texas ex-pat, it is your duty to learn them Yankees about the real Texas. Asians, indeed we have them, the original Chinatown downtown, a sprawling one out on Bellaire, and a growing Korean area centered near Long Point with the wonderful, fairly recent Super H Mart, and 99 Ranch Market coming soon. Sun Oct 04 15:32:46 -0700 2009 5078602 198541 James Cristinian 2 5078737 http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/475963 Sun Oct 04 16:16:07 -0700 2009 5078651 16897 scrumptiouschef 3 5078860 and http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/315822#2222600 Sun Oct 04 17:41:31 -0700 2009 5078737 10027 Chris VR 4 5079131 To the previous two posters, thank you for the links. That certainly clarifies the preexisting discourse on the topic that as a newcomer, I was not privy to. I was sure I wasn't the first to bring it up as a salient topic. With that being said, "I hear Austin is cool." :) The NYC rote response "intended" as politeness in the midst of a Texan that isn't apologizing profusely for his/her regional/cultural heritage. I try James, but as we all know, cultural stereotypes are difficult to break in the minds of people who are usually unwilling to rethink them. Sun Oct 04 19:57:52 -0700 2009 5078860 1113871 cwmills 5 5079524 I noted the oddity of Texas and the separate Austin board: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/653330#5061453 I guess they are 10X hipper, cooler and more food savvy that the big three? BTW, I am a Texan. I spent fifty years of my life in Dallas and northern burb's. I have now been in CT for over seven years. When I first came up I was harassed by a few who asked if everyone had a gun rack, cowboy boots and cows and oil in their back yard. Sometimes I didn't help; I made the myths even bigger! Mon Oct 05 06:13:58 -0700 2009 5079131 137946 Scargod 6 5079546 Again, read the post I linked to above, which addresses why Austin has a board. Mon Oct 05 06:25:56 -0700 2009 5079524 10027 Chris VR 7 5116612 We are well over two years since this experiment concocted around the SXSW. No D-FW or Houston boards in the offing? I'm sure you must have to have the participation to justify it. Just a sampling of the last seven days shows that the Boston area board has 3X the postings that Texas does. Austin is about a fifth of Boston's. Together, only half. Texas participation pales in comparison to all of the New England board. Sad that my home state and its people have such little interest in finding better food. Is that it? Is it that Texas has fewer good restaurants, fewer people on the internet or what? You would think with the big cities Texas has and add the medium-sized ones, that they could equal the interest of basically Boston, the Cape, the Berkshires and central~lower CT! Tue Oct 20 05:52:43 -0700 2009 5079546 137946 Scargod 8 5117388 It's not that we don't want the boards -- we want a great many new boards. We just don't currently have good options for creating new boards and dealing with existing archives. Tue Oct 20 10:39:04 -0700 2009 5116612 10021 Jacquilynne 9 5117894 I understand. It would take some damn good custom programming and then that would require some human intervention if the area or restaurant wasn't obvious in the title or text of the OP. Then if it's Texas or California, how do you create an area if not limiting it to the boundary of a city? I see you say "Boston area" for that New England sub board. I know some think Austin should be expanded to include all the good barbecue out in the hills! It might be nice if they had radii that delineated, say, San Antonio from Austin. If you create a new sub area, perhaps you could just deal with original posts from six months back and let the others be archives? Tue Oct 20 13:16:25 -0700 2009 5117388 137946 Scargod 9 5118044 "We just don't currently have good options for creating new boards and dealing with existing archives." Which has always been my main point when answering queries on this subject over the years. Unfortunately this is a growing problem / moving target. Each passing day makes it worse. I truly believe that the powers that be need to open up the problem to the site users and let them comb through the archives helping to place the posts, board by new board, where they belong. I've said this before, but it's a fact that it will take a village to make a new Chowhound. And you know that there are a number of hounds on this site that would dig into a challenge like this with gusto. Tue Oct 20 14:05:06 -0700 2009 5117388 108169 Servorg 1 5116324 I had the same question. I joined a break-a-way group for Dallas, but like the idiot I am, I forgot the password. Perhaps this is why Dallas doesn't have its own. Can I get a d'oh? Mon Oct 19 22:26:15 -0700 2009 5078602 277493 DallasDude