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Old 05-30-2013, 03:36 PM   #41
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Another good repellant to keep the rif raf out of Texas are tornados and hail stones that can get as large as bowling balls.
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Old 05-30-2013, 06:20 PM   #42
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Originally Posted by DFW_M5 View Post
Another good repellant to keep the rif raf out of Texas are tornados and hail stones

Actually I've seen it hail twice in the past month...
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Old 05-30-2013, 06:26 PM   #43
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I think the people moving to Texas are going A) for good jobs and B) for very reasonable cost of living, It isn't just housing, almost everything else is cheaper there too. Food, entertainment, getting your car fixed or some wiring done on your house, whatever is cheaper at least compared to our 2 expensive coastal areas.

I have always enjoyed my time there, and the people most of all. I just don't thrive in heat, though I bet Galveston, or some pier on the South Texas coast might be mighty fine.

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Old 05-30-2013, 09:05 PM   #44
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Don't forget the brain-eating amoebas around here. It's untreatable, and nearly always fatal.
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Old 05-30-2013, 09:09 PM   #45
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Here is why I am NOT moving back to Texas, despite these 10 great reasons:

3. Homes
Homes are cheap to buy, but that is only the beginning. The lower purchase prices may be countered by shockingly high property/school taxes, especially if you live in a good school district like we did. I'd rather pay off the house/mortgage and be done with it, rather than incurring such high annual property tax left to pay for eternity. OK, I suppose I'll give them this one but only if one chooses not to live in a good school district. Some of our friends in Texas went that route, and had reasonable taxes although sometimes no city sewer or water.
I inherited a few condos in Dallas last year, and I was shocked when the property taxes came due. I got a bill from the county, from the city, and from the school district. Geez, everyone wanted a chunk. And a big chunk, too, much bigger than they want here in MS.

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6. Austin in particular
Pul-eeze. Maybe years ago, but now Austin is more and more becoming an annex of the Hotel California.
I used to live in CA, so I think I know what you mean (materialistic and superficial). I did appreciate the open-mindedness of CA culture, but I'm guessing that's not what you're referring to. That open-mindedness seems to have existed in Austin already and I imagine is part of why Californians gravitate there (it was part of my attraction, too).

Anyhow, appreciate you breaking it down for us. I had Texas and specifically Austin high on my list of contenders, but conversations like this are making me drop it way down the list. I think the weather and lack of hills/mountains/forests kills it for me, too. I've always felt at home in the woods/hills, and I'd want to at least be within close driving distance of them.

And I don't do well in heat. I live in MS now, which is really hot 4 months out of the year (if you're in New Orleans, you know). I'm guessing central Texas is even hotter than MS, and probably drier. Yuck.
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Old 05-30-2013, 09:37 PM   #46
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I moved to Austin in summer of 2008, from SF Bay area.

For me it is the kids' education, and living expense. DW don't have to work, and can dedicate more time and attention to the kids.

Extremely happy with my move.

I do miss Sierra Nevada. But hill around here is comparable to coastal range. And I walk on Barton Creek trail every day, including summer.
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Old 05-30-2013, 09:47 PM   #47
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Anyhow, appreciate you breaking it down for us. I had Texas and specifically Austin high on my list of contenders, but conversations like this are making me drop it way down the list. I think the weather and lack of hills/mountains/forests kills it for me, too. I've always felt at home in the woods/hills, and I'd want to at least be within close driving distance of them.

And I don't do well in heat. I live in MS now, which is really hot 4 months out of the year (if you're in New Orleans, you know). I'm guessing central Texas is even hotter than MS, and probably drier. Yuck.
The dryer, intense summer heat in College Station was brutal, in my opinion. Everything dried up and got brown. I much prefer the humid heat here in New Orleans, with out-of-control lush wet greenery. College Station has the huge advantage of no devastating hurricanes, though. So, the climate is a toss-up.

But really, despite my post, Texas is one of my top states (if it was just me; my sweetie doesn't like Texas). Despite all the joking around and criticism, Texas has considerable appeal for me. For one thing, I am an Aggie and that makes a difference.
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Old 05-30-2013, 10:19 PM   #48
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I note an emphasis on the big cities in Tx. I say live 60-80 miles out from Houston, that would include Huntsville, Bryan College Station and Nacogdoches, Dallas would include also Tyler and Longview, the hill country or Segin for San Antonio and Austin, as San Marcos and New Braunfels are falling into the new supercity between San Antonio and Austin. You can find towns with at least a full size walmart superstore. Living 60 miles from San Antonio, I find that I can get most everything except food on the web, and there are enough different grocery chains in town.
Now then decide if you want to be in the city limits or outside them. (You want to be on a county dedicated street however) You can find areas with private water systems etc.
Note that Huntsvill and Nacogdoches have state colleges, as well as San Marcos, and Tyler (at least). Or if you want high country in the middle of nowhere there is always Alpine which has a college but is 200 mi from El Paso. (Very different climate wise from East Texas however).
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Old 05-31-2013, 04:40 AM   #49
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When living in Austin we went out on a launch for Stripers on Lake Buchanan. Once we came in they cleaned our catch for us and threw the guts in the lake. Having grown up on a lake in MN we did this also to feed the turtles. Didn't know in Texas it meant feed the snakes. About 20 came slithering in to clean up the guts. I don't think I ever went in a lake again. Should also mention the Brown Recluse spiders. The wife of out VP got bit reaching in to the cupboard and darn near lost an arm.
Hope that helps REW.
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Old 05-31-2013, 04:47 AM   #50
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When living in Austin we went out on a launch for Stripers on Lake Buchanan. Once we came in they cleaned our catch for us and threw the guts in the lake. Having grown up on a lake in MN we did this also to feed the turtles. Didn't know in Texas it meant feed the snakes. About 20 came slithering in to clean up the guts. I don't think I ever went in a lake again. Should also mention the Brown Recluse spiders. The wife of out VP got bit reaching in to the cupboard and darn near lost an arm.
Hope that helps REW.
Thanks! Your effort in getting the message across is greatly appreciated.
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Old 05-31-2013, 05:49 AM   #51
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I've lived in Austin for about 20 years now. It's nothing like the Austin it used to be. Even the insane are beginning to wonder how crazy the city government has become. Traffic is terrible, every new road plan is a toll road, the city banned grocery bags and is obsessed with putting in choo-choo trains that nobody rides, water is getting expensive, electricity is getting expensive, property taxes are outrageous, downtown is becoming extreme high density with no place to park because our government heroes want everybody to ride their bikes in the 110 degree heat..........

It's not the Austin that I remember.
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Old 05-31-2013, 06:14 AM   #52
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I live in Lubbock, which has about 220,000. It's a nice size, little humidity and low cost if living. We hire people over the phone several times a year from California, Michigan and other places, because they want to move to TX after job lay offs. So far, we've hired some really good people. They love the low housing costs.
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Old 05-31-2013, 06:34 AM   #53
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Thanks! Your effort in getting the message across is greatly appreciated.
Out of deference to REWahoo service to our country, and the board, and his unfailing efforts to discouraging migration to paradise (aka Texas), I have announcement.

I have canceled my plans to trade in the boring sameness of the weather, lack of dangerous critters, and lush tropical fauna and flora of Hawaii, to move to Houston.

I know I will miss the exciting weather, the fragrance of refineries performing their magic, and the sublime beauty of the place. It is with a sad heart that I make this announcement. Fortunately Nord's kid will be able to inform what I am missing since she attends Rice for another year.
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Old 05-31-2013, 07:14 AM   #54
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I know I will miss the exciting weather, the fragrance of refineries performing their magic...
Ahhh, the sweet (crude) perfume of the Houston Ship Channel. Free chemical peel for your sinus cavities...
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Old 05-31-2013, 11:03 AM   #55
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I live in Lubbock, which has about 220,000. It's a nice size, little humidity and low cost if living. We hire people over the phone several times a year from California, Michigan and other places, because they want to move to TX after job lay offs. So far, we've hired some really good people. They love the low housing costs.
I was in Lubbock one day I think on a hot day in late fall when it was snowing. Snowing the fine detritus off cotton being hauled from the fields in big crates on metal trailers. Weird sight.

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Old 05-31-2013, 11:21 AM   #56
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Wanting to work and live inexpensively in a nice affordable home that you own with low taxes can be a great motivator.

In one form or another, it has been the human motivation on migration for eons.
Yeah, but.... TEXAS (Forgive me, we've been watching reruns of Gunsmoke on Encore Westerns....)
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Old 05-31-2013, 11:33 AM   #57
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Originally Posted by LakeTravis View Post
I've lived in Austin for about 20 years now. It's nothing like the Austin it used to be. Even the insane are beginning to wonder how crazy the city government has become. Traffic is terrible, every new road plan is a toll road, the city banned grocery bags and is obsessed with putting in choo-choo trains that nobody rides, water is getting expensive, electricity is getting expensive, property taxes are outrageous, downtown is becoming extreme high density with no place to park because our government heroes want everybody to ride their bikes in the 110 degree heat..........

It's not the Austin that I remember.
Mebbe I change my mind.
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Old 05-31-2013, 11:40 AM   #58
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It looks like REWahoo's attempts to scare folks away isn't working.

Half of the 10 fastest-growing cities in the US are in Texas, according to new figures.


BBC News - 10 reasons why so many people are moving to Texas

I was thinking it was because they didn't visit first before they moved to Texas
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Old 05-31-2013, 12:03 PM   #59
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Yeah, but.... TEXAS (Forgive me, we've been watching reruns of Gunsmoke on Encore Westerns....)
Although the villains in "Gunsmake" are often Texas cowboys, "Gunsmoke" is set in Dodge City, Kansas.

Dodge City, Kansas, also has a cowboy heritage. I've includes two pictures of a feedlot at Dodge City, Kansas.
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Old 05-31-2013, 02:44 PM   #60
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Although the villains in "Gunsmake" are often Texas cowboys, "Gunsmoke" is set in Dodge City, Kansas.
"Gunsmake"? Is that the Texan spelling? I know where Dodge is; it's the show's depiction of Texas & "Texans" that I was referring to.
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