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Old 06-01-2013, 01:38 PM   #81
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Oh OK, I'll bite (though I think you really DO know the answer) - it's cheap because that's what it's worth to live there! And I've never lived there either, though I DID look a couple decades ago at a job in my field that my company (P&G) had in a plant they used to have in Dallas. I was shocked at how little homes cost in some pretty nice appearing towns - like Plano. I found out later (after turning down the job offer) that's because that was all they were worth.
Hey, you brought it up.

So Texas is cheap because it's cheap. Got it.
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Old 06-01-2013, 01:43 PM   #82
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Not any clearer, at least to me.

You get what you pay for. Clearer now?
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Old 06-01-2013, 01:49 PM   #83
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I'm beginning to see the picture...
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Old 06-01-2013, 02:12 PM   #84
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So I'm here because I married a native Texan and something just keeps pullin' them back. We've been in Austin since '99 and it's hard to believe how much it has grown - the city population is more than 2x and the metro region probably more. Property taxes are huge and the schools are still not properly funded - the latest court case on this has still not been resolved. I would not choose to move here now, but we have enough roots that we'll probably stick around.
You remind me of my non-Texan mother who was thrilled to leave the state and never wanted to return. As you probably have observed, Texas is funny about outsiders. You are "in" because your spouse is a native.

I was born in Texas but my Dad (who has roots that go back many generations) decided we'd move to CO when I was an infant. I returned for a while for business and bought/sold homes there. I was amazed how Texans treated me once I told them I was a native.

Colorado LOVES outsiders, BTW.
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Agree that water is/will continue to be a problem in TX, NM, AZ, CA, CO, etc. as populations grow.
No kidding. I'm looking at my grass browning since we can only water 2X a week. I think it is also due to climate change. We never needed AC here in the past and we are getting snow that doesn't thaw in 3 days.
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Old 06-01-2013, 02:26 PM   #85
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Agree that water is/will continue to be a problem in TX, NM, AZ, CA, CO, etc. as populations grow.
Agree, and water (the non-drinking variety) is already or will become a problem in many other states due to endless river flooding, rising oceans and more powerful hurricanes.
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Old 06-01-2013, 03:10 PM   #86
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Wasn't there a song that went sorta like: Happiness is love of Texas in the rear view mirror.
It went, "Happiness is Lubbock, Texas in my rear-view mirror", but predictably (the author -- Mac Davis -- being originally from Lubbock), that's not exactly how the song winds up....



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Old 06-01-2013, 05:14 PM   #87
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You get what you pay for. Clearer now?
I'm pretty sure we're being insulted. But it's one strange insult.
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Old 06-01-2013, 05:32 PM   #88
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When I read these articles about moving somewhere because he cost of living is low, I am always somewhat bemused. I would guess most people live where they do because that is where they grew up. I was not born in Connecticut; I live here because I like it here. Yes, it is expensive, but I would still like it even if it were cheaper. And I'm certain that there are many people who live in Texas simply because they like it there. The lower cost of living is an added bonus, but I bet most would stay even if it were more expensive. Some of us are just Connecticut people, and some are Texas people. It seems supremely short-sighted to base your choice of home state on the cost of living there. If you don't fit in someplace, the fact that it's cheap there won't make you fit in any better.
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Old 06-01-2013, 05:39 PM   #89
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You get what you pay for. Clearer now?
To me it is interesting to see what we discover when we look at those who back their opinions with their pocketbooks.

Texas is actually the third fastest growing state in the US. It seems that a considerable number of people are under the impression that you get more than you pay for in Texas.
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Old 06-01-2013, 06:28 PM   #90
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Still not sure what you think we all know is the reason Texas is cheap--we amateur economists are dying to know how it bucks the laws of supply and demand in that five cities there are in high demand, per the OP.

I have never lived in Texas myself.
Actually for all the cities mentioned the big thing is that there are essentially no limits to growth, Houston has 270 degrees of growth only the the direction of Galveston and its bay is it limited. Dallas Fort Worth has no limits, San Antonio and Austin can grow east easily and somewhat to the west. Since there is no shortage of land then house prices don't go sky high. IMHO a large part of the expensive nature of housing in many
places is the restricted supply of land due either to natural or man made restrictions. For example the SF Bay area has both the Bay and a number of fairly steep mountain areas. La has grown out to the mountains around it except perhaps to the East and not far from the Mountains there, thus the jumping of the Mountains into Palmdale, and Victorville. Las Vegas is mostly human imposed restrictions (plus water supply issues).
Texas has the advantage that there is essentially no federal land in it because the state got to keep the unoccupied land when it was annexed.
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Old 06-01-2013, 06:41 PM   #91
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To me it is interesting to see what we discover when we look at those who back their opinions with their pocketbooks.

Texas is actually the third fastest growing state in the US. It seems that a considerable number of people are under the impression that you get more than you pay for in Texas.
I think I know how this ends. Been there, lived through that.

http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=259

Texas in 30 years or less?

Fortunately, people are catching on that maybe California isn't paradise after all. We have earthquakes of course, deadly bridges, assorted pit vipers, a nice selection of deadly spiders, and the usual tornados and whatnot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._in_California
http://www3.gendisasters.com/califor...quake-oct-1989
http://snakeworx.com/photogallery/ve...-of-california
http://www.calpoison.com/public/spiders.html
http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/California

Move to Texas! It's safer!
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Old 06-01-2013, 07:26 PM   #92
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It went, "Happiness is Lubbock, Texas in my rear-view mirror", but predictably (the author -- Mac Davis -- being originally from Lubbock), that's not exactly how the song winds up....



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Thanks Tyro, last tme I heard that song was around 86 or 87. So he found Hollywood unwelcoming and eventually wanted to be buried in Lubbock. Got it.
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Old 06-01-2013, 07:29 PM   #93
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Actually for all the cities mentioned the big thing is that there are essentially no limits to growth, Houston has 270 degrees of growth only the the direction of Galveston and its bay is it limited. Dallas Fort Worth has no limits, San Antonio and Austin can grow east easily and somewhat to the west. Since there is no shortage of land then house prices don't go sky high. IMHO a large part of the expensive nature of housing in many
places is the restricted supply of land due either to natural or man made restrictions.
This reflects the fundamental axiom of urban land economics. In the West, the big coastal cities are all land constrained. Seattle and Vancouver BC are similar, though Vancouver has a flat Fraser River Valley to the south and east. Seattle has Puget Sound on the west, Lake Washington then the Cascade Mountains on the East. There is a narrow band open south and north, but other cities are have been there a long time already. I saw an interesting tidbit in the local business newspaper. An area in SODO of about 3.x acres is the last buildable, unoccupied site for residential or commercial projects in Seattle city limits. It's the former north parking lot at the old Kingdome.

The same paper had a feature story about what they call TOD, Transit Oriented Development. Good sized residential/retail developments are going up, even away from mid-city, with no or very little parking but next to or very close to transit hubs. In at least one spot they are building right on what was formerly a Park and Ride lot. A lot of money is being bet on this, and they have little trouble selling the project units to young single or DINK couples, at least where there is some attraction beyond an apartment building and a bus or rail stop. Some mistakes have been made trying TOD projects next to light rail stops in an area that looks like South Central LA. Got to have some coffee houses, some trendy bars, at least a sporting chance of surviving a walk down the street after dark. Hills help too, wherever there are flats and hills, the hills seem to cost more unless the flat is next to salt water or a big lake. I know of exceptions, where hills and prime flat areas are both expensive.

But where there are young people, children have a habit of showing up. It will be very interesting to see if the families will stay, or if they will brave Interstate 5 or the bridges, in hopes of finding happiness with a SFH and yard. Within Seattle, SFHs are certainly not cheap, and there are essentially no new ones, other than townhomes which are also not cheap. The ~1250 sq.ft. one for sale next to my condo got multiple offers and sold quickly at ~$500,000. And this is a handy, but not primo location.

If our employment situation goes bad, prices will certainly drop. Really fast property appreciation seems to depend on a growing affluent population with growing job base, and land and/or political constraints which limit building outward. Outstandingly beautiful small cities like Santa Barbara IMO will always be expensive, until the next 8.x earthquake kills a bunch of people.

So called knowledge industries which employ young well educated people seem to prefer to stick close to urban cores, at least recently.

I think the next 20-30 years should be quite exciting.

Ha
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Old 06-01-2013, 07:30 PM   #94
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......

Fortunately, people are catching on that maybe California isn't paradise after all. We have earthquakes of course, deadly bridges, assorted pit vipers, a nice selection of deadly spiders, and the usual tornados and whatnot.
.......
Move to Texas! It's safer!
And don't forget the Santa Ana winds and the LA smog, with traffic parked six lanes wide on the freeways.
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Old 06-01-2013, 07:36 PM   #95
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Fortunately, people are catching on that maybe California isn't paradise after all. We have earthquakes of course, deadly bridges, assorted pit vipers, a nice selection of deadly spiders, and the usual tornados and whatnot.

List of earthquakes in California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
San Francisco, CA Deadly Earthquake, Oct 1989 | GenDisasters ... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods
California Venomous Snakes |
CPCS: Spider Bites
Tornado History Project: California

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And don't forget the Santa Ana winds and the LA smog, with traffic parked six lanes wide on the freeways.
You guys are infringing on my copyright....
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Old 06-01-2013, 08:35 PM   #96
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You get what you pay for. Clearer now?
Why don't you just say what you mean, instead of being so indirect about it?

Spell it out.

Texas is cheap because it's so damn hot.
Texas is cheap because it's so damn flat.
Texas is cheap because it's got rattlers and hurricanes.
Texas is cheap because it's filled with Texans.
Texas is cheap because ______ (whatever).
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:32 PM   #97
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Thanks ever so much for posting this Alan. I hope to return the favor some day...
Hmmm - Texas is a great place to visit, spend some money AND THEN LEAVE! Sort of like Oregon.

There - does that help?

.

Heh heh heh - Kansas City is great but I will be back to Port Aransas next February.
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:41 PM   #98
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You guys are infringing on my copyright....
Hey, at least you can add "and you get what you pay for" to "doesn't take kindly to yankees, etc." to the anti-Lone Star list.

I believe the main reason people move to Texas is because the Texas flag is seriously cool.
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:57 PM   #99
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Hmmm - Texas is a great place to visit, spend some money AND THEN LEAVE! Sort of like Oregon.

There - does that help?

.

Heh heh heh - Kansas City is great but I will be back to Port Aransas next February.
But, but, but I used to live in Tejas (Austin and San Antonio). Whenever the thermometer would top 100 which was often I would lovingly look at the map and dream about the cool, cool Pacific Northwest, forests, mountain trails, wonderful snow capped mountains... been here in Oregon for many years now. Not going back to Tejas.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:28 PM   #100
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You get what you pay for. Clearer now?

Not really....


You must not have seen other places..... I visited people in Westchester county (sp?) in NY.... the house cost more than $1 million.... but it was a lot smaller than the one I live in and built a LOT worse... I was shocked that it was more like my mom's house.... old and small....

The only thing it had going for it was 'location'....

I lived in a high rise in NYC.... the place cost over $1 mill (company paid for it)... my mom's current high rise condo is better built, better maintained and a LOT cheaper... again, the only thing the other had for it was that it was in NYC....


So, unless you are talking about location..... your stmt makes no sense...
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