Moving to Texas

[Eagle43]

This article discusses the problems of moving to Texas. Particular Interest is placed on the droughts and dense traffic. I concur. A runner up is high property taxes. But the Texmex chow is great.

Moving to Texas? Expect traffic and drought (Opinion) - CNN.com


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[REWahoo]

Old news.

Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, pirate attacks and amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, the highest homeowner insurance rates in the US, unbelievably high property taxes, mind-numbing traffic jams, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects, and, lest we forget, doesn't look kindly towards Yankees (per Orchidflower).

[utrecht]

I live just outside of Dallas very close to a lake. Well, I used to live very close to a lake. Now I live very close to a big hole in the ground. The lake has been dry so long that there are now 10+ foot high weeds where there used to be water. If the lake ever fills back up again, it will look like a swamp due to all the weeds. So, yeah, we have a drought problem.

[Car-Guy]

Maybe the US government should ask Texas to secede from the union?

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

We are in stage 3 water restrictions, water once every two weeks and the area is expecting a million increase on population in 25 years? Oh and it will be 95 this afternoon, but we do have brisket breakfast tacos....

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Car-Guy Maybe the US government should ask Texas to secede from the union?

And give up on their plans to sell us to China?

[skyvue]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Car-Guy Maybe the US government should ask Texas to secede from the union?

Many of the people I have met from Texas already think they are their own country!

[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo And give up on their plans to sell us to China?

Now that would not surprise me.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyvue Many of the people I have met from Texas already think they are their own country!

I thought it was!

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[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo And give up on their plans to sell us to China?

It would never work out. The Chinese prefer beans in their chili.

[BuysToys]

We're in north central Texas and also in Stage 3 water restrictions. The rest of the article really didn't apply to us.

We moved here almost a year ago because all my family is in or near the small city we chose for retirement. Our property taxes are about 1/4 what we were paying in NY. Gas is about $.50 per gallon cheaper and, due to no commute, I only fill up once a month rather than twice a week. Our home owner's insurance did go up, but our auto insurance went down. Overall, it still costs us less to live here than it did in NY.

Oh! And our neighbors have forgiven DH for being a Yankee.

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

We paid 2.96 this morning unleaded!

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Texas is infested with
scorpions Yup, see'em all the time, never been bit. Fast forward to 2:09 They Call Me Trinity - YouTube
rattlesnakes saw one once
fire ants Yes- ouch! A constant problem. Painful bite for such a small critter
crazy raspberry ants nope
cockroaches on steroids uncommon around these parts. I think the scorpions hold 'em at bay
killer bees never come across one
mosquitoes not bad around here
ticks never seen one
chiggers Yes! They're called "no-see-ums", 'cause they are too small to see. Bites itch for a few days
tarantulas Saw one once on the road
brown recluse spiders never come across one here
love bugs never seen 'em
swarming crickets sometimes a few crickets around- no big deal
copperheads never seen one
cottonmouths never seen one
rabid skunks [mod edit]
wild hogs see 'em on the road occasionally. Nearly hit one last week. Very tasty.
alligators not around here
oppressive heat & humidity You prefer bitter cold? That's what AC is for
bleak desolate scenery Hill country is gorgeous
dirty beaches Beaches are not as nice as some, but not bad
polluted air Air is great around here- little pollution
dust storms never seen one
drought Much of the US is in drought
wildfires pretty bad one a few years back, otherwise no problem
water shortages see "drought"
recurring floods Occasionally streams are high
tornadoes never seen one
hurricanes Never seen one.
rednecks [mod edit]
huge piles of flaming mulch not unique to Texas
spontaneously combusting playgrounds there are hotter areas in the country
roads hot as flowing lava Ever been to Arizona?
the stench of natural and unnatural gasses My wife is forgiving of my "issues".
pirate attacks You're thinking of Disneyland, aren't you? Bless your heart.
amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes rare, though it exists in most of the warmer states.
recurring ebola virus outbreaks Recent case from Africa. Could get worse (not just Texas), so don't get so high on your horse
flesh eating bacteria Cases exist from Maryland through Florida.
the highest homeowner insurance rates in the US yeah, all of Texas pays for the coast hurricane risk. Or that's the excuse they use
unbelievably high property taxes No income tax. Overall tax rate is good-Texas ranks 42nd.
mind-numbing traffic jams Yes, this is a problem in the big cities.
mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions My wife and daughter were nearly killed by a recurrent drunk driver, in another state, so I support tougher sentencing.
polygamous religious sects You don't have to join, unless you're into that sort of thing. The big one was, ahem, "taken care of"
and, lest we forget, doesn't look kindly towards Yankees [mod edit].

[REWahoo]

tfud, thanks a bunch for your helpful "never seen one/other places suffer from the same thing or worse" comments. That'll go a long way towards discouraging people from moving here.

Quote:

pirate attacks You're thinking of Disneyland, aren't you? Bless your heart.

No, I meant just what I said:Mexican pirates attack Texas fishermen on Falcon Lake

Oh and bless your heart, and the horse you rode in on, too.

[steelyman]

Texans don't fool around.

[Car-Guy]

"Speaking of mind-numbing traffic jams". This past Saturday I made the mistake of driving into Houston. I usually check with Houston TranStar before I drive into the city to see if there are any major delays. This time I didn't.

I don't know what type of "road construction" was going on at 45 south and the Hardy toll road but they had it down to one lane. (So the road construction sign said - I never got that far) So after sitting in the mess for over an hour, we were able to creep up to an exit about 1/2 mile away and cut over to 59. (Another extra 45+ mins of drive time) I was monitoring the CB radio and the truckers were saying it was at least a 3 hour wait to get through. I won't mention the very colorful language they used to describe the traffic jam, all the 4 wheels in their way, the highway department, the humidity, the price of diesel and just about anything else they could think of. (It was entertaining) They even had suggestions about what the road construction crews could do with their construction equipment that I would not think are physically possible.

I've been in some major traffic jams in my ~50 years of driving (some worse than this one) but this one made my top 10.

[Chuckanut]

Congratulations! You will love it. Do visit Arkansas when you get a chance.

[Looking4Ward]

Last year I sold my lakefront home on Lake Travis. Well, it used to be a lake, and the buyer didn't ask about the trees growing around the boat dock that was sitting on dry ground.

But I just got back from the grocery store:

Tomatoes on the vine: .47 a pound
Gala apples: .77 a pound
Eggplant: .50 a pound
Blackberries: 1.25 a pint
Sirloin steaks: 4.97 a pound
Boneless skinless chicken breasts: 1.99 a pound

The list goes on but I got groceries for a week for three for $54

Then I stopped and got gas for $2.97 a gallon

I used to think Texas was expensive (yeah, property taxes are high) until I checked out the cost of living when I was in Florida last month.

Another thing I like is that Texas is really protective of our ability to drive/camp on our gulf coast beaches. Not so much in Florida, where there are only a few miles left of beach that you can actually drive on and then in parade fashion.

I think I'll stick around here until my passport expires.

[ExFlyBoy5]

I lived in San Antonio for 6 years...it was the most miserable 6 years of my life. There are lots of things to love about Texas, but nothing that would ever convince me to go back.

The article mentioned a giant mulch fire...that was about 3 miles from my house. It burned and smoldered for MONTHS. It made life absolutely miserable.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

[MBAustin]

Moving to Houston from Delaware in the '80s was a total shock - weather, culture, traffic, etc. I was thrilled to go back east after 4.5 years, but I had picked up a native Texan as my husband. So it wasn't a huge surprise to me that we ended up back here about 15 years ago. The weather is worse (hotter and in most places in drought), the traffic is worse, and the culture/politics still have me scratching my head. Although the property taxes are high, the sales taxes are reasonable and there is no income tax. Unfortunately as the article pointed out, our schools are chronically underfunded (except for the massive football stadiums).
But we've settled in and don't plan to move at this point.