If you come, bring water. We're almost out.
+1
We had what we considered to be our "forever home" at the time - waterfront home at the foot of the hill country complete with boat dock and cruiser.
Then the lake dried up, the boat dock sat on dry ground, and I was lucky enough to find a buyer who was satisfied with the thought that the water will someday come back.
Now we live in a large home in a development 12 minutes from downtown Austin.
We spent a lot of time looking at Florida. Found the overall cost of living to be much higher than central Texas. There's something about being on a major interstate a few hours from Mexico that keeps produce prices down, meat and other staples are cheaper, insurance is cheaper, gas is cheaper, and while property taxes are roughly 50% higher in Texas another poster already pointed out how that can be rationalized.
We are water people, so lakes/ocean are a big thing for us. We've found that while Texas Gulf Coast waters are not the most pristine in the nation, you can drive, camp, park an RV, build campfires, etc. on Texas beaches for literally no cost besides a $12 annual parking permit. Not so in Florida.
Then there is something I heard mentioned on the radio the other day how large Texas cities are very distinctly "economically segregated". Not to start any discussions on the pros and cons of that, but I thought at the time how that is very much true and I didn't see that to the same extent in Florida.
So we've decided to stay in Texas and when we get the itch for some Florida we'll fly there for a couple of weeks or take a road trip.