Anyone care to tell me about your experiences there, if you came from So. Cal???? (Houston: fit in, real estate)

[CravenClan]

Hi there

we are looking to relocate, from Southern California (Temecula) and while we have read alot of posts about weather, housing and taxes, i just wanted to know if there was anyone on this forum that relocated from a similar place, and how you like it or don't like it???

We have 3 little ones under the age of 4, my husband is a concrete contractor, and i stay at home.

I have read the weather is horrendous, we are in a dry desert climate, today it is 105 and 29% humidity. I know that it is really dry here, so that is one thing that concerns me there......let me know what you think. What do you really like about your area and what do you miss the most?

For us, we won't miss the people here (they are sssooo rude and crappy, thinking they are better than you-sad to say but typical california attitude) We are not!! We are looking to slow down our life a little and spend more time trying to focus on raising our kids, that the rat race!

Thanks for any and all posts!!
Christina

[gigi927]

I can comment on the climate. We lived in Ladera Ranch for a year, and moved here from Scottsdale, where 105 in August with 29% humidity would be considered a cool day . I LOVE the weather here in Austin compared to the dry climate of Scottsdale. Now, I have friends in Temecula and I know the weather there is not as extreme as Scottsdale, but I will give you two examples to illustrate the differences in weather.

In Austin, there are 100+ degree days and some higher humidity, but the wicked hot doesn't happen until it approaches late morning. So you can actually take your kids to the playscape in the early morning or have them outside to ride bikes. In Scottsdale, even at 7 a.m. my kids' legs would have burned on the playscapes. Basically with little ones (I have a 4 and 2 year old) we did not leave the house between May and September. At all.

My second example is I played tennis from 9:30 until noon today in the 95 degree heat. It was hot, it was muggy, but I was still able to play. Never could even dream of playing tennis at that time of day in AZ at this time of year.

It's all relative to where you're coming from, but to me, the weather here is very manageable. You might have a tougher time coming from Temecula where you don't have AS many extreme heat days as AZ, but I find it pretty pleasant!

[CravenClan]

Hi GIGI

We like to go to AZ, to go to the river, so i am ok around 120 degrees, but we are by water, living there i would probably not make it!! Ladera Ranch is OC right?? Temecula is hot, but dry, i just have never been in a "muggy" climate, only hawaii, and they do not usually get over 90 degrees.

But other than that, have you adapted well? Are the people nice? Did you find it easy to fit in and where do you live? Iam a little confused, as people talk about communities, i do not know what city they fall into or county.

Overall are you happy that you made the move, and if it not too personal, why did you move to texas?

Thanks
Christina

[texastea]

"Muggy" is a relative term ; ) My sister lives in Houston and she hates it here because it makes her skin feel dry!

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by texastea

"Muggy" is a relative term ; ) My sister lives in Houston and she hates it here because it makes her skin feel dry!

I don't like visiting my brother in the Woodlands because I can't sweat "normally" there. It is just so humid there. They love when they come here, but they don't like the last part of the drive compared to when we lived in Round Rock. So, we are only 2 1/2 hours apart, and don't see each other much.

To the OP, we came for Rancho Santa Margarita, so about the same distance inland from the Pacific. What we miss is being able to open the windows, and I could turn the attic fan on and suck all the hot air out of the Townhouse in about 30 minutes. With the roses we had in our 24'w x 13'd spacious backyard , it would bring in fresh, and frangrant air, so my wife said. I thought it was too "perfumey."

By the way, it is nice that our current backyard is larger than the complete lotline that encompassed our Townhouse. Furthermore, I don't miss paying $0.25/KWh for electricity to SDG&E back in '03. Out here, we pay about $0.09/KWh blended, and we just went over $100 for electricity in July, and that is with a 3,632 sq. ft. house. The people in our neighborhood are great, and I am still getting over growing up in So. Cal. because sometimes I find myself thinking "why is this person saying 'Hi', what do they want from me?" and it turns out they really are just saying "Hi!"

My two girls, 7 and 8, go to an exemplary LISD school, and when my wife visits with our CA friends, she can see the difference, for the better. Our girls are learning subjects in a grade or two earlier compared to our CA friends kids. That pretty much makes the weather secondary, it's all about our kids, and giving them a foundation that will last a lifetime. Now if they decide to stay in Texas, I sure hope they visit us on one of the Coasts when we retire!!!

[gigi927]

Originally Posted by CravenClan

Hi GIGI

But other than that, have you adapted well? Are the people nice? Did you find it easy to fit in and where do you live? Iam a little confused, as people talk about communities, i do not know what city they fall into or county.

Overall are you happy that you made the move, and if it not too personal, why did you move to texas?

Thanks
Christina

You will definitely find it muggy here in comparison to where you are, but the upsides to being here outweigh the humidity IMO.

We have adapted very well. The people are great. We've been here a year and have far more friends and social activities than we have in the 3 other major metro areas we've lived in. I think I posted this on another thread, but we had a birthday party for our daughter this past weekend and had to limit it to 35 children and 15 sets of parents! We live in NW Austin, west of 360 and a wee bit closer in than Steiner Ranch.

We chose to move for a variety of reasons - the heat in AZ, the extreme materialism in Scottsdale, the poor school system and the fact that we were there and had hardly any friends after 4 years (and we are highly outgoing people). My only regret is that we didn't move sooner!

[muddaerf]

We just moved here about 9 months ago from Encinitas, a coastal town just north of San Diego and about an hour from Temecula.

Here are the things I miss about SoCal:
-Nothing beats seeing the sun 364 days of the year
-Feeling the cool ocean breeze, even on a hot day
-low humidity
-the weather never being too hot or too cold
-the beach; diving under waves and swimming with the dolphins
-being 5 min. from the beach, an hour and a half from the mountains, and 2 hours from the desert
-being able to drive to Las Vegas on a whim for the weekend
-taking my dogs to dog beach
-being eligible for state benefits like state disability insurance and paid family leave (okay, I know that sounds weird, but I work in HR and boy will I miss those benefits when I have kids)
-downtown San Diego
-Sunday morning brunch in Solana Beach
-laid back surfing towns

Here are the things I don't miss about SoCal:
-not being able to afford a home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-traffic
-condo/apartment living
-expensive gas
-being bilked for everything just because you live in SoCal
-state income tax

Here are the things I like about Austin:
-being able to afford a home!!!!!!
-tubing down the Guadalupe
-the lakes
-walking around Town Lake/Lady Bird Lake
-variety in restaurants
-great friends
-the fact that we're an hour drive from the Pottery Barn Outlet (I'm addicted)
-Schlitterbahn (even though I've never been, it's supposed to be one of the best water parks in the country)
-a bit slower pace of life
-cheaper gas than what I'm used to
-no state income tax
-the Alamo Drafthouse - best place to watch a movie and eat fresh-baked cookies, even though they'll screw up your meal every time (you can't blame them; it's dark)
-the damn queso. mmm mmmmm good
-people are generally very nice
-the Arboretum
-heat lightning - had no idea what it was until I moved out here; it's like lightning without the thunder.
-SXSW and Austin City Limits (whoop whoop)
-Southwest Cedar Park (my new home)
-the yellow lab that sleeps on the porch down the street from me
-downtown night life
-armadillos (although most of the ones I've seen have been dead, sadly; they are crazy-looking buggers).
-the fact that the people who live here are NUTSO about Texas; longhorns on every car
-the fact that you can get a pint of Ben and Jerry's at the store for only $2.49
-"Keep Austin Weird" movement/the liberals
-South Congress

Here are the things I don't like about Austin:
-DEAR GOD THE HEAT!
-DEAR GOD THE HUMIDITY! (I guess it's worse this year because it's been raining so much??)
-traffic - it sucks and it's only going to get worse
-scorpions
-deers in the road (it's only cool when you don't almost hit them)
-idiots who leave their yellow lab chained to the porch on a 100 degree day
-weird rules about buying booze on Sunday
-the fact that the grocery stores don't sell hard liquor; you have to go to a liquor store
-the fact that it is in Texas
-getting in to a 120 degree car after it has been sitting in the sun all day
-the Republicans and bible thumpers (yeah, they're everywhere, but their presence is more widespread down here)
-crazy high property taxes
-the crazy SUV and truck drivers
-sucky drivers (they're everywhere, but I feel like there are a lot more here than in San Diego - less road-ragers, but more stupid drivers who don't pay attention)
-the roads are weird - we have something called "business roads" or "service roads" that run parallel to the highway which makes exiting weird, plus the signage sucks so you'll get lost big time your first several months here
-highway 35 - the worst highway in the U.S.
-electricity is expensive (it's all about A/C; there are people I've talked to who have paid as much as $500 in electricity every month of summer, of course they probably have 3000 square foot houses)
-too much rain
-the fact that we arrived during an ice storm
-crappy airport


I think if you want to raise your kids in a great city with some solid schools, and be able to easily afford staying at home and raising them (which is not easy in Temecula), and cashing out and moving in to a big yet "cheap" (relative to SoCal) house, Austin is a great place.

[CravenClan]

WOW!!! Thanks ssssooooo much, now i am getting somewhere.I appreciate your time in the posts... I guess i am afraid of change, my attitude is what if we go and don't like it, and my husband says, what if you go and love it!! We have been looking online at houses, and hope to make a trip out in the next few weeks, i would like to come in the summer, to feel the weather, although it sounds like it is different than usual!!

I know there are things that we will miss, but like some of you, kids are first, you adapt to everything else, and i am sure you realize that more everytime you go back to So. Cal......

Thanks again!!!!
Christina

[mimimomx3]

For us, we won't miss the people here (they are sssooo rude and crappy, thinking they are better than you-sad to say but typical california attitude) We are not!!

I'm so glad you're not! But be forewarned that you'll find pleny of what you describe as 'california attitude' here. It's amazing how quickly someone who sells their house in CA for $$ turns into a calimillionaire here- with the attitude to match....

[CravenClan]

That is so typical, Funny how many people from San Diego or Orange County moved to Temecula for the same reasons we all did, cheaper housing (about 5 years ago_ But my how things changed then, they can with their S***T attitudes, and this palce will NEVER be the same.......Don't get me wrong, we have had our share of making good money on real estate, we drive nice cars, and have a nice house, the difference is MONEY did not change me, and it does not make the person....Kinda like some of the poor sould that win the lottery, if you are a loser, then you are just a loser with a lot of money...it is no difference.

I guess my concern is, we are leaving this place for a "better" place to raise our kids, so if there is a lot of California Attitude there, what am i leaving here for...(please tell me the peeople are not as bad as here!!!)

Thanks!!!