SHOULD WE MOVE TO TX FROM SoCal? (Dallas, Austin: for sale, buying a home)

[Trainwreck20]

I guess another reason people might move is to acquire a little land (i.e. although you might can affored to own a house in southern CA, can you afford to own 50 acres?), although that doesn't seem to apply to your case, as you do not appear to be looking for rural land.

[atxcio]

Sounds like you are just wanting to "prove" to your wife using these online surveys that you should stay in SD... You may very well succeed, but remember that an unhappy wife == unhappy you.

[DWong]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Sounds like you are just wanting to "prove" to your wife using these online surveys that you should stay in SD... You may very well succeed, but remember that an unhappy wife == unhappy you.

very truE!

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by DWong

very truE!

So DWong,

Is your wifes family in Dallas or Austin? Are you looking at moving to either of these cities or ANY city in Texas? I'm asking as you have posted the same question in both cities. Dallas and Austin are as different as night and day.

[Alatex]

From what I've read on here from native Texans and transplants.. they move bc of jobs and cheap housing... if all things were equal... would people still be moving to TX?

Not in my family's case & it's not that we dislike TX at all, but I know half a dozen people who moved to TX and the combination of better jobs and reasonable cost of living is the driving force for nearly every one of them.
I'll add that I haven't yet made the move myself.

I will say that one of my relatives who grew up in Alabama, who now lives in Texas, turned down the opportunity to move to California for what would've been an enormous raise, because even though he moved to TX originally for job reasons, he has settled in now & likes the people he's around every day.
I think he plans to stay in TX until the day he dies.

To try to answer your original questions, as best I can as an outsider from Alabama, who first visited Austin just last year:

" Austin is a sprawl city."

Not compared to Dallas or Houston or Atlanta, it isn't. Yeah, it sprawls a lot for its size, but keep in mind that it isn't an overwhelmingly gigantic metropolis, so it's not too bad to get around.

" Weather is ok. Its cold in the winter and hot in the summer?"

Compared to San Diego, certainly, but the weather's good compared to most places.

" It's got a great young music scene and nightlife which I love - however hanging and drinking w/ college kids isn't my thing anymore."

Being in my thirties, I know what you mean on this count. Frankly,
the "music scene" is the one aspect of local culture that seems pretty overrated to me. Maybe I've just visited at the wrong time or something.
The other "music city" I'm most familiar with, Nashville, gets a lot of "big names," whereas the Austin music scene seems focused largely on a huge number of "under-the-radar" bands.

" Crime is moderate, not horrible or bad, but not exactly safe."

It seems very safe to me. I dislike all the panhandlers, but haven't felt threatened by them.

"Electricity and property taxes are expensive?"

Property tax RATES are expensive. Keep in mind that property values are so much lower than in places like CA, though.

My brother's electricity bill (rural co-op 30 miles from Austin) is actually very low.

"Is traffic really that bad? In what major city isn't? But if
you've traveled throughout the US in comparison how bad it is?"

It isn't nearly as bad as in larger cities like Dallas and Houston, IMO. It is bad for its size (whereas, when I visited San Diego, I thought the traffic was better for its size than most), but if you choose a location near your work, school, and places of interest, it shouldn't be any big deal, despite how much people complain about it

"Its not very scenic?"

On a national scale, perhaps not spectacularly so, but the Hill Country from Austin west is the best Texas has to offer. I do give Austin VERY high marks for its "hike & bike trail" in the heart of town. It is a city where people enjoy the outdoors a lot, perhaps more than any other city in Texas, and to me, that's perhaps the biggest draw.

"I've been told the beaches in TX are nothing like those in CA or florida?"

I'd say the clear, spring-fed streams in Austin-San Antonio are more attractive water features than the Texas beaches. A good many Texans drive to the central Gulf coast (Gulf Shores, AL - Panama City, FL) or fly to Mexico (Cancun, etc) for their "beach fix."

[DWong]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

So DWong,

Is your wifes family in Dallas or Austin? Are you looking at moving to either of these cities or ANY city in Texas? I'm asking as you have posted the same question in both cities. Dallas and Austin are as different as night and day.

Either or.... just want to find the most urban yet family friendly area of TX. Souther CA has bout everything (if someone can name me something it doesn't I'd like to know). I don't like burbs nor traffic. I do enjoy good weather, outdoor activities and scenery... who in TX gives me the best shake...

[DWong]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

I guess another reason people might move is to acquire a little land (i.e. although you might can affored to own a house in southern CA, can you afford to own 50 acres?), although that doesn't seem to apply to your case, as you do not appear to be looking for rural land.

You're right... what would I do w/ land anyways... good to know, but I guess not appealing to me...

[Taterhead]

I lived in SD all my life until 1990 where I then moved to Dallas Texas (Flower Mound). DON'T DO IT!!!!!! the only thing you will like is the people are mostly nice and friendly. The weather is really bad, very hot and muggy summers, rain and thunder and lighting like nobody's bussiness. I did love the cold winters though and sometimes we would get snow that lasted a day

People will work into a conversaion about where you go to church, what college you went to, with-in seconds of meeting you. It is their way of sizing you up to be friends with you or not. I had that happen over and over over again to me, I finally got used to it, but NEVER liked it. I did find my own nich of friends and was somewhat happy for the 6 years we lived there. The traffic is hell and the roads you'll drive on aren't nice like SD either, pot holes, hardly any street lights so you can see where to turn into your own neighborhood off the main drag. Lots of hanging wires in mid air (they for the most part don't bury them underground).

We will be moving back to Texas only because both my children live there, not by choice. We are getting to old to not live near family, so Texas is our final home till death do us part

Debbie

[AustinGuy]

I don't want to convince you to move to Austin since judging from your post you really wouldn't like it here. But one thing I don't understand is how you can claim to hate suburbs but love living in Southern California. If anyplace defines the idea of sprawl and suburbs, it would probably be the LA/OC/San Diego area.

[TexasHorseLady]

Where the heck in Texas did you live, Taterhead? I've never been asked that question out of the blue, have lived here for going on 60 years in several parts of the state, was a preacher's kid, for goodness' sake, and the only time I've been asked the question at all was when I happened to mention that I grew up a preacher's kid (in some context or other) and was asked which church, which is sort of like being asked what town I grew up in when I mention I grew up in East Texas. Otherwise, religion has never been a topic of casual social discussion in my experience.

I do thing, OP, that so many people are telling you not to move if you can afford not to not because they think that only people who can't afford California should move to Texas, but because they think YOU shouldn't move to Texas because you've clearly already prejudged it and because you are so enthused about where you are right now. There's a big difference there between saying California is better than Texas and saying California is better than Texas for you. (And, to be quite honest, I think Texas would be better off if you stayed in California, as well - we don't need anyone moving here that thinks we're not as good as where they came from, really, we don't.)