California vs. Texas provides very stark job comparison (San Francisco, Irvine: transplants, buying a house)

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by ZhugeLiang

I still say San Antonio and Austin are where its at in TX.

That's funny...where it's all at in TX...I don't think so.

I take it that you might not know much about Houston nor have spent very much time there.

You could not pay me to live in SA or Austin. I actually lived in Austin for 1.8 years and was bored out of my mind. I found it to be a very disappointing city. I like world class big city amenities...like Houston has. I have lived in 3 of the biggest Texas cities and I still loved Houston the best. The other two weren't horrible but just were not for my taste buds.

I don't know what your into in either city but if it rocks your world then

Sorry everyone for straying off topic.

DM me if want to continue this conversation...I don't like straying off the topic!

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by Caliguy2007

Every state goes through their Ups and Downs and to be honest even though California is going through these problems it's not the end of the road for us but rather a wake up call.

California will recover and in the long term my bet is also on California.

I hope you're right, my Kern County friend.

By the way, you must have had insomnia if you were up at 3:11 a.m. posting this!

[SyraBrian]

Texas' relative low cost of living will make it a magnet for folks on SSI. The influx of SSI recipients will drain the tax base without supplying revenue growth.

Texas is doomed!

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by TVC15

That's funny...where it's all at in TX...I don't think so.

I take it that you might not know much about Houston nor have spent very much time there.

You could not pay me to live in SA or Austin. I actually lived in Austin for 1.8 years and was bored out of my mind. I found it to be a very disappointing city. I like world class big city amenities...like Houston has. I have lived in 3 of the biggest Texas cities and I still loved Houston the best. The other two weren't horrible but just were not for my taste buds.

I don't know what your into in either city but if it rocks your world then

Sorry everyone for straying off topic.

DM me if want to continue this conversation...I don't like straying off the topic!

World class amenities? Having lived in Austin and Houston I can only assume you mean ghettos?

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by TonyG5003

Oh I agree... Austin is not nearly as liberal as many people think. I'm from Houston (resident for 25 years), and there is clearly much more diversity in Houston than Austin - and certainly more so than when I last lived there in the 90's.

Perhaps Austin has earned this liberal label due to 6th Street, the smoke shops and the fact that the news media openly portray motorists who accidentally hit bicyclists who stray into the middle the road as "murderers."

Austin is as liberal as people think. It's a liberal granola city, kind of like the ones on the west coast and in the desert southwest.

Houston is a SOUTHERN city. It's not liberal in the same way. It votes Democrat because it has a lot of impoverished black people.

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

World class amenities? Having lived in Austin and Houston I can only assume you mean ghettos?

Really

Do you call the Texas Medical Center ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Museum District ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Symphony and Ballet ghetto?
Do you call the IAH and all of the world class hotels ghetto?
Do you call the concert halls and professional sports arenas ghetto?
Do you call all of the multitude of Universities in Houston ghetto?
Do you call all of the upscale restaurants, shopping centers, work out facilities ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Ship Channel ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Energy Corridor ghetto?
Do you see NASA as ghetto?
Do you call the clean Downtown Houston ghetto?

Go back to Houston and take a good look around...maybe you only hung out in the ghettos and that is why you missed out on the world class amenities!

[TonyG5003]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

World class amenities? Having lived in Austin and Houston I can only assume you mean ghettos?

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Houston is a SOUTHERN city. It's not liberal in the same way. It votes Democrat because it has a lot of impoverished black people.

Good grief... there's nothing at all "Ghetto" about Austin, or most of the Houston metro area for that matter. Talk about flaming posts - red hot.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I think Austin's liberalness is over stated. Compared to Texas as a whole, it is liberal. Compared to Portland or San Francisco it is conservative.

Interesting. I think you may be on to something.

Austin has Wal Mart and other things like strip malls and tons of suburban style tract housing, all of which which would never be allowed in SF.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by TVC15

Really

Do you call the Texas Medical Center ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Museum District ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Symphony and Ballet ghetto?
Do you call the IAH and all of the world class hotels ghetto?
Do you call the concert halls and professional sports arenas ghetto?
Do you call all of the multitude of Universities in Houston ghetto?
Do you call all of the upscale restaurants, shopping centers, work out facilities ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Ship Channel ghetto?
Do you call the Houston Energy Corridor ghetto?
Do you see NASA as ghetto?
Do you call the clean Downtown Houston ghetto?

Go back to Houston and take a good look around...maybe you only hung out in the ghettos and that is why you missed out on the world class amenities!

I wouldn't consider the medical center an amenity. If you need the kind of specialized medical care you can't get at a regular hospital, you can go to Houston from anywhere else in the state.

The Houston energy corridor is completely undesirable concrete sprawl, the ship channel has nothing to do with the city itself, NASA isn't an amenity unless you work there. Clean downtown Houston? How is that different from any other CDBG in the world? None of these is an advantage over Austin. If you're into ballet and symphony, fine, those are amenities, but I'll take the hiking trails and lakes in the Hill Country any day. You said you were bored out of your mind in Austin... so in Houston did you go and hang out at the Medical Center and the Ship Channel? How many times can you possibly go to the ballet? I went to the Houston Ballet once because my niece was in the Nutcracker, and that was enough.

BTW, all those those supposedly nice places are interspersed with ghettos, or at best strip mall sprawl. Every urban neighborhood in Houston is on the brink of urban decay.


If you're into checking things off on a list that don't really affect quality of life, and don't mind flatness, sprawl, concrete, dirtiness, and gloomy winter weather, Houston is your city.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Interesting. I think you may be on to something.

Austin has Wal Mart and other things like strip malls and tons of suburban style tract housing, all of which which would never be allowed in SF.

San Francisco doesn't have suburbs?