'I'm done': Fed up with California, some conservatives look to Texas (San Diego: crime rate, attorneys)

[BB_210]

Originally Posted by JB316

Lol, no no, believe me, it's both.

Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara aren't so expensive because they are right next to a bunch of jobs, it's because they are highly desireable places to live.

No, those are old historical settlements and happen to be near the beach. Who actually lives there? It's either very affluent people or the poors that service them.

[Beardown91737]

Originally Posted by nmnita

You will judge a place based on one visit, how open minded is that? I remember driving through the state many years ago on our way to a new life in NO VA. I too, thought Holy Cow, 2 days of nothing but heat and flat lands, what is that about? Well I found out and Texas is a lot more than that with some beautiful parts, very diverse in the cities, nice people and just about everything there is to do in CA can be done in Texas.

Beardown: tell us, other than no ocean, what Texas is missing? The DFW area has sports teams, theme parks, great medical facilities, active night life, it is super diverse ethnically and outdoor activities just like So Ca. As for the weather, yes, summers are a *****, that is the worst part of living in the state, but you are way off when you mention winters. There is a rare ice storm (awful btw) but generally the winters are pleasant and nothing like you are describing. Heck, there are a lot of places in CA with much worse winds than Texas and much colder winters.

First of all, the first time I was in DFW (Irving) I had been in Chicago for as far back as my memory went (though born in CA) and DFW was not flat compared to that. Collin County (CoCo on C-D) is flatter than other nearby areas, but still has nice rolling terrain. The problem is that they conceal it with those huge houses, which are surrounded by ugly cedar fences, and then put high peaked witch-hat roofs on them, and then plant bigass trees everywhere. In TX you might be excited to see a 3 digit number of feet out your front window. In CA I could see a 2 digit number of miles.

Second, Mr Chabot is trying to move people to the DFW area. Texas may have a gulf, but it is far from DFW and most of the people we have talked to have advised us to just get on a plane and go to a real ocean. Texas has the second largest canyon in the US and we intend to visit it. It is a 6.5 hour drive from McKinney (about 15 min closer to Frisco or Plano). By comparison, the Grand Canyon Skywalk is 5.5 hours from my home in CA.

DFW only has 1 NHL team, 1 ECHL team, 1 NFL team (which I have disliked for decades), 1 American League baseball team, 1 AA team, 1 NBA team, a D-league team, and MLS. SoCal has 2 NHL, 1 AHL (higher level), 2 NFL, 1 NL mainstay, 1 AL, 4 upper level single A teams, 2 NBA, 2 D-league, 1 MLS, and another on the way. On the positive side, I have run into zero Laker fans in TX, and the Dallas Cowboy fans in the area aren't bandwagoners, it really is their local team.

True, the cities are diverse in TX, and not just the cities... CoCo is also diverse, and not re-segregated.

I lived in an area of CA where the Santa Ana winds were a factor, but they are sporadic. The blustery winds were persistent in 2014 and 2015. Last year was better as far as winter. If it is one of those things where it is 32 when you leave for work and gets to 55 during the day, I will live with that.

Summers where your clothes are sticking to you is not good weather.

Originally Posted by expatCA

I lived in TX for 5 years. The propertyy TAX rate was higher. Then I moved to SoCal and bought a nice home (new) at a higher price than in TX and .................. my actual property tax was the same dollar amount as in TX except I was on 3.5 acres in TX, had a huge barn, a large swimming pool, several out buildings and was 5 minutes max from town and 20 minutes from Dallas. In CA I had a bout 6000 sq ft.

CA has a lower %. unless you count in Mello Roos and HOA's, then it is as bad or worse. When it comes to actual dollar amounts TX is less expensive home for home of the same type and location as it were.

Depends on the individual situation. I had owned my home in California for 21 years. I was paying taxes on the 1993 purchase price. Moving to TX, we could not buy a new home of a similar size, so moved to a place 50% larger, and the purchase price was about 50% more in 2014 than we paid in CA in 1993. My property taxes are 4X what we paid in CA, and the sales tax is about the same. Gas taxes in CA, tolls in TX. Sofa vs. Couch vs. Davenport, I guess.

Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow

If you're going to live in those places, you may as well live in Texas. You can have a bigger home, friendlier neighbors who aren't all up in your business, in some places there's no zoning so you get all kinds of people and it works out well in my experience, plus you don't have all of the extra ridiculous, useless taxes being taken from you that don't go to a thing that you support. Your food is cheaper, your gas is cheaper, your electric is cheaper....it's a lot cheaper to live in TX. So if you're going to live in the dirt anyway, live in rural TX. Houston is actually a pretty decent place to live. I was surprised. Dallas/Ft. Worth, Plano area...strip malls, golf courses, artificial lakes...but there is that one farm like area where you can see those cattle with the gigantic horns right from the road....even just that makes it more interesting than CA.

They have announced plans for further development of Brinkmann Ranch in Frisco, if that is the one you are talking about. I think it will go slow, since they can just sell off 100 acres whenever the have the need for few million dollars.

Originally Posted by majoun

No Texas city has as much crime as Oakland, San Bernardino, Stockton, or Compton, not even Houston, Texas' most dangerous city.

Los Angeles' crime levels are similar to San Antonio's, which is a considerably more reasonably priced city. Can't find data on SF to make comparisons but I'd guess those are also similar to San Antone.

Austin and El Paso are among the safest cities in the US.

Every city has pockets of good and bad. In Chicago I lived about 2 miles form Cabrini Green, but where I lived was the desirable Lincoln Park area. In CA, I worked in San Bernardino for 17 years with no problems, but it was the Hospitality Lane area, which is an insulated area between the Santa Ana River and the 10 freeway. Also SB is the county seat, and loads of government workers go to and from work safely every day (excluding the terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center).

[silverkris]

This state-bashing exercise is just getting tiresome. Different strokes for different folks.

No place is perfect - ya gotta make the tradeoffs work.

[V8 Vega]

$5 a gallon gas is perfect to you when most other states have $2 gas? Thats what were going to have soon with the new gas tax and Cap & Trade that just got continued. And for absolutely nothing.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by silverkris

This state-bashing exercise is just getting tiresome. Different strokes for different folks.

No place is perfect - ya gotta make the tradeoffs work.

amen...

[GO JACKETS]

Originally Posted by silverkris

This state-bashing exercise is just getting tiresome. Different strokes for different folks.

No place is perfect - ya gotta make the tradeoffs work.

Yeah I don't get the hatred from people like JM. Isn't the diversity of state's the great thing about the US? California is a booming hotbed of innovation that can be rough if you aren't a white collar professional. Texas has a wealth of opportunities for blue collar people to live a solid middle class life. I don't think one has to be better than the other, just good for different people.

That said I do think Texas will look more like California in 10 years than visa versa. Things like protecting the environment, vaccinating your children, and fostering innovation shouldn't be liberal values. I think Texas' recent swing to the hard right will loop back around to the middle right.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by GO JACKETS

Yeah I don't get the hatred from people like JM. Isn't the diversity of state's the great thing about the US? California is a booming hotbed of innovation that can be rough if you aren't a white collar professional. Texas has a wealth of opportunities for blue collar people to live a solid middle class life. I don't think one has to be better than the other, just good for different people.

That said I do think Texas will look more like California in 10 years than visa versa. Things like protecting the environment, vaccinating your children, and fostering innovation shouldn't be liberal values. I think Texas' recent swing to the hard right will loop back around to the middle right.

Hatred ? When I'm just making observations of facts and things that are happening ?

There's a lot more middle class versus very high income in all states . White collar professionals are mostly middle class too . There isn't really a concrete definition of middle class anyways .

There is innovation in Texas too , people that care about the environment too .

You hear in CA all this talk about the environment but the air quality is horrible . Why didn't liberals "fix that yet" ? The state is under Democrat rule so they can't blame Republicans .

Houston the 4th largest city in America is very diverse and elected an openly gay mayor , but it seems like nobody in California knows this .
The media which clearly has a liberal slant favors states like California and New York and doesn't cover much of the country and when they do it's not so favorable .

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Hatred ? When I'm just making observations of facts and things that are happening ?

T.

IF you are truly "just making observations of facts and things that are happening" then you would also post positive stories about California to give a balanced view of our great state.

No state - including California - is as bad as you (and the other California bashers, many of whom don't even live here) try to make California look.

It does get tiresome.

Also, speaking strictly for myself, I know that when I get caught up in only looking at and talking about the negative things in my life, life starts to look pretty grim. But when I remind myself -- even if I have to stretch to do it -- to also look for the positives in my life, life starts to look a whole lot better. And, as I said earlier, life is too short to spend dwelling in negativity.

So, again, I appreciate your dedication to sharing articles about California, but how about trying to be a little more fair and balanced every now and then? You'll help more people understand California that way.

[JB316]

Originally Posted by max210

No, those are old historical settlements and happen to be near the beach. Who actually lives there? It's either very affluent people or the poors that service them.

Yea I think we are gonna have to just disagree on this one...

Anecdotal, but I could go to SB county right now for a job, the only reason we aren't going is because of how outrageous the prices are, could never afford it. That being said, it would be a dream to live there, that place is amazing aka, highly desireable.

Another one; my wife's friend and her husband were looking at the SF Bay Area because he was offered a job. They would have moved there in a heartbeat from Denver, but they couldn't do it because they couldn't afford it. The job wasn't the problem, it was the fact that SF is the craziest housing market in the country because everyone wants to live there.

[semispherical]

I'm bemused by the consistent tone of defensive desperation in the postings from Texans disparaging California. It's as though y'all don't really feel confident that TX (i.e. conservatives) is superior to CA (i.e. liberals) without an acknowledgment from Californians that you are right.

Guys, relax. Both are very big states, with a lot more overlap geographically, socially, economically and politically than broad generalizations reflect. I've lived in CA for decades (not on the coast, in a "red" area) and regularly visited my relatives in TX (until they moved back to CA last year). I personally would not leave CA for TX, but I'm not you. If you are convinced TX is so superior to CA, then please go live there with our blessings and stop trying to persuade the rest of us that we are wrong for having our own preferences.