To those leaving Cal: Why Texas?? (Los Angeles, San Diego: crime, school, live in)

[midnightbirdgirl]

my 2 cents: we are leaving because my husband drives almost 2 1/2 hours each way to work here in so cali...traffic is HORRID! We live 75 miles NE of LA, he works in LA.
There are lots of people on welfare here, section 8 peoiple live on the same street as people who pay full price. Most areas in so cal are NOT THE BEACH!! I have lived in SD, and although it was oaky now the traffic there is awful! The weather here is okay not great...I have lived in GA so humiity does not bother me, rather have that that the crime we have here, and it is far worse in LA than DFW. Schools here also are horrible!!
People are rude, will run you over with a shopping cart and expect to to apologise!
We have state income tax, so the property taxes will not be so bad...We would like room to breathe, fact is unless you make well over $150,000 there is no way you can afford property of any size here...we would like some property.
LA is a hole...a dirty nasty hole!
Sorry, I have lived here almost 40 years...it is not pretty...
MBG

[midnightbirdgirl]

Originally Posted by Guingirl

I thought that belonged to Los Angeles??? :P

Sometimes its just not about the weather. I will tell you that we moved from Sacramento to Fort Worth for a few reasons.

One is that my husband obtained a promotion and was traveling across the country and now while he used to have to lose a day to travel to NY or SC, he is only a three to four hour flight from anywhere in the country.

The weather is pretty much like it is in Sacramento other than it has better storms Not everywhere in California is like SF or LA.

A big reason we moved is that we wanted more traditional values for our growing family. In Texas they pretty much tell you like it is and everyone is friendly. It isn't that eyes cast down, get the hell out of my way attitude that is so prevalent in California or what had become of my home of 38 years.

Yes the housing is less expensive and there is no personal state income tax which is nice, but property taxes are more than CA, but at least I know they are going to things that actually get done!

In the end, I am very happy with my new home state of Texas and I believe we made a great choice for us

Seems like we are pretty much on the same page yet again, Guingirl.
MBG

[shortiepie]

How funny, my parents are currently living in san antonio, texas. Both my parents were born there but moved when they were young kids. My mother and brother can't wait to leave. Apparently, the BIG bugs scare my brother and the thunderstorms scare my mother so, that she can't sleep. They live there now with my younger brother and wife, who moved to Texas about 2 years ago and I here they want to sell their home and come back to good ole'
California.

[midnightbirdgirl]

We are leaving for the DFW area due to a job relocation. Be that as it may, we are looking forward to leaving SoCali. It is not what it once was. I grew up here and have watched it deteriorate. All of SoCali is not sun and sand either, we live in the desert and it takes hours to get to the beach. Traffic here is a nightmare, my husband's 70 mile commute takes almost 3 hours each way! And for what?
And talk about hot, it is not unusual for it to hover around 110 during summer.
Fact is, there is no utopia, you have to decide what you value and what you are willing to sacrifice. Maybe if I was in my 20's Cali would still have an appeal, but not now.
MBG

[midnightbirdgirl]

Originally Posted by shortiepie

How funny, my parents are currently living in san antonio, texas. Both my parents were born there but moved when they were young kids. My mother and brother can't wait to leave. Apparently, the BIG bugs scare my brother and the thunderstorms scare my mother so, that she can't sleep. They live there now with my younger brother and wife, who moved to Texas about 2 years ago and I here they want to sell their home and come back to good ole'
California.

I lived in Georgia for awhile, so bugs and humidity are no discouragement, give me that over the horrid traffic and ridiculous gas prices any day!!
MBG

[dtran103]

The thing about California people moving to Texas is that people are kidding themselves if they don't believe it's going to have the same problems as California in a couple decades. It's among the fastest growing states in the nation. You already see the effects on Houston, and the rest of Texas is soon to follow.

[midnightbirdgirl]

Originally Posted by dtran103

The thing about California people moving to Texas is that people are kidding themselves if they don't believe it's going to have the same problems as California in a couple decades. It's among the fastest growing states in the nation. You already see the effects on Houston, and the rest of Texas is soon to follow.

It has a lot to do with the politics in TX.
The lobbies are very different. The urban planning if far better. The infrastructure gets put in before construction. Unlike Cali where infrastructure is no more than an after thought.
Even with your scenario, we get a couple of decades...
MBG

[Twinkle Toes]

We moved from CA to SA TX for the housing prices. I have to admit, the prices are very attractive. We are already moving back to CA because SA is not for us.

The traffic is horrendous, the roads/freeway system had to have been designed by someone high on crack cocaine. If you live here you have to resign yourself to the fact that you are going to be tailgated every time you get into your car. At first this used to bother me (okay, it still does) but I realized that's just the way people drive here and you just have to get used to it and hope you never have to slam on your brakes to avoid a deer in the road because you are going to get real intimate with the tailgater - and not in a good way!

Also, the weather IMO sucks. The humidity is just too much for us and, even though everyone says this weather is not the norm, it has been raining constantly since we got here. I haven't had a good hair day since I got here - now my hair looks like Diana Ross!!!

Everything is so crowded here too. To go see a movie at a theater is an ordeal, likewise with grocery shopping. Here, we mainly have HEB to shop for groceries and they are pretty few and far between. Where I came from (Palm Desert, CA) you would have an intersection and there may be three different grocery stores at that intersection providing not only a variety of stores to choose from, but because there are more than one, they are not crowded.

That's my story ..

[movingtohouston]

Our family moved to Friendswood Tx, small suburb of Houston back at the end of January and we wouldn't go back. Here we pay 1100 a month for a 4 bedroom house with a decent size yard. All of our shopping is within a 5 mile radius without getting on a freeway to get there. Car insurance is cheaper, registering your car here is WAY cheaper, water bill cheaper, trash cheaper, electricity is more but can live with that, gas is cheaper, food is cheaper. Traffic is a little crazy but nothing like the nightmare of the freeway system in california. You actually go somewhere here instead of sitting at a standstill. The schools in our area are WAY better than in California. My children were so far behind when they got here it was crazy. The schools here actually still have art and music classes as part of their curriculum every week not just a special once a month deal. Yes I miss the beach, yes I miss the non-humidity but why would I go back somewhere where I was forced to live paycheck to paycheck and never have any money left over to just rent a small 900square foot 2 bed apt for 5people. I thank god every day for the job my husband took here. We are so much better off.

[midnightbirdgirl]

movingtohouston, it sounds like we share similar priorities. Thank you for your post, with that I believe we will to fine in TX.
MBG