California & Texas (San Diego, Santa Monica, Palm Desert: top schools, gated community, to live)

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by JJP

You must have been on I-45. You can't judge Houston from the freeways. And you must have been in the wrong areas if people were only talking about sports teams and church. You need to get off the freeways, stay out of the 'burbs and instead investigate Montrose, the Museum District, West University, the Heights, Memorial Park area...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neartown_Houston
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Heights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoria...Houston,_Texas

OK JJP something upon which we agree.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

I'll preface this: I have relatives in Texas I love dearly and they are wonderful people. That said, I wouldn't live in Texas for any amount of money (now my Great Grandmother rolls over in her urn). I'm a city person and there really isn't a REAL city in Texas, just larger towns with tall buildings in the center. Houston is the closest but...no thanks.

Dallas is a real city. And our real estate keeps going up (latest report) - 29% in North Dallas, 9%-15% in my area (Lakewood)...how's CA?

[canibeyou]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Dallas is a real city. And our real estate keeps going up (latest report) - 29% in North Dallas, 9%-15% in my area (Lakewood)...how's CA?

Well, if it's any indication, you can buy a 936 sq. ft. home in the "beautiful" city of Compton for $578,000. Not a nice house, not a nice neighborhood... but you get to brag to all the other 49 states that you live in California.

[Navshirereeve]

Originally Posted by canibeyou

Well, if it's any indication, you can buy a 936 sq. ft. home in the "beautiful" city of Compton for $578,000. Not a nice house, not a nice neighborhood... but you get to brag to all the other 49 states that you live in California.

And if it's any indication as well, you can buy a 2500 sq ft home in the beautiful city of San Antonio for $178,000. A nice, brand new house in a good neighborhood..and I get to brag that I live in the great state of Texas where, no pun intended, Here Everything's Better

[neotextist]

Texas is a big state with seven natural regions to explore. Its mountains are out west.

[metroplex2003]

Originally Posted by houstoner

Texas is a big state with seven natural regions to explore. Its mountains are out west.

I agree. We have pretty much all terrains here in Texas.
We have beach, mountains, prairies, lakes, desserts, large forests.
Texas is a great place to live (spoken from someone not originally from Texas)

[Kingsnkali]

It's all about money. California is expensive. Texas is cheap.

That is the bottom line.

I would put Texas at the bottom of my list for relocation though. The income tax (or lack of it) isn't a big thing with me. I just don't like paying very high property tax rates. Texas gets their money through property taxes and they will go up and up if real estate prices continue to rise. Property taxes remove you from a home when you retire (like Florida and New Jersey) That is what makes California so appealing. Once you buy a house, the property taxes (via Prop 13) only go up slightly each year. You can budget for it. If your home goes up in value 100k in one year, so what. It really doesn't come into play.

For younger folks, I can see the appeal for Texas. You can afford a home. Period.

[Navshirereeve]

Originally Posted by Kingsnkali

It's all about money. California is expensive. Texas is cheap.

That is the bottom line.

I would put Texas at the bottom of my list for relocation though. The income tax (or lack of it) isn't a big thing with me. I just don't like paying very high property tax rates. Texas gets their money through property taxes and they will go up and up if real estate prices continue to rise. Property taxes remove you from a home when you retire (like Florida and New Jersey) That is what makes California so appealing. Once you buy a house, the property taxes (via Prop 13) only go up slightly each year. You can budget for it. If your home goes up in value 100k in one year, so what. It really doesn't come into play.

For younger folks, I can see the appeal for Texas. You can afford a home. Period.

If Texas passed something like a Prop 13, housing wouldnt be cheap anymore.

[Des_Demona]

Ick... why Texas or California? There are 48 other states to choose from. I was born and raised in California and moved to OREGON where I'm 150% happier than I was in California. The weather is no trade off for all the other horrible stuff you have to deal with when living there. All the things everyone else mentioned that I won't bother talking about. You don't really know how it is until you've lived there and dealt with it in your day to day life. Just vacationing doesn't paint an appropriate picture. Texas is WAY to hot for me. I guess Oregon is the alternative for people who aren't keen on sunshine or hot weather. I love all the greenery, the trees and forests, the mountains, the ocean and sunsets here in Oregon. The highways/freeways have beautiful views of forests and rivers instead of walls with graffiti and ghetto housing on the other side of it like California. I hate bugs too and up in the Pacific north west you won't find bugs like they have down south. People are friendly in Oregon too and health conscious and more aware of the impact they have on the environment (and that's not only the liberal towns but the republican ones alike!). People say hello to you as they walk by, make eye contact, let you in when you need to change lanes and wait for you to cross the street without honking and flipping you off like they would in California. I don't even miss the hot dry California weather. You all can keep both Texas and Cali. I'm so so so happy here in Oregon. Please don't come here... we like it better with less people.

[moonrobot]

I agree with Des_demona....why just texas and Cali? I love CA, was born and raised here, but I'm never going to be able to afford to live here. And Texas may be cheaper, but I want to stay on the West Coast. I know a lot of people my age (early 20s) who have quit Cali for Oregon, especially Portland. All the poor hipsters I know who are priced out of S.F. moved up to Portland.