Question for transplants: How is the water and how do the pests compare to where you came from?

[RonnyAppleseed]

Just moved from Kentucky and I can say Texas water is not my cup of tea. Sure I'll use it for bath and sink water, but I'd only drink it if I was extremely thirsty. I started drinking much more bottled water after moving here.

There are much less "small" pests here in Texas. I can now walk outside on a summer night without swallowing swarms of gnats and getting eaten up by mosquitoes.

[cyrece]

So glad someone else brought this up! The water taste like dirt here. I just can't get past it--fountain drinks especially. My hubby hasn't been satisfied with a glass of tea since we've been here either lol. You must get used to it b/c our friends and family here think I'm crazy, they've acclimated.

I came from Florida--pests almost nonexistent based on FL standards, : )

[RonnieinDallas]

Long time local wants to clarify something:

The dirt water is a Collin County thing. I've lived in many different parts of DFW, and it's not like that everywhere. When I woked in Plano I had to bring my own water to work, and learned to tolerate it at restaurants, but yes it does taste horrible, and you can taste it in fountain drinks. My tap water at my apartment in Dallas tastes great.

Mosquitos are hit and miss. Chiggers are what always get me, especially when you go way out. I've never had roaches, but did see some water bugs at my far north Dallas apartment.

[carroll4628]

The Pests aren't bad because everyone has quarterly pest control service.

The pests are horrible (until you get the chemicals going) - fire ants, silver fish, cockroaches, chiggers, etc. Anyone remember the West-Nile cases in the past few years - YES there are mosquitos (even if you haven't been bitten by one in the past 2 months). The fire ants are the worse, but we finally spent the money and had our lawn treated last year - WORTH every penny. We were advised "DON'T put in a sand box for your kids" when moved here and I didn't know why - we (and family) had them in Seattle, D.C., Upstate NY, Minneapolis - I guess all those northern states where the freeze controls the critters. We bought a sand table (which was promptly infested).

[SlimMoeDee]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Bugs are only gonna be slightly better. Quarterly pest control is a necessity, not an option. Roaches, spiders, mosquitoes, and snakes are still very prevalent.

I moved here in 2011, 1 year in an apartment and now 2 years in my home. I have never had to do any type of pest control and have never had any roaches or spiders. And where did you live were snakes where "very prevalent"? Never heard of such.

[carroll4628]

Slim - You've been in your house for 2 years and you don't do any Termite Control? (Yikes - I think.)

[GBCommenter]

Originally from Minneapolis...

Water in Dallas compared to Mpls? I guess I've found it to be relatively comparable...palatable but I prefer bottled spring water.

Bugs? Brutal cold does a lot to keep creepie crawlies more under control, with the exception of mosquitoes. I'm still not a big fan of your "Texas Waterbugs", as Minnesota "waterbugs" never got that big. Unfortunately, my first floor apartment is one I need to keep windows closed to avoid visitors, though I'd like to open a screen door if the weather is nice.

As far as mosquitoes, I haven't much noticed them in Dallas, though I hear y'all get more excited about them than in MN. With our "10,000 lakes" mosquitoes are more ubiquitous so perhaps there's more an expectation you will encounter them? In any case, I haven't seen them as much here but that might be I spend most of my time in urban areas.