One month into our move to Dallas area-thoughts (Austin, Atlanta: real estate market, to buy)

[Beardown91737]

Car dealerships used to be open on Sunday in Illinois. After I left in 1990, the dealer association got the state legislature to pass a blue law which helped the dealers fend off a union organizing effort.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

This is an interesting discussion, even if it is a bit off the OP's topic (sorry!). IMO, states that have blue laws regulating industries such as car dealerships are really overstepping. I know for a fact that most dealerships are happy that they are forced to be closed on Sundays due to the non-stop grind of that business. Due to the nature of car shopping, an additional day to sell cars won't yield more sales, but will instead spread the same number of sales over more days and hours. It just doesn't seem like the state should be meddling in that sort of thing. I'm sure investment bankers in NYC wish the state would step in and limit the number of hours they work as well.

North Carolina started allowing Sunday hunting on public ground last year. It was actually a very controversial thing. In the language of the new law, it specified that the hunting couldn't take place within a certain distance of a church for safety reasons -- as if there aren't other occupied buildings in existence! Really, I think some of these blue laws were religiously motivated, and they'll start to fall away as the US becomes less and less religious. It's hard to explain why Sunday gets such special treatment otherwise, but it is always entertaining to hear political proponents of these Sunday laws attempt to defend them without referring to religion.

As an aside, I've always thought it was strange that malls are typically only open from 12-6 on Sunday. Why be open from 11-9 (or whatever) on Tuesday but have limited hours on Sunday, a weekend day? I really don't believe it's economically driven; when I was younger, I worked in a mall retail store, and our Sunday volume was typically very large -- about as much per hour as Saturday, and certainly bigger than weekdays.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

In Pensylvania, you can only buy alcohol at state-run stores, and they aren't exactly on every street corner. It's ridiculous!
In Kentucky, you can buy beer at the grocery store, but that's it. Wine and all others have to be purchased at the liquor store.
So, I don't complain too much about Texas' liquor laws.

Yeah, it depends on what one is used to. I lived in Massachusetts for 8 years in the late 80s to mid-90s. I don't know what their laws are now but back then couldn't even get wine and beer on Sundays. Had to plan for a Sunday evening gathering ahead of time, no last minute get togethers. I do find the Texas liquor store closings on Sunday odd...it's all the same thing! LOL

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Aceraceae

Costco in Plano sells liquor.

I don't think you need to be a Costco member to shop there either since the store isn't technically owned by Costco and isn't even physically attached to the Costco (according to someone there I talked to).

What I heard is they're hedging their bets regarding liquor sales in Texas due to an ongoing lawsuit which includes WalMart and Kroger as plaintiffs...if the plaintiffs lose, status quo maintained. If the plaintiffs win, Costco can start selling liquor. It's a win-win for them.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I don't think you need to be a Costco member to shop there either since the store isn't technically owned by Costco and isn't even physically attached to the Costco (according to someone there I talked to).

What I heard is they're hedging their bets regarding liquor sales in Texas due to an ongoing lawsuit which includes WalMart and Kroger as plaintiffs...if the plaintiffs lose, status quo maintained. If the plaintiffs win, Costco can start selling liquor. It's a win-win for them.

Yeah, and they won't sell Kirkland brand liquor either.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

Yeah, and they won't sell Kirkland brand liquor either.

Didn't know there was such a thing! Not a Costco member anymore either.

I always thought Texas's liquor laws were stupid and overly restrictive. I lived all over Europe in the 2000s and the last place I lived before returning to Texas was England. You could buy liquor in supermarkets and convenience stores there, as well as independent and chain liquor stores. It was literally everywhere. What's funny is people there complained about restrictions on opening hours for pubs, clubs, and bars; they thought they were too restrictive (i.e. closed too early). What I found is most places staggered their hours so if you wanted to drink all day and all night, you pretty much could...especially in larger cities.

Then I get back here, need rum for a recipe, and forgot that you couldn't buy it on Sunday. It was irritating. We're adults! Besides, where in the Bible does it say you can't drink? Is it somewhere in that newfangled New Testament we Jews don't usually read?

[jdallas]

I always thought the closed car dealerships on Sunday were because they didn't want the salespeople to have to lie to people after going to church on Sunday.
Similar reason for the liquor sales Sat/Sun. They don't want people stumbling in the aisles on Sunday morning so they curb sales the night before and wait until service is over.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by jdallas

I always thought the closed car dealerships on Sunday were because they didn't want the salespeople to have to lie to people after going to church on Sunday.
Similar reason for the liquor sales Sat/Sun. They don't want people stumbling in the aisles on Sunday morning so they curb sales the night before and wait until service is over.

I actually like car dealerships being closed on Sundays. That way I can browse without being nagged.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

I definitely agree with you about traffic. My biggest gripe is on-ramps. In most other places, the highway on-ramp is a single road and by going down this road, you HAVE to get on the highway.

In DFW, you have to go down an access/frontage road, then merge left onto the highway. If the access road is backed up or has an off-ramp, it can be very difficult to merge left. This area also seems to love one-way access roads where you have to make a u-turn after getting off an exit ramp to go in the opposite direction.

I've noticed the bugs problem too. My patio is infested with wasps. Never had any bug problems in the Midwest. It must be the sort-of tropical climate down here.

Traffic here is an absolute joke compared to other major metros. Try living in Atlanta, where they have nearly the same amount of people and about half the roads.

Same goes for bugs. A joke here. Some good size spiders.....big whoop. There is nothing tropical about DFW and not enough vegetation around here to support a subtropical bug population. You'll find it's loads worse down in Houston and again, the southeastern U.S. where it's wetter and more humid. There are bugs in those parts of the country that haven't been identified by science yet.

You didn't have wasps in the Midwest? What part of the Midwest is that? Some of the worst wasp infestations I ever saw were when I lived up there.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Traffic here is an absolute joke compared to other major metros. Try living in Atlanta, where they have nearly the same amount of people and about half the roads.

Same goes for bugs. A joke here. Some good size spiders.....big whoop. There is nothing tropical about DFW and not enough vegetation around here to support a subtropical bug population. You'll find it's loads worse down in Houston and again, the southeastern U.S. where it's wetter and more humid. There are bugs in those parts of the country that haven't been identified by science yet.

You didn't have wasps in the Midwest? What part of the Midwest is that? Some of the worst wasp infestations I ever saw were when I lived up there.

I'm from NC. We mostly had roaches there. Some spiders. Mosquitoes were a problem in areas with standing water.

I lived in Iowa and Missouri and never once saw a wasp at any of the places I lived.

My current apartment in DFW has been taken over by wasps. I've also seen beetles roaming around outside, and various other critters. Thankfully I haven't seen any mosquitoes yet, but there isn't much standing water near me.