What is attracting California and west coast folks to DFW? (Houston: middle-class, school)

[socketz]

"7. Scokett made a very good post but I have to disagree on one thing, I like the landscape in Texas better(a lot more GREENERY). Remember CA. is a big state and the coast (although it's beautiful) only represents 5 to 10% of the land, the rest is hit or miss.
"

Wow, where did that come from. Seriously, with all due respect, I think that you need to spend some time thinking about this and not respond so emotionally.

CA has Deserts, Mountains, Ocean, High Desert, Low Desert, Rivers, lakes....hell, the San Joaquin valley is here (i.e 13% of the nations vegetables and some of the best wine on the planet). It's odd that you would classify the entire state this way.

Also, a huge portion of CA's residents live within 70 miles of the coast.

[DWong]

Originally Posted by socketz

"7. Scokett made a very good post but I have to disagree on one thing, I like the landscape in Texas better(a lot more GREENERY). Remember CA. is a big state and the coast (although it's beautiful) only represents 5 to 10% of the land, the rest is hit or miss.
"

Wow, where did that come from. Seriously, with all due respect, I think that you need to spend some time thinking about this and not respond so emotionally.

CA has Deserts, Mountains, Ocean, High Desert, Low Desert, Rivers, lakes....hell, the San Joaquin valley is here (i.e 13% of the nations vegetables and some of the best wine on the planet). It's odd that you would classify the entire state this way.

Also, a huge portion of CA's residents live within 70 miles of the coast.

Agreed. Sometimes I think people forget about what they are writing. I would probably say more than 75% of the population lives within 75 miles of the coast. Maybe more? Only real population is central valley/Sac and tht is one of the few parts of the state that is growing. I guess many forget the huge wasteland known as Death Valley as well. Anyways, I did giggle a bit w/ the response to your post.

[DWong]

Originally Posted by pshinspections

My folks moved to CA in the late 50s for the bountiful economy, abundant jobs and moderate climate. Those jobs are gone.

Agreed, those jobs are gone or taken by someone who isn't going anywhere anytime soon. At my city-level position, we recently had an opening and had 200 applicants apply. It's very unfortunate that 199 applicants are qualified, but we can only hire one. Don't come here looking for a good job off that bat... it's too competitive and it will only make you miserable here. Sucks, but that's the way it is.
Moving to DFW, jobs are bountiful, pay is decent, COL is low. Who wouldn't like it for those reasons alone! Who isn't happy after paying their bills and having 2k in their pocked to spend on whatever. It's a way of life in TX for those reasons. It will make you like the area, regardless of what negatives it may have. Working hard and earning a living is something American's will relocate for. That is only a dream in CA.

[socketz]

The competition in CA is incredible. That's why I roll my eyes a little when people say that folks are fleeing California. I believe that it is more along the lines of the cost of living creates an environment where only a limited number of people can even make it here, so is that a good thing or bad ? Not sure.

I live in Silicon Valley now am blown away sometimes by the level of talent here. But to the credit of the Metroplex, it too was full of bright very professional people as well.

Sure, CA isn't the CA of the 50s where you could live in LA and work at an Aerospace company and provide your family a posh suburban lifestyle on a single salary and be gauranteed a nice pension.

But I think that level of security has vanished everywhere.

Dallas just gets you a little closer to this way of life,with of course some of the obvious tradeoffs we've discussed here.

[usc619]

Ha, you guys talk as you're tourist or migrated to CA within the last few years. If you take away the beach there's no way you can compare the landscape between DFW vs. LA, SD vs Houston, Austin(hill country)vs SF(bay area). Not everyone lives on the beautiful coast lol and once you drive 15 miles off of the coast it's not the same period. Hell most people in CA don't even see the coast except for a few times a year lol.

I'll take San Diego for and example; once you go east of I-5 what do you see that's so spectacular? Mission Valley, El Cajon, Mira Mesa, Chula Vista, San Marcos? ect.... I can choose just about any Houston suburb that will BLOW them out of the water, my preference is more Green over Brown and the same can be said about that concrete jungle we call LA. So you mean to tell me Riverside, Inland Empire, El Centro, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland, LA, have nicer topography then Texas?(puff, puff, pass) You guys can run that crap to people who haven't spent a considerable amount of time in CA. but please don't run that past me.

We could go at this all year so i'll just say "it's my Opinion"

[Mom2TwoBoys]

Originally Posted by settledindfw

Every ex-cali and other transplants I personally know including myself moved here because of either jobs or be close to family. Housing affordability is just another pros of living here.

Same in cali, people moved there also because of jobs and family. Being near beach, great weather, and so on, are also just another pros of living there.

You should ask yourself how you ended up there. Did your parents move there because of their fascination to beaches? Or did they move because they had relatives?

Great point! We moved to CA (silicon valley) for the job opportunities when hubby and I were newlyweds, the weather and proximity to the coast (although we both worked a LOT and didn't get to go often) were pluses but not the main reason we went there.

And we really enjoy the standard of living in DFW, not just the cost of living. Even if it was cheap to live here, if the environment wasn't great, we wouldn't choose to live here. Hubby has gotten lucrative offers from other places too but we didn't jump at it just because the job was located somewhere with low cost of living...

Understandably Dallas isn't for everyone but we love it. It has great school choices for our children, so many parks for them to play at, great restaurants, museums, shops are great, there are so many small neighborhood downtown areas to explore.

Another thing I really love about Dallas is that when we would take our young children to posh restaurants in NYC or the Bay Area, we felt like they weren't as welcomed as adult patrons. Here in Dallas, we've taken them to $$$$ places and they are very welcomed and people don't make us feel like we should've left the kids at home. We really like that kind of family oriented attitude. It might be subtle, but it makes doing things as a family very easy and enjoyable for us.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by usc619

Ha, you guys talk as you're tourist or migrated to CA within the last few years. If you take away the beach there's no way you can compare the landscape between DFW vs. LA, SD vs Houston, Austin(hill country)vs SF(bay area). Not everyone lives on the beautiful coast lol and once you drive 15 miles off of the coast it's not the same period. Hell most people in CA don't even see the coast except for a few times a year lol.

I'll take San Diego for and example; once you go east of I-5 what do you see that's so spectacular? Mission Valley, El Cajon, Mira Mesa, Chula Vista, San Marcos? ect.... I can choose just about any Houston suburb that will BLOW them out of the water, my preference is more Green over Brown and the same can be said about that concrete jungle we call LA. So you mean to tell me Riverside, Inland Empire, El Centro, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland, LA, have nicer topography then Texas?(puff, puff, pass) You guys can run that crap to people who haven't spent a considerable amount of time in CA. but please don't run that past me.

We could go at this all year so i'll just say "it's my Opinion"

I dunno. I grew up in Carlsbad and there is plenty of neat hiking areas and hills back in San Marcos/Vista. The Big Bear area, Santa Monica Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains in L.A. The wine country up through Central California, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Mammoth, the Bay area is wonderful, back up in Gold Rush country leading up to Reno is breathtaking, The SIerras, Mt. Shasta, Northern-Northern California (Humboldt)...

I love Texas and there are certainly pretty areas of the state. But in my opinion California overall has more breathtaking and compelling scenery. But like you say to each their own!

[usc619]

Originally Posted by rb4browns

I dunno. I grew up in Carlsbad and there is plenty of neat hiking areas and hills back in San Marcos/Vista. The Big Bear area, Santa Monica Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains in L.A. The wine country up through Central California, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Mammoth, the Bay area is wonderful, back up in Gold Rush country leading up to Reno is breathtaking, The SIerras, Mt. Shasta, Northern-Northern California (Humboldt)...

I love Texas and there are certainly pretty areas of the state. But in my opinion California overall has more breathtaking and compelling scenery. But like you say to each their own!

Good list, the point i'm trying to make is NO ONE lives in the areas you just mention I think that's the difference with Texas and CA, You could live in the nice area of Texas and not have to leave the city.

[socketz]

You are confusing me USC. I lived inland in Rancho Bernardo for years and frequently drove to Palm Springs (posh desert, resort style), Laguna Beach (take your breath), Carlsbad (more afordable than you think), Coronado (one of a kind), Seal Beach, Point Magoo (friends live ON the beach there, house was under a mill), Santa Barbara (bores me, but it is cozy), Magic Mountain, Hollywood, Big Bear...I could go on...none of these were that bad of a drive 1-2 hours, maybe 3 with traffic.

Drive an hour or two outside of Dallas and you are in the middle of nowhere (I made that drive to Austin a dozen times and have driven to CA from Dallas and back 2x). If you live in the posh northern burbs of Dallas, you really have no reason to leave there because there is no place to go - and I'm cool with that, great for that 70% of your life where you are doing day to day routine stuff. I have never contested this...still not so sure I'd consider the whole state greener than CA. CA has some of the best geography in the US. Washington or Oregon may bag on CA for being brown, but I've never heard TX referred to as a green state. Most of Collin county was a praire at one time. The trees in Plano and Frisco are planted trees. We plant trees here too...

I used to even drive to San Francisco for 3 day weekends when I was in my 20s. That's about equivalent to the drive from Dallas to Houston. Manageable.

Where I lived was an extremely nice suburban area with excellent schools. And I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. I do well, but I'm not the celebrity status many here are portraying that is required to even live in nicer parts of CA.

[socketz]

Originally Posted by usc619

Good list, the point i'm trying to make is NO ONE lives in the areas you just mention I think that's the difference with Texas and CA, You could live in the nice area of Texas and not have to leave the city.

But these places are all very close to where you live. San Marcos in fact in suburbia and I have a dozen friends in Carlsbad, professionals, but not movie star status. Where I live in the Bay (Pleasanton) has tons of bike trails close to the homes. In fact, people on bikes are nerve racking because I constantly need to be aware of them as I drive to work. They are everywhere. I have an Aquatic center down the street that the city hosts....water slides, olympic pools, swim lessons. Typical posh suburbia.

Median home price is about 800k, but nice little 1700 sq/ft homes can be had for 650k, but this is the bay, go south and 550k is reality. With property taxes equated, this is equiv to about a 450k 3200 sq/ft home in Frisco.

So yes, a bigger, better constructed home is available in TX. In fact, I'd say that some of the best constructed homes in the US are in TX. This is one of the tradeoffs TX will always win.