What is attracting California and west coast folks to DFW? (Dallas: how much, salary)

[DWong]

Originally Posted by 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.

I'm right there with you. Tx green??? Well isn't southern CA a desert if I'm not mistaken? Ever been past north of SF.... look pretty darn green to me there. And green comes with what?? RAin! Rains 20 days a year in Socal- hence the desert, but how far do you have to travel to a forest? An hour? West texas didn't look too green to me by the way.... but that's the way it is... it's a desert! Only difference in CA, our desert is near an ocean and mountains and forests.

[DWong]

WOW[
QUOTE=usc619;3980717]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.

Nope been in CA 28 years. If you take away the beach??? Well, that's kind of hard to do... and even if we did, we have Canyon and hills, and people from Austin call these real hills that we have in SoCal. Hills in Austin, are breathtaking considering the rest of large metros in TX are dead flat. LA? Not that it happens much, but on a clear day in the winter, the backdrop of the mountains 45 miles of LA are all snowcapped for 5 months out of the year. Don't think I saw that going on anywhere in TX. SF bay? Granted dirty w/ all the shipping and pollution, but it is still on the top 5 most vacationed places for international and domestic tourists (anywhere in TX didn't crack the top 20). Don't see part of the coast, but a few times a year? Wow, that's a tough statement. Like I said, 75% of our population lives near the ocean or bay. It's probably higher. I don't live near it by any means, but going downtown SD, driving up the 5, or taking a day trip to OC... I see it maybe 2-3 times a week! Maybe if you live in Bakersfield or Fresno, then in that case the ocean is only seen a few times, but even yet, it's a quick day trip at the most.

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.
Mission VAlley? Pretty amazing topography u ask me... .a valley nestle in the heart of the city. When in TX did anyone actually pay for a smaller house for a view of anything? I just posted a 3 bedroom, 5 bath home w/ view in SD selling for 25 million. What does that kind of place grab u in TX? 150k? El Cajon - look east, I don't see any 4,000 ft mountains in central or E TX. Chula Vista/San Marcos, (and get on the right slope you can see the ocean) real mountains and hills not to mention how far to water? Nicer topography, flat seems pretty boring to me... again, I don't see people flocking to TX for vacations and all those places mentioned above make up a pretty small % of our population. Oakland.. sure it's crap, but sits on the bay... go over the bay bridge, any major TX cities have a bay bridge? Come on Texans, at least agree w/ us on this one... I can't even imagine this being a debate. This is like me saying SF is cheaper to live than Houston....
We could go at this all year so i'll just say "it's my Opinion"[/quote]

[DWong]

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.[/quote]

I completely agree on that point. Kids in SF, NY aren't welcome. Those kinds of cities, are kid unfriendly. Dallas, is a wonderful place for children and families. Just think for a minute, how many families of 4 or 5 do you see in SF or NYC? Few - just walk down the streets or go into restaurants - you would swear kids are extinct.

[DWong]

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.

No one lives there? Pick up a map and you'll see that land is protected. And who would want to see development in naturally beautiful places? We don't drop malls everywhere and anywhere or large housing developments for a reason. Guess, what large developments are welcome throughout DFW and Houston, why?? You're not exactly hurting much of nature there. Build till the cows come home, no one is going to make a riff. Try putting so much as a gas station near those places - it won't and can't happen.

[rb4browns]

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.

OK, that's right, nobody lives in the SF Bay Area.....Listen, I love Dallas, but this place does not compare topographically with SD, the foothills of suburban L.A. or the SF Bay Area. If you want to make the argument that the suburbs of Houston are nicer than Marin County, Grizzly Park in Berkeley, etc. than good for you!

[DWong]

Originally Posted by rb4browns

OK, that's right, nobody lives in the SF Bay Area.....Listen, I love Dallas, but this place does not compare topographically with SD, the foothills of suburban L.A. or the SF Bay Area. If you want to make the argument that the suburbs of Houston are nicer than Marin County, Grizzly Park in Berkeley, etc. than good for you!

Agreed.

[socketz]

We should chill. I don't want to get the thread locked. At least not till we get to 30 pages of posts! I honestly like certain aspects about both places. Where I lived in Plano (Park and Preston area) was definitely close to every kind of shopping/eating imaginable....and only 9 miles from work....and across the street from my kids school....I will probably never be able to afford that type of convenience here in CA.

[_Charles_]

CA has mountains, beaches, things to do and reliably nice weather.
CA does not have affordable housing - not anymore.

TX has affordable housing. Middle class families need affordable housing. And that's the attraction ~ got it.

[johnmarg]

We were all set to move from Cal to Dallas. The main reason was housing costs. However, a summer there convinced us not to do it. The heat and humidity were the worst we ever experienced. We thought, why live somewhere you dont want to go outside for months at a time. Every day is brutal. Today is no exception

[galore]

Originally Posted by johnmarg

We thought, why live somewhere you dont want to go outside for months at a time. Every day is brutal. Today is no exception

It really is different for each person. I was miserable last weekend in SF because of the wind-chill. Still have a head cold from that experience.

Today in Dallas, I walked from my paid-off home (on a wooded lot of almost an acre) in Lake Highlands to a nice, big grocery store to shop for food and totally enjoyed the warm, sunny weather and the nice breeze! Do that in the bay area with a middle-class salary.