What is attracting California and west coast folks to DFW? (Dallas: college, income)

[Soccersupporter]

Originally Posted by twojciac

Equal footing for TX or CA? I'd choose TX hands down... even if it were twice as expensive. Granted my exposure to CA is the Bay Area... and my exposure to TX is the DFW area (having just moved here), but I honestly don't think you could pay me enough to move to the Bay Area.

I know I'll come off sounding like an ass, but I wish home values in CA were affordable. Too many people from CA are moving elsewhere bringing their politics and problems to other parts of the country. To me CA is like a different country... and most days I wish it was...

Amen.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by Soccersupporter

We lived in SoCal all our lives. We had a house in Irvine in the Woodbridge Village one of the premier HOAs in the country. Our house payment with taxes, insurance, HOA fees, etc. was less than a 1 bedroom apartment. My wife and I had new cars, 2005 Ford Expedition, 2007 Honda Accord. We were not rich but had no problems paying our bills. We left for Keller, TX. Most people would have been envious of us living in Irvine and would probably wonder why the heck did we move.

I will tell you why we moved from a financial standpoint. We now have a 3350 sq. ft. home on a 1/4 acre lot paid for, a house that has all brand new furniture, very little in monthly bills and a big chunk of money left over that is now making money for us every month. That was good enough a reason for us to move, that and being grandparents living 15 minutes from our granddaughter versus 1500 miles.

As far as things to do, we have not even scratched the surface of things to do and now we have the money to do them. When I was out at the Indy races at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend trying to talk to my 14 year old over the noise of the Indy cars, enjoying the shorts and t-shirt weather at 9:00pm, I thought this is what life should be about every day.
Need I say more?

Yes, had I stayed in CA for many more years, I also would have an excess of money. Trust me, I regret the move to TX many years ago, but there isn't a thing I can do about it now. I understand why you left CA and maybe I would have to had I stayed, but I think my reason would have been the increase in population and illegals. I loved my house out there and truly have no desire for a McMansion anywhere. It just isn't practical for me and never will be although I would love to have about 10 acres or more. In 2008 if contemplating a move, I would not have chosen Texas though and would loved to have really checked out other areas of the country before making such a drastic move.

I love nature and beautiful weather. I do not care for the Speedway or any other sports for that matter, but I will agree that sometimes, and only sometimes, it does feel nice outside late at night in the summer if one can stand being eaten alive by mosquitoes. For some reason, they flock to me and right now, I have more bites than I can count.

All in all though, the perfect weather for me is low humidity with a high in the 70s or less and a low in the 50s. The 40s aren't bad either and for that, I love Texas winters and gorgeous days in the Autumn.

I know CA isn't like it used to be and I trust had I stayed, I would eventually have left it too but I will never forget the wonderful times I had growing up there and staying until I was 29 in such a delightful place. I will always miss it as I remember it.

[Soccersupporter]

Originally Posted by sheri257

I was at Hearst Castle the other day and I was surprized by the large number of Texas license plates I saw in the parking lot. If you took an area like that, filled it with a bunch of housing subdivisions and commercial stuff ... yeah, the cost of living would be cheaper but the area would be completely ruined.

The latest controversy was putting a couple of cell phone towers in a nature preserve so people could have better cell phone reception but ... they didn't allow it because they were worried that the wildlife could be killed. In Texas, of course, they wouldn't give the towers a second thought.

As I was having lunch on Monterey Bay the other day watching the seals and the sea lions play in the water just a few feet away ... I totally understood why they're extremely careful to not let anything disturb the beauty of the area because ... this is the reason why people come from all over the world to see it.

And this is the very same reason we are paying soon to be $5.00 a gallon at the pump. Thank God in TX we are still $.50 a gallon cheaper than CA.

[Soccersupporter]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

You know, I was just prodding you. Your posts in bold and post-after-post-after-post back-to-back is getting old. You love California. We get it. Drop the subject.

SoCal, near the coast, has great weather. We get that. It gets hotter when you get further away. CA has state income tax; TX doesn't. Some people love CA. Some people love TX. Housing is cheaper in TX. How many times can we rehash the same crap over and over? Some folks argue that TX housing, being so inexpensive, is the reason to live in TX. Some folks argue that in CA, you can make a bundle on housing by following the history of cyclical housing prices in the state. In the end, there are personal reasons and personal preferences that will cause people to like one state over the other. If one state was clearly better than the other - it would have everyone living in it. Different strokes for different folks. Can we agree to disagree and drop this stupid thread? Can we ban any further threads? These threads crop up all the time. It gets so old.

I don't like California. I go out there several times a year for work (Bay Area, but I have went to San Diego and other cities several times). Nothing you can say can change my mind that even if the prices were the same as TX - I wouldn't move. Now, would I move to another area of the country, or for that matter, another country? You bet. There are other areas in this world that I really enjoy - I wouldn't mind living in Seattle, Rome or Paris. That's my preference, but I don't see Paris -vs- Dallas threads anywhere...

Is there a function on this forum to simply block out certain threads so they don't show up on the list? Threads like this are like a train wreck and I can't stop looking at them.

Obviously this thread stays alive because both states are competing for people's housing $$$. It just so happens that TX is winning at the present time and may be for the short term future. If there weren't compelling reasons to live in both states there would be no arguments and no thread on this. What I find interesting is that DWong needs to come here for entertainment. I guess CA just does not have enough to offer him?

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by Soccersupporter

And this is the very same reason we are paying soon to be $5.00 a gallon at the pump. Thank God in TX we are still $.50 a gallon cheaper than CA.

Like that's really a big deal. C'mon now. For 10 gallons, that's only $5.00 but people don't mind spending that on their beloved Dr. Pepper or Coke. If $.50 more is a problem, people can make it up elsewhere like staying home and cooking one's own meals. Just go with the flow of inflation. It's really not that big of a deal if one plays the cards right.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Soccersupporter

Well for those of you that did not do your homework and moved here for the wrong reason, well I have no sympathy for you. Those of you that feel that way should get out of Dodge ASAP. We don't need negative ex-Californians giving us ex-Californians that love it here a bad rep. Adiós!

You know ... I've read some of CalGal's posts and, she's obviously going through a really hard time. If this is the way she's been treated in Texas then, no wonder she wants to leave.

There's a lot of people, particularly Cali ex-pats who sell Texas pretty hard on this board ... particularly in the California forum. As I recall, you've been one of them so ...

It's really hard to judge what any place is like and whether it works for you until you actually live there so ... why don't you give CalGal a break instead of being so mean?

[Soccersupporter]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Hmm, wonder how many people that live in California can afford to go on a vacation? Whereas us Texans LOVE our vacations. Just the other day a neighbor was telling me about their cruise they had just gotten back from. They ran into many fellow Texans on their cruise out of Florida. The staff on the cruise told them they LOVE the Texans as they are the friendliest bunch and will talk to anyone. They also mentioned that us Texans tend to be the best tippers.

I was waiting for this to be brought up. I have done more in Texas in the 7 months we have lived here that the last 5 years living in CA. I wonder why, I don't think it is the weather.

I know so many people here in TX that have vacation homes in Florida, or at a vacation home at one of many TX lakes. My son-in-law has a vacation home on a lake. We can use it anytime we want. A couple at our church were talking about their month in Europe and what a wonderful trip they had. They are a blue collar family as is most of Texas. I will take a trip to Europe over a weekend at Disneyland anytime.

[Soccersupporter]

Originally Posted by sheri257

I live in Monterey County so, my vacation is right here. I used to vacation here a lot and finally decided I should just move here.

I guess if you want to limit your experiences and live in a bubble then......

[Soccersupporter]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

Like I said in one of my posts, it may be tough to start out in CA now but if one has lived there for many years, they really do have it made financially unless like so many do, they are inept when it comes to matters of money.

I have many friends who still live in the city where I grew up, and none of them are short of money. One owns a house in GA (I know, whoopee ~ I thought the same thing, but north GA isn't cheap) and one in CA. They are both huge houses with the one in CA having a pool. Another owns a house in CA and one in CO, again houses that are really nice. They fly to CO in their own plane. I could go on and on about how well my friends and relatives are doing financially, but it would be boring to those who don't care who owns what and how many one has of this and that.

You mentioned the poor Californians not being able to enjoy vacations. They are constantly going anywhere they choose to go because they can afford it and like to travel. Personally, I'm not into traveling hither and yon. I'm too much of a homebody. Sometimes I get quite bored with the discussions of their trips to Europe and their Alaskan cruises but if it makes them happy, so be it.

One thing about Californians is they don't have to travel far for beauty. Within their own state, they will find everything they need in gorgeous scenery and if they so desire, they can save more of their money and stay "close to home."

So for all the "WE Texans" who really care, Californians can also enjoy the life of Riley. Don't forget that property taxes and home owners insurance are cheaper than in many parts of Texas. My friends are astounded at what I pay for electricity in Texas, and I'm not referring to how much I have to use to stay cool in these ungodly summers but how much the cost is per kwh. Even my friends whose children are my children's ages are doing quite well financially in CA but my two children in TX are doing well too.

Tipping.....I'm not impressed who tips more. My children were incredulous when I would only tip 10% and now when I'm with them, I go "all the way" with 15%, but 10% it is if I'm not with them.

Friendly Texans. Yes, there are many, but there are friendly folks everywhere and absolute rudeness everywhere as well. Maybe the staff on the cruise told you Texans were friendly to "butter you up" for more bucks. It could be so you know, sad but true. People will say anything for the almighty dollar.

I know I could never afford to go back, hence what I'm saying is true that unless one is quite well off, he or she would have a hard time starting out in beautiful California. I could choke my dad for ever suggesting to move to Texas and worse yet, convincing us to follow. He turned up being the one who cursed this place for the almost ten years he lived here before passing away. None of us thought that badly of it as he even though my mom didn't want to go in spite of having another child who lived here. Not many of us want to start over at the age of 67 as she was. I can't believe my dad did what he did. Grrrrrr! I'm not blaming him totally, but we were just fine out there. Actually, it's really my sister's fault for marrying a Texan and leaving us. Just kidding but..............

Bitterness can have such a bad taste and taint ones outlook on life.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by Soccersupporter

Bitterness can have such a bad taste and taint ones outlook on life.

No, I'm not bitter, just upset with myself that I fell for the deal. I said the bit about my dad and sister in fun. Hey, I've made the best of it here and even though my kids don't remember much of CA, they like it here and that's the most important thing to me. They both said they'd never leave Texas. When I was their age, I wasn't thinking about leaving either. They actually could change their minds one day, but I'm sure I'll be on higher ground by then.