Comparing Florida to Texas (Houston, Dallas: appointed, fit in, home owners insurance)

[richkat]

Lany - cool! I know what you mean about research - after awhile, you just gotta go and check it out for yourself. It's great to know we're not alone. BTW, I lived in the SF Bay area for 22 years - 7 of them in Fremont. It used to be great and then it all changed.

- K

[lany]

Kat,

Oh, now that's weird. I just checked back over all of my posts on this forum and see that I only ever mentioned that I lived in the bay area near San Jose. Actually, we lived in Fremont until 3 years ago then moved to Newark. Definitely weird.

You are oh so right about checking the place out. This isn't our first attempt to leave the bay area. We tried a few years ago, deciding that Nashville was the perfect geographical location for us. All roads (interstates) seemed to lead to Nashville. I packed us up and we were all but ready to move. We hopped on a plane and flew to Nashville and, within 24 hours, were ready to return to California and leave Nashville in the dust. I had done a great deal of research on the area and knew quite a bit about the city, the people, the businesses, etc. But one thing had eluded me through all of those months of research,... and that was the terrain. I have never seen a city built on a washboard before. The hills were unending, up and down and up and down... way worse than San Francisco by miles. Even when landing at their airport the terrain didn't look bad but once we got on the roads,... OH MY! We stayed the week and acted like tourists but when the time came to go home, we went, crossing Nashville off our list. And so, back to square one.
A couple of years later we decided on Las Vegas and flew down for a week. Made the mistake of flying down in July. 114 degrees 3 of the days were were down there. Needless to say, we crossed Vegas off our list too.

At least with Dallas, I've been there and lived there for 18 months so I went through a full winter and summer cycle. Not as many surprises this time around.


-Lany

[richkat]

Oh that's funny, Lany, but I thought I read somewhere that you lived in Fremont - or maybe I just "knew" it.

Funny about Nashville, too. Several years ago when we were making our Bay Area escape plans, we thought about Nashville - nothing like swinging from one extreme to another. We had a great couple of trips but realized it wasn't a place for us to live unless we suddenly broke into country music.

[lany]

Yes, it is funny. Fremont's not a small city but putting it in the scheme of things for the entire 9 county bay area, it is.

DH and I love country music so Nashville wasn't out of the question for us although there are folks there who are not invoived in the music industry (that's a duh!). I loved the idea of living in Nashville.. summers and winters are relatively mild and they do have "weather", unlike the bay area where the weatherman could record two forecasts in the spring (sunny and warm or, foggy in the morning burning off about noon and pleasant.)

I grew up in an area that was known for it's 'weather' and, oddly enough, miss it. I look forward to that again... just as long as the tornadoes stay north and west of me.

[richkat]

What about tornadoes in Dallas? I grew up in California so I got used to the earthquakes, have now survived numerous hurricanes in Florida but don't really want to take on tornadoes.

We, too, love country music - especially the Texas sound, so the food & music really recommend Texas to us. More jobs for us than here in Florida, too. Enough vacation - we're looking for a place where we can live a more balanced life.

Thanks,
K

[lany]

There was one tornado spotted in the 18 months that I was down there. It hung over the city of Garland but I don't think it touched down. (I learned about it after it was gone and I lived less than 10 miles from where it was.)
Dallas is in the southeastern section of "Tornado Alley" so there are going to be tornado watches and warnings. I just pulled this quote off the net...

*"The area around Dallas and Fort Worth is a high risk area for tornadoes. On March 28, 2000, two tornadoes rolled through downtown Fort Worth, killing five people, injuring over 100 people and causing over $450 million in damage. While this is an extremely rare occurrence, visitors must be aware that tornadoes are a possibility in this part of the United States."*
(excerpt from http://www.dallas.worldweb.com/Featu...ews/8-768.html )

There are a ton of weather sites on the internet that cover the weather history around Dallas-Fort Worth. Doing a search for Texas Tornadoes or even Dallas Tornadoes will give you an overload of info.

The storm clouds roll up from the west, just beyond Fort Worth and man, can they get dark! When it rains down there it usually rains hard which tends to cause flash flooding. Half of the year the Trinity River is almost non-existent and the other half it's full or over its banks. (A slight exaggeration but that's the way it seemed. ) The North side of the city is a bit higher elevation than some areas of the Metroplex. The drainage was excellent where I lived because in a matter of a couple of hours, there was no sign of all of the water.

Weatherwise, it can get rough down there, especially during the summer. Hot days can lead to thunderstorms in the evening or at night. Just keep your eyes on the clouds to the west and your ear on the weather radio.


Lany

[richkat]

Hmmm ... don't like the sound of tornadoes.

Lany - have you considered North Carolina? It seems to be the latest state for Californians and other people to relocate to. Right now, the 2 areas we're considering are either Dallas, TX or Raleigh, NC. Of course, there are bugs, humidity and hurricanes closer to the ocean to consider in NC but Raleigh should be okay. We're thinking we'd have an easier adjustment to Dallas. But NC sure is pretty.

- Kat

[lany]

Kat,

Tornadoes aren't that bad. Heck, just consider them a windy earthquake. 15-30 seconds and they're gone, just like an earthquake... and the damage is quite similar... except if you can get into a basement shelter, you'll survive a tornado... in an earthquake, you'll be at the bottom of the pile. LOL

No, we didn't consider NC at all. I went through a rough Cat 3 hurricane a few lifetimes ago (25 years+) and really do not care to go through another one. Besides, I'm not a 'coastal' person. I like my feet securely planted on a few thousand feet of bedrock. Our focus is solely on Dallas and I am very content with that. Besides, I am sooooooooo sick of California and Californians that if Californians are flocking to any other state (like they were to Oregon a few years ago) then it's definitely out for me.

All of our states are pretty Kat... although, I will admit, in some, you have to look a little harder than in others.


Lany

[richkat]

LOL - I know what you mean. When we first moved from CA, we didn't ever want to ever return to the state. After a couple of years and living in the east, I started missing CA (and the people) because in spite of some people, I discovered CA was in my blood and I had so much in common with them. But I also love Texans and the more research we do, the better this is starting to fit. It may just be our place.

- Kat

[lany]

Kat,

I've lived so many places that I gave up on having a 'home' a long time ago. That is, until I had to go to Dallas. I'd been to San Antonio and Wichita Falls a few years before that, staying in both cities for an extended period of time but I have never had a place reach out and take a hold of me like Dallas did. I can't, to this day, put my finger on what it was but when I had to come back to CA, it was the hardest move I had ever had to make. I vowed, when I left, that I'd get back there one day and it'd be permanently. Texas is the only place I have ever lived, or even stayed for any length of time, that I miss. It took me more than 10 years to get rid of the Texas plates I'd had on my car and longer than that before I finally shredded my Texas driver's license. Texas got into my blood and is still there, just like you feel about California and Californians. The only hopes I have are that I will be able to make it back to Dallas and that it will still grab me like it used to.

Hey Kat, I thought of you this evening. I was watching The Weather Channel (we're slated for some rough weather here this week) and they had a show on that you really need to watch. *giggle* It's called "It Could Happen Tomorrow" and it was about an F5 tornado hitting downtown Dallas. There's a lot of good information in that show.. makes a good training lesson. It's worth a watch if you ever get the chance.


Lany