[Frodo2008]

Texas is such a big state nobody can say Texas is this. Texas is the second most diverse state in the country in terms of landscapes. You have mountains, hill country, high plains, coastal plain, piney woods, etc. There is a big range in weather as well. Compare Brownsville and Amarillo and you will see what I mean. Amarillo just got 14 inches of snow. Most of the places in the northern U.S. haven't seen that much snow in years. In Brownsville, people don't know what snow is. There are tiny villages and huge cities. Texas is so diverse there's something for almost everybody. You just have to decide what you are looking for. I live in Houston. Most of the people around here like big cities and suburbs. Most of my extended family lives in real small towns and villages. They hate big cities. The big cities could all burn for all they care so it just depends on what you like. There's no right or wrong on any of these things. Whatever you like is right. If I were you I would just research all parts of FL and TX and see what you come up with. Once you've narrowed it down to a few places, visit them and then pick one.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by smarino

Those are the only two states that you can come up with?

The OP has not returned and I notice from other forums that the OP habitually starts vague threads with open-ended questions.

Nonetheless, comparing Texas and Florida is interesting precisely because of what they have in common at the macro level. Then, within those general guidelines, each one has his own measure among many possibilities.

Good Luck!

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by RighteousDude

Texas has a much cheaper cost of living, especially if you live outside of the major metros.

Not true really. Texas and FL have very comparable costs of living. In fact, if you compare Tampa and Austin or Houston - Tampa is somewhat cheaper (Cost of Living Calculator: Compare the Cost of Living in Two Cities - CNNMoney). Miami is somewhat more expensive. Overall, pretty much the same.

Originally Posted by RighteousDude

As far as Publix goes, I really don't believe that I'd let a grocery chain make my decision. Most of the H-E-B stores in Texas are modern and extremely nice. The last time I was back at home in the Tampa Bay area, I noticed that most of the Publix stores I walked into were kinda run down and dumpy. I believe throughout most of Florida the main option you'd have are Walmart, Publix, and Winn-Dixie. Here in Texas, depending on where you live, you'll have the option of Walmart, H-E-B, Randall's, Albertson's, Kroger, Fiesta, and many smaller chains. We recently started getting Whole Foods as well.

Wholefoods is headquartered in Austin . Austin and Houston have a huge selection of shops, so does Dallas. However, step outside of these places and your only choice is HEB and outside of the city HEB sucks. Publix I have found to be consistent across the board. West Palm/Wellington have had Wholefoods for a long while now, by the way - I am pretty sure Tampa/JAX etc. has them too.

Originally Posted by RighteousDude

As far as property taxes go, don't believe the hype. Texas DOES have high property taxes compared to much of the South, but it's nowhere close to the East Coast.

Comparison was against Florida and there are counties in TX (like Hays, Travis etc.) that are almost double places like Palm Beach Cty in FL. You can also live in (e.g.) Brewster county TX where taxes are low but you can find similar rural counties in Florida too.

Originally Posted by RighteousDude

A $170k home in Austin (Travis County) had a property tax of close to $4,000.
Austin Texas Homes For Sale & Austin Real Estate - Zillow

A $170k home in West Palm Beach (Palm Beach County) had a property tax of close to half that at roughly $2,000.
West Palm Beach Florida Homes For Sale & West Palm Beach Real Estate - Zillow

Texas offers a $15,000 homestead exemption, plus an additional $10,000 once you turn 65 as well as a $3,000 exemption from the ISD tax.

From what I remember, Florida offered $25K homestead exemption and then another $25K on top of that after 3 years?

Originally Posted by RighteousDude

I'm not exactly sure how someone would claim that Florida has more room to roam as it's a peninsula that covers 65,755 square miles of land compared to Texas' 268,581 square miles.

Texas is 96% privately owned land. Florida is about 70%. As a percentage of overall land surface, Florida has more public land available to its citizens than Texas. Biggest public lands in TX are in the SW of the state - Big Bend National Park (800,000 acres) and Big Bend Ranch State Park (300,000 acres). Aside from these, the rest of the state parks and areas are pretty small relative to the size of the state. If you live in Austin, for example, you are kind of screwed (unless you want to drive for hours). If you are in Houston, you can go to Angelina (national forest) but this is smaller than, say, Appalachicola Natl Forest in north FL. Texas is all fenced up and if you want to roam, you got to own.

Originally Posted by RighteousDude

Florida has better weather and much nicer beaches, Texas has a much cheaper cost of living and a more diversified economy.

The economy part is true somewhat - Texas has been exploding due to the oil boom, however, if that oil boom stopped, I am not sure how much "economic diversity" would be there. Austin, for example, is bursting at the seams - it is chock full of software developers and tech startups - that's nice. Dallas is a tech hub too, so is Houston. Houston is also an oil hub. Hence, there is some truth to what you are saying. However, Texas is also owned and run by corporations - the environmental controls are next to none, for example. Florida is much better this way. The state will also face a very real and scary water shortage for a lot of its places. Travis and Hays counties are in a pretty serious way from that point of view. San Antonio is not much better. Dallas? Millions of people sucking an aquifer dry in a place that cannot even support 1/10th of that population...

Originally Posted by RighteousDude

Personally, I'd rather live in Florida, but I'm glad to live in Texas. If that makes sense?

They both have their pros and cons and are OK to live in. We love the Big Bend area, for example. El Paso is a VERY cool place. Austin and Houston? Just another big city jungle but people like that too

[things and stuff]

Originally Posted by Restrain

There are a lot more regulations in Florida than Texas, so from that point, I prefer Texas.

Regulations on the typical activities of retirees? Can you give some examples?

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by ThePage

Looking for a peaceful place with less crime, less stress, affordable.

The award for most broad question of 2015 goes to you! lol

[Restrain]

Things:

I am trying to get a lanai on the front of the home, cover the porch slab, behind the setback. Here is the issue. First you can't get a contractor to return a call as the state regulations on contractors is stifling growth. It is further driving tradesmen out of state for jobs (Texas, Georgia). Then you have to have a set of engineered plans for every friggin' thing. A metal prefab carport, engineered plans. A 10x14 storage building, engineered plans.

Then you have to have a licensed contractor do the job. You can be fined and the handyman fined if he is not a licensed contractor. And it is irrelevant whether he can do the job, but if he has that piece of paper.

It takes weeks to get a simple permit, since all those engineered plans have to be reviewed.

But that is if you can get someone to return a call. Then count on a long wait because just because they have a license, they have to have an occupational license from the jurisdiction. One lady was having to wait 5 months to get her lanai and pool area power washed due to a lack of competition, lack of contractors.

Storage building manufacturers have pulled out, building their storage buildings in Georgia, then shipping them into Florida as it is too expensive and time-consumming to build them in Florida. There is a remodeling project on Tamiami where they gutted a small strip center, redid the roof structure, and are going to set it up for a re-lease. In Texas, 30 days max. Here, it has been 6 months. and they are not through with it yet. Just down from us, they did a gut-and-redo on an older home, stock cabinets and fixtures, tile floor, paint. I did that to a home in Texas last year. Again 30 days max. With a food crew, 1 week. It has taken them 4 months to do the job.

Excessive regulations are killing consumers.

[Native ny]

Is your retirement home your last venture? Do you care how easily accessible family and friends are? Sure, finances and weather are factors, but what are the game changers once you are there, ie, illness of one, new grandchildren, even natural disasters... I agree that the culture of your neighborhood also important, but your really have to stack rank priorities. Good luck! We are Florida bound next year, leaving perfect weather in California, a lot of other pluses too, but family, cheaper travel, affordability all added up to a good decision to start a new adventure.

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by Restrain

Things:

I am trying to get a lanai on the front of the home, cover the porch slab, behind the setback. Here is the issue. First you can't get a contractor to return a call as the state regulations on contractors is stifling growth. It is further driving tradesmen out of state for jobs (Texas, Georgia). Then you have to have a set of engineered plans for every friggin' thing. A metal prefab carport, engineered plans. A 10x14 storage building, engineered plans.

Then you have to have a licensed contractor do the job. You can be fined and the handyman fined if he is not a licensed contractor. And it is irrelevant whether he can do the job, but if he has that piece of paper.

It takes weeks to get a simple permit, since all those engineered plans have to be reviewed.

But that is if you can get someone to return a call. Then count on a long wait because just because they have a license, they have to have an occupational license from the jurisdiction. One lady was having to wait 5 months to get her lanai and pool area power washed due to a lack of competition, lack of contractors.

Excessive regulations are killing consumers.

This obviously varies county to county and city to city. Try and get stuff done in places like Austin and come back and talk - it is regulated to the wazoo and back. 50 miles out of Austin no building codes. Same with Florida...

Texas has allowed businesses to run it - you need some amount of regulation to protect things that businesses do not care for (like the environment).

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by ThePage

Looking for a peaceful place with less crime, less stress, affordable.

Austin, TX is great! In Florida, ummm parts of Orlando or maybe Jupiter.

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Austin, TX is great! In Florida, ummm parts of Orlando or maybe Jupiter.

Austin is NOT affordable anymore... Unless you want to be in the burbs. In which case get ready for hours of commute to get to Austin.