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Did anyone mention there is no income tax in Texas?
Property tax is high,when I first arrived in Houston,they said 1000 people come to Houston each week?and these are Mexicans and Central Americans ,being catholic,they will have a large family and someone has to pay for their schooling.
TX is not humid compared to Florida,if you want the beach and sand,then Galveston is for you,but in case of hurricane,you may have to drive north.
TX is becoming more of a tech center with so many companies setting up shops-Oracle,Tsla,Hewitt Packcard,Dell,even Uber is threatening to move to TX.
It is not true native TEXANS bragged about the biggest water melon,belt buckles,or oil fields,Houston being the oil capital of US,has a diverse population -Middle Easterners,Africans,Vietnamese,Mexicans,El Salvadorean,Ecuadorians,Brazilian.
Yes,there is flooding,big flooding,everything you see and hear of flooding in Houston is true,I think yo and hubby being techies and you are starting a family,go for Austin.
Another vote for checking out TX, in our case it was Houston. Or suburbs of Houston, actually. We live here for 16 years. In Montgomery county, politically red voting county. Very good schools, over an hour drive from beach- Galveston. Far enough from hurricane to cost any significant damage. 20-30 minutes from IAH, no income taxes, but high property taxes. You can find everything here. Tech jobs, oil jobs. Good pay. Good shopping, entertainment. Private catholic school in The Woodlands.
Cons- high property taxes, terrible summer weather. From May to October you will be not able to breathe outside. Also flooding. You just have to choose carefully where to live. Never flooded myself.
You have suburbs but also more rural areas in Montgomery county. Really not bad place to live, except the cons. And native Texans are incredibly polite and well mannered, always tried to help me. I love TX people.
We are looking to move to FL from here. But for us it's about family and more relax pace of living, slowly drafting to semi retirement, we enjoyed living here when we raised our kids. Now, our kids are adults and we are looking for something else.
But many HATE being in a database and needing permission. If I lived in a permit less carry state again I would not even bother renewing my FL permit. I still have an AZ, FL, and VA permit from when I lived in Missouri before constitutional carry passed. Always good to have a backup permit in case one expired or suspended.
But so many states have permit less carry I wouldn't even get a permit again if I moved.
In FL backup permits don't work. If you're FL permit expired or suspended out of luck, They don't honor AZ permits for FL residents like other states do.
Remember, if you keep your license current you have the ability to carry in states that have reciprocity with your.
Doesn't make it right but can assist you if you move about the country.
The more i think about your point, the more I realize you may be spot on. Seems like we'll educate our children through our robust SUS (State University System), allow brain drain to occur and they contribute to the GDP of other states, then in 40 years, we'll hope they relocate back to Florida to shelter their wealth(accumulated elsewhere) and prop up our retirement/tourism based economy.
My mind is blown
Quote:
Originally Posted by boy3365
Right on point. Economically, however, we seem more focused on bringing existing companies here instead of growing them organically. It's basically the corporate version of bringing in the rich and/or retirees. But I think that's a more long-game thing that state-level politicians don't care to think about much while the gravy train of 100 million annual visitors and well-to-do household relocations from other states keeps chugging along.
My husband and I currently live in the Seattle area and while we love many things about it here, we are considering a move to either Texas or Florida. In terms of areas, we are looking at the Dallas area for TX, and either Orlando or Jacksonville for FL. Since we are not too familiar with either state, I’m posting this in the general state forum because we are open to other suggestions as well. I will begin with our general reason for moving and what we are hoping to find, and then follow with what specifically we are interested in in FL.
One of our primary reasons for wanting to move is that we are very conservative, and as we get closer to starting our family, we are finding it more and more important to us to live somewhere with lots of people that (hopefully) share and support our values, or (at least) do not openly mock and scorn our values. We have had a hard time making friends in Seattle because everyone here just assumes that we think like them, and they have no hesitation airing their contempt for people who think like we do. We want to get away from this and live somewhere where, at the very least, the more left-leaning folks know how to coexist with conservatives. We would also like to find a place where it looks like the population will be willing to move on from COVID at some point. While things are technically open here, there are still many restrictions in place, and the population in general is going above and beyond what is required. For instance, my husband and I have not been allowed into our offices for almost two years, and all of my attempts at finding social outlets involve masking and/or zoom meetings. We do not get the sense that anyone is looking to change this anytime soon, despite the population being highly vaccinated.
So we are mostly looking for somewhere a bit more level headed, but other important factors are:
-Cost of living (homes where we live start at around $1M), including taxes
-Friendly people— we want to know our neighbors
-Access to major airport— we love to travel but also our families are scattered all over
-Healthcare quality and availability (esp women’s healthcare)
-Outdoor recreation
-Weather
-Religious community- we are catholic and it would be nice to live amongst people who are openly Christian
-Safety
-Job opportunities (my husband will keep his job remotely but I am a civil engineer and will need a position in that field)
-Schools? (We are leaning toward homeschool but might take advantage of the public school system if it was pretty good)
Now, for FL specifically, we are drawn to:
-Beaches!
-Rocket Launches (husband is obsessed with aerospace)
-Amusement parks (I am obsessed with roller coasters)
-Proximity to Caribbean and Central America
What, in your opinions, are some things we should know about FL? Could we find what we are looking for in either JAX or Orlando? If not, where else would you suggest we look? How you do you think these areas rank as far as our criteria? If you have experience with both TX and FL, which do you think has the most of what we are looking for?
Thank you so much in advance!
I was born and raised in Texas until we retired to Florida last year. I love Texas and miss a lot about it here in Florida. I spent my earlier years in the DFW area. It's ok but I'd advise if you go to the Dallas areas, look in the suburbs, surrounding towns because Dallas is awful in my opinion. It's too busy, too crowded and has a LOT of liberals, same is true for Austin. The Houston area is much better from a political standpoint because of the major oil companies HQ'd there along with their suppliers. I worked in the industry for years and I don't recall even one democrat.
My absolute favorite Texas city in hands down, San Antonio. Rich in culture, heavy Catholic presence and while city leaders are primarily democrat, you aren't treated like 2nd class citizens if you are conservative. San Antonio is known as Military City USA because of the heavy military presence. I don't know of even one person in or retired from the military that were democrats. I'm sure there are some but I've never met one. San Antonio is also close to the Texas Hill Country which is beautiful and not flat like the Dallas area. Theme parks: Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World and Schlitterbaun are all in the San Antonio area. The people of San Antonio are super nice and very family oriented. San Antonio is also home to the BEST grocery store in the country. HEB is HQ'd there and has a ton of stores all around the area. That is one of the biggest things I'll miss about Texas and San Antonio after finding subpar Publix in Florida. I'll let the more experienced folks tell you about Florida since I only have 1 1/2 years experience here. Good luck on your decision no matter which way you go.
I was born and raised in Texas until we retired to Florida last year. I love Texas and miss a lot about it here in Florida. I spent my earlier years in the DFW area. It's ok but I'd advise if you go to the Dallas areas, look in the suburbs, surrounding towns because Dallas is awful in my opinion. It's too busy, too crowded and has a LOT of liberals, same is true for Austin. The Houston area is much better from a political standpoint because of the major oil companies HQ'd there along with their suppliers. I worked in the industry for years and I don't recall even one democrat.
My absolute favorite Texas city in hands down, San Antonio. Rich in culture, heavy Catholic presence and while city leaders are primarily democrat, you aren't treated like 2nd class citizens if you are conservative. San Antonio is known as Military City USA because of the heavy military presence. I don't know of even one person in or retired from the military that were democrats. I'm sure there are some but I've never met one. San Antonio is also close to the Texas Hill Country which is beautiful and not flat like the Dallas area. Theme parks: Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World and Schlitterbaun are all in the San Antonio area. The people of San Antonio are super nice and very family oriented. San Antonio is also home to the BEST grocery store in the country. HEB is HQ'd there and has a ton of stores all around the area. That is one of the biggest things I'll miss about Texas and San Antonio after finding subpar Publix in Florida. I'll let the more experienced folks tell you about Florida since I only have 1 1/2 years experience here. Good luck on your decision no matter which way you go.
Great post! I'm from St. Louis and Publix doesn't impress me. I find the selection much better at the two main stores up there and better meats and produce too and stores in better shape.
The issue with Publix, the Fl stores is there is little competition so they don't have to throw in tons of money to have the best stores.
Could HEB give Publix, Wal-mart a run if they came to FL?
Great post! I'm from St. Louis and Publix doesn't impress me. I find the selection much better at the two main stores up there and better meats and produce too and stores in better shape.
The issue with Publix, the Fl stores is there is little competition so they don't have to throw in tons of money to have the best stores.
Could HEB give Publix, Wal-mart a run if they came to FL?
Here we go with the "Publix doesn't have competition" comments lol. I do remember you saying that you worked there, so your opinion may be based on other factors . On another thread, I advised that if people get the survey code on their Publix receipt to go and just look at the first question, even if they have no interest of filling it out. It asks where do you do most of your shopping. I got one and here is what they list.
Aldi
Bi-Lo
BJ's Wholesale
Costo
Dollar General
Family Dollar
Food Lion
Fresh Market
Giant
Greenwise Market (Publix)
Harris Teeter
Ingles
Kmart
Kroger
LIDL
Lowes Foods
Piggy Wiggly
Publix
Sam's Club
Save-A-Lot
Sedano's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Target/SuperTarget
Trader Joe's
Walmart Neighborhood Market
Walmart SuperCenter
Wegmans
Weis Markets
Whole Foods
Winn-Dixie
Other (Specify)
Floridians may claim Publix has no competition, but the folks in Lakeland think otherwise.
I'm surprised Amazon Fresh isn't on the list.
Quite a few of those stores aren't in Florida, but they are in the other 6 states where Publix operates. Aside from newer buildings, Publix is not much different if anything at all n the other 6 states than they are here. I haven't find an official reason why BOGOs are half-price on each item elsewhere and true buy one get one free here though there is speculation about price gouging laws.
And Walmart is in Texas. Is Florida Walmart inferior to Texas Walmart?
Here we go with the "Publix doesn't have competition" comments lol. I do remember you saying that you worked there, so your opinion may be based on other factors . On another thread, I advised that if people get the survey code on their Publix receipt to go and just look at the first question, even if they have no interest of filling it out. It asks where do you do most of your shopping. I got one and here is what they list.
Aldi
Bi-Lo
BJ's Wholesale
Costo
Dollar General
Family Dollar
Food Lion
Fresh Market
Giant
Greenwise Market (Publix)
Harris Teeter
Ingles
Kmart
Kroger
LIDL
Lowes Foods
Piggy Wiggly
Publix
Sam's Club
Save-A-Lot
Sedano's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Target/SuperTarget
Trader Joe's
Walmart Neighborhood Market
Walmart SuperCenter
Wegmans
Weis Markets
Whole Foods
Winn-Dixie
Other (Specify)
Floridians may claim Publix has no competition, but the folks in Lakeland think otherwise.
I'm surprised Amazon Fresh isn't on the list.
Quite a few of those stores aren't in Florida, but they are in the other 6 states where Publix operates. Aside from newer buildings, Publix is not much different if anything at all n the other 6 states than they are here. I haven't find an official reason why BOGOs are half-price on each item elsewhere and true buy one get one free here though there is speculation about price gouging laws.
And Walmart is in Texas. Is Florida Walmart inferior to Texas Walmart?
I mean from a more traditional grocery store standpoint Publix doesn't have much competition in Florida anymore since Winn Dixie closed a lot of stores and most of the Albertsons left as well. Wal0Mart, Aldi, yes sell groceries but when it comes to meats and seafood and such still don't offer what a regular grocery store does.
If you go into Publix in Georgia, North Carolina or Tennessee they're much nicer and such. They have actual legit competition in places like Georgia. Here in FL they can neglect the stores a bit because no much else to shop at. I walked into a GA Publix once and MUCH nicer.
Great post! I'm from St. Louis and Publix doesn't impress me. I find the selection much better at the two main stores up there and better meats and produce too and stores in better shape.
The issue with Publix, the Fl stores is there is little competition so they don't have to throw in tons of money to have the best stores.
Could HEB give Publix, Wal-mart a run if they came to FL?
My opinion, HEB could EASILY shut anybody down. They are that good
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