Coulld I find a place in TX meeting my desires?

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by DSL_PWR

I would think that Dallas would be what you are looking for.

Since you are Republican I would stay away from san antonio and austin.

Dallas is less Republican than San Antonio, but it doesn't matter. This is Texas. In each and every city here, Republicans can find like minds. Even Austin.

[hellpaso]

Austin.

[tomchard]

Sounds like you're "ripe" for the Austin Area, man! "Young Singles" by the hundreds; lively social scene; degree-plus excellent certs ... Can't see how you would NOT find work in the immediate area.
And as others have already noted, you probably won't be able to afford to actually live in Downtown Austin, but there are lots of other options, too.
As for focusing more in Finance/Accounting/Whatever ... that's your call. For technical jobs, I don't believe you'd have much trouble - even if it meant talking to customers by phone - for which there's a large group in Northwest Austin who work for Cisco Systems.
You might (if you have access) try this website to search for a Cisco job: https://www.cisco.apply2jobs.com/Pro...earchInterface ...
[BR]
If that one doesn't work try this one: Career Opportunities - Careers - Cisco Systems and start searching from there.[BR]
Best Regards ...

[EzPeterson]

San Antonio or Austin. SA COL is lower, and there are more opportunities on the accounting side. Austin has quite a few IT jobs, but is a VERY competitive marketplace, as tons of people just want to live in Austin, and will make concessions to do so.

Probably best to check out dice.com and see where you can get an offer.

[Serious Conversation]

IT is not what I want to do long term. I realize I may have to take whatever I can get to be in a better area, but I'd like to be close to a business related masters by thirty. I'm also not moving to do more low level call center work, unless it's for a substantial ($40k annual salary or better) boost. I'm grossing under $24k, no benefits, so I have nowhere to go but up.

I've read some about Austin, but probably not as much as I should. I've never lived anywhere near as large as Austin, but while downtown living has its perks, I've found at least as many drawbacks as when I considered downtowns in SC and IA. I would rather be in a first level suburb apartment than on the fifth floor downtown. I would think this would make Austin more in my price range.

Also, maybe I wasn't clear, but my personal politics really aren't a deciding factor. I live in an extremely conservative area, but it's backward and stagnant. That's what I'm trying to avoid. I lived in IA, a purple to blue state, and found it much more amenable than "pillbilly" east TN. Once you get in the Nashville metro, people become more reasonable (even if they vote for the same party) and things improve dramatically compared to where I'm at. My issues are more with **** poor local governance which I've found impacts daily life more than larger voting patterns, than party affiliation. I don't want to live in the Castro or backwater Appalachia and am looking for a place truly directed toward prosperity in the future.

[Kibby]

Stick with looking somewhere around Houston, DFW metro or maybe even San Antonio. Austin is great, but the traffic is a killer, it's more expensive (you will be competing with college kids for those cheap digs) and no professional sports. The job situation in Austin can be difficult because the UT grads always want to stay there. DFW (not necessarily Dallas, the FW in DFW is Fort Worth & includes everything between the two cities) has plenty of opportunity and you can find the 'smaller town' feel, but still live in an area with lots of sports, colleges to pursue your Masters and maybe avoid some of the traffic headaches of Austin or Dallas. Religion, ethnicity and Political leanings are not really an issue in Texas (despite what you may have heard) - people are friendly all over the State. You won't find "backward & stagnant" in any of these cities - I personally like Fort Worth, but don't know that they have any type of 'goth' music or culture. No suggestions on where you might find that.

Air travel is not as easy from San Antonio as it is from both Houston and DFW - personally, you couldn't pay me enough to live in Houston, but a lot of people clearly like it. Look for the job and then move - jobs are pretty plentiful for those with experience and degrees. IT is used in all types of businesses and we have plenty of that going on in Texas. Lot's of opportunity to advance your education - University of Texas in Arlington (375,000 people) is the 2nd largest in the UT system. You will find that 'sports' of all types are popular and a ton of sports bars all over the place, no matter where you settle. If you live in the DFW metro area - you are covered in all sports (both professional and D-1 college) within a 30 min. drive. A sports junky heaven.

Once you settle on an area - come back for suggestions on where to find a place to live. Looks to me that you need to consider not just the job, but also the school situation.