Is there anyone from NJ/NY pleased or displeased with your move to Texas? (Houston: palm trees, areas)

[bklynchapin]

I am a Brooklyn native who spent time in California (Bay Area for college, a couple of years working in LA) before relocating to Austin six months ago. I feel like my situation might be different because I am planning on heading back to New York eventually (I always planned on it). I think it makes it easier to enjoy Texas for what it is and not have to constantly compare, which I think is what most people do.

I really like Austin. It has a great young creative vibe with a fantastic music scene. While many complain about the traffic (really nothing compared to NYC or LA congestion) Austin has many of the advantages of big cities without many of the drawbacks. The cultural offerings are quite varied (largely due to it being a college town) and there are lots of outdoor activities like tubing, biking and frisbee golf. It's also close to the beautiful Hill country. As far as cons are concerned, while the BBQ and Tex Mex are truly magnificent, it can sometimes be difficult to find a lot of variety, although this too is improving by the minute. The summers can also be oppressively hot, but that's why Austinites are usually in the river or their favorite swimming hole when it's hot.

I have traveled a lot to other parts of Texas as well. I'm not sure how else to say it, but neither Houston nor Dallas are quite my cup of tea. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy visiting, but I would not want to live there. That probably has more to do with my station in life than anything else. I am single and have no children. Both those cities seem much more suburban in my taste and might be better places to raise families in. Not that Austin isn't as well. They are growing in leaps and bounds and becoming very cosmopolitan places. But it seems to me that what is truly great about Texas is probably a little less represented in Dallas and especially Houston. As they are growing they seem to be much more like many of the other sunbelt cities and losing on their uniqueness.

I believe in contrast to this are a number of other cities. I really like the feel of San Antonio, Ft. Worth and El Paso for example. San Antonio with it's Old World TexMex culture and idyllic Riverwalk. Ft. Worth with its Old Western charm and slower pace of life. El Paso with its independent spirit and frontier feel. Galveston is fantastic too with its great historic coastal architecture.

My advice to people from the Northeast and Cali would be to come to Texas because you want to be in Texas, no matter which part you come to. It has some great qualities. But don't come if you just want a less expensive version of what you are used to. No matter how cosmopolitan these cities get, they will never be NY or LA or SF (which to most Texans is a good thing). You will just make yourself miserable with constant comparisons and probably make the native Texans around you miserable as well. Or do as I'm doing. If you will really miss it that much, decide that you too will return to New York one day, and enjoy Texas as much as you can while you are here.

[love roses]

Very well said!

[Trainwreck20]

But don't come if you just want a less expensive version of what you are used to.

That is probably the best that I have seen it put .

[Cathy4017]

My advice to people from the Northeast and Cali would be to come to Texas because you want to be in Texas, no matter which part you come to. It has some great qualities. But don't come if you just want a less expensive version of what you are used to. No matter how cosmopolitan these cities get, they will never be NY or LA or SF (which to most Texans is a good thing). You will just make yourself miserable with constant comparisons and probably make the native Texans around you miserable as well. Or do as I'm doing. If you will really miss it that much, decide that you too will return to New York one day, and enjoy Texas as much as you can while you are here.

Excellent advice.....!!

[peaceandblessings]

Thank you once again for the various responses to my posting. All are being considered. This is a very difficult task for me partly because I'm afraid to leave the only state that I've ever lived but at the same time greatly desiring change. And of course this change will effect the whole family so it needs to be well planned and all things considered. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL !!!!!!! Please don't hesitate to post anything else that would be instrumental to making a relocation decision. We are planning to visit the Austin and Houston areas in February. God Bless peaceandblessings

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by bklynchapin

TexasReb, you make a good point. A great one in fact. But then you go ahead and spoil it by talking crap and generalizing about New York just like you are accusing them of doing. All I am saying is that you don't have to put down New York to get across your love of Texas. I think that if everyone learned that lesson, these could be much more productive.

I don't see that I put down New York or New Yorkers. Can you point out where I did so? I DID made a point using the term "Fifth Avenue Crowd", but this is a common expression, almost generic, to refer to people anywhere who fancy themselves superior and more enlightened than those out in the hinterlands. So if that is "talking crap" then I plead guilty without remorse.

So far as generalizing goes, I don't really see where I did that either. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I will not generalize, just that I don't believe such was the case on this post. To elaborate just a bit, I might point out that, IMHO, generalization is wrong when applied to any one INDIVIDUAL, but not necessarily flawed when speaking broadly of certain qualities/characteristics/mannerisms/etc of regions and the people in them. Like stereotypes, they don't spring into being from nowhere, but because usually there are elements of truth in them. Now, whether or not the particulars of the generalization are perceived as positive or negative can be very subjective, of course.

But anyway, I just wanted to mention that. And with it said, let me ALSO say that I do thank you for your initial words. And I DID enjoy reading your second post and appreciate many of your points.

[bklynchapin]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

I don't see that I put down New York or New Yorkers. Can you point out where I did so? I DID made a point using the term "Fifth Avenue Crowd", but this is a common expression, almost generic, to refer to people anywhere who fancy themselves superior and more enlightened than those out in the hinterlands. So if that is "talking crap" then I plead guilty without remorse.

It just felt like you might be heading down that road, and I've senn these threads get really ugly really fast. I just wanted to avoid that. I guess it wasn't fair to put that all on you though.

[bc2008]

I grew up in Toms River NJ and luckily still have family in Marlton NJ and Philadelphia so easy access to get back frequently and touch base with my northern roots. You'll never find the same food, beautiful falls, snow, and the eastern feel here in the Texas.

We originally moved to Kingsville, south Texas and I would avoid that area at all cost. We then lived in Lake Jackson for about 20 years and it's way too small town , nothing to do, just a bedroom community. It's a great place to raise your kids, but you'll go stir crazy. Houston is close but my feeling is it's not a great Texas city. My vote

would be Austin. I moved here in 2000 (accounting position) and while the tech bubble burst as soon as I arrived it is still by far a great city. It's a growing town with traffic issues as with any other growing city but the diversity is wonderful. I chose Austin for the weather to get off the coast ( away from the horrible humidity) and to be able run on their many trails. It is a super healthy and fit city.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

[worldlyman]

Originally Posted by jcp123

If you like diversity, Texas isn't the place for you. It's one of the less cosmopolitan places I've been in the US, though it gets MUCH better if you live in Dallas, the State Capital, or Houston, or to a lesser extent in San Antonio, Brownsville, or El Paso.

I don't think in terms of "Texas" as such. Houston is more diverse than any town in California, NY and Florida except for Los Angeles and NYC (not even Miami can compete with H-town in terms of Asians and Middle Easterners). From what I see, Houston is even more socially integrated than most of L.A.

That's the bottom line. Houston is very worldly, big and broad. I do not have concerns in Witchita Falls or Lubbock or Ft.Stockton or such other Texas towns hundreds of miles away.

Yeah, the typical Cali stereotype that Texas is all about the ten gallon hat culture. Funny, Texas is now a minority-majority state just like California.

[worldlyman]

Originally Posted by bklynchapin

My advice to people from the Northeast and Cali would be to come to Texas because you want to be in Texas, no matter which part you come to. It has some great qualities. But don't come if you just want a less expensive version of what you are used to. No matter how cosmopolitan these cities get, they will never be NY or LA or SF (which to most Texans is a good thing). You will just make yourself miserable with constant comparisons and probably make the native Texans around you miserable as well. Or do as I'm doing. If you will really miss it that much, decide that you too will return to New York one day, and enjoy Texas as much as you can while you are here.

L.A. and N.Y. don't even seem that similar to me excepting that parts of Hollywood are perhaps a form of low-rise Manhattan. L.A. is more like Houston, superficially. Sprawl and palm trees, for starters.

Houston is a lean version of Los Angeles to me. Houston will be a Los Angeles at some point in the coming decades but it already shares many characteristics, good and bad. And I lived in SoCal for four years.

Some folks forever want to make Texas and its elements all that different from the rest of the world when there are many angles of Houston that remind me of L.A. and vice-versa.