Is there anyone from NJ/NY pleased or displeased with your move to Texas? (Houston: home, living in)

[KantLockeMeIn]

I'm from Long Island by the way of Virginia and now in the Plano area and I'm happy. You couldn't pay me enough to move back to LI.

[tailoma]

Well, I moved from NJ 30 years ago and love it here. I live in a suburb of Fort Worth near DFW Airport. We're so convenient to both Fort Worth and Dallas. Fort Worth is more laid back and we're there frequently.

It's all in your attitude...make it an open one. In a large city, I wouldn't think it would be so bad since everyone seems to be moving here, I'll bet most neighbors aren't native Texans. I can't imagine moving north again...couldn't afford the difference anyway.

[1lallen1]

We just moved here in August from the Somerset County, NJ area. We are in Houston. My husband loves it here (he is a native NJian). Our 2 teenagers and I are homesick (I'm not even from NJ).
We moved down here for the affordability mainly. We were drowning in property taxes and high cost of living in NJ.
It is quite affordable here, the people are extremely friendly, there is a lot of cultural diversity here in Houston, and lots to do.
The thing I don't like about it is the traffic. I left a wonderful job in NJ which only took me 15 minutes to get to. I found a job here, but spending lots of time commuting and sitting in traffic is a way of life here. It is standard to drive 50 minutes one way to work.
I am also finding that there is not much flexibility in the hours you work. I used to work till 4:30pm every day, but here it seems that everyone works till 5:00 and then the roads get jammed up at that time.
I'm still trying to find a family-friendly corporate life environment like I had in at the corporation I worked for in NJ.
I also miss the quaint small country towns in NJ and the older homes with character.
I guess the right now we are still adjusting to our move, but I really miss our life in NJ.

[CurrentlyinSanAntonio]

Originally Posted by haidozo1

I was raised in Jersey. Went to kindergarten in Morristown, lived in Rockaway, NJ about 15 years, etc. I joined the military and wound up in Texas five times over 20 years. The first time was the best - it was new, it was San Antonio, and it was very different. However, the more I lived here, the more I found some stark differences, but also a few similarities. The biggest "con" to living in a Texas small town for example, is that the people appear "stuck" back somewhere in the 40s. They still have the "keep outsiders out" mentality, "don't bring your business here", and the weirdest was when I asked if someone sold something and they said, "No, the store down the street does, and we don't want to hurt their business." Not exactly capitalism at its finest. This, while it may seem "nice" and "friendly," holds onto the "good old boy" stereotype, because the stores that do carry what you want charge twice what you can get it for in a larger town. For example, wanting to be "supportive," I bought a wrench at the local hardware store - $20!!! I walked into the Wal-Mart the next day and the same exact wrench was $12. Needless to say, I returned the wrench. All the prices, including food, are like that in the small towns. They don't have to compete, they know they "have you" and they don't bother to try to keep your business. This is where people will tell you how you need to accept the small town way of doing things, but the problem is, the business owners suck the residents dry, yet they'll complain if a new store tries to come in. As I said, good old boys - which can be read as greedy, selfish, and arrogant, just like in the movies.

Schools. Stuck in the 40s. Education is okay in the small town schools, but the administration of the schools is very poor.

The bigger cities are much better. In fact, it is this time in Texas that I have fallen away from liking Texas, because until this time, I believed there was a "friendliness" in these small towns, but it's no different than anywhere else, other than the fact that they are more likely to snub their noses. They are also more closed-minded. It is as though anything from "outside" is "evil" - they are not progressive to any extent. The children leave these towns in droves after high school, because there is no work and no one has much ambition, other than to keep competition out.

The weather - if you like snow, or if you even like a cold winter, a nice fall, or a warm spring, forget it. It's going on the middle of December and it will be 85 degrees today. I like seasons, so I may keep my house here for winter, but year-round living requires liking this type of weather - often no rain, often mid-90s to low-100s in the summer.

How exactly do you expect a mom and pop store to give the same prices as WalMart? WalMart buys and sells 10 million of those wrenches a year so they can buy and sell them cheaper. That mom and pop store might sell 10 a year. Thats why it cost so much, and also why there are not many mom and pop stores left anymore. If they could have sold it for $12 and still made money I am sure they would have.

[love roses]

I'd rather buy a wrench from a mom and pop store, even if it is more expensive. They are more likely not going to carry merchandise that is strictly made in China. Buy one made there and they keep breaking and you have to keep going back and buying another one and that can get expensive too.

[peaceandblessings]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the information that was rendered. We are going to plan a trip down after Christmas probably not until February. We will head for Houston and see if we could also get to visit the Dallas area as well. Any recommendations for places to stay or things to see and do while we are in the area? Any information would be greatly appreciated. peaceandblessings

[TheDeep]

Originally Posted by love roses

Houstoner is right. Every single city here has a different flavor For Tech jobs, I'd say Austin first. Dallas has some and so does Houston, but for IT and Consulting, I'd say Austin.

I dunno about that. If I go to dice or monster and search for "network engineer" jobs, I get 350 hits in Dallas, 125 in Austin and 100 in Houston. So how do you say that Austin leads for IT/tech jobs?

[love roses]

I'm definitely no tech genius, so I'm not going to argue with you. I'll take your word for it. I read somewhere that different cities are heavy on different types of tech jobs. For the record, I don't work in the tech field and have no interest in ever doing so and don't know too many people who do either. The ones I know who are big tecchies live in Denver.

[evilgrag]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

New Yorkers and Chicagoans in my opinion tend to like Houston the best. It is more diverse and has less of a Texas mentality. And like New York and Chicago, water is nearby.

What exactly is a "Texas Mentality?"

[love roses]

I'm guessing it must be along the lines of a New York or 'Chicago mentality.