Relocating to Texas from Las Vegas (Houston, Dallas: attorney, real estate, tornadoes)

[lvknight]

Hi all,

Been lurking for awhile, finally decided to post. My wife and I currently live in Las Vegas and would love to relocate to Texas. We were looking at Houston, but think San Antonio or maybe a smaller town around Dallas would be better for us. We like the reputation of the school districts in Texas, cheaper housing, and well alot of other things. We would like to move within the next year (hopefully). I have a few questions.

My wife is a parralegal (she just received he certificate 3 months ago) and I am currently a maitenance electrician at the airport here, but my background is in general facility maintenance at large properties. Although I'm sure I can find work relatively easily, I don't know what kind of pay to expect in this part of the country. If anyone here is in the maintenance field and could give me a general idea, I would be most appreciative (IUOE members in stationary locals would be a big help). Also is there alot of work with law firms for parralegals. We realize she will probably need a year of experiance before we can consider moving, but if there is a lot of work there in her field she may be able to get around that. She currently works for a personal injury attorney, but would be willing to work for another type of law firm.

We have done some research and see the cost of living is cheaper, but if the wages are incredibly low, it wouldn't benefit us financially to move (our sanity is a different story ). We realize the cost of food is about the same, and we still have a car payment, but housing, insurance, utilities are much cheaper there. For example we are in our early 30's with an '07 crew cab truck and an '04 Focus with clean driving records and pay $2500/year for auto insurance and power bills of $300 in the summer for an 1100 square foot, 25 year old house (t-stat set at 75). Btw, our house is in just an ok neighborhood and will probably list for 230-240K. So if the wages are right, you could see why we would want to move.

I'm sure I'll be posting more questions, but its hard to think right now with the twin terrors destrying the house (no johnny and jack, you cant start a campfire in the living room) Much thanks in advance for any help.

Knight

P.S. Even if I spent my whole life in Vegas, am I still a Texan since I was born in Dallas.

[j96g]

For size and beauty Austin is my first choice to move to, then San Antonio for location, Houston is kind of old and with the whole Katrina thing a little crowded. Dallas is nice as well. I would avoid El paso, laredo or Amarillo unless you like country living. Stay away from Brownsville unless you want to live in Mexico. Corpus Christi and Harlingen/Weslaco/McAllen area is good too.

[Muhnay]

LOL, El Paso, aint Country living.. hahaha.. thats funny. El Paso is many things but not country. Disconnected yes, country no.

I have 3 friends that moved from El Paso to Las Vegas.. better pay and job oppertunities... than El Paso has.. something to keep in mind if you choose El Paso.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by j96g

Houston is kind of old and with the whole Katrina thing a little crowded.

Old? Hmmm... doesn't really sound right....

Any kind of 'overcrowding' that happened from Katrina may have been in some bad areas of town, but many of them have since moved on.

[coastlover]

If you move to Houston, do not move to the SW side, that's where the highest crime is.

[citizenone]

My experience in LV..fresh food is cheaper, stores more diverse, real estate outragously expensive, gasoline higher, auto expenses higher, entertainment great, Lake Meade fabulous, proximity to Arizona better. I have lived near Austin for 25 years. It is not better, it is just different. I like being a Texan. It is a little slower paced and not so much tinsel. Dallas too many tornadoes, winter, and heat. Houston too much humidity. Hill country? Just about perfect...if it isn't it will be tomorrow.

[210]

I have a cousin who moved to Las Vegas in 1993, he still lives there. However, every time he visits us he says he wishes he could move back to SA but won't be able to for awhile becuase of his boyfriends job.

I personally know quite a few people who have relocated from nevade, esp. Las Vegas to San Antonio and love it.

[royal744]

San Antonio is probably a better bet than Austin, my other favorite Texas city. Austin's real estate is SUPER-expensive (read, "outrageous") and the traffic is horrible. There's lots of work in Houston and Dallas but you'd have to put up with Houston and Dallas to partake and frankly, were I you, I wouldn't. Houston is not old, Houston has torn down all of its history so it's all the same age; ditto for most of Dallas. Ft Worth is a good town. I like San Antonio better than any of them because it is an old/new city with lots and lots of history and the greatest downtown in Texas where there are actually - gasp! - people! The way cities used be is the way we still are. If you are a maintenance electrician, large institutions might be the thing for you - USAA is headquartered here; Toyota just finished building a gigantic plant; Trinity University; the University of Texas at San Antonio; St. Marys University, etc. might be good employment possibilities. Big military bases - Ft Sam Houston; Lackland Air Force Base (gateway to the air force), Randolph Air Force Base. In short, I don't think you'd have too much difficulty. As for paralegals - there are lots of law firms in this town, large and small, especially of the personal injury variety so with a little additional experience, your wife would probably not have too much difficulty either. Housing is less costly in San Antonio but food is probably about the same although we get a lot of it from the Rio Grande Valley to the south and west so it might be a tad cheaper than Las Vegas. Pick your public school systems carefully, but the Northeast ISD, Northside ISD and Alamo Heights ISD are are all good and you shouldn't have to worry about private schools. You two won't have any trouble and will probably like it here a lot. Welcome! PS: forget about El Paso - not even the same time zone; ditto Amarillo and Lubbock or San Angelo, unless you want to be away from EVERYBODY (some people do).