If Texas is soo great, why is it so cheap? (Dallas: work, crime)

[lutarian]

There are MANY states MUCH cheaper then Texas.

[cubssoxfan]

There are MANY states MUCH cheaper then Texas.

Yup. North Dakota and South Dakota would love to have population growth. Lot's of open areas and some natural beauty as well. Go for it.

[jluke65780]

Originally Posted by Hyun-Soo

The fact that Texas is cheaper is the reason why it's 'sooo great'.

It's been cheap for a LONG time. People have been moving here for a long time, it didn't just get cheap and start booming.

[TexasReb]

I just gotta reply to this one...

Originally Posted by lutarian

OMG. Don't have so much pride Debbie. Reason why people are moving to TX from the North is due to the weather in TX. What they DON'T know about yet is the corruption and the amount of illegals which is insane just like Southern Cali.

Let me start by saying that I VERY much agree with you on the illegal immigration aspect. And that many of the "powers that be" in my beloved state are willing to sell it out and see it become another southern California, or south Florida, because they fear losing certain votes and/or because they either personally profit or are in cahoots with those who do, by hiring cheap illegal labor.

As to the other reasons why so many from the North are moving down here? It is NOT just the weather. It is for jobs as well. And a business friendly climate. And perhaps more importantly? They want to experience and be part of an state and region more laid-back, personally friendly and hospitable and neighborly, and yes, more conservative in outlook and style.

But now then...here is what I really want to address...

You would not live anywhere else? Have you travelled the entire USA yet? Have you even TRIED to live anywhere else? If not then you should not talk at all. There are great parts of Texas BUT...there are MANY other states that DESTROY Texas in terms of of natural beauty and cost of living.

Why does that make any difference? And why should it make any difference to you? You said something else earlier admonishing Debbie to not have "too much pride." My counter question is what are your credentials to judge on the matter?

Bluntly, IMHO, is that you seem to have a big problem with Texas Pride, but yet (typical of many transplants...and no personal offence intended) neither truly understand nor comprehend anything at all about it. And maybe, being charitable, there is no reason why you should, not being from here. As the old saying goes, raised in the manor born, nor, as the more religious might put it "washed in the blood"! LOL

But seriously, surely you are not saying someone who has not lived all over the USA has no right to speak on where they would prefer to live? The flip side of the whole equasion is that those who have lived all over the place have "no right to talk" because they have no real concept of home and place (more on this in a few).

I don't need to live with my neighbor nor a stranger across town to instinctively know I prefer my own family. Just as a relevant aside here, sometime last year a thread was started (pasted below) on what we Texans would pick as our "last meal." Sure enough, at one point, somebody came in full of condecension suggesting that, in so many words, most of us were too limited in our travels to have any idea of what real food was!

Well, THAT idiotic didatic lecture was devastated quickly...and not the least of reasons being that several astute posters noted along the lines of "if it is my last meal, I don't want cruisine from Gay Paree...I want comfort food that reminds me of home..." Right on!

http://www.city-data.com/forum/texas...last-meal.html

Lutarian, I hasten to add that I don't think of you as a condecending person (and as I have said, I agree with certain things you say..and appreciate your compliments/comments about Texasin some regards). However, I DO think you just "don't get it" in many ways when it comes to Texas.

To wind it up, in my first paragraph I mentioned the sense of "home and place". Here is something about it that is, I think, what Debbie meant, what many of us mean, when we speak of Texas in this sense.

Back in the 80's there was a book written by V.S. Naipal titled "A Turn in the South." Only an extremely brief mention of Texas itself was made in the book, but the preface as to exactly how the inspiration for the work of exploring the Southern United States came into play is something I think most native Texans can easily relate to and understand. And (although I am not presuming to speak for her) what Debbie J. meant.

Naipaul wrote:

JIMMY WORKED in New York as a designer and lettering artist. Howard was his assistant. Jimmy, who could become depressed at times, said to Howard one day, "Howard, if I had to give up, and you couldn't get another job, what would you do?" Howard, who was from the South, said, "I would go home to my mama."

Jimmy was as struck by this as I was when Jimmy told me: that Howard had something neither Jimmy nor I had, a patch of the earth he thought of as home, absolutely his...

A patch of earth he thought of as home. Absolutely his.

That is the way many of us feel about Texas.

[uglyblackjohn]

Texas isn't cheap so much as it is inexpensive. You just seem to get more value for the amount spent.

[lutarian]

Like I said earlier...there are MANY states MUCH more inexpensive then TX if that is the criteria you are looking for. Housing in Mcallen, Mission, Edinburg and Pharr are still reasonable but pricing are raising FAST.

I have been in other states on vacation and have friends in nearly every state. My parents own a house in a little town in WVA that we all use for a getaway. It is a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, kitchen, dining room, living room, family room, two stairways, five fireplaces, solid inlaid wooden floors, wrap around porch, balcony and sits on an acre of property with a near by stream. If they were to sell it they would get a whole whopping 50k! Pay scale is lower but not to low.
Have a buddy in central/eastern TN. Cost of living their is so low it's nutty and the pay scale is nearly that of Texas! I could go on and on...many states where your dollar goes FAR.
I was born in Cali. They pay high but look at that insane cost of living...and the illegals...Texas is being slowly taken over by illegals also...makes me sick...how can you get a job working at wal-mart and heb if you are an illegal and can't speak english? I dont get it. But it happens ALOT in the valley.
Here is how you need to look at it. You might think you get paid more here then these states with lower cost of living. Some places yes and some places no. But let's take this into consideration. If the cost of living in a place is 3 times lower then Texas but Texas pays twice as much (which they don't) you are still better off getting paid less but living in a places with a cost of living 3 times lower. If that is what you are looking for. I could care less about cost of living unless it's rediculous overpriced like Cali for example. I like places with stunning beauty that are reasonably safe.
Here is one thing I find odd. People like to mention how Texans so much friendlier. I don't know if I agree with that fully. I have found TN to be much friendlier then Texas. Arkansas was hit and miss. Kentucky was super friendly. I do know in Texas kids are little turds that show no respect. A buddy of mine quite being a substitute because he got tired of the high school kids telling him to fu_k off. I helped run YMCA basketball and soccer and I could not stand it. I also know quite a few teachers and they complain about how the kids talk to them. Younger kids also..not just high school kids. In other southern states that I have spent lots of time in and my friends live in the kids are yes sir and yes mam.
Here is what I am saying. Texas is turning into Cali...it really is..cost of living is going up...drug trafficking, drug usage, the corruption that goes with it and the illegals....its happening at a rapid rate...sucks to...because I do like Fredericksburg...that little town is great...for now at least...

Great post TexasReb. I could use someone of your writing ability
for my business that is for sure.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by lutarian

Great post TexasReb. I could use someone of your writing ability for my business that is for sure.

Thanks for you kind words, and again I wasn't trying to be brusque or rude earlier, just pointing out another side of the equasion!

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by lutarian

Here is one thing I find odd. People like to mention how Texans so much friendlier. I don't know if I agree with that fully. I have found TN to be much friendlier then Texas. Arkansas was hit and miss. Kentucky was super friendly. I do know in Texas kids are little turds that show no respect. A buddy of mine quite being a substitute because he got tired of the high school kids telling him to fu_k off. I helped run YMCA basketball and soccer and I could not stand it. I also know quite a few teachers and they complain about how the kids talk to them. Younger kids also..not just high school kids. In other southern states that I have spent lots of time in and my friends live in the kids are yes sir and yes mam.

The first part of this (and the last sentence) brought to mind a poll once started on the forum: What southern state has the most friendly people?

The definition of "the South" in this case was that of the 16 state U.S Census Bureau, and Texas ranked third behind Tennessee and South Carolina in terms of which states were "friendliest". Of course, polls of this nature can usually translate into some form of "what state are you from"? LOL

Anyway, residence and/or roots not withstanding, a lot of it will revolve around where one lives in Texas (or any other state) and likewise, perhaps even one's experience elsewhere. It is probably only human nature, of course, but if I encountered an extremely rude check-out clerk while stopping for gas in say, Kentucky (which it hasn't at all, just saying..), then there is a least a decent chance it might taint my whole "vote" when considering such a question.

And also, where one lives in a particular state (if a transplant) can have the same effect albeit in a somewhat different regard. For instance, just to mention one, are there lots of transplants there from urban areas of different parts of the country such as the NE where a more impersonal attitude is commonplace? There are places in DFW, Austin, etc, that I would not even recognize as the Texas I know in terms of that hospitality and friendliness that I expect and grew up with. So there can be lots of variables, especially in a state as large as Texas and becoming more and more populated by people with no roots in the state/South.

The teacher experience you cite is a corollary of all that, but at the same time, I will not blame it all on transplants. Not in the least. I am a public school teacher myself and "teach" the kids who are the worst behavior kids in the district. When all else fails, they are sent to me! But neither here nor there, yes, the decline of basic respect is very real, even in a regular classroom setting. I don't how Texas compares in this regard to other Southern states, as you say, but location has something to do with it...and the assignment itself. In other words, I doubt my identical counterpart in Memphis or Little Rock will have a much better mannered group! LOL

Here is what I am saying. Texas is turning into Cali...it really is..cost of living is going up...drug trafficking, drug usage, the corruption that goes with it and the illegals....its happening at a rapid rate...sucks to...because I do like Fredericksburg...that little town is great...for now at least...

And again, what you say in this regard (parts of Texas, especially large cities and South Texas, turning into California) is truly scary. And I really think most Texans agree with you in this realm. I know I do...

Great post TexasReb. I could use someone of your writing ability
for my business that is for sure.

Shoot, I meant to add to my "thank you" earlier, that, hey, I ain't in the LEAST opposed to changing professions...especially from the one I am in! Just gotta talk resume, salary and benefits! LOL

[Rakin]

We may be cheap, but we ain't easy.... you pervert.

Er maybe I have that backwards.... were easy but not cheap?

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Yup. North Dakota and South Dakota would love to have population growth. Lot's of open areas and some natural beauty as well. Go for it.

Well, I don't know if we'd "love" to have much population growth. I can only speak for South Dakota, but since we are a very non-union state, we like having the unemployment rate in some of our towns down at 2.3%. But we do have a lot of open spaces and welcome anyone who is here legally who would like to live here. If you've ever browsed through the SD forum, you'll see that we try to give people info about employment and housing, etc. We're not actually out recruiting people though.

I don't know if you've ever been here, but our only detriment is our winters. They suck.