Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I grew up in southern Westchester in a gorgeous area, and moved to Dallas in my late 20s. Life here is much easier due to the lower costs of everything, and the lack of congestion. Things/errands that were difficult to complete in Westchester...(..."I'll circle the block with the car while you run in and grab a quart of milk...") are so easy in Texas, it was like a new life.
When I first moved here, I nearly doubled my salary, and the pay vs. col is good. However, if I could summarize it all...
1. New Yorkers are funny. Conversation is entertaining. Not here, at least, not much.
2. In NY, it's hard to see where all that tax money is going. Streets are crappy, narrow, and getting anywhere is difficult.
3. In NY, there's a slightly defeated attitude among some of the people, like life is just a survival from day to day.
4. NY can look dated and grim. Telephone poles everywhere, wires all over, run down buildings that stay that way year after year.
5. It's too expensive for what you get in return. The slightest bit of charm costs another million.
6. Weather is cloudy much of the time.
7. Government doesn't care how it inconveniences the population; it just cranks out more silly laws to deal with.
Good stuff...
1. NY is physically beautiful everywhere there is an open space-rocks, mountains, sky color, etc.
2. The people are funny.
3. The arts are a priority.
4. Food is good.
Living in Texas, the city can feel soulless due to the giant freeways, endless malls, redundant architecture (if you can call it that) ALL the houses are brick.
There is a great sense of ease and freedom-everything is easy. Houses are cheap, or cheaper. Suburbs are impeccably neat and clean. Schools are good.
Despite its reputation, the vast majority of people in Texas are very liberal socially. No one gives a crap what you are or what you believe. Just keep your lawn tidy and all is well.
Personally, I love it here, but miss New York, and am contemplating buying a place in Putnam or Dutchess somewhere near the train line, just to get back to NY, but skip the congestion. This may be an impossible feat.
That's my summary. New York can be a depressing place to live if you make a "regular" salary. That regular salary will take you to the upper middle class in Texas, but you lose that NY character.
Very good write up. I move from Westchester to Rochester and these are basically how I feel. I assume Rochester area is prettier than many parts of Texas but it's no match for Westchester. I do miss the abundant hiking opportunities I enjoyed back then in Putnam and Rockland counties.
Westchester/FFC are where financial guys w/kids moved (at least '80s-'00s)
But since '80s many of top young financiers migrated to BevHills (Drexel/DLJ) or SV (Quattrone, etc in tech boom) as kids, so NYC has diminished in relevance among many of highest earners in finance...process of past 20+ yrs
And kids today who seek riches likely target software and SV, where NYC region is fairly irrelevant and Luddite (a place where people ride trains 180mins/d and arrive at work sweaty/wet/frozen dpdg on time of yr is a curious museum to kids visiting from BevHills or Atherton)
And hedge fund crowd of last 10yrs that chose to stay in Manhattan had both $ and desire to live and raise kids in Manhattan, making dynamics of Westchester/Gwich, etc dubious in coming yrs amidst high income/prop taxes and lack of "cool" among modern-gen of NYC financiers
Always amusing to look at what Scarsdale spends per kid/yr vs PaloAlto vs HighlandPk TX to quantify relative NY corruption (also comparing potholes/mi vs inc/prop taxes is insightful)....and doubt anyone intelligent places much value on any formal education beyond some union credential to obtain first job (of dubious value when lots of >50yo and <40yo billionaires are dropouts and social misfits)
NY/CT likely face troubled times as many of wealthiest (and biggest) taxpayers are >55yo empty-nesters who can easily reside in FL/TX for tax purposes and run any hedge fund/other biz from their iPad from whereever....an added 100-200bp in inc taxes is all it takes for some 70yo billionaire to decamp and in some cases screw up assumed tax revs in NY/CT....NYC region/CA/IL all depend on a few 100 billionaires to pay the bills of these welfare states....any one of whom can easily leave if irritated enough by the tax burden vs alleged QOL
That's my summary. New York can be a depressing place to live if you make a "regular" salary. That regular salary will take you to the upper middle class in Texas, but you lose that NY character.
So what you are saying is that Texas is a good place to be able to afford a big house to sit in and watch TV until you die. Good to know.
Well, in other "places" like Texas, you make your own life. There are wonderful things to be had-you just have to find them. There are no quaint stone buildings to signal a strip of cool antiques stores or great restaurants. Even music venues can be hidden. You find what you like (everything is here in at least the quality of anything in NY, but it doesn't jump out at you...) So, when people move to an area other than New York, when they find how clean and nice it is, how the people are friendly, how the schools can rate higher than Bronxville or say, Eastchester, they say to themselves, "Is it really worth living close to NY just to have the city on my doorstep? Is the twice-yearly Broadway show worth it?" I am a die-hard New Yorker, but New Yorkers believe their state is 'different' from other states (so did I) But it is surprisingly similar to anywhere else. Or, it isn't 'different' enough to justify the costs involved.
As for the political thing, everyone I grew up around in Westchester was Republican, but very liberal-minded. The Democrats I knew were fiscally conservative. No one likes someone else wasting their money. In Texas, you might think it's racist and redneck but nothing is further from the truth. People I know (and this is over 30 years of living) are extremely liberal in their thinking, but they are probably listed as Republicans. The government in Texas is more careful not to infringe on people's lives. (We do have the right-wing whackadoodles, but they are kind of a joke here.)
In NY or Texas, I have only met people who are a combination of both parties. The extremists always have an axe to grind and are a total eye-roll of rhetoric.
Texas tries to deter any nanny-state type of permit or law (we have them, just not as many) NY is very aggravating sometimes because personal freedom and property is sacrificed as if it didn't matter. NY places a huge burden on businesses as if they were all thriving beyond belief, and not hanging on by a thread. It's kind of like the state government is a giant HOA. Well, there's a limit to each party before they become total buffoonery, as in the widest areas of the spectrum.
Most people, regardless of the state in which they live, are a combo platter of lib and conservative. To judge otherwise is taking the easy way out.
My wife and I just bought a house in northern Westchester. We have two small girls and we have good careers, however...we are only still here because we need to make sure our girls go to good schools and grown up in a good area.
If we didn't have kids we would pick up and head south. The taxes are a joke here. When the timing is right we'll pick up and leave NY and head south.
Westchester is a nice place, but it's too overrated and WAYYYY too expensive. And one thing for sure, taxes never go down, they just keep on rising. It's sad how we the middle class take it in the rear here.
Down south you can buy a real nice house for more than half the cost it is to buy an average house here in Westchester. And taxes on the high side are $1,200 a year compared to $13k+ a year.
Down south is mostly northerners nowadays, to expel the myth that we're all a bunch of NASCAR trailer park hicks, here is why I decided to stay in the south:
1. My wife is a southern girl who would prefer her blue jeans and Justin boots over Michael Korr any day of the week. She also has a college education and 75,000 dollar a year salary, she's country but nowhere near the stereo type of dumb hick, she graduated honors.
2. NASCAR is not all redneck, the sports most popular drivers are actually from California, this years Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano grew up in Middletown Connecticut, former driver Jerry Nadeu was from Danbury, another myth expelled.
3. Our house in Central Virginia is 3 bedroom, hardwood floors, fireplace, full size basement. front and back yards, 2 minutes from town, we pay 950 a month and that includes the taxes.
4. Barbecue and a cold glass of lemonade or sweet tea is just good. It may not be good for you, but its good all the same.
And for the love of god please don't move down here and whine about the pizza and bagels, I grew up in Northern Westchester/Putnam County where the line meets, The Plaza Bakery on route 6 was good during its time but most of my bagels came from Shop Rite in Lake Carmel, it's a bagel, toast it and butter it then eat it.
The south is different because its not New York, its the south, just like New York is different cause its New York, not the south. Down here barbecue, sweet tea, grits, that's their thing. In New York Italian food, Jewish bagels and delis is New York's thing. Your not going to find up there what you could find food wise down here and vice-versa.
And for the love of god please don't move down here and whine about the pizza and bagels, I grew up in Northern Westchester/Putnam County where the line meets, The Plaza Bakery on route 6 was good during its time but most of my bagels came from Shop Rite in Lake Carmel, it's a bagel, toast it and butter it then eat it.
The south is different because its not New York, its the south, just like New York is different cause its New York, not the south. Down here barbecue, sweet tea, grits, that's their thing. In New York Italian food, Jewish bagels and delis is New York's thing. Your not going to find up there what you could find food wise down here and vice-versa.
We're not staying in NY because of the pizza and bagels. We really do not care about that, and rarely eat that stuff anyway.
The south is our second home. We have family down there in Florida and we visit every year once or twice a year. We know how it is down there. We've been going down there for 12+ years so we know what to expect.
We are only still here because of the careers and the schools for our little girls.
Not all NY'ers are the same...we don't care nor expect to find the same down south than what you find up north and vise versa.
I do recall seeing threads about NY'ers complaining about the lack or pizza down south. I do find myself feeling sorry for those people. Out of all the things in the world, you cry that you don't find "NY" pizza down south. To me, it's a bit ridiculous and extreme to complain about that. To each their own. If they don't like the type of food down there, either pack your bags and fly back north or shut it!
Like I said before, Westchester is a nice place. It truly is! But the cost of living here is not worth it.
We're not staying in NY because of the pizza and bagels. We really do not care about that, and rarely eat that stuff anyway.
The south is our second home. We have family down there in Florida and we visit every year once or twice a year. We know how it is down there. We've been going down there for 12+ years so we know what to expect.
We are only still here because of the careers and the schools for our little girls.
Not all NY'ers are the same...we don't care nor expect to find the same down south than what you find up north and vise versa.
I do recall seeing threads about NY'ers complaining about the lack or pizza down south. I do find myself feeling sorry for those people. Out of all the things in the world, you cry that you don't find "NY" pizza down south. To me, it's a bit ridiculous and extreme to complain about that. To each their own. If they don't like the type of food down there, either pack your bags and fly back north or shut it!
Like I said before, Westchester is a nice place. It truly is! But the cost of living here is not worth it.
I have relatives that moved to Colorado from Westchester County, New York. Whenever they came back to visit the first thing they did was hit the deli's for some Boar's Head cold cuts and hard rolls. All they had out there was pre-packaged Oscar Mayer cold cuts and soft sandwich buns. Forget about pizza. When they came back you couldn't pry them out of those places. But in spite of this they would never move back. I don't know if it's just a Colorado thing or what?
They knew we were planning on moving to Arizona and warned us that we couldn't get the same foods. But to our surprise we have everything that we had in New York, hard rolls, cold cuts you name it. About the only thing we could not find were Entenmann's cakes. Only their chocolate covered donuts. There are also a number of pizza parlors in our area where the pizza is identical to what we had in New York.
You're probably going to find that as more people leave New York there will be more demand in your adopted state for the type of foods you are accustomed to. Florida and the Carolina's are popular destinations for many that leave New York. We chose the Desert Southwest because of a lifelong desire to live there and to be as far away from New York in the continental United States as possible. It also had to be a "RED" state.
We do miss the Entenmann's cakes, but there is nothing that we miss about living in New York. You can not put a price on freedom! It certainly was not the food that got us to move.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
