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Boy, it sure looks like a lot of us from California are on the same page! I am so glad that I found this great community, everyone's knowledge is such a great resource. Like many others, my family and I are going to be leaving CA and and are in search of a place to relocate to. Texas sounds like it may be a great fit for us. I apologize ahead of time if this post is too long. It is such a hard decision to move a family and I have sooo many questions. Not only will my hubby, kids and I be moving, but also my mom, sister and brother. It is going to be a family affair.
Right now I live in Orange County, CA (the area you see on the shows "The OC" and "Laguna Beach"). It is beautiful where we live and there is always something to do (Disneyland, sea world, Hollywood, the ocean, universal studios, etc. are all very close to us). Unfortunately we are not, and never will be, millionaires. With the price of a small starter home with no driveway and only a patio for a yard costing around $700,000 , it is not possible for us to afford anything here anymore. I grew up in a different state as a child with yards that had swing sets and trees and want provide the same for my kids (3 1/2 yrs and 5 mo.).
Any suggestions that you can provide me with on areas in any part of Texas that may be a good fit for us would be very welcomed. Unlike many people, we actually like master planned communities and their modern design (pre-wired new homes, walking paths, water parks and pools, landscaping, etc.) and would love to live in one again (we live in one now). Don't want to spend over $300,000 if possible. As with most families with kids, we want a place with great schools and a low crime rate. A cooler winter with a little bit of snow would be fine. Actually, with as warm as our winters are lately, it would be kind of nice. Shopping is a sport for my mom and sister and so we would definitely need to be relatively close to malls and shopping (walmart, home depot, ikea, old navy, grocery stores,etc.), as well as restaurants. We don't need a home that sits on acres and acres of land, but a nice size yard for a garden, playhouse for the kids, built-in-bbq would be awesome.
I know the summers in TX are really hot. Has anyone moved from So. Cal. to Texas and how do you think the summers compare? It has been around 95-103 degrees and humid here in OC the last couple of weeks. The thought of tornadoes kind of freaks me out as I have zero experience with them. Earthquakes don't bother me since they really don't happen that often where you really feel them. Tornadoes however, seem like quite a common occurrence. Just how often do you experience them? Have they touched down where you live? What do you do when one is on its way and is close to where you live? I noticed that TX doesn't have basements and so where do you go during a tornado? Do you have a shelter somewhere on your property? Are there any places that have fewer tornadoes touch down than others? Sorry if these questions seem stupid to you, but the experience it completely new to me. I read that TX was #1 on the list of states with tornadoes and I am trying to figure out just how common and scary they are.
Also, read on another thread that snakes can be a problem. Just how common are they? How often have you seen them in your yards? Are we talking rattlers or harmless snakes? We have them where I live here, but you can usually avoid them if you stay out of the hills or the thick brush. I am deathly afraid of them and want to know how often they are spotted in the burbs.
Sorry again for the post being so long!!! Any help or information that you can provide me with is greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance to everyone.
You are not kidding that it seems a lot of people from Cali have been posting about moving here and I have also noticed more Cali plates on cars in the last few weeks. I can totally understand though. I love watching HGTV and seeing the shows that show homes in Cali for sale that are so far up there in price and are NOTHING!!! Blows my mind. Anyway, onto your questions and concerns.
You will not have ANY problems finding a house in Texas for around $300K in a master planned community. This is under the Austin thread so I really can not tell you about the new developments in and around Austin but there are plenty (I'm up in the Dallas area). The Austin area does have a lot of outdoor activities to participate in (most cities in Texas do if you look) to keep a family active. You are also pretty centrally located in the state to take some nice weekend trips to different areas of Texas (except the panhandle, that would be a bit too far for a short weekend). To find some of the housing in the areas you are interested in you can look up houses on realtor.com and put in all of the specifics you are looking for to get an idea of houses for sale and all. You can also call the Chamber of Commerce for the areas you are looking at and have them send you info and may even find some on their websites about master planned developments. The Sunday paper is also probably going to be one of your best bets. Order one from them and this will have just about EVERY builder listed and the neighborhoods they are building in w/ a little map, master planned communities advertise in there, and the listings of homes for sale. I would probably start there and then it will give you a good idea of what to look for and where on realtor.com and what COC to contact. You might get a Sunday paper from all of the cities (big cities like Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, etc) you are leaning towards just to get a good idea. This would be rather cheap way to find out a lot of information about all of them. Read the entire paper just to get a feel for each of the cities and see which one is tugging at you. As far as shopping, OMY, this is shopping heaven. REALLY!!! In Dallas it is pretty well known as the area of warehouse sales and all. We want things at a discount and the GOOD THINGS. Like today, I am going to be heading out to a ladies clothing warehouse sale that has items from $10-25 and these are clothes found in the higher end boutiques and are not seconds. Shopping is a past time and a hobby around here. I live in Garland in the Dallas metroplex and right by me they just opened up the new mall, Firewheel Town Center. It is an open air mall and rather nice with some very nice shops, restaurants and a movie theater. They are getting ready to break ground on some townhomes adjacant to the mall. It is getting that whole "town" feel to it.
On tornados. LOL!!! Earthquakes scare me as there is no warning for them. They have gotten REALLY good at watching the weather (cloud formations) for tornados and usually you will know if one is headed your way w/ enough time to get to shelter. No basements but you can build a "safe room" if you build a new custom home or you go to an interior closet or bathroom. I'm a Native Texas and in my 40+ years I have never been hit by a tornado and neither has anyone in my family. Now there have been a few that were close (within 10-15 miles) but those I can still count on one hand. So they are not really much to worry about at all. Just pay attention to the weather when they say there is the possibility of severe storms w/ the potential to develop tornadic activity.
Don't worry about the snakes either. I DO NOT LIKE THEM AT ALL myself but again I can count on both hands the number of times I have seen one and I have spent PLENTY of time out in the country.
Good luck with your hunt and when you kind of get narrowed down on what areas you are leaning towards I am sure everyone can help you with lots of information on those areas.
I used to live in Houston, TX before I went off to college. I will be moving to San Antonio, TX after I am done with my job training up in New York. Since you are coming from Orange County, you will be surprised how much cheaper housing is in any of the cities in Texas! (of course there are very expensive areas, but nothing compared to California). I received a job offer in Irvine, CA a few months ago but I turned it down because of the cost of living. I agree that it is beautiful there but I didn't see much of a future there (the cost of homes is outrageous!)
If you are looking for master-planned communities there are a ton around the Houston area. I lived in the northwestern suburbs, and pretty much every neighborhood is a master-planned community! Longwood is a nice community with a couple of golf courses (there are homes on the golf course and less expensive homes that are not on the course). Another huge community in Northwest Houston is the Fairfield area. One of the fastest growing areas is Sugarland, TX which is southwest of Houston. In fact, it was rated among some of the best places to live recently. You might check there.
If you like scenery, live music, historical areas, etc. then Austin might be your best bet. In my opinion, Austin is located in the prettiest part of Texas. We call it the Hill Country becasue it is just that. Hilly with a lot of lakes. It is probably the most expensive city to live in but again, cheaper than OC. Austin is also only a little over an hour drive from San Antonio. There is a lot of touristy things in San Antonio, the Alamo, Sea World, Six Flags.
Good luck in whatever you do. I could be living in OC right now but I opted to stay in Texas because I can do far more with my income here! If you would like any more info. about any of the big cities in Texas, let me know. I have been to all of them!
WEll I know this is on the Austin boeard but I live in San Antonio and love the place. Loads of stuff to do with kids ( I have 2 boys 6 and 3 yrs old) There are plenty of master planned places here with really nice homes in your price range that might get ya about 3000-4000 sq feet depending on where you are. Its hot here durring the summer, right now its 99 at 4pm with the hotest part of the day to come here it seems to be the hottest in the 5 pm hour. I have lots of family in Austin so I spend plenty of time there and they have lots of master planned places also but SA was a better fit for my family and a bit cheaper and really really growing!
Thanks so much to everyone that has been replying!
Momof2dfw - What a big help you are! I have noticed how kind and generous with your time and knowledge you have been to so many. I am so glad to hear that Dallas is such a shopping town, music to my ears. We should fit right in. What deals you can find there. It's worth the move just for that! LOL. My mom and sis will be so glad to hear that. Such a relief to hear about your experience with the snakes (I know, may seem stupid to some, but they terrify me). Sounds like it isn't too bad and I should be able to handle it. Thank goodness hubby isn't afraid of them. It will have to be his job to wrangle them if they are ever around the yard. Thanks for the positive info on the tornadoes, your experience with them has definitely helped ease my fears a lot. All I know of them is what we see here on tv and they look so scary. Are they covered by normal homeowners insurance policies in Texas? Do you, or can you, purchase separate policies that cover damage from them? Here in Cali you have to purchase separate insurance for earthquakes, but at least the coverage is available which is nice. I couldn't imagine having your home completely wrecked by a tornado and not having insurance to repair/rebuild.
As for areas, I have been looking around DFW and Austin. They seem like they would be a good fit for us. I have been looking at the websites for the new home builders in the areas and inest.com, and the housing prices look WONDERFUL compared to what I am used to. I am so excited. I have homes across the street from me that are around 3400 sf and they are selling for around $1,300,000. In Texas they are like a million dollars cheaper, and you get a lot that is larger than 5000 sf. to boot! I can imagine how much everyone laughs, just as you said, when they see the prices of the dinky homes here, knowing what great homes and land you have for a fraction of the cost.
What do you think of areas like Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Lancaster, Allen, Boswell Ranch (Saginaw), Fort Worth? They are some of the areas that have new housing. We are used to being really crowded in Cali, so close to your neighbor that you actually can see in to the their bathrooms if you open your curtains. So an area that may be a little busy will probably not seem too crowded to us in comparison. It takes us 30 minutes to go 10 miles on the freeway here (if you are really lucky!), and so anything less than that would be a welcomed relief for us. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Bigd8200 - Not moving to Irvine was probably a really good decision. I live just about 12 miles south of Irvine, and lived there previously for 9 years (graduated from high school in Irvine). Even if you make a decent living it is still really tough to just scrape by. Everyone is always trying to out do each other. There is a Lexus or BMW (or two) in just about every driveway in this area. You work yourself to death just to fit in and that really is not the way to have to live. You can sure do tons more with your income in other areas, which you will probably be happier in and have a better quality of life. Do you know anything about some of the areas around Austin like Round Rock, Hutto, Kyle, Pflugerville, Cedar Park or Leander? If you (or anyone else) has any thoughts on them I would love to hear. The though of being around an area that is green, with hills and lakes sounds great. That is the environment we enjoy. Good luck on your move to SA.
Neddy - 99 degrees at 4 pm, ouch! How many months of the year is that high of heat normal? Is it only for two or three months, or the majority of the year? Do you seen the changes in seasons very much there? I will have to take a look at some of the new homes in SA. What does the crime rate look like over there? How are the schools.
Once again, sorry for the extremely long post!!! You are all a huge help, thanks so much. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on the different cities. Have a great weekend everyone.
I've been thinking about where else I would live in the Dallas area if I could and there is not a place here I would live except where reside currently, Garland. I've considered the schools, shopping, community, people, etc and it is here hands down. I was born in Dallas and lived in Dallas, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Denton, Far North Dallas, Garland, Rowlett and back to Garland. I have close family that has or does live in Carrollton, Plano, Frisco, McKinney and Garland. For years I was the ONLY one in my family to live in Garland and I was joined this year by an aunt & uncle that have lived in Carrollton, Plano, Frisco and recently Florida (Venice) and have said in the 3 months they have lived here they have made more friends and meet the nicest people than they have since they lived in Carrollton back in the 70's and early 80's. I have lived on this side of Dallas since 92 and the "hometown" people treat you just like one of them. It really is a big city w/ all of the big city conviences (new Firewheel Town Center Mall just opened last year here in Firewheel) but it still has a small town feel. My sister teaches and has taught in all of the school districts that are supposed to be "the best" and I can tell you stories to make your toes curl. Like in McKinney, she taught at one of the new jr highs the first year it opened recently that is on the "nice" side of town and by the holidays the place was trashed w/ graffeti. The kids were rude and there were fights everyday. She found some smoking pot in the bathroom and went to the office and was told that they did not have time to deal with it. By the second week of school they told the teachers to stop sending kids to the office for wardrobe infractions as they did not want to "deal with it". There is much more, so even though a school may be on the "nice" side of town most cities still bus and even on the "nice" side of town you will have parents that simply don't care. I think that goes for any city.
Now, if I could pick anywhere in ALL of Texas, it would be in the Austin area. The scenery for starters. It can not be beat. There are so many smaller areas that still have a rural feel to them to live yet are still close to the city. The only thing lacking in Austin that I would miss are the Dallas Stars Ice Hockey (season ticket holder, . This native LOVES her ice hockey). The other thing that may be a factor is if you like to travel extensively. Austin & San Antonio do not tend to have too many international flights. Afterall, D/FW is a pretty busy intl' airport (I'll be there tomorrow flying out for cooler weather, ). A lot of flights even across country will connect in Dallas. Though w/ the Wright Amendment still intact it will probably be cheaper to fly out of Austion or SA and connect in Dallas. Austin is also close to a LOT of places that are really nice to go for weekend trips. You are also close to a lot of lakes if you desire to have a weekend lake house. The ones around Dallas (or w/in 1-2 hours drive) have gotten a little pricey and crowded. You are also closer to S. Padre Island and the lower Gulf Coast. The whole downtown feel of Austin and SA are totally different than Dallas. Those two are actually tourist destinations whereas downtown Dallas is not. Austin has it's total funky side that Dallas does not. Both have a lot to offer when it comes to music venues/concerts but I believe Austin has more appeal to the local flavor and you can find more "drop in's" performing unannounced. At least that is what I always hear from others that stumble upon these performances. So if you like the feel of Austin to live in then I would go there. You can always make fun shopping trips to Dallas.
Do you know anything about some of the areas around Austin like Round Rock, Hutto, Kyle, Pflugerville, Cedar Park or Leander?
Unfortunately, I do not know a whole lot about the cities mentioned above other than Dell, Inc. is headquartered in Round Rock. A good website you can go to (besides city-data) is http://wikipedia.org. You can search for different cities and it will give you background information on the city (like history, geography, sports, demographics, business, etc.) and provide you external links to more information. I hope this helps you with your search.
I agree that the Hill Country is the most beautiful part of Texas when it comes to scenery. I believe that coming from California, Austin might be your best bet. While it is definitely not Southern California, it does have a lot of nice scenery! Living either in Austin or San Antonio, you will be near the Comal and Guadalupe rivers which we Texans love to float down! Also, you will be close to the number one water park in the country (voted #1 consistently)... Schlitterbahn, which is in New Braunfels, TX. There is also a neat restaurant on Lake Travis near Austin called Oasis. It is situated on a hill right next to the lake. You have to go around sunset. The view is beautiful! They ring a bell when the sun dips just below the hills, casting gorgeous rays across the lake. Whatever you decide to, good luck! Wherever you end up, I am sure you will like the Lone Star State.
bigd8200...of the hill country, which is the most prettiest part with the largest hills? I would like to purchase land that has a beautiful, large hill view. Of the photos that I see, I do not see large hills, just small ones. Are they there?
Laguna, I am from Cali as well...Northern. I posted in another thread that my teeny weeny 1187 square foot home is worth $650,000. It sits on a 5,000 square foot lot. My neighbor's houses are 10 feet away from mine, on both sides. I will be glad to get to some beautiful open space. I've always loved Texas, though. The country music, the southern drawls, the people. I love country. It just feels like Texas is where I am suppose to be. Best of luck to you in your relocation.
Thanks so much everone for your all of your input! I really appreciate it. Hopefully we will be Texans soon. Does anyone have any thoughts on Round Rock and Pflugerville? How are the schools in the area? Do the areas have a lot of greenery, trees or hills?
Texasdreamin - sounds like you are in the same boat up in no. cal as we are down here. Seems like a dream to be somewhere with a decent size house and yard doesn't it?!! I am excited about the chance to finally have that lifestyle. What areas are you looking at to relocate to? Have you visited the area yet? Best of luck to you also. Never know, we may end up living by each other some day. Hope everyone in Texas doesn't start to get sick of all of us from cali. moving over there.
It's an incredible master planned community that is being filled up by former Californians and former Chicagoites.
The prices for the homes there are insanely cheap and the shopping can't be beat. It's also home to Cornerstone Church the home of John Hagee.
In San Antonio you also get Sea World, Six Flags, Splashtown and Schlitterbahn to take yourself or your children.
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I apologize ahead of time if this post is too long. It is such a hard decision to move a family and I have sooo many questions. Not only will my hubby, kids and I be moving, but also my mom, sister and brother. It is going to be a family affair.
, it is not possible for us to afford anything here anymore. I grew up in a different state as a child with yards that had swing sets and trees and want provide the same for my kids (3 1/2 yrs and 5 mo.). 
Like today, I am going to be heading out to a ladies clothing warehouse sale that has items from $10-25 and these are clothes found in the higher end boutiques and are not seconds. Shopping is a past time and a hobby around here. 
I live in Garland in the Dallas metroplex and right by me they just opened up the new mall, Firewheel Town Center. It is an open air mall and rather nice with some very nice shops, restaurants and a movie theater. They are getting ready to break ground on some townhomes adjacant to the mall. It is getting that whole "town" feel to it. 
"The OC" to Texas
