Relocating from So' Cal' to Dallas/Ft. Worth vs. other TX regions (Houston: apartment, renting)

[DesertGOP]

HELP! My family and I desperately want out of California, once and for all (she was born and raised along the Gulf Coast of TX, then married me--born and raised in Southern Cal'--and relocated with her husband, me, to So' Cal' in 1990, and we've been in the High Desert region just off of I-15 since that time). We are considering four different regions of Texas to relocate to within the next twelve months: El Paso, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston/Galveston. Currently, I'm unemployed in So' Cal', but have my own entertainment company where I sing all kinds of music, I write music, I do voice-overs, and I write (political/social commentary and short stories). I can take temp' work 'til something worthwhile in music, singing/emceeing and/or writing comes along, and will do whatever it is I have to do to escape So' Cal' and an out-of-control state government and liberal-minded electorate (just not the same ol' So' Cal' I remember growing up with). Any suggestions, web sites, books, and/or publications to check out to help us decide where to move to in Texas (El Paso, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, or Houston/Galveston)? Thanks a bunch!

[TurtleCreek80]

Need more info:
-Do you have kids/ need schools?
-What is your housing budget? Buy or rent? What size/ age home or apartment?
-What kind of commute in minutes is tolerable?
-What are your diversity expectations?

Those areas all are so so very different. Houston & Dallas are most similar- huge metropolitan areas with rings of suburbs going out from downtown. Most to do for entertainment there, but more expensive and longer commutes if wanting suburbs. San Antonio is a small town/ big city- very Hispanic in flavor & population, pretty with rolling hills. El Paso is largely Mexican and has an interesting economy of people traveling back and forth from it's Mexican sister-city directly across the border of Juarez. El Paso would be most affected by the drug war and crime spilling over from Juarez & Mexico. I would nix it from your list.

Of the three remaining cities, Dallas is going to probably have to most work in your field. The Studios @ Las Colinas isn't huge, but it's the hub of tv & movie production in DFW. Also, a number of major ad agencies like Richards Group are based in Dallas and often film commercials and other ad work locally.

[TrueDat]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

El Paso is largely Mexican and has an interesting economy of people traveling back and forth from it's Mexican sister-city directly across the border of Juarez. El Paso would be most affected by the drug war and crime spilling over from Juarez & Mexico. I would nix it from your list.

While most people think this, it's actually not the case. So far, El Paso has not been affected by the anarchy in Juarez. The crime rate in El Paso is actually quite low (though that could change), lower than other Texas big cities, and its economy is doing quite well, ironically thanks in part to the turbulence across the border.

www.elpasotexas.gov - Low Crime Rate

Tragedy in Juárez Spurs Economy in El Paso — Texas-Mexico Border | The Texas Tribune

El Paso's economy among nation's best - El Paso Times

[FarNorthDallas]

You could take your place next to the other hundreds of Californians who escaped to Frisco, TX - a new suburb north of Dallas.

[DesertGOP]

Thanks a bunch, TurtleCreek80!

For starters, we have one daughter (12 years of age) who's been home-schooled from the beginning (most of the schools in So' Cal' are very much lacking in the basic education skills), so--for the time being at least--her education is pretty much settled, as we believe Texas to be more of a "home-school-friendly" state than California (at least, it certainly couldn't be worse than the challenges we constantly face here on the Left Coast). If we do eventually send her to a local public or private school somewhere in Texas, we can and will deal with the research of the situation thereof at that time.

We'd be renting, for sure, and would be looking at probably only being able to afford (at the outset, at least) something around $700 to $800--that may not be realistic, but that's why I'm on boards like this one, trying to get the 411 on certain Texas regions. As long as the area is decent--and the building/complex is not fallling apart or anything like that--I really don't care how old the structure/location is. A decent two-bedroom apartment or townhouse should suffice for us.

I spent over ten full years commuting 50 miles in one direction (then, of course, another 50 miles back); then--before I was laid off in March of this year--I was making a 80-mile one-way commute from the High Desert to the Cerritos area (near Knott's Berry Farm and such and closer to the beach areas than anything else). I vowed that I would NEVER, EVER put myself through that mess, again! HATED EVERY MINUTE OF THAT COMMUTE! But, that was So' Cal'-freeway driving, so I would assume even a one-way 50-mile commute in another parts of the country (such as somewhere in Texas) probably wouldn't be as bad as the L.A./Orange Co. region in California).

I'm White, my wife is Black ("African-American"), and our daughter is adopted (half-Black, half-Asian), so racial diversity is the least of our variables we need to be concerned about. We're conservatives, evangelical Christians, but also tolerant of those who might disagree with us either ideologically and/or spiritually, so that's no problem either. We'd be happy in relocating to just about anywhere in Texas, since most Democrats (we're Republicans, but my wife will be voting "Independent" in the 2012 elections) in the Lone Star State would be considered Republicans (in their voting records and ideology) here in California.

My wife's family are all in the South-Houston/Galveston region such as La Marque, Hitchcock, League City, Texas City and the like; I have a cousin (more like my closest brother than anything else) and his wife and two kids in El Paso (the Franklin Mountains region). If we could possibly be at least a two-hour's drive from where we eventully relocate to in Texas from my wife's folks (Houston/Galveston) or my cousin (El Paso), I think we'd be content with that.

Most of my personal time visiting in Texas has been in the South-Houston/Galveston region (where my wife's folks live), but we've also spent time visiting with my cousin and his family in El Paso (again, the Franklin Mountains area). Just a side note, my father-in-law's wife (from League City near the Gulf Coast of TX) says that nobody outside of El Paso even considers folks who live there "real Texans" (i.e., it's not really considered "Texas" per se).

Also, our daughter is a very talented dancer (how many parents think that, though, of their children and their levels of talents? HA!), and we'd like to be as close to a quality dance studio as possible and that our budget allows us to be. That's very important! Her passion is ballet (and, it IS her strength), though she also dances lyrical and jazz.

We're sick and tired of people almost being stacked on top of one another, houses far too close together, out-of-control traffic and congested freeway systems, and the L.A.-"me-first"-mentality. People pretty much stay to themselves, and you hardly will find one family inviting another to dinner just because they may be new in town or folks just want to meet new friends for a nice change of pace (before my wife and I got married, we went to our FIRST service at a La Marque, TX church, and got our first invite for Sunday lunch from a family who noticed we were new to the congregation and just wanted to "break bread" with new folks whom they hadn't see at the church before).

Whew! That's about all of the concerns I can think of right now.

Right now, I'm going to celebrate with my wife and daughter TCU's big, big win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl out here in Pasadena. Wow! What a great win for the school. Classy coach, classy players, classy school, classy state!

"Don't Mess With Texas! Texas or Bust!"

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Need more info:
-Do you have kids/ need schools?
-What is your housing budget? Buy or rent? What size/ age home or apartment?
-What kind of commute in minutes is tolerable?
-What are your diversity expectations?

Those areas all are so so very different. Houston & Dallas are most similar- huge metropolitan areas with rings of suburbs going out from downtown. Most to do for entertainment there, but more expensive and longer commutes if wanting suburbs. San Antonio is a small town/ big city- very Hispanic in flavor & population, pretty with rolling hills. El Paso is largely Mexican and has an interesting economy of people traveling back and forth from it's Mexican sister-city directly across the border of Juarez. El Paso would be most affected by the drug war and crime spilling over from Juarez & Mexico. I would nix it from your list.

Of the three remaining cities, Dallas is going to probably have to most work in your field. The Studios @ Las Colinas isn't huge, but it's the hub of tv & movie production in DFW. Also, a number of major ad agencies like Richards Group are based in Dallas and often film commercials and other ad work locally.

[FarNorthDallas]

Well, two hours from Houston or two hours from El Paso rules out Dallas, Ft. Worth and San Antonio.

[TrueDat]

Yeah, Dallas/Fort Worth is about 9-10 hours from El Paso and 4 hours from Houston. So it seems like it's down to Houston vs. El Paso, two very different places.

[loratliff]

Originally Posted by DesertGOP

I spent over ten full years commuting 50 miles in one direction (then, of course, another 50 miles back); then--before I was laid off in March of this year--I was making a 80-mile one-way commute from the High Desert to the Cerritos area (near Knott's Berry Farm and such and closer to the beach areas than anything else). I vowed that I would NEVER, EVER put myself through that mess, again! HATED EVERY MINUTE OF THAT COMMUTE! But, that was So' Cal'-freeway driving, so I would assume even a one-way 50-mile commute in another parts of the country (such as somewhere in Texas) probably wouldn't be as bad as the L.A./Orange Co. region in California).

Just an FYI: the Dallas commute was recently ranked the worst in the country. I've lived in West Hollywood and Orange County (Newport Beach) and neither was as bad as Dallas.

[Johnhw2]

I lived in Houston for 30 years including early 2010. It is a great area to live in with much diversity and great music and dance scenes. Ballet is strong in Houston. The music scene is much weaker than California I suspect but I really liked living in Houston. Also glad to be in Dallas/Plano now.

[artsyguy]

Dallas is an extremely modern city. Great skyline. Great library system. Many multicultural and art events throughout the year. The suburbs are modernized, too. The further west you go, toward Fort Worth, the more redneck it becomes. So you have a choice between redneck, rodeos, etc. in Fort Worth or modernized and progressive society in Dallas.