Orange County, CA vs Collin County, TX (Sacramento, Irvine: crimes, home)

[mr_california]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

OC if you can afford it. We made the move last summer from Irvine to Texas. We regret it deeply. Luckily our house has appreciated really quickly so we can get out without too much lost. When Texas says it's business friendly, it comes a the expense of protecting its citizens. We learned that during the freeze when companies were allowed to not winter-proof their plants. Now state leaders are sticking citizens with the exorbitant bills that will give further profit to the companies who failed in the first place.

We learned that when we bought our house and our info was sold to every business in town. A no-name insurance company stepped into our mortgage process claiming we'd signed with them. They tried to hide their fee in our paperwork. It wasn't until the day before we closed that we found it. They claimed it was a misunderstanding.

All of those California addendums that companies have with special protections and rights are there because California has laws to protect people. Texas has none. If you have a car accident here, no police will show up unless an ambulance is needed. They tell you to go to your nearest police station and file a report. This is widely known so when you have an accident here and you're at fault, there is no incentive to stop and exchange information. Insurance rates here are very high for a reason.

I could go on and on, but I probably just sound bitter. My family is here and it was great to spend a year reconnecting with everyone, but we are done. This is just not the place for us and we're planning to move to the Sacramento area next.

I have a relative who moved to Texas because they liked the idea of paying no state income taxes. They old their home in the Bay Area for around $1.5 million and bought one in Texas for $800k. Their property taxes went from $6000 a year in California to $20,000 a year in Texas!!! So much for saving on income taxes. People always forget about Prop 13 and how, the longer you stay in your home in California, the more you save on taxes. And then if you're over 55, you can take your low taxes with you when you move to a another house.

By the way, my relative froze last winter with the outage.

[mr_california]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would relocate from Orange County to Dallas or anywhere else in Texas, for that matter.

In my opinion, Texas has all of the disadvantages of California, but none of the benefits. See below:

• Extremely heavy road traffic
• Generally poor road surface quality
• Very few non-Hispanic white people
• An extensive, highly porous border with the most dangerous country in the entire world (i.e., Mexico)
• An astoundingly high number of illegal immigrants, most of whom are from Mexico and Central America
• People speaking Spanish or Vietnamese everywhere you go
• Zero lot lines in most housing developments
• Paper-thin exterior walls with limited to no insulation, despite colder, icier winters
• Homes with no attics or basements
• Relatively few trees and wooded areas
• Hardly any natural lakes
• Extremely violent weather, including hurricanes, tropical storms, ice storms and - worst of all - tornadoes

Shoot, at least we have mountains, oceanfront beaches and a mild, docile climate in Southern California, despite suffering from many of the same issues as Texas.

Well, a positive for Texas would be less regulation and more business friendly. No state income tax (high property tax though). Traffic isn't as bad as the Bay area or Downtown/West LA during rush hour.

That said, I would also rather be in California for the same reasons you mention.

[MrIndependent]

I would pick Orange County.

Orange County has all the classic benefits for California living with less of the headaches that come with being smack dab in the city of LA or the city of San Francisco. That doesn't mean OC is perfect. Also doesn't mean that California living is hassle-free (it ain't).

Collin County TX is alright, but nothing to write home about. I was actually just there (Dallas metro area) visiting for fun. Plano has a little area called Legacy that's very nice. Frisco had a little something too by the Cowboys training facility that was nice. But Collin county can best be described as "meh". A lot of boring copy and paste residential areas coupled with just one impressive commercial area for restaurants/bars/etc.

Overall, I thought Dallas metro area was fine, but for a metro area with 7M plus residents, it comes off as underwhelming.
Collin County seemed kind of sleepy and boring. Orange County has so much going on, with lots of interesting commercial hotspots like Newport, HB, Seal Beach, Laguna Beach, San Clemente. But also have peaceful residential areas that aren't 100% boring cookie-cutter homes.

[k374]

Texas is cheap but it's cheap for a reason. As another poster mentioned, consumer protections are very weak and TX does not invest anything in it's infrastructure...the roads are in deplorable conditions and everything just seems old and not maintained well.. and of course we just witnessed what happened to the Electric grid.

OC is an amazing place if you have deep pockets but for most people it's too expensive, it's not worth stretching to absurd lengths to stay in OC which is what many are doing.

NV (Las Vegas) area is the next best thing to CA.... which is why a lot are moving there. 3 months of brutal summer but apart from that it checks all the other boxes including being driving distance of SoCal if you ever just wanted to get in your car and drive down to spend the weekend in LA it can be done spontaneously.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Originally Posted by k374

and of course we just witnessed what happened to the Electric grid.

Have you witnessed what happened to the CA electric grid? Rolling blackouts, shutdowns during high winds, viable generating plants forced to shutdown; CA's power grid is a mess.

Originally Posted by k374

NV (Las Vegas) area is the next best thing to CA....

Northern Nevada, Washoe, Carson and Douglas counties, are the next best thing to CA. LV is miserable.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by mr_california

I have a relative who moved to Texas because they liked the idea of paying no state income taxes. They old their home in the Bay Area for around $1.5 million and bought one in Texas for $800k. Their property taxes went from $6000 a year in California to $20,000 a year in Texas!!! So much for saving on income taxes. People always forget about Prop 13 and how, the longer you stay in your home in California, the more you save on taxes. And then if you're over 55, you can take your low taxes with you when you move to a another house.

By the way, my relative froze last winter with the outage.

Unless that has changed fairly recently, that is only available in about 20% of the counties in California (moving from one county to another).

[As Above So Below...]

Well, to be fair youre asking this in the OC forum so I cant imagine too many people saying theyd prefer Collin County here.

Ive lived in both (Garden Grove for two years and Plano for four). If money was no object and I never had to set foot north of LAX/the 105 Freeway of course Id pick OC, but money is an object. You literally need about twice as much money to live the same life in OC as Collin County. Its just not a straight forward comparison because the cost of living is so drastic. It also has to be considered that the opportunities are simply much better in DFW than Southern California right now as well.

Truth be told, Orange and Collin Counties are VERY similar in many ways. Irvine and Plano are pretty interchangeable as far as cities are concerned, both are very suburban, both have traditionally been more conservative but have shifted left in recent years (OC is about 10 years ahead of Collin here), both are diverse (OC obviously much more so), etc. Its just happens that one is surrounded by mountains and the Ocean with a desirable climate and the other is in the middle of the Great Plains and Prairies with a less than desirable climate.

Originally Posted by k374

NV (Las Vegas) area is the next best thing to CA.... which is why a lot are moving there. 3 months of brutal summer but apart from that it checks all the other boxes including being driving distance of SoCal if you ever just wanted to get in your car and drive down to spend the weekend in LA it can be done spontaneously.

I completely disagree.

Our entire family now lives in Las Vegas and my wife has said she would want to move there. I told her shed need a new husband if that was the case.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by k374

Texas is cheap but it's cheap for a reason. As another poster mentioned, consumer protections are very weak and TX does not invest anything in it's infrastructure...the roads are in deplorable conditions and everything just seems old and not maintained well.. and of course we just witnessed what happened to the Electric grid.

OC is an amazing place if you have deep pockets but for most people it's too expensive, it's not worth stretching to absurd lengths to stay in OC which is what many are doing.

NV (Las Vegas) area is the next best thing to CA.... which is why a lot are moving there. 3 months of brutal summer but apart from that it checks all the other boxes including being driving distance of SoCal if you ever just wanted to get in your car and drive down to spend the weekend in LA it can be done spontaneously.

It's crossed my mind. You can get double the house for almost half the price. Hot in the summer? ok, I will have saved so much money I can spend 3 months in Newport.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

Unless that has changed fairly recently, that is only available in about 20% of the counties in California (moving from one county to another).

Prop 19, effective April 1, 2021, will allow this for all counties.

[TheseGoTo11]

OC and it's not close.

Collin County has diversified quickly with a rapidly growing Asian population so the demographics are getting similar, but it is charmless. People underestimate the benefits of having something to look at besides flat land and trees. Moreover, it's a serious challenge to grow tropical plants reliably there due to cold snaps.

Maybe if you have a large family and just want the space it can work, and are ok with endless chain restaurants and boring scenery.