Considering moving to Phoenix from Houston

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

I heard that AZ has a higher COL and higher home prices. I visited back on the 4th of July and the gas prices started rising as I got farther from Houston.

It's the same amount of money in the end, just collected in different ways (some more strenuous than others). If you mess up the calculations on the 1040, you will have to make corrections to the 140 too because of "Garbage in, garbage out".

There was a vote on making it harder to enact Texas' individual income tax back in November:

https://ballotpedia.org/Texas_Propos...endment_(2019)


I heard that Prop 4 was the most popular in the Panhandle and the "Ear" (West). I'm surprised that AZians are not as militant on income tax as their compatriots 500 miles away, despite the shared devotion to "limited government".



I was shocked when I had dinner in Downtown Scottsdale that holiday evening that I might have entered a "Sundown Town" (as it was close to sunset to avoid the horrendous heat). Houston definitely is more cosmopolitan; I would never see a similar scene in the Galleria area! Phoenix is really an overgrown Peoria, Illinois.

Probably to do with the fact that Greater Phoenix has 2/3 of the states population, AZ doesn't have the plethora of smaller cities and towns that Texas does. And big cities tend to need services, makes me wonder how Dallas and Houston get all the funding they need to function....

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by DrD76

We live in the Cane Island Master Planned Community, where the Property Tax Rate is (gulp) 3.692176%.
For our current home which is assessed at ~$550k, we receive property tax bills from 3 entities, total amounting to (gulp) ~$19k.

Cane Island is just starting out, but there are better places to live here in Katy. You seriously thought moving to Waller County was a good idea? I'm not fond of the industrial surroundings along I-10 on the way to Brookshire and there's no point being close to the town--but the Buc-ees being your neighborhood gas station is sweet!

My house in Cinco Ranch is only ~$320k. I paid only $5k in property taxes total here in Fort Bend, 10 miles away from you. (KISD switched from Waller County to FBC billing about 10-15 years ago, so now only 2 bills for me: county and MUD tax.). I'm really surprised that you actually paid ~$19k this year for your house!

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

Probably to do with the fact that Greater Phoenix has 2/3 of the states population, AZ doesn't have the plethora of smaller cities and towns that Texas does. And big cities tend to need services, makes me wonder how Dallas and Houston get all the funding they need to function....

Texas makes it up with higher property taxes, which wouldn't sit well with me and many other people. But Texas also has a large amount of business & industry which pay enough taxes on their own to support the services. Despite the fact that Houston is a larger city & metro area than Phoenix, there are some similarities between the two ... and I have said that Phoenix should be emulating the large Texas cities like Houston & Dallas. Even with their expansive sprawl, they have impressive downtown areas with gleaming office towers that house very successful corporations.

It's funny because Texas tends to be mocked largely because of the drawls, and some people still think of it as a hick state ... however, their largest cities are very bustling & cosmopolitan. In some ways, Phoenix looks like a hick town compared to Houston & Dallas.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by Maroon197

Correct me if I’m wrong, but living in Texas you’re currently not subject to income tax. Moving to Phoenix solely for a lower property tax rate that is subject to change over time seems pretty iffy.

ya your right Texas does not have income tax

[DrD76]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Cane Island is just starting out, but there are better places to live here in Katy. You seriously thought moving to Waller County was a good idea? I'm not fond of the industrial surroundings along I-10 on the way to Brookshire and there's no point being close to the town--but the Buc-ees being your neighborhood gas station is sweet!

My house in Cinco Ranch is only ~$320k. I paid only $5k in property taxes total here in Fort Bend, 10 miles away from you. (KISD switched from Waller County to FBC billing about 10-15 years ago, so now only 2 bills for me: county and MUD tax.). I'm really surprised that you actually paid ~$19k this year for your house!

See attached image for tax breakdown.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Texas makes it up with higher property taxes, which wouldn't sit well with me and many other people. But Texas also has a large amount of business & industry which pay enough taxes on their own to support the services. Despite the fact that Houston is a larger city & metro area than Phoenix, there are some similarities between the two ... and I have said that Phoenix should be emulating the large Texas cities like Houston & Dallas. Even with their expansive sprawl, they have impressive downtown areas with gleaming office towers that house very successful corporations.

It's funny because Texas tends to be mocked largely because of the drawls, and some people still think of it as a hick state ... however, their largest cities are very bustling & cosmopolitan. In some ways, Phoenix looks like a hick town compared to Houston & Dallas.

I'd rather emulate Denver then Houston, not too familiar with Dallas. I'm not a fan of downtown Houston or the weird zoning laws which make for all kinds of crazy development patterns, which probably wouldn't sit too well with you or many other people in Phoenix. Gentlemen's club in the middle of Anthem? Highrises in Sun City? Dallas and Houston are also traffic nightmares compared to Phoenix, really not interested in becoming that either. If all you mean is taller buildings downtown, sure.



And Phoenix a hick town? I've heard one too many country songs on the topic and I can't envision such a place being anywhere but the south. I've also never heard anyone call Dallas or Houston such.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by locolife

I'd rather emulate Denver then Houston, not too familiar with Dallas. I'm not a fan of downtown Houston or the weird zoning laws which make for all kinds of crazy development patterns, which probably wouldn't sit too well with you or many other people in Phoenix. Gentlemen's club in the middle of Anthem? Highrises in Sun City? Dallas and Houston are also traffic nightmares compared to Phoenix, really not interested in becoming that either. If all you mean is taller buildings downtown, sure.



And Phoenix a hick town? I've heard one too many country songs on the topic and I can't envision such a place being anywhere but the south. I've also never heard anyone call Dallas or Houston such.

Phoenix has become a much bigger city & metro area than Denver in recent years. We should make an attempt to emulate more places which are closer to our size or slightly larger. That's part of what forward thinking consists of, and this can be accomplished while avoiding copying NYC, Chicago, or L.A. Downtown Houston has a tall, defined skyline mostly because of all the large corporations that are based there. If their lack of zoning means they can build as tall as they want, so be it. Houston voters (not the city government) were the ones who rejected zoning ordinances, so obviously they must have good reasons for why they prefer it that way.

I never called Phoenix a hick town, but what I did say was it LOOKS like a hick town in some ways compared to Houston & Dallas. The poster you should be responding to is KerrTown, who referred to Scottsdale as a "Sundown Town", and said Phoenix is basically an overgrown Peoria, IL, while also stating that Houston is much more cosmopolitan. Obviously, that poster who lives near Houston has reasons for believing this. Might be a better idea to get some feedback from that person.

[Raj2112]

Phoenix Arizona is not the place. There are not services, the weather is horrible 6 months out of the year. AZ will be blue state very soon. Low taxes look elsewhere, high income tax, no services, utilities are outrageous. If you want to go west I would go Fresno or California in General. Arizona has no education systems.

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by Raj2112

Phoenix Arizona is not the place. There are not services, the weather is horrible 6 months out of the year. AZ will be blue state very soon. Low taxes look elsewhere, high income tax, no services, utilities are outrageous. If you want to go west I would go Fresno or California in General. Arizona has no education systems.

Your other post suddenly makes more sense.

[dontbelievehim]

Wow, that came out of nowhere.
No clue who Raj is, but I'm here to say that Raj isn't a second account of mine or anyone I know, lol.
He seems to be a new poster who really dislikes Arizona, that's all I know.