Transplants: what do you like the most about Texas. (Houston: rent, car insurance)

[SCtoLongIsland]

I agree it was probably not a law back then but widely said. I taught in Aldine and Spring ISD. I remember the year I went to Spring the principal let the teachers vote on whether the students should say the TX pledge. The teachers voted no. The principal said fine, and when parents complain, I’m sending them to you all. I never heard about any parent complaints.

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by SCtoLongIsland

I agree it was probably not a law back then but widely said. I taught in Aldine and Spring ISD. I remember the year I went to Spring the principal let the teachers vote on whether the students should say the TX pledge. The teachers voted no. The principal said fine, and when parents complain, I’m sending them to you all. I never heard about any parent complaints.

That's hilarious. Our schools need all the time they can get to work on academics. I think most parents get that.

[turkeytrot]

I said other
I moved to Texas in 1978, I was eighteen.

I met and married my wife in Waxahachie Texas,

I have two kids, one born in Dallas the other in Arlington,

I enlisted in the military in Dallas and when I got out I moved back to Grand Prairie Texas.

Eighteen years ago we moved to a very small town south of Amarillo Texas,

my youngest graduated form West Texas A&M University in Canyon Texas.

Both married men from Amarillo,

our only grandchild was born in Amarillo.

I retired from the City of Canyon Texas in 2011.

almost forgot, I did live in San Antonio for two years when I was a kid

I've lived in Texas all but two years, those two years I was in the service.

After all the living I've lived here in Texas I don't concern myself with native or transplant, Texas is the only place I've ever had roots. I guess simply put, it's home.

[rogramjet]

Originally Posted by Campeador

I love the swimming holes in and around Austin. I wish the DFW area had the rivers and spring fed creeks and pools that Austin does.

I live in Austin, but try this spring-fed pool in Fort Worth:

Burger's Lake - Sandy Beaches in Ft. Worth, Texas

It's terrific!

[madrone2k]

Pledging allegiance to the state flag seems really weird to me, but I guess its an example of how weird our state legislature has become. Going to Spring Branch (west Houston) schools in the 60s-70s, we started the day with a pledge to the US flag and a prayer, both guided over the PA system. Regarding the prayer, no one ever told us that it was not mandatory (according to the US Supreme Court), so most kids went along with it. A few didn't, including most of the Jewish kids ... not surprisingly, since the prayers always seemed to be from the Southern Baptist tradition, as it was at the time.

In elementary school, we had an assembly at which a fundamentalist preacher spoke and handed out copies of the New Testament. He said that if we didn't promise to read it daily, something bad would happen to us (like, we'd go to Hell).

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by rogramjet

I live in Austin, but try this spring-fed pool in Fort Worth:

Burger's Lake - Sandy Beaches in Ft. Worth, Texas

It's terrific!

Thanks, I appreciate your post.

We've been to Burger's Lake. It was OK; a bit dirty and quite overpriced, IMO. I was spoiled to grow up in MN with thousands of spring fed lakes with free public access.

When there is water flowing, the Brazos is decent. The Paluxy, with it's limestone, is fun too, but there were many more and higher quality options near Austin.

[Sollaces]

Here's the words to the pledge:

"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."

I never knew my kids were required to say it until I was at the school when they were doing it. Odd. But it's honoring the flag and what our state has gone through. I was raised in the LA area and while CA history is rich, it's not a part of our lives like it is living in Texas.

This 'tooting your own horn' thing -- Nah. It's hearing about the Houston Rodeo and then the advertising and who is giving a concert. The trail ride and parades. It's the superbowl and what that brings. Our sports teams and how fanatical we are about them. . . I mean just look at the Astros last year. It's the way these events and others are talked about and built up by the news media and not always by the locals.


We moved to Texas because we 1) Wanted to live in a warm climate 2) Wanted our kids to be around other races, religions, and cultures -- That the melting pot is 'normal'. We stayed because of the people.

[cp102]

We originally are from upstate New York but my husbands first assignment was Wichita Falls TX. We fell in love with the weather no snow!! Warm in the winter months. We have moved all over but we always knew we would retire in Texas. I love the people, the traditions, the way they feel about veterans touches my heart!

[katygirl68]

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

Maybe, they certainly make the most noise, but how much does that have to do with them being the 2 largest states population wise? Many of the smaller stats have pretty enthusiastic residents. Then again, Texas is the only state that makes you pledge allegiance to the state in school.

I never had to do that. It's a relatively new thing. My kids did, and whenever we go to school functions and they do the pledge, you'll hear all the adults doing the pledge to the United States and remain silent during the Texas Pledge. The only adults who know that one are the teachers. It's silly but harmless in my opinion.

[katygirl68]

Originally Posted by River City Rocky

Thank you for your response, I was asking mostly from a "bang for your buck" aspect since you said Dallas and Houston were considerably more expensive than Cincinnati, so it made me wonder how it compared to Texas cities such as San Antonio and El Paso which are more affordable.

Cincinnati seems interesting though, by what you say it may even be more affordable than San Antonio, I'll look more into it to see if this is the case.

The cost of living in Pittsburgh and Ohio when I visited back in the mid-90s was incredible. The groceries and housing were way less expensive than in Houston at that time. Plus they had the union wages. They just didn't have too many jobs and many of their college grads were moving here to get work. I'm sure the employment picture is better there now, but I know dozens of people who moved here from there because there were more opportunities.

But both areas are beautiful and the people seem friendly. It's just way more segregated than I'm used to. I think I only saw a few black people the entire time, and that was just when I went into downtown proper. I do recall seeing a few women in hijabs there too. That was it. Of course the people we were visiting didn't live in the city proper so that could have been why, but here even in the suburbs we're very diverse.