Relocating to TX

Ski Apache (Ruidoso, NM) is only four hours from Lubbock ...

And only two hours from El Paso :). The best part of living in West Texas is New Mexico.

orphancars wrote: I see no one recommending Houston. An acquaintance of mine once said, "Houston is a terrible thing to do to a swamp". 'Nuff said...........

Nah, Houston's great; natives just try to keep that little fact quiet because we don't want a bunch of Yankee shiny happy people moving down here.

The food in Houston (with the exception of German) is much better than anything you'll find in any of the other cities mentioned. We have fewer good roads than the metroplex, much less the Hill Country. Traffic in Houston is actually better than Austin or Dallas if you pick where you live carefully. (If you try to go down any freeway on the west side during rush hour you deserve what you get.)

I could be talked into moving to any of the larger cities in Texas. Dallas and Austin are neck and neck for last place on that list.

Edit: And on the subject of Mexican food, you can actually get authentic Mexican or Tex-Mex in any larger city in Texas, you just have to know where to look.

The only thing wrong with Houston is hurricane season.

billy3esq wrote: Traffic in Houston is actually better than Austin or Dallas if you pick where you live carefully. (If you try to go down any freeway on the west side during rush hour you deserve what you get.)

Traffic in Houston is only better than LA in the overall scheme of things. It's absolutely pitiful and the Toll roads you have there? OMG they don't even make sense and you have no options.

If you walked to work in Houston you'd have traffic jams!

But I do second the food part. It is amazing the number of restaurants that have come out of Houston. I actually drive down occassionally just to go to the Dessert Gallery

carguy123 wrote:

billy3esq wrote: Traffic in Houston is actually better than Austin or Dallas if you pick where you live carefully. (If you try to go down any freeway on the west side during rush hour you deserve what you get.)

Traffic in Houston is only better than LA in the overall scheme of things. It's absolutely pitiful and the Toll roads you have there? OMG they don't even make sense and you have no options.

Our freeway system makes better sense than any other major city's that I can think of. We have a major east-west artery (I-10), two major north-south arteries (45 and 59), and two loops (610 and the Beltway). Throw in a couple of other major spokes (290, 288, 225, Hardy), and you can get anywhere in Houston without more than a couple of miles of non-freeway driving. Just don't try to do certain parts of it at rush hour. Some of it is tollways, but that's just how we fund it. If you have an EZTag, you don't even notice.

Austin is where the roads make no sense; there is no east-west artery. I can't figure out what is wrong with Dallas, but I always get stuck in traffic anytime I try to get from 45 to 35E or vice versa.

Also, there are options for most things in Houston, you just have to know what they are. If you ask people who live in Houston, they'll tell you that the traffic is better than other major cities that supposedly have better traffic. What you can't do is expect to cross 20 miles of sprawl in 20 minutes at any time of day or night.

And that is the real problem. People try to live at one end of Houston and work at the other. It won't work unless you spend two hours a day in your car. Houston is a BIG city, and is very spread out. I live, work, and do most of my playing in the northwest suburbs, and rarely have to deal with traffic. My drive to work is about 5 minutes. People in my neighborhood work in downtown (25 miles away) and then gripe about the traffic. They're the problem.

Snowdoggie wrote: The only thing wrong with Houston is hurricane season.

You see hurricanes coming days in advance, unlike the nasty hailstorms, tornadoes, and electrical storms you see in North Texas.

billy3esq wrote:

Snowdoggie wrote: The only thing wrong with Houston is hurricane season.

You see hurricanes coming days in advance, unlike the nasty hailstorms, tornadoes, and electrical storms you see in North Texas.

I have lived here since '95 and have never had anything damaged by a tornado. I had minor roof damage from a hailstorm and no car damage. Electrical storms have taken the electricity out in my neighborhood for maybe 4 hours max.

I've lived here since the 60's and I've only seen one itty bitty just a little bit more than a dust devil tornado. I've never even known someone who's seen one.

Tornados are very limited in scope.

Among other tornadoes there was an F-2 that took a big bite out of Downtown Ft. Worth in about 2000 or so. Admittedly, we probably get just as many, but they're usually associated with hurricanes, so you know they're coming and can get out.

I've been stuck at DFW longer than 4 hours waiting out an electrical storm. Hell, I've even been stuck at other airports for more than 4 hours because of a delay caused by an electrical storm at DFW. Electrical storms in the metroplex are the main reason I refuse to fly American Airlines anymore.

The hailstorms in the metroplex are so bad that a substantial number of car dealers have awnings to cover the inventory. I have a cousin who had a new-ish car totaled by a hailstorm a few years ago. Dented every panel, the hood roof and trunk beyond recognition, and broke out all the glass.

Don't get me wrong, I like Ft. Worth a lot. I can even tolerate most of Dallas. I just think that as natural disaster class weather goes, I'd rather have hurricanes. They seem to come around about every 25 years, and even then I know they're coming and go to Ft. Worth.

belteshazzar wrote: Longview

How did you come up with that one?

GVX19 wrote:

belteshazzar wrote: Longview

How did you come up with that one?

yeah, i grew up there and wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they knew what they were getting themselves into

shrug

Not too big city, not too small. I liked it okay. What was your experience?

Amarillo gets snow and it is close to skiing in New Mexico, but there aren't many professional jobs there. They have lots of motels on I-80. Lots of people stop there on the way to someplace else.

Snowdoggie wrote: The only thing wrong with Houston is hurricane season.

And the bugs.
And the humidity.
And the traffic.
And the crime.

Snowdoggie wrote: Amarillo gets snow and it is close to skiing in New Mexico, but there aren't many professional jobs there. They have lots of motels on I-80.

That'd be I-40. Unless you meant I-27 that runs all the way from Amarillo to ... Lubbock. 125 miles. Whoopee!

"What-a-Burger" For those of you that have not been down to hot TX theres a fast food chain in orange and white striped HO-JO like buildings called what-a-burger.

They are darm good too.

slantvaliant wrote:

Snowdoggie wrote: Amarillo gets snow and it is close to skiing in New Mexico, but there aren't many professional jobs there. They have lots of motels on I-80.

That'd be I-40. Unless you meant I-27 that runs all the way from Amarillo to ... Lubbock. 125 miles. Whoopee!

Yeah. I-40. The old Route 66.

44Dwarf wrote: "What-a-Burger" For those of you that have not been down to hot TX theres a fast food chain in orange and white striped HO-JO like buildings called what-a-burger. They are darm good too.

Their biscuits and gravy breakfasts are great.

I love Austin, I moved here in August... but we are about as close to a functioning libertarian society as you can find... We typically range from liberal democrat all the way to anarchist. Don't come here for the conservative Texas lifestyle.

Austin is the capitol of a staunchly red state, but its populated mostly with new and old hippies, tatooed young'ns, wild hair-dos, odd piercings, and artists... including myself on all of the above. Put it this way. We burned the governor's mansion. Not me specifically, it was the act of one small group, but I think most Austinites kinda silently and complicitly cheered for that one.

But, I can't say enough good about the town. Curvy roads to the West, beautiful lakes, hills, lots of love 'round these parts.

There are two decidedly bad points about Austin; the highways/traffic and the fact that its the most expensive city in TX... but for me having just moved from L.A. I kinda laugh at both of those. We never got a notable housing slump which indicates a very strong economy, and you can still buy a 3/2 home with a garage and 1/4 acre for under $100k easy as long as you're willing to go about 4 miles out. I'm looking at a 3/2 with a 2-car garage built in 2001 for $129k. If I wanted to go a little older, there is a similar property nearby built in 1973 going for $85k with appliances, new roof, and warranty.

You are very welcome here... but you might not dig the liberal vibe. But the good news is that once you're out of the metro area, its definitely a more conservative TX vibe. Round Rock is a really nice town that is more conservative. Manor and Pflugerville are also very nice. Some of the nicer scenery and hills are out to the west in Fredericksburg; lovely area. San Antonio is nice, but I get bored really fast there. Riverwalk and Alamo. That's it. Buda, Kyle, and New Braunfels are very nice areas that are also close to Austin. Plus there is a Cabella's in Buda which is enough reason for me to live anywhere :)

As a Canadian who is tired of the uber-liberal politics, cold weather and extortionate taxes (not to mention the big city, anti-car lifestyle of Toronto aka Manhattan Jr.) I've had my eye on Texas, specifically Austin, for a while. What's the job market like? I have a B.A in Journalism from a very good school up here, but I don't want to be a journalist. Any chance of getting jobs in PR, Copy Writing, or something of that nature? Hell, I can always teach English or a similar subject (I don't mind kids at all).

curtis73 wrote: Put it this way. We burned the governor's mansion. Not me specifically, it was the act of one small group, but I think most Austinites kinda silently and complicitly cheered for that one.

Don't believe a word he says.

It's mighty pretty up around Tyler.

Move to Atlanta, we have too many people here already.

Yeah, yeah, yeah ... Trees, arts, tracks ... blah, blah, blah.

Only Lubbock has the World Record Pancake Feed