Should I move to TX (Instead of AZ??)

[1stFreedom]

I'm thinking about packing up from NY and moving out to Texas. But before I consider moving out there, I want to make sure I'm not moving to another Kalifornia or New York.

What is the political climate like? Is it conservative? Republican?

What are the philosophical undertones of the population? Conservative? Liberal?

How about the faith of the population? Is there a large Catholic [faituful] population?

How are the gun laws? Open carry?

Income tax? Corporate Tax?

Is the State homeschool friendly?

How organized are Freepers out there?

What is the best place to find employment for IT workers?

What is the best place to move to avoid allergies?

Is the state moving towards the left?

Is it as dry as Arizona?

[Theodore R.]

Most people have to move where they can find suitable work. They often do not have the choice of where they would like to live, unless they are in mostly self-employed professions like medicine or accounting.

Texas has higher taxes than most people think. Property taxes, particularly for public schools, are expensive. And assessment boards often declare property worth more for taxable purposes than one can reasonably expect to sell the property.

Texas also has lenient criminal laws in many areas, including DWI and murder. Murderers in TX can usually be executed only if they commit two crimes at the same time. If they murder a five-year-old, that constitutes possible capital punishment, but not if they murder a seven-year-old. We do have some bizarre laws.

Texas has high sales taxes, not as much as CT, but 8.25 percent in most jurisdictions (including state, county, city, transit district, special district).

Some Texas counties are heavily Democrat, particular in the South and Southwest. D-FW, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin are poltiically competitive. Parts of East TX are traditionally Democrat. Otherwise, the state trends heavily Republican. In the 2002 elections, Republicans won 56 percent of the vote in U.S. House elections but secured only 15 of the 32 congressional seats.

The weather is hot throughout the state from May to September. The first cool weather starts in the Panhandle in late September. South TX is like a subtropical area for much of the year.

The Panhandle is as far from Galveston Island as probably Chicago is from New York. People can't imagine how physically large the state is until they drive through it.

Texas has good race relations, despite the James Byrd controversy. Anglos get along well with both blacks and Hispancis for the most part.

Public schools in TX are a disaster, as everywhere. Many are now home-schooling or using private academies, many of those church-based.

Still probably the greatest sense of community in TX revolves around the Friday night high school football games from September through November.

Come on down, it bound to be cheaper than NY.

[Torie]

Regarding schools, my nephew grew up through grammar school in suburban Houston (that area to the north, River Oaks or something?), and got an education superior to most anywhere in the US. Yep, I was surprised too.

[hope]

"And if you don't like rivers, lakes and streams, ocean, etc, you will love Arizona".

Well, that's not exactly true...As a translant to Arizona from Michigan, I live within a half hour from two lakes 1 hour from Roosevelt Lake...Arizona is third in the nation for boat sales and we have owned one for the past 10 years where we find plenty of ways to use it. Lake Mead is 4.5 hours from whrere we preside and so is Lake Powell. The Colorado River isn't very far either. Lake Havasu and 6 hours to San Diego for a bigger adventure. In Michigan we were lucky to get maybe 3 months out of the year for boating, while it's common for year around boating in Arizona..

[Ditter]

We just drove up to Colorado. In the Canadian River country of North Texas the tumbleweeds were rolling across the highway in herds of 10 to 20. It was fabulous I love that country. In fact there isn't much of Texas that I don't love to look at. We decided a few years ago that before we died we wanted to drive on every road in Texas. We are doing good!

[gcruse]

You can't come to Texas unless
you can show a past history of
eating Ranch Style Beans and
Tex-Mex. The shock will kill
you, otherwise.

[Tall_Texan]

You can live your live the way you want to live it without a lot of interference from other people.

True, just ask David Koresh.

[enviros_kill]

Leave any attititudes and Northerner expectations back in NY. I live in a suburb of north Fort Worth and like it very much. However, I see northerners moving in and expecting crap I happily left when I moved here seven years ago, e.g., mandatory recycling and more Marxist-greenie crap. The Star-Telegram in FW is a very liberal paper-surprising for Fort Worth-but what do you expect from mass media-even NYT reporters lie like troopers-same everywhere.

Gun friendly state, easy to talk to folks.

[Torie]

Let me know when you hit Loving County, Texas. I want a full report.

[mylife]

One of the things I truely miss in Az is public and state owned land that the people can use.
Tx has virtually no public lands. Taxes in Az are higher. Schools are bad in both states but Az has the worst. Employment is better in Tx.

[hope]

"I lived in AZ for a few years and thought it was like a police state. Highway Patrol every few miles on every road in the state"

Now wait a minute...You know that's BS.. some tall tales from the ex-transplants on this thread...

But, what the heck not everyone can move here ...it's crowded enough.

I've been in the Metro Phoenix area for 23 years and travel the state quite often..I haven't had a speeding ticket since I passed through Memphis to get here.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Texas public schools for the most part are fine, there are plenty of excellent districts. In fact I'm willing to bet that the percentage of suburban middle and upper-income kids in private or home-schools is far lower in Texas than in most states.

[pointsal]

Well Austin and central San Antonio are loony-tunes. The rest of the Republic of Texas is just fine. If you are considering Tucson, can you spell DEMOCRAT suckup.

[mylife]

"I lived in AZ for a few years and thought it was like a police state.

And honestly, how many POLICE states allow you to walk around with a 44 Mag on your hip?? In fact how many states period?

[Torie]

What is the best place to live in the abstract? Well it is where I live. And that's a fact. High quality public schools, safe neighborhoods, manageable traffic and a manageable commute to places with very high paying jobs, great climate, the desert and the mountains two hours away, and the beach about 10 minutes away, attractive neighborhoods and landscaping, friendly people, and while a bit light on culture (all those GOP engineering and software types), it is within reach. The property taxes are also rock bottom, particularly if you have lived in the same house for a time. The downsides? High state income taxes, and well, a starter home goes for about 400-500 K, maybe a tad less if you move inland a bit, but not much less. JMO.

[hope]

"Having lived in Arizona and Texas, I liked them both. Arizona, dry heat up to 120 in Phoenix 20-40% relative humidity"...

That's a little stretch there, Lib ..One time in 20 years at 120 doesn't rank getting the attention..the average summer heat is 107-110 and if you like fried eggs, that's not a problem..:)

[Ditter]

Loving County looks like it only has 2 roads LOL. (I'm sure there's more.) I don't think I've been there but its between Hobbs NM & Pecos Tx & have been in both of those towns so I know pretty much what it looks like. What were you doing there, were you lost? LOL

[AgentEcho]

Having lived in Houston more than half my life (and often visiting family there), and in San Antonio nearly the other half and been to Dallas enough to consider renting an apartment for my stays to save money, I'd pick San Antonio. I absolutely LOVE it here. Even with its size it seems to have a small city feeling.

Plus it's central to everything in the state. Mountains - west. Desert - south. Forest - east. Seasons - north. Make fun of hippies - it's less than an hour to Austin.

Æ

[hope]

hehe...You know it!

[Torie]

Loving County is a hobby of mine, and has been for about 25 years. It has the lowest population of any county in the United States. I plan to visit there before I depart this mortal coil. If I go there during my Freeper years, I will take pics, and post them.

[wireplay]

i Love San Antonio. Most of the kin live in the Hondo/Bigfoot area. My guess is that I will get a second home at some point in New Braunfels and live there and in Colorado. Best of both worlds.