Posted on 06/10/2004 12:13:18 PM PDT by Rate_Determining_Step
OK.
Living in Seattle sucks. It's June 10th and the rest of the country is basking in warm spring weather and it's 51 degrees outside.
I wouldn't mind TX, but the wife says she can't stand the heat. Is it really that hot in TX? All of TX? Are there any semi-moderate places there?
Been looking at NH. I don't like snow, but I'll put up with it for 3-4 months, etc.
Looking for some FReepmail from natives on the really skinny on weather, crime, taxes, etc.
I took a survey and it said El Paso is the place for me. The closest I've been to Texas is Utah.
I like decent metro areas (love Manhattan). But, I want a house with a 2 or 3 car garage, etc.
It'll be nice to move out of an area where I'm up to my armpits in lefties!
Thanks,
Come to SW Virginia
:)
Such a puppy!
Great school!! ALWAYS wins Academic Decathalon...AAAALWAYS!
Forgot to mention in my previous post - El Paso is pretty solid liberal democrat. Austin is as well, as is San Antonio (except for retired military) and the lower Rio Grand.
School districts in Texas don't follow municipal, or in some cases county lines. School districts are far more important in determining real estate values than are city limits. For example, Dallas is partially in at least 4 school districts ranging from one of the worst to two of the best. Plano is split between 3 districts, etc. (That being said, avoid areas patrolled by the troubled Dallas and troubled Houston police Departments.
Am I wrong, but it would seem very weird to live among people that sent Algore to represent them in Washington.
Red
My clearest memory of Houston was Christmas day, years ago.
It was raining. And steam was coming off the blacktop.
I have lived in Midland now for years. Almost dried out.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Red
bookmarked
Red
If that doesn't sit well with you, you could think of it as the state that rejected Al Gore for president, prefering George W. Bush by 11%.
When I lived in Bikersfield, I was told it was hotter than Hell, and at other times, colder than Hell. Therefore, when I die, I should be thoroughly acclimated.
I'm over here on the coast, and the Alaskan wind is howling in my front door. I miss those warm summer nights.
Asphalt does not really have a solid state. Motorcyclists in the south know to carry a little block of wood to put under the kickstand.
I can't agree. One of the worst times I ever had on a freeway was in Maryland. I thought Texas drivers were pretty bad until I visited back east. I mean, here, people wave after they cut you off. No such courtesy exists elsewhere. :)
Been in N. TX 20 yrs. Hope to retire to Western PA. and/or CO.
Largest city (area wise in USA) Population is approximately 1,000,000, Very Conservative politically, College Football headquarters, Florida VS Georgia game (World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party) played here every year in October! Also FSU, and Miami. We are the Home of Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team, Super Bowl XXXIX here this coming February!
Weather here is HOT & HUMID from May till Sept.(not to worry: AIR CONDITIONING). Beautifully cool mornings and sunny warm afternoons from October to April. LOTS of SUNSHINE at least 330 days a year. Winters are generally mild. NO SNOW! Beautiful golf courses EVERYWHERE.
Atlanta, capital of the SOUTH IS A 5 HOUR DRIVE, Orlando (Disney/MGM/Universal) is a 2.5 hour drive. 5 hours to Miami and South Beach (WARNING: LOTS OF LIBS and the accompanying crime down there).
The crime rate is down.
About a quarter of the size of Dallas or Houston?
One other cultural difference between Texas and Seattle/New Hampshire. Most foks in Texas belong to a church or other religious body. Lots of folks go 2 or 3 times a week. Some of the churches are huge. Social life, politics and business can all get tied up with religion.
I was thinking the same thing. I went to grad school in Pullman and would consider Boise or Spokane (right now I'm in libbie NoCal) if only there was family near-by, but there isn't. So NoCal, CT, or New Mexico are my only options with that important restriction.
Texas is hot, but it's not unreasonable. Galveston is probably one of the more moderate climates (seacoast) or there is the Hill Country around Fredericksburg. Dallas has colder winters, and Lubbock has quite cold winters. Houston is 11 months of summer. In any case, it won't matter because you will be in air conditioning 11 months of the year. You'll learn to like wearing long sleeves -- especially in theaters. It takes about a year to get used to the humidity.
We moved from Texas to the Seattle area (Snohomish) about 20 years ago. I did NOT miss the AC bills that I left behind in TX. I did NOT miss the traffic that I left behind in TX. I DID miss the friendly, enthusiastic I people left behind in TX.
I found many Washingtonians to be rather "closed" people -- quite the contrast to Texans who are likely to become your best friend at a cocktail party. Washingtonians were difficult to get to know. In fact there were people that I knew in a volunteer organization in Washington for more than 5 years and never found out where they worked, or what they did for a living. Your JOB or the company you worked for seemed to be as much of a "no, no" topic of conversation as religion, sex, or politics are in other parts of the country. Whereas, in Texas you could meet someone a a party, or at the mall, and within 15 minutes were exchanging employment info -- lots of networking all the time.
People in Texas considered your JOB to be an important part of your personality and used it as a cue as to how to relate to you -- "Oh, you're a Dermatologist at Methodist Hospital? My sister-in-law's cousin is a nurse at Baylor Med center -- I wonder if you know her?" That sort of thing.
Or, "You're in the oil bid-ness? My hubby is with Shell, we ought to go out to dinner some time."
We DID miss the Texas enthusiasm for business and work -- many Washingtonians seemed to settle there just to take off at 4 PM and hit the ski slopes or marinas. It didn't matter if the major company project was about to go down in flames because of some glitch -- don't even suggest overtime to any of them!
Now, I'm talking 20 years ago, so things probably have changed. Microsoft was still a very small company, and the state (especially Puget Sound) was dominated by Boeing and their layoffs. Everybody was afraid for their job all the time. So, they didn't share employment info because they didn't want you to ask them to recommend you for a position in their company. If there was a position in their company open, they were savig for their brother-in-law.
And I did miss the TX sunshine. The overcast skies in WA became quite a burden, and I was happy to leave after 5 years. I'm in Wisconsin now which has a nicer weather pattern, but much worse taxes. However we have been enduring 3 weeks of rain (unusual for here) and it's beginning to feel like Seattle! UGH! And no mountains to "come out".
Jacksonville is beautiful.
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