Toyota Employees- How is Texas? (Houston, Austin: transfer, living in, prices)

[TX.XTTX]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

You can't even follow your own stats - you must think really highly of them. They show that LA has a lower unemployment rate than the US as a whole.

I didn't say they don't take disparities into account. I said they mask actual disparity in situations with broad inequality. There's a difference. To make it more clear, let's take the $55k or whatever as the average income in LA. There are 265 'neighborhoods' in LA county, and 166 or 65% have higher median incomes than $55k.

Let's keep going with this 'averages are useful' thing - the wealthiest county in DFW: Rockwall

Cities With Largest Income Gap
7. Dallas
9. Los Angeles

Dallas is more unequal than Los Angeles.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3050320/...-rich-and-poor

Net, workers in Dallas Country are wealthier on average than workers in Los Angeles County. Period. No idea why you're fighting the facts.

It's not surprising since Dallas has far more Fortune 500 companies than Los Angeles.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

You can't even follow your own stats - you must think really highly of them. They show that LA has a lower unemployment rate than the US as a whole.

I didn't say they don't take disparities into account. I said they mask actual disparity in situations with broad inequality. There's a difference. To make it more clear, let's take the $55k or whatever as the average income in LA. There are 265 'neighborhoods' in LA county, and 166 or 65% have higher median incomes than $55k.

Let's keep going with this 'averages are useful' thing - the wealthiest county in DFW: Rockwall

1. Not sure if that first part about "following your own stats" was for me or not. If it was I'd tell you that U-3 unemployment is one of the most overrated regularly released economic stats. LA's U-3 may be lower than the rest of the country - can't look it up tight now. However, it's U-6 numbers are terrible.........way over 10% last time I looked. U-6 in Dallas is probably 6-6.5%.

2. I get your point about averages possibly masking varying distribution patterns. For multiple reasons that just isn't a significant factor in this argument as a matter of fact probably running counter to your argument.

3. Rockwall Co. has been the wealthiest county around here in income terms for many years.


ETA- latest issue U6 in LA County is 11.4%

[bumbly]

Returning to the question in the OP-

The positives for us have been:
- affordable housing. We were renters in CA because we couldn't afford a house in an area that we'd want to live in. But here, we were able to buy a very nice house with a pool in a neighborhood with good schools.
- diversity. It's much more diverse here than where we were.
- plentiful retail. Everything we need on a day to day basis is within a 10-15 min drive of where we live. It's very convenient.
- great restaurants. Lots of variety in types of cuisine as well as in price.
- short commute and light traffic in general.
- good parks & rec.
- clean.
- nice spring, autumn and winter weather. (I personally like the thunder, rain and wind)
- DFW > LAX (but then, most any airport is better than LAX)

The negatives:
- no beach, desert, mountains.
- no interesting hiking trails.
- terrible heat in the summer. (We used to live within minutes of the beach, so it was never really hot enough to turn on the AC.)
- places like Hawaii and Japan are now further away/more expensive to reach.
- being a blue speck in a red state.

Having stores like Daiso, Kinokuniya and Mitsuwa and good Japanese restaurants in the area has eased the transition somewhat. Overall, it was definitely a good move for us financially.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by Mentallect

Excellent post. That is the reality for many North Texans. All the Californians flocking to North Texas keep bragging about how their quality of life has improved while most of those of us who were already here are lamenting how unliveable and unaffordable it has become since the flood of big companies and inflated salaried transplants from Califronia has hit North Texas.

I wouldn't say it's unaffordable, but the crowds and traffics and sh**ty ass driving that has accompanied the influx sure has made it less nice to live here.

- W Plano resident since 1989

[Clonelion]

Sorry that locals feel this way. We heard stories about southern hospitality most of the time but getting to know really how people feel is eye opening.

May be you can do something like talk to Texas political leaders and make all these big companies go away to some other state. If no company moves to TX, this problem will go away perhaps.

There will be always some die hard employees they will move with company.

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by Clonelion

Sorry that locals feel this way. We heard stories about southern hospitality most of the time but getting to know really how people feel is eye opening.

Southern hospitality started disappearing from the Dallas area when people who aren't even from the South started pushing out and outnumbering the locals. It's the huge influx of transplants who killed Southern hospitality, not the locals...

[turf3]

The term "hospitality" relates to visitors, not to people moving in permanently, driving up your cost of living, and spending all their time complaining how the new location is so much worse than where they came from.

Show up for a three week visit and you will experience true hospitality.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Mentallect

Southern hospitality started disappearing from the Dallas area when people who aren't even from the South started pushing out and outnumbering the locals. It's the huge influx of transplants who killed Southern hospitality, not the locals...

^^^ This.

[TheOverdog]

Show up for a three week visit and you will experience true hospitality.

Are you checking passports or something before you dole out your hospitality? creepy.

[Beardown91737]

I am not a Toyota employee nor have I ever considered buying their product, but ... since I have been here for three years, I thought I would check the stories of others who moved in the same direction. So for the ones who have posted, thank you for letting me see how others in my situation feel.

As far as the other answers, it is good to see those responses from locals which were meant in a helpful way. However, the thread has devolved some, as far as arguing with the anecdotal experience of newcomers. Remember, the respective governments of Texas and Plano have worked to draw these people in. The suffering that you have gone through due to our presence is something that your leaders have prescribed as fuel for your economy, but there is a sting to longtime residents, so if you feel that, you need to let your leaders know about all the difficulty it is causing you in your daily life, and how your grown children still live with you because they can't afford to pay California prices for a house in Texas. Tell them to stop the madness. Now! If you don't contact them, or go to city council meetings... at least vote against them.

Originally Posted by Mentallect

Excellent post. That is the reality for many North Texans. All the Californians flocking to North Texas keep bragging about how their quality of life has improved while most of those of us who were already here are lamenting how unliveable and unaffordable it has become since the flood of big companies and inflated salaried transplants from Califronia has hit North Texas.

See above. If it helps, I have not been bragging about my quality of life improving. I do have more money, but I am with you on the unliveablity thing, especially traffic. I will dispute that the bad driving is from CA transplants. It seems to be a lack of driving skill, mostly centered in Plano and Allen.

Originally Posted by Backliteyes

But the prevailing wage in CA areas where people are moving from for these types of jobs is noticeably higher than the prevailing wage in TX for the same type of job. So from a Texan's point of view, it seems like Californian's are moving in with very high salaries and lots of money from selling a home in CA and contributing to house price appreciation here.

I know a guy that works in TI that said the resources TI moved from CA did not have their salaries reduced from the CA level. He speculated (or knows, not sure) that they would simply get minimal or no salary increases until their salaries leveled out with what a comparable TX salary would be for the position.

I have no idea if Toyota and other companies approached it the same way but if they did that would support the idea that Californians that are job-relocated here are getting the benefit of moving in with a salary advantage over locals.

I kept my CA salary and have gotten raises since I have been here. Not Toyota, though.

Originally Posted by Cowboys fan in Houston

Yeah...prevailing wages are not any high in LA outside the film industry for people in higher ups.

Compare Torrance and Plano:

Average Salary in Torrance: $50,772
Average Salary in Plano: $60,573

Compare Dallas and Los Angeles:

Average Salary in Dallas: $59,733
Average Salary in Los Angeles: $62,152

PayScale - Salary Comparison, Salary Survey, Search Wages


So the argument being made is absolutely ridiculous. People buy houses by saving longer not because they are paid more in Southern California.

Torrance doesn't compare to Plano. Irvine is comparable to Plano. Torrance had Toyota but it isn't Irvine. Torrance might be Carrollton.

What is ridiculous is thinking people buy houses in California by saving longer. The longer you put off buying a house in California, the further out of reach it gets, unless you get a huge promotion with a big pay bump. People do get paid more in Southern California. Companies are moving here so they can pay less, plus to cash in on the incentive that Plano lays out.

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

You can't even follow your own stats - you must think really highly of them. They show that LA has a lower unemployment rate than the US as a whole.

I didn't say they don't take disparities into account. I said they mask actual disparity in situations with broad inequality. There's a difference. To make it more clear, let's take the $55k or whatever as the average income in LA. There are 265 'neighborhoods' in LA county, and 166 or 65% have higher median incomes than $55k.

Let's keep going with this 'averages are useful' thing - the wealthiest county in DFW: Rockwall

It's easy for a small place to be rich, like San Marino. No one to average it out.