Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Lany - I've seen advertisements for that show on the Weather Channel (ever since we moved to Florida, we watch that channel daily) and that's what got me thinking about those tornadoes. Looks like we're on the same page.
Hope you get back to Texas - it sounds like the kind of place that could grab me, too. I've been to the Dallas are a few times (have family friends there), Houston, and San Antonio but it was the Dallas area that made me feel the most at home. You know what they say when asked where they're from - "Texas by the Grace of God."
Thanks and the same to you. I hope that you can get to Dallas too.
I see that there are quite a few people reading this thread but no one seems willing to jump in and join the conversation. That's really too bad because there are a lot of things those Texans in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex could help us with. Thank heavens for the internet,.. without it and the resources it provides I would still be in the dark about a lot of things but there's still questions that I want the answer to. Guess I'll have to get the answers myself when I get there.
Been reading your threads and found it very interesting. I can surely relate. I was born and raised in NC, moved to Ca with my family as a teen, now I am ready to move my own family back east for a more family friendly environment with affordable housing. We bought our home out here about 4 1/2 years ago right before the big housing boom so we have good equity. I would like to take advantage of it and go where our hearts call.
Kat, you responded to my post on the NC forum about the "Odyssey" blog. It has been interesting, thank you.
We looked into moving to Texas about a year ago, but I was disappointed about the high property tax (3-4% compared to our 1-2%) and home owners insurance, not to mention tornadoes and bugs!!!!!
We also would be leaving all our family and friends, makes it kinda hard But I dream of living somewhere green again and having "real" weather. 365 days of sunshine and hot heat don't impress me.
Without actually taking trips to all these places (who can afford that?) it is hard to make a healthy decision. I don't want to regret leaving, besides with home prices out here and me being a stay at home mom with 3 little ones it might be a bit hard to get back if we had leavers remorse. Decisions, Decisions!
Oh I know, I know how hard it is to make a decision. It's good to know your likes/dislikes. We had tried the Northwest but couldn't take the grey days. I know I must have sunshine - maybe more so than my dh - so that eliminates a lot of states.
The plus about Texas over NC, though, is no state income tax and the homestead exemption. We've become used to both in Florida. But I know what you mean about a green state - plus we love the ocean. If it wasn't for the gloom, Seattle would be great for us. Especially since we're a little gunshy about states that are too conservative. California was so liberal but then we discovered other places are just too conservative and/or traditional for us.
Such a dilemma.
But with a family, you can get such a lovely, large affordable home in Texas or North Carolina - that's what was luring us the most. But the big house is probably more important to a family than for us, a couple. We've realized our priority is more about the lifestyle. We'd do better living some place with access to cool shops, restaurants, nightlife, etc. There are some cool downtown lofts in Dallas we might consider. We're mostly concerned about the culture. Will we fit in? After several moves, I'm tired of having to do so much adjustment.
So many things to consider. It's tough to weigh it all and decide. We'll probably just see what real opportunity comes our way and then make a decision.
Glad I was able to help with the pointer to Melissa's blog.
I felt I must join in after reading your posts. I live in Lucas, Texas which is about 35 minutes North of Dallas. My husband and I moved to Texas about 9 years ago from Southern Calif., where we both were born and raised. We had never really lived anywhere else and it was a BIG decision to move here but he had a great job opportunity. I have to say that I have missed our family and friends but not California. Texas is a GREAT place to be. Yes, they are more conservative here but these days it is refreshing to see some of the traditional values we are losing. People are friendly, polite and family-oriented. You have all the amenities of a large city -- I have heard there are more restaurants per square mile here than anywhere else in the U.S.!!
The shopping is great and the wide open spaces are wonderful. I have gotten used to the bigger bugs (we do have a regular pest control guy) but they are part of the package and have not really caused us any trouble. The weather is more severe and we do have tornado watches and warnings but in the nearly 10 years we've been here I have never seen or been close to a tornado. AND...I thought I was going to die in the earthquake in 1987 when our office building was severly damaged in Rosemead, CA. I much prefer getting notice when a tornado "might" be headed our way and you can have some time to prepare or leave.
We love our neighborhood (we live on 2 1/2 acres and many of our neighbors have horses). If you prefer the city life, there are lots of choices in Dallas or Plano or so many other great suburban areas with good schools and nice neighborhoods.
Hope this might have helped you a bit. I could go on and on about Texas but I think I probably got my point across. :-)
Hello to Moveme and Laftime and of course my old friend Kat..
Glad you two (Move and Laf) jumped in. It's really disconcerting when you're chatting in a thread that hundreds are eavesdropping on but won't join in.
I can totally understand your predicament Moveme. Leaver's remorse is a distinct possibility but then, so is "stayer's remorse". If your family and friends are in CA and you'd be moving to NC 'blind' or 'alone', it makes things even worse. If you could, I would suggest you and better half taking a week and going back to NC and just looking around. Get the mindset of living there and see if it's more than your hearts that are calling. It's a case of darned if you do and darned if you don't.
<*>_<*>
Laftime: I've never been to Lucas although I was in McKinney when I was there. It sounds great if you prefer the 'sticks' over big city life,.. which I do but I doubt if hubby does. Maybe someday.
I think what is tearing at both of us is what we will be giving up here in the bay area compared to what we will gain in the Dallas area. Right now we are comparing and making check marks on a GOOD POINTS and BAD POINTS list. So far, the GOOD POINTS side is winning but it's close.
I have a couple of questions of a long term Metroplex Texan...
Here we have a store called "Smart and Final" which is a small warehouse type store much like Costco but without the yearly membership fee. I know there are no Smart and Final stores in Texas (the closest one is in Arizona) but does the metroplex have something similar? The main things we go there for are bulk gum, larger boxes of cereal and a few other bulk items. (We used to belong to Costco here but they are sooooo crowded we found it just was not worth the hassle of standing in line for 30-45 minutes just to buy a few items.)
Also, what are the main grocery chains in the metroplex? I know there's Albertsons but other than that about all I know is that Raleys and Safeway (two large chains here in the bay area) are not in Texas. No Trader Joe's either... Ack!
Perhaps it sounds odd that I am concerned about stores and such.. not many others seem to be interested in that end of the relocation dilemma but, considering that we may be facing moving halfway across the country in a nomad, gypsy sort of fashion, I would prefer having something familiar on the other end to make me feel more at ease in a land of strangers. Walking into a business where I recognize the logo and maybe even the store layout, helps tremendously.
Thanks, Laftime, for jumping in. It's very encouraging to know that native southern Californians can embrace the Dallas area like that.
Lany - I think I can relate to what you're going through. After several relocations, it seems that our next move is sooooo important - we want to find a place where we'll want to stay long-term. There's so much to consider. There's a lot we enjoy about Florida but it's all vacation-related. It feels very transient here and just moving to a real city like Dallas would probably be a big improvement for us. This morning I woke up missing the California redwoods, though. So we wondered again about NC - would the mountains, trees, and ocean be more satisfying? But then Dallas would feel more like the West - with sunshine and Tex-Mex. Ha!
Decisions, decisions. Think it's time to plan a trip or 2 to these locations to get the "feel" since we're so experiential.
Lany,
Well, I can sure talk about shopping - my favorite pasttime!! No, we don't have Smart and Final but we do have Costco and Sam's Clubs. Even though there is a membership fee, it is worth it and the lines are long only if you go during peak times. Otherwise it is very pleasant. Also, there are lots of Super Targets and Walmart Super Stores which have the larger sizes and good prices. We also have a GREAT store called Garden Ridge in Plano that I have never seen anywhere else. It is huge and has the most unbelievable selection of home decor, garden and craft items. Our most popular grocery stores are Kroger, Tom Thumb and Albertson's. Kroger is from the Ralph's/Safeway family and I really like their selection. Albertson's is a little less expensive but nice and Tom Thumb is a bit more pricey but has more choices. We don't have Trader Joe's but we do have Whole Foods (Plano), Central Market (Plano) and Market Street (McKinney) which are all smaller food stores that cater to a more specialized health food and/or gourmet and specialty items. They offer cooking classes and other special options.
Kat: One thing I really enjoy about the area where we currently live is that if we want the beach, we go west for an hour and there's beach. If we want mountains, we go east for 3 hours and there's mountains. If we want hot in the summertime, we go an hour east (or sometimes less) to the central valley and we have hot. If we want winter snow we can just drive up to Tahoe (3 hours) and there's all the snow we want. (Except for this weekend when the snow is coming to us.)
It's sort of like that in Texas too. Eastern Texas, down around Longview, is as different as daylight and dark from the Dallas area. Trees and hills and not that much sand. Lots of lakes too. It's only a couple of hours east of Dallas. As for mountains, there's the Ozarks which do extend into Arkansas and would only be a 6-8 hour drive from Dallas. If you want to go see them, you can. And, if you wanted to feel like a transient again, just drive down to Galveston and spend the weekend on the beach.
Laf: I'm not really one who cares to "shop till I drop". I prefer sneaking in the side door of a mall, hit the store I need to then sneak out again. I like specialty stores when I'm looking for something specific so it's important to me to make sure the stores I am used to going to are there for me in the new place too or, at least, an equivalent. I've done enough research to know that the great majority of stores I do tend to shop at are well represented in the metroplex and, surprisingly, most of those have locations in the North Dallas area. That Garden Ridge does sound interesting though.
I did notice they have a Whole Foods down there and I was thrilled to see that. We have several here in the bay area but the closest one is 15-20 miles away, a distance I don't care to travel just to buy groceries. I remember Krogers,.. it will be good to see that name again. Does the Albertson's down there have Member cards? I've never been in a Sam's Club so that might be interesting to explore and so might Costco if it's less crowded. They keep building new and bigger ones here and they keep filling up. I love browsing through a new grocery store to see what they have and I can't get out here in California. That's one thing I really dislike about the west coast. For some reason there are some things that cannot be purchased west of the Rockies.
Now I am as confused as ever DH and I are in the process of trying to decide whether to take a trip to NC, Charlotte particularly or not. My parents are back there tying up loose ends with the old homestead right now, north central part of the state. My mom calls me to tell me how "different", slow and backwards they are back there. She has a friend who moved from California to Virginia 6 yrs ago and is moving back because she doesn't like it. Says us Californians just don't fit in. Hmmmm, I wonder how true that might be. I really like the amenities, convenience and up to date atmosphere here. I also like sidewalks, streetlights and great neighborhoods, not necessarily ones where your neighbors hear you sneeze.
Kat - Why did you choose Florida. I hear from alot of other posts that the eternal vacation atmosphere gets old.? What is attracting you to NC? Texas? When I was looking into Texas a year or so ago I saw that alot of Californians were moving to the Austin area, even some of my DH coworkers moved there.
Laf - Hear! Hear! I like the shopping too. Super Walmarts and Costco are my lifelines with 3 small kids. I fear we would miss family mucho! BUT, a nice large home would be wonderful! However, I am concerned about the high property tax. Here it is manageble, but there I'm worried it would eat into our savings on the mortgage side of things. What is your take?? How is the humidity compared to living in California. I grew up in NC but as a child humidity is no big deal, well, as adults it's a different story. Also the conservative atmosphere would be a breath of fresh air for us. I am not very liberal. But I am not a hell and brimstone conservative either. I belive in Grace!!!
Lany - I can relate to the pros and cons list. My lists keep coming up weighter on the pros side too. It's just hard to make a major life changing decision like this.
Thank you all for your input and detailed answers. It sure helps alot to see other people with the same concerns, experiences and the info is wonderful!
Moveme - soon
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Dallas, Nc Or Stay In Ca?
But I dream of living somewhere green again and having "real" weather. 365 days of sunshine and hot heat don't impress me.
