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Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
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You might look at The Woodlands, a suburb city of Houston. In Texas, it's as close as you'll get (without being in the middle of nowhere) to the lush greenery and large trees you're used to.
As you've probably noticed here, people outside of Houston usually are quick to name off the city's negatives and not much else. Houston unfairly gets a bad rap, but it's really a great place. I've been here about 8 years now.
What, you may ask, are the positives? The big-city amenties like top-notch culture/arts (great symphony, opera, ballet, theater, museums)... theatre district is second in size only to NYC's Broadway. Several of the local museums attract traveling exhibits from overseas that only hit 3-4 US cities, Houston often being one of them.
The diversity and international atmosphere; only 2 other US cities have more foreign consulates. Lots of ethnic restaurants and festivals to sample.
Lots of great restaurants (named best restaurant city in Texas by a few publications), and you don't have to spend a fortune on most. Good shopping too.
Nice downtown, I like that the pro sports venues are in downtown and not out in some 'burb.
Tons of great jobs, almost anyone can get a job and move up quickly in Houston if they have the drive to do so. Lots of smart people between Rice University, the Texas Medical Center (largest grouping of hospitals and medical research facilities in the US), and NASA.
Lots of big trees and greenery around the city compared to places like Dallas, Fort Worth, and panhandle cities. Lots of little waterways too.
The nearby water recreation (boating and fishing... Bay Area southeast of Houston has the 3rd largest number of pleasure boats in the US). Galveston doesn't have the best best beaches around (they're decent though), but the city has lots of neat Victorian architecture and the historic Strand is very nice. Oh, and you can hop on a cruise boat and go for a Caribbean holiday from the Port of Galveston...
That being said, yes, it is a lot different from WA.
The Texas state motto for transplants is, "I wasn't born here, but I got here as fast as I could."
And the Colorado state motto is, "If God had meant Texans to ski, he'd have made bulls**t white."
I guess that's another thing that TX has to offer vs. WA... most of the adjacent states are really a part of it too. Even ones that aren't directly adjacent. Lots of Texans everywhere in NM, CO, OK, LA, etc (and even parts of Mexico). They are probably sick of all the Texans, so there are the occasional attitudes, but in general they are good people benefitting from the huge population here.
My husband grew up in Washington State and the biggest thing he noticed was how tired he gets here in the summer. He saw the doctor for it, who said "son, you are just hot." It is hot in Texas, and humid in Houston. You can get used to it though. You will absolutely love how cheap the housing seems in Houston compared to Olympia. You can double your house for the $$. Football is also much bigger in Texas. Since marrying my husband, I've just noticed the little differences. My Texas family grew up with cornbread stuffing at Thanksgiving. My husband had never even heard of that. I had never heard of the pies they served in Washington: Marion Berry, Goose Berry. Take the change as an adventure and you will learn to love Texas like a true Texan.
My husband grew up in Washington State and the biggest thing he noticed was how tired he gets here in the summer. He saw the doctor for it, who said "son, you are just hot." It is hot in Texas, and humid in Houston. You can get used to it though. You will absolutely love how cheap the housing seems in Houston compared to Olympia. You can double your house for the $$. Football is also much bigger in Texas. Since marrying my husband, I've just noticed the little differences. My Texas family grew up with cornbread stuffing at Thanksgiving. My husband had never even heard of that. I had never heard of the pies they served in Washington: Marion Berry, Goose Berry. Take the change as an adventure and you will learn to love Texas like a true Texan.
I second that! People, in general, who move here and don't like it are pretty much comparing the state to the one they left. And it won't be the same, culturally, geographically, financially, etc. Texas has good and bad points like every other state. Take Texas as Texas is and you will learn to love it!
I really like your positives about Houston and agree that this great city get an unfair rap. Regarding green, Kingwood is actually as green (if not more)than the Woodlands and a much easier drive to downtown Houston
Quote:
Originally Posted by JJP
You might look at The Woodlands, a suburb city of Houston. In Texas, it's as close as you'll get (without being in the middle of nowhere) to the lush greenery and large trees you're used to.
As you've probably noticed here, people outside of Houston usually are quick to name off the city's negatives and not much else. Houston unfairly gets a bad rap, but it's really a great place. I've been here about 8 years now.
What, you may ask, are the positives? The big-city amenties like top-notch culture/arts (great symphony, opera, ballet, theater, museums)... theatre district is second in size only to NYC's Broadway. Several of the local museums attract traveling exhibits from overseas that only hit 3-4 US cities, Houston often being one of them.
The diversity and international atmosphere; only 2 other US cities have more foreign consulates. Lots of ethnic restaurants and festivals to sample.
Lots of great restaurants (named best restaurant city in Texas by a few publications), and you don't have to spend a fortune on most. Good shopping too.
Nice downtown, I like that the pro sports venues are in downtown and not out in some 'burb.
Tons of great jobs, almost anyone can get a job and move up quickly in Houston if they have the drive to do so. Lots of smart people between Rice University, the Texas Medical Center (largest grouping of hospitals and medical research facilities in the US), and NASA.
Lots of big trees and greenery around the city compared to places like Dallas, Fort Worth, and panhandle cities. Lots of little waterways too.
The nearby water recreation (boating and fishing... Bay Area southeast of Houston has the 3rd largest number of pleasure boats in the US). Galveston doesn't have the best best beaches around (they're decent though), but the city has lots of neat Victorian architecture and the historic Strand is very nice. Oh, and you can hop on a cruise boat and go for a Caribbean holiday from the Port of Galveston...
That being said, yes, it is a lot different from WA.
Me and my wife just moved from Wa. State 3 weeks ago. 2300 miles in 3 days, was a fun drive. We moved to Weatherford, Texas (30 miles west of Fort Worth) we are planning on buying a house in Fort Worth in the next year. Things I noticed while living here so far: prices for food, example we ate at applebees, we paid 13 dollars for two hamburgers with fries, where in Seattle area we used to pay almost 20. Local Wal-mart I picked up a bag of hotdogs for .65 cents where in the seattle area the lowest ive seen of these was $1.99. Now for things like televisions/computers, and related software im not seeing a difference.
One thing that was a wake up call for me here was how bad people drive, I mostly seen trucks and suvs doing it but some cars have done it too. In the 3 weeks living here, ive been tailgated almost anywhere ive been, been honked at cause I was doing the speed limit in the right lane, cut-off bad to where I thought we hit, couple times while sitting at a red light, watched the person behind me go around me and run the red light, its scary. I'm loving the heat and dry weather, I've always hated the cold, my dad told me it was 55 and rain a few days ago in Puyallup, WA., when it was sunny and 90 degrees here in Weatherford TX.
People are very friendly here but I've seen some racial tensions in Weatherford, I've gotten a few bad looks, since im half asian and my wife is white, and few days ago some older lady in the Wal-mart checkout line told me to stand back from her when I was like 2 feet away. I can say though, most everyone i've met in Texas have been very friendly, our neighbors across the street even came over and introduced themselves, I never had that happen in my 30 years of living in Wa. State.
So far im loving it here, jobs seem to pay the same at least in the major cities, minimum wage here is 5.75 or 5.85 cant remember off-hand I saw a sign for it at the local courthouse. I was also suprised to see how green it is here and hilly, I always thought Texas was flat like Kansas and barren like Arizona.
Glad you like it! I like Weatherford, too, but I live in the DFW area. Next year you and your wife should check out the peach festival there. Parker County peaches are the best! All sorts of yummy peach drinks and desserts!
Are you sure that person was so rude because you're Asian? I've never seen that here before. Did you maybe misunderstand? This area has a large Asian population, especially Vietnamese in Arlington and Korean in Dallas.
I know why you thought Texas was flat and barren, it's those danged old westerns that portrayed Texas as such. Most of those westerns weren't even filmed in Texas, more like Arizona!
Glad you like it! I like Weatherford, too, but I live in the DFW area. Next year you and your wife should check out the peach festival there. Parker County peaches are the best! All sorts of yummy peach drinks and desserts!
Are you sure that person was so rude because you're Asian? I've never seen that here before. Did you maybe misunderstand? This area has a large Asian population, especially Vietnamese in Arlington and Korean in Dallas.
I know why you thought Texas was flat and barren, it's those danged old westerns that portrayed Texas as such. Most of those westerns weren't even filmed in Texas, more like Arizona!
Only people I thought acted rude came from a few elderly people living here in Weatherford. So far I've only noticed it here, we've already been to Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, and Galveston and everyone seemed very friendly. Been to Houston twice now and I love how everyone is so friendly.
We came into Texas from the very NW part, my wife has family in Muleshoe, TX. The parts I saw just entering into Texas from New Mexico was extremely flat, some smaller mountain range to the south and flat farmlands to the north, eventually everything was flat into Muleshoe. After passing Lubbock things started to get hilly and green.
Washington State makes a fabulous first impression but there are aspects of it that don't wear well over time. On the other hand, Texas doesn't make a knock out first impression but there are ways in which the quality of life here is very, very good.
We moved to Sugar Land, Texas, after almost 10 years in the Pacific Northwest (mostly Seattle and Issaquah with brief stints in Colorado and Portland, Oregon). The main thing that is different between Texas and the Pacific Northwest is the scenery. The Pacific Northwest wins that contest. On many other quality of life dimensions, Texas wins.
First of all, while the Houston area does not look like the Pacific Northwest, it has a beauty and charm of its own. It is much more green and lush than most people realize unless they've lived here or visited extensively. You have to get off the main highways and into the neighborhoods to appreciate this.
If you don't like hot, sunny weather, you probably won't like Texas. But we found the sunny weather to be the biggest blessing. We've spent a lot of time this summer at the beach, swimming in pools, and visiting splash parks. Our children have loved it. I am completely looking forward to a winter in Texas that isn't just one gray rainy day after the next. You'll hear negative things about Texas beaches but for families with small children, Texas beaches are great. We just went to Port Aransas and it was wonderful. Lots of shallow water and clean sand for the kids and the atmosphere was totally family friendly. I didn't see many people there without children so perhaps someone looking for a romantic or party vacation would have a different reaction to the beach there.
The cost of living in Texas is less, so you have more time to enjoy life rather than work to keep up. Job growth seems stronger in Texas but I haven't checked the statistics to be sure. The people in Texas are friendlier. Despite native Houstonians' belief that traffic here is horrendous, it really isn't compared to other parts of the country. Texas actually builds highways large enough to hold the traffic, so traffic moves much better here.
The cultural climate is very different between the Pacific Northwest and Texas. Seattle and Portland are very liberal, but often it is a type of liberalism that is maddening rather than progressive. My husband jokes that Seattle will still be debating what to do about their aging infrastructure as it is crumbling down and killing people. In Seattle, there is process, process, process, always trying to make everyone happy and rarely succeeding. In Texas, you have more of a "can do" attitude but also some problems with protecting the environment or showing civic pride in keeping things clean. We are still shocked by how many people in Texas throw trash on the ground everywhere they go, never cleaning up after themselves at parks or other public places...you don't see as much of that in the Pacific Northwest.
In the Pacific Northwest, people TALK about diversity constantly. In the Houston area and especially in Sugar Land, it just IS culturally diverse. No need to talk about it all the time. Same with community. Seattleites talk about community but don't talk to their neighbors. I've rarely heard a Texan talk about community, but there seems to be a strong sense of community here.
My family doesn't miss the Pacific Northwest but we came to Texas with the attitude that we were going to like it. I imagine someone who doesn't have that attitude might be happier to stay in the Pacific Northwest.
From someone who moved from TX to WA state 3 years ago, I can absolutely agree with EVERYTHING Topaz just posted. The weather, people, cost of living are my main reasons for wanting out of WA and the same things that made me appreciate TX. I really miss seeing the big sky and wide open spaces. I'm working on leaving WA and will be gone soon enough, hopefully before the gray sets in again...
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I've never seen that here before. Did you maybe misunderstand? This area has a large Asian population, especially Vietnamese in Arlington and Korean in Dallas.
