I'll let others wax on about lakes, since I know nothing about that, but your sentiment about bbq and Mexican food is spot on. I gather from the other threads that you like to eat out. Mediocre BBQ places just don't stay in business for long around here. If it's been in bid for a few years, it'll probably blow away anything you've eaten. For beef that is, pork bbq is another story. As for good Mexican, near infinite supply. As you know, I like to cook, so one thing not to be overlooked in the plus column for living in Texas is the Central Market grocery chain. Bar none, best grocery store for quality and density of supply that I've seen in this country...T
C'mon Jason. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico are fantastic. Much warmer than the Pacific waters. We dont need a neoprene swim suit to enter the golf. Fishing is unbelieavable Zero risk of tsunamies too. Dont be fooled by the color of the water. Blame the Mississipi river and the counter clockise currents insude d gulf fir bringing seduments to the beaches in texas. Further south texas coast beaches are beautifull and clear water. No big white sharks either!
LOL. I'll give ya that, that's the damn truth! No ice cold water. I do have to say I do have a bias though because I've never been an ocean guy, always preferred lakes. So I go by what I find visually more appealing and for me that's the Pacific. But yes, you are absolutely 150% true. South Texas beaches are gorgeous. But that's closer to Mexico than I'd like to be.
I have lived all over Calif from top to bottom, Florida, Scottsdale and now in Dallas. There's some good to say about all of them. All of them have great winters but the summers are all to hot for me. Anything around 90 and above is getting to warm for me. The further south you go in Texas the better the winters are. Dallas can get some ice and snow. The roads are terrible in Dallas, pot holes everywhere. Traffic is bad in all the big city's. I just came back from Scottsdale, go every year. The roads are fantastic. You can get a lot of home in Texas for your money. My 2 cents. Anybody going to Boardwalk Ferrari Spring Concorso this Saturday 4-23 from 10 to 2. I will be there with my car.
hey rob, did you go to school in austin? i used to live on lake travis (went to lake travis jr. high) before becoming a poor college student and living in south austin... city has changed quite a bit since i lived there. always thought i wanted to move back and had the opportunity a little over a year ago but just not the same place it used to be.
I grew up swimming in the Pacific Ocean. We never wore wetsuits and never gave a thought to sharks. Sent our vacations camping on the beach and in the water most of the day.
no, I was born there, but they moved away when I was 3 months old. I have always enjoyed going back to Austin went to UT swim camp in H.S., after college would hang out 6th street, F1 races, and last few years I have fished Lake Austin, LBJ some.
hey greg, i originally moved to austin in the early-80's just to give you a little perspective. when i first moved there, it was a sleepy and laid-back town...very laid back with exceptionally friendly people. like many of the most desirable places, it simply outgrew itself and part of that growth was due to many out of state folks moving in. that really changed the overall vibe. on a more tangible level, the traffic is absolutely horrendous though living in h-town, you might be used to this. but austin's infrastructure did not even come close to keeping up with the growth it experienced. real estate prices have gone through the roof and everything is just so much more crowded and commercial, realizing you could say this about many cities. i still have some real estate there and trying to renovate my duplex in the zilker park area has been a complete nightmare. city hall is full of a bunch of militants who make everything difficult...worse than it ever was by far. once more, i realize you could say many of the same things about other places. don't get me wrong - i still love austin. so much that i kept my place (and boat slip) in case i might move back one day or at least have the opportunity to spend more time down there. but when faced with the very real possibility of moving back, i couldn't get myself to do it for a few reasons. i think part of it was more personal though - my memories of junior high, high school and college when austin was the coolest city on the planet could never be topped. it'll never even come close to being the same place. but don't let that deter you - once more my benchmark was austin when it was still a small and laid back town. nothing stays the same. the city still has some wonderful attributes and some of the changes have been positive admittedly. and coming from houston (where i was born), i think it could be a really nice change but i clearly don't know your background and likes/dislikes. the old small town austin could drive some people crazy. my mom went nuts when we first moved there...everybody was so dang slow, she thought they were all on drugs. then we slowed down ourselves and really learned to enjoy the more relaxed culture. hey, i may know a guy selling his boat slip on lake travis if you're a boat guy boy, i hope people don't start breaking out their flame throwers for what i've said!
There are certain parts of Dallas where this also rings true (Highland park?) or a condo downtown...(which was my original point, I guess). On the same note, my brother just sold his 3br/2ba 1600sq ft home in Mckinney on 1/8 acre for $235k. I could get comparable on the big island of Hawaii (Hilo side). Which, TBH, I'd much rather have for a vacation home (with lesser taxes...I think, not sure how non resident works). Dallas real estate has changed A LOT in the last 3 years. Cant say I'm a fan...
I will defend the pacific ocean. Even up here in Canada and down the coast from Washington State to Northern California. The water is not bad in summer. Its surprisingly warm. Up here in Vancouver, if its warm 80+ most of April we could swim in the ocean around now. I semi grew up (1980 to 1992) in a house on a beach near Vancouver. From 9 years old until my early 20's. Id play baseball and my team would come over to swim in the ocean, mess around on the beach. I think it started in May. Last day of school in June to start summer off I always held a beach party at my house. We'd swim and water ski with no wet suits. I always had some form of a boat from 8 years old to adulthood. The above is why I need to be near some form of water. While I'm bored with boating in general, as an weekly activity. I need to get out on the water a few times per month. I'm selling property in Washington State. I'm looking at reinvesting that money, no point in having the cash sit in a bank. The other thing I'll have to look into is do I need a Texas drivers license to register cars and boats there. Like Washington State allows me to register things there with a Canadian drivers license. But some states have laws that don't allow you to drive a personnel car registered to you on a out of state/country drivers license.
I might be buying a car in Miami. Its sold to someone else but the deal may fall through. Plan is to store it at my aunts house in Naples. June or July, drive it back here. Tour the southern states a few days. Tour Dallas on the way back.
Im wondering if anyone has entertained the idea of shipping their toy car across states for a few weeks while staying there? For ex: I'm thinking about renting a condo in Maui for a month or two and ship the car there. Worth the hassle?
Where from? I lived on Oahu for 6 years, and shipped quite a few things between the mainland and the island..
If you can afford a home in which taxes enter into annual salary territory, then you'd be paying a LOT more if there were state income tax. I'll take 2% on the value of my house any day compared to an average of 5% on my annual income, which is considerably more than my 4800sf house cost (new in 2015).
As to the living situation question, I live in the Dallas area. Honestly, I think it's the most boring place on the face of the earth and I'll move to Florida as soon as I can convince my husband to go. I'm a beach baby. We have a condo there and spend summers there. It's an even further drive, but the Gulf Coast in Florida (from Perdido Key to Panama City Beach) is beautiful. White sand, turquoise water, etc. It's expensive, and you'd have to address the car situation, but I'd consider Florida (also no state income tax), buy a cheap car to leave there, and charter a plane back and forth.
Ocean "beech" people don't like DFW as much and I can understand. 75% of the world lives within 80 miles of the ocean. I have always been land locked and like it. To me the ocean is nasty salty, humid, and cold most places even though I was a swimmer! I love DFW lakes, open land, great people, great schools, great activities, fly once a year to mountains, fly once a year to beech.
We used to live 75% in the city and 25% at the ranch. In the past 2 years we've changed that to 50/50. In just a few more years it'll be 20/80 and I can't wait. Texas? I moved here from Chicago decades ago. You don't have enough money to get me to move out. I'm going to die here.
I don't consider FL expensive. As with anything, it can vary but my beach front condo in PCB is worth about the same as my lake front house on Cedar Creek. They're within 100 s/f of each other in size. The condo does cost more to operate with the association dues, but it also generates income in rentals. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If you think Dallas is boring, you should try living in North Dakota. Can't disagree on the Gulf Coast of FL though. Add in the Keys. If I could find a job there, I'd be gone in a New York minute...T
I meant that chartering a private jet was expensive. Not the real estate. We have a condo at Portofino and it's well worth the money.
Come next week, these are my office views. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
