Want To Move To Texas. Advice?

So I’ve been planning to move to Texas for several years now as I really hate he state I live in. Both my wife and I have great jobs though, but I can probably work remote. However, what’s the best way to find a good position when you’re out of state? Does a headhunter make sense?

We’re looking for houses in Texas as an investment next weekend with the intent to move eventually. So at least we have that set up. We also found a great area with very highly rated schools.

My understanding is that before deciding whether or not to live in Texas it is advisable to figure out what portion of your exes live there.

If the answer is "all" I think you need to rethink and consider Tennessee as an alternative location.

*rimshot*

What specifically makes you want to move here?

As far as the job search goes, it depends on the field to know whether a headhunter is the way to go, but it probably couldn't hurt. You should come to Houston, the Greatest City in America. Dallas is awful and Austin is no longer cool, nor is it "weird". Houston is huge, and cheap, and incredibly diverse.

Is this gonna be part of a witness protection plan? Are you moving from East Moose Testicle Junction, Alaska to Texas?

I don't know I'm just spitballing here. If you have good jobs in your current state - what does Texas offer that is so appealing over your current situation? As a Canucklehead who has spent a whopping 36 hrs in Texas, I'm just curious. Unless you're moving to advance your career and upping your paygrade, it seems like alot of work for little gain.

Bring lots of shorts and bug spray. its like living in an armpit 10 months out of the year. Also, don't go to Dallas. Dallas sucks.

For why? Seems like an awful idea and has no benefits really?

Why would you do this?

I spent a good 5 years in Houston. The financial health of the city is based strongly on the oil and gas industry. When I moved there oil was like $120/barrel and the city was booming. Now things are a little depressed with home prices evening off a bit and rent leveling out (my rent did not increase in the last year I was there).

As for finding work I don't know what you do but if you or your wife are highly skilled or have a good niche background Texas is diverse and huge enough that finding work shouldn't be a huge deal. One nice thing about Texas is no state income tax (I live in MD now and pay about $500/mo in state tax) but that is balanced a bit by fairly high property taxes (in Houston anyway). Texas has a bit of everything, enough city life if you are into that, plenty of rural areas as well. Lots of beautiful state and national parks and the Gulf coast is pretty nice too.

Most of my family is moving there. I like the state a lot. Good job opportunities. Low taxes.

Austin is definitely out, it's not even really Texas anymore, it's just another California. We're moving to the Ft Worth area. I don't like Dallas but I like the feel of Ft Worth. We are getting a large place about 30 min away from downtown.

My wife has a pretty niche position in the medical field but can translate to anything easily. I'm in Tech, architecture, data science, etc.

Also, we're moving to Texas because we like the rural area, cost of living, feel of the cities. My entire family is moving out of our current state now so they'll all be in Texas within 3 years. I live in an extremely liberal area and I wear cowboy boots all the time if that gives you any indication of my desire to live in that area.

Don't mess with Texas

@horseman6: I'm guessing around the Granbury area then? I grew up around there, so I don't want to crap on it, but wearing cowboy boots? REALLY? This makes you sound more Californian than an In-N-Out grand opening. The actual Texas uniform is just a jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. Sure, you won't have to pay state income tax, but the property and sales taxes kinda make up the difference. I'd recommend visiting and seeing if you really want to live there long term.

Oh, I also forgot, health insurance in the state now is pretty miserable.

Texas is a nice place.

Go somewhere cold. It's too damn hot here.

Healthcare is a mess in most states now, even California is getting bad. However, depending on the jobs out there, my wife will probably get really good health insurance.

Regarding the cowboy boots, in the cities I don't really see it much but in the country it's more common.

Taxes in Texas are much lower regardless. In my area, Sales taxes are higher than almost every area of Texas and property tax is about on par. Considering the house I am looking at in Texas is in a great area, brand new, and on an acre of land, it would cost about 5-10 times as much where I live. I've also visited my sister out there many times now, she's outside of Ft Worth. My wife and I love it. Our goal is to eventually buy a large farm, raise animals, maybe some longhorns, we'll see.

The one thing I never got, Whataburger, it sucks dude.

There's something for just about everyone in Texas. The land can be relatively cheap though in my experience these days it is getting harder to find small chunks for sale. I've lived near Houston for most of my life, though I will say that I actually hate Houston. Traffic and weather (heat+humidity from the coast) are rough, though there are sections of Houston that are really nice such as Sugarland, Katy, so on and so forth. You also live within an hour or so from Galveston whih is not really a nice beach to swim at but can still be pretty cool. Lots of job oppurtunities there.

The Ft. Worth area is pretty nice. Dallas is kinda a nightmare the few times I have been there. Besides the huge cities, you have smaller ones such as College Station/Bryan which is really nice. I prefer rural areas myself, and there are a whole lot to choose from. As far as finding work, I really don't know what the best way of going about it is. I would probably just try all angles you have available and see what happens.

Whataburger quality varies greatly from store to store, there are some really good ones out there. Best I've had was the one in corpus christi which IIRC was the original one. Anyway if you do move down good luck my friend.

Moving TO Texas? What?

I lived in west texas when i was in the oil field, never been to dallas but Houston felt like mini chicago (take that how you want i guess). A lot of oil jobs out there, i think austin is where most the tech jobs are if that's your field(could be wrong). I just don't recommend midland/Odessa, unless you really want that oil money and like hot days, cold nights, overpriced property and winter ice storms. :-0

And here comes the typical American portion of the GB community to shit on your parade for daring to want to live anywhere but Washington or California.

I'm also hoping to move to Texas at some point, but I'm also considering Wyoming and Arizona. The number of times strangers decide to let me know how much they hope I didn't vote for Trump, don't believe in guns, etc in my area is ridiculous. Plus I've really gotten a taste for hot weather over the last two summers.

Would be cool if people tried to help with your question instead of just questioning why there are people who genuinely like places like Texas.

If you can I might make a trip down to help her do some networking in person if you can. It's all about knowing the right people. Sounds like you have family so if you can get the time, just try and go feel out businesses in your particular career paths and try to meet folk.

Avoid Dallas at all costs. It is a generally awful place filled with generally awful people. Dallas is where the negative stereotype of Texas comes from, and it's not at all inaccurate there. I can't recommend anything encircled by 635/20/183. Fucking stay away. Fort Worth is okay. It's kind of a wanna-be Austin (for better and worse), and arguably its best quality is that it's not Dallas. The same could be said for Plano, Frisco, McKinney, et al. Plano has actually come a long way and is carving out kind of a Houston-y vibe. If you're actually into the "country" areas, you might take a look at Cleburne. It's still pretty rural, literally and culturally.

You're not wrong about Austin becoming California. I grew up here, so it's been especially painful to watch. I still know some spots that haven't been ruined yet, but yeah, this place gets worse by the day. There used to be some amazing culture/nightlife here, but it's rapidly eroding into this homogenized, pretentious collection of agreed-upon "hotspots" that are only enjoyable on paper, because trying to get around and do anything is a fucking nightmare now. The traffic system is decades behind, parking is nonexistent, homeless people are everywhere, everything is overcrowded, etc. Food is great here, but that's about it.

I actually like Houston for the most part. I appreciate that most people there actually seem to give a fuck. Food there is awesome, it's more cultured than you think, and there's something for nearly everyone. It's surrounded by some suburb-ass suburbs, for better and worse. Traffic is mostly shitty, but at least Houston has the excuse of there being a fuckton of people there. Summer in Houston does suck ass because of the humidity, though. Still, I could live in Houston. There are some nice areas, and it's got enough going on to where I could be happy there.

San Antonio is decent enough to where I could be there as well. Actually, I'd probably live in New Braunfels or Boerne and commute in that situation, because that part of the state is rad. San Antonio proper has some good food/culture, and it's close enough to Austin to day-trip there or to the hill country every once in a while. The traffic system there actually works, too, so that's a nice bonus. The riverwalk is fairly overrated. Charles Barkley's ill-received (and hilarious, IMO) comments about it being a dirty creek weren't off base (and the same goes for him pointing out the "big women", FWIW.) SA is fine overall, though.

Texas is mostly pretty great. I've spent time in most parts of the state at this point, and Dallas and way East Texas are the only parts of it I don't like. Even East Texas has at least one redeeming quality in being a really pretty geographical area, but the people there are often trashy/racist. Whatever you do, just avoid Dallas. It's the worst. The "nice" parts of Dallas are incredibly snotty, the middle-class areas are filled with a bunch of 30k millionaires (read: douchebags up to their eyeballs in debt who drive a BMW desperately wanting everyone to think they're a "baller" in a pathetically insecure show) and the not-nice parts are really not-nice.

Let me know if you have any other questions. You should be fine finding work, and your wife especially should have little trouble in the medical field. In Fort Worth alone, there's Cook Children's, TCOM, JPS, and a ton of branch offices from Dallas/North Texas-based large medical groups. Also, pro tip re: boots/cowboy hat, here in Texas it's attire that is worn by one of two types of people: actual cowboys/ranchers or tourists/posers. Unless you plan on being the former, don't be the latter. I'm not saying you can't wear that stuff occasionally when appropriate (read: country music show/rodeo/dancehall), but it's largely frowned upon elsewhere unless you're the real deal, and wearing garb to play a role is a Dallas-ass thing to do that you do not want to emulate.

@notnert427: great advice dude. I wear cowboy boots because they are comfortable as hell and I prefer them over dress shoes. My family are mostly farmers; my parents just sold their place here and bought a ranch in Texas, they are going to move there when my dad retires in a couple years. I’ll lay off on the boots then for now, ha.

The only thing I’m going to miss when I get out of here is the food, specifically Mexican and Asian food. I haven’t found many good places of that type near ft worth. Although it’ll now be able to enjoy good BBQ.

Its been ages, but I was born and spent the first 19 years of my life in the great state. Grew up in a tiny little shithole named Victoria (although since I left its become a little more prosperous). It wasn't quite as "Texas" as east Texas, but was still nice and hot and racist (most recent national news stories from Victoria include a semi full of dead, smuggled Mexicans being left at a truck stop, and someone burning down the only Muslim prayer center in town). That being said, I really loved it down there. 2 hours south of Houston, so easy drive to either the border of the coast, and a 2 hour drive to either Austin, San Antonio, or Houston. That being said, Dallas and Fort Worth aren't really in Texas, more like southern Oklahoma, and Oklahoma sucks, so consider moving even farther south than that. All jokes aside, I still love Texas, and most of my family live there (The Woodlands north of Houston), so I wish you the best of luck! And I really wouldn't worry about finding good Mexican food in Texas either, just find the closest place that looks like it used to be a gas station and I can pretty much guarantee you it will be good and authentic.

get a big hat

Despite popular myth, the trucker cap is actually the official headwear of the Lone Star State

First off I'd make a list of pros and cons for moving. See if it's honestly worth it to ya'll or if its just a 'grass is greener on the other side' thing.

As for jobs, it's a good idea for your wife to start looking now. I'd check sites like linkedin, cragislist, monster, etc. Start throwing that resume at them asap. That way she can hopefully have a job before she has to quit her job and move.

Next thing, before moving make SURE you have a huge safety net money wise. Have at least 3 months worth of rent/house payment, utilities and stuff saved up. This should not be added to your moving fund and stuff. This way if you do move and something happens you guys won't be SOL.

Also be aware Texas, like much of the southern USA (as I live in GA) is humid and hot. Normal seasons aren't much of a thing down here lately. It's Sort summer, summer, fall, and maybe winter if your lucky. If not you get a second spring or fall.

I hope this info helps ya'll! Wishing ya'll the best in what ever you choose to do.

Check out usajobs.gov for job hunting. There is a lot of opportunities for fed jobs in Texas. San Antonio is basically a huge Army/USAF joint base, and lots of folks wear cowboy boots there so you'll fit right in.

I just got out of that state after wasting three years of my life there. If you're not apart of the fundamentalist Christian "brotherhood," you're going to be at a serious disadvantage. Cronyism and nepotism reign supreme in that state. If you're not related to the right people or know the right people, you now have those two strikes against you. If you're moving from a Left Coast, Yankee, or East Coast state, you're going to be at a disadvantage. If you're neither of those things and from one of those areas, you are seriously fucked. That state isn't friendly to anybody they perceive as non-Christian or as a liberal Democrat. Austin is the only place that is the most friendly to those types, but the cost of living in that area is pretty high. It's also constantly rising.

That state has the most amount of low wage earners in the entire nation. "The Texas Miracle" is a huge load of bullshit. I was working a shit paying job for three years and competing with shit quality people who were and are willing to take jobs for less than $13 an hour. It's a race to the bottom over there. I cannot compete against those types who don't understand what their fucking experience is really worth. What good is that miracle if people are working their asses off and still qualify for welfare? Is it really worth bragging about? I don't think so! What ever you're earning where you and your wife currently are, get ready for your monthly income to be cut by half. Can your bills handle that type of cut? Can you and your wife? Seriously rethink the decision to go there. That state is like a giant Walmart. It's also a giant good ol' boy circle jerk.

The people of that place talk a lot about seceding. Those of us with a brain know they don't have the balls to go through with it, like California. Texas loves that federal cheese a bit too much. Plus, if/when OPEC decides to flood the market with their cheaper and better quality oil, Texas' economy will take a massive nosedive. The first major natural disaster and Texans will be screaming for outside aid. Funny thing is, Texans and Californians are an awful lot alike, but on different political extremes. The only thing that's bigger in Texas is the bullshit. Fuck that state! I'm glad I'm gone and don't ever plan on going back unless it's for a connecting flight.

I would suggest staying as far away from all Red States for at least a few years right now.

@horseman6:

I have lived in Texas on and off for the 9 or 10 years. Most recently I was near Austin and Dallas for about 3 years. Here are my recommendations/thoughts:

• The Dallas/Forth Worth area is a fine place to live. This includes big cities like (obviously) Dallas, medium size cities like Plano and Richardson, with plenty of smaller cities scattered through out the area. There are a ton of jobs there. There are a lot of corporate office complexes and global headquarters around this area. From my understanding, the job market has remained consistently healthy and the area continues to expand. In terms of the best job market, DFW is probably the best in Texas. Additionally, some of these towns have a pretty good quality of life. The city I lived in was Plano. It is pretty easy to get around (although you will encounter traffic), the education system is pretty good, and it generally feels like a safe place to live. This area is also centrally located, so you could commute to other cities for work relatively easily, and you are not too far from downtown Dallas if you are into that kind of thing or want to go to concerts or whatever.
• Austin is fairly nice, but I enjoyed living in Plano more. The town I lived in was just north of Austin, called Round Rock, which is one of the areas that saw a lot of growth recently. The area I lived in seemed unsustainable, with the amount of new people coming in (in terms of feeling too crowded). Overall, that's my biggest complaint: too many people. I have worked at a number of different locations in the greater Austin area, and each job had an annoying commute, between a pain in the ass drive, having to drive for 30-45 minutes one way, paying tolls, or a combination of all three. Also because of the boom, I believe that has increased the price of real estate and rent for apartments (I'm not 100% sure by how much, because it felt like I was part of the big Austin boom). That said, Austin is a fun city with a healthy, growing job market. In recent years, several big employers like Apple and Amazon moved into the area. My crystal ball is this will probably continue and more jobs will be added to the market.
• As a side note, my parents got hammered on property taxes when they moved to Austin. If you are looking at buying a house or two homes, I would definitely consider how much you are paying in taxes. On the plus side, there's no state income tax there, which was pretty nice.
• In terms of settling down, buying a home, raising kids, etc. my guess is Dallas/Forth Worth is probably the better option. Austin is still a good area, and there are smaller suburban cities like Round Rock, Cedar Park, etc. if you don't want to live in Austin itself.
• I don't have any experience there, but the worst area I've heard about in Texas is Houston. I would be cautious/do extra research if you are considering this area. (Not that it is the worst place in the world. I've just heard some random quality of life issues there)
• You asked about headhunting. I talked to some recruiting firms when I first moved to Austin and when I was out of a job for about one to two months. I don't remember any of their names off hand, but there are firms like that out there. In fact, one landed me a contract-to-hire position that I had to back out of because I found a better opportunity like two days later. Again, the bigger areas like Austin and Dallas will likely have the most jobs, or be near some smaller cities that could also have some good opportunities.
• This is probably stating the obvious, but it does get hot in Texas. Summers can be exhausting, with long periods of droughts. Spring is ok, although you have to worry about severe thunderstorms and tornadoes (as you would in other places like Oklahoma and Kansas). Fall is overall pretty great and winters are always mild. You may get some sleet, but that's about it. Snow is very rare, and the coldest it will usually get is around the low 30s to high 20s. So yeah, the weather is not great, but it could be worse. (Out of the five states I lived in, Kansas is by far the worse. It has all of the same problems as Texas with a pain in the ass winter.)
• Texas has a reputation for a lot of random stuff. Things like mega churches, guns, Republicans, "Don't Mess With Texas" style rhetoric, cowboy hats, and so on. Believe me, you will find some of that stuff here. There are indeed mega churches, it is definitely a red state, and you may meet someone who happens to own a gun or cares deeply about their guns or will let you know that they are willing and able to shoot somebody who walks into their house uninvited. This may be your cup of tea. If it's not, just for the record, this isn't exactly how Texas is. The way people describe it makes Texas sound like a bizzaro land where that is all you will see. However, Texas, especially the places I mentioned, is more or less like every other suburban area. You may find more stuff like that out in the country or randomly out and about, but the stereotype is overblown. Texas is generally a pretty good place to live, that is also relatively cheap, with no income state income tax. It isn't The Greatest Place On Earth, but it is more or less alright.

Uh, wow. I've lived in varying parts of Texas, I'm not religious, I'm not a Republican, and I sure as shit didn't get to where I am by being a good ol' boy. The only cronyism/nepotism I've ever really encountered here is from our admittedly awful politicians, but that's sadly true of most places. I'm sure there is some degree of contempt for "outsiders" moving in, but put yourself in our shoes. The last decade-plus has seen a ton of people flooding in from other states that have been on the decline, and many of these people have shown up here hat in hand, yet have the audacity to expect Texas to change to be more like the state they just fled. It's a bit offputting, and Austin in particular is ground zero for it. While Austin's cost of living is indeed comparatively high to much of the rest of the state, it's still lower than most major U.S. cities. However, it is indeed rising rapidly.

The second paragraph is approaching "dey took our jerbs" territory and sounds like it's headed down a path towards a really unhealthy, thinly-veiled tirade against "those types", so I'm not sure exploring that sentiment further is good for anyone. Secession is a pretty dumb thing that only a few scattered rednecks seriously think we should do, but Texas absolutely is not as much on the federal teat as most. The federal aid here is largely ag subsidies, and you're welcome for your shirts and steaks. Texas' overall economy is also not nearly as dependent on oil as you think, and the coast has weathered several major hurricanes over the years without much federal assistance to show for it. The most obvious recent example was Ike, which caused $29.5 billion in damages, of which FEMA aided with $2.5 billion. Contrast that with Katrina, which caused $108 billion in damages, yet precipitated $120 billion in FEMA assistance.

Texas sure isn't perfect, and I'll never defend our politicians (who are mostly a special kind of terrible), but it's a pretty great state overall. That you were apparently unable to demonstrate your obvious superiority over what you term as "shit quality people" and have chosen to point the blame for such at external things like religion, politics, cronyism, et al. is perhaps an explanation in and of itself as to why you and Texas were not a match made in heaven. Regardless, I genuinely hope wherever you are now has worked out better for you, just as I hope the impending move by the OP works out well for him.

I've lived in Texas my whole life.

Do not move here

Austin is a hyper segregated tire fire of its own creation that is steadily meeting the challenge of San Francisco to see what city can be less pleasant.

If you're in the medical field or ex-military San Antonio will be a good situation. Or if you want barbacoa and breakfast tacos. You want breakfast tacos.

Everything's largely calmed down now that people aren't actively fighting over the 35 corridor like they were in the mid 00s.

Obviously can't be Austin then.

I lived in Amarillo, have worked, and had to temporarily stay in all of the major cities and moderately important ones during the previous oil boom and after it crashed. I also spent five months in San Antonio in 2001, due to having joined the USAF. I wasn't too impressed with Texas then, either. You don't notice the bullshit because you haven't really experienced things from outside of Texas and decided to come back to get a different perspective. It's mind boggling to me how many people there are all for working harder and dumber, and seriously think $500 a week or $12 an hour is great money. That kind of money on a single person income doesn't cut it. I would constantly speak to people who worked at the same company for more than 5 years and never had a raise to get above what they were currently making. Many of those people were making only $10 an hour with shitty benefits. Fuck that shit! I won't roll out of bed for that type of money. I have laughed at the perspective employers once I heard anything less than $25 that entails having to deal with deadly chemicals, gases, and the like.

I am in a much better place now. I may have been born in the SW USA, but I am a Yankee at heart. I'm in an area now where I'm making money again and have more than 65% of my paychecks leftover after bills, food, and gas. Texas is nothing but a RINO state. I do agree with your assessment of the politicians there.

Lots of interesting opinions in this email! As a liberal who was born in Houston, has lived in Houston, Austin and DFW and currently lives in Dallas, here's my 2 cents. Yes it's predominantly conservative, but as is true with anywhere-- it's easy to see/hangout with whoever you want and avoid who/whatever you want. Cost of living is low (though still higher than OK, NM and AR) and there's plenty of room in the larger cities--just don't go to Austin.

Austin rocks if you're ok with paying San Francisco-esque cost of living-- great music scene, great cycling/running scene, not great if you don't like hipsters/affluent tech types.

Houston is groovy if you're in oil or you're an engineer who wants to start with NASA and end up working in oil. If you're under 30, check out the Heights and Montrose. If you have a family, go south to Clear Lake/League City for the best school districts/affordable housing in nice areas, etc. If you want good schools and like to flaunt your disposable income, head to the Woodlands. Katy, etc. is just bland.

Dallas/Fort Worth is rough in uptown, but pretty groovy everywhere else-- great beer (some argue better than Austin's), food and music scene, but lots of super entitled, affluent, white, christian, republican types. That being said-- your proximity to MTB trails, Fort Worth and Denton makes it worth it-- plus you're 5 hours closer to Colorado and New Mexico ski country. You'll occasionally run into your stereotypical good ole boy, but by in large "southern charm" rules, and most are welcoming!

If you're into Video Games, Austin and Dallas win-- Gearbox and ID are in Dallas (Richardson and Plano technically, but everything is 20 minutes away), Arkane and a few others are in ATX.

Hope this helps!

I've lived in Houston (Cypress) for nearly 20 years and Austin for nearly a decade

Texas sucks ass. Don't move here; I'd get out if I could.

(also, I think it's funny that people are so quick to jump on Austin; it's the only reason I'm still in this awful state. Houston is also still miles better than Dallas or San Antonio)

Don't listen to this trickster. Dallas is awesome and Houston has a bad football team.

(It has its problems, but I love Texas overall and think someone could be happy here no matter what city you land in. I'm partial to mine, though.)

1. I started doing that for my wife, and it looks like her position is pretty common and the salary isn't much less than California
2. We're on that, this move may not happen for another 1.5 years so we'll save up plenty
3. I lived in Georgia for a couple years so I've experienced it before. Ft Worth was way less humid than Savannah

Thanks!

Every state has their ups and downs. Most of California is awful except for a few sections. I also didn't see any fundamentalist christian stuff as a good portion of my family lives out in the Ft Worth area which has a pretty sizable Jewish community. I guess the one thing going for me is that I'm definitely not a liberal democrat.

Every state also has problems with the economy. California isn't great, in fact a lot of huge companies are leaving for Texas due to the bad business climate, it's one of the reasons I want to move.

Some people talk of seceding, people in California are talking about it more and more too. It's not going to happen, and a minority of people are pro secession, it's not a majority. Also, with regards to oil, the cost to produce oil has drastically decreased over the last 5 years, in fact, it's OPEC that is in major trouble right now as they did flood the market for years and didn't have any success. Why do you think gas was cheap for a long time? http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/30/leaner-and-meaner-us-shale-greater-threat-to-opec-after-oil-price-war.html

Texas is a big place...lots of people. For every opinion about Texas you will get seven others that are totally different.

It sucks here bro. Save yourself.