My vote goes to San Antonio. Not sure about Oregon, but one thing to remember about Texas is compared to places like MT, CO, WY, and other western states is there is very little public land. That was kind of a shock to me when i moved here (grew up in those states). When i lived in Idaho i remember it was in the neighborhood of 70% public. I liked SA over the other Texas cities ive lived because more of the state parks are in the hill country area and like others have said, theyre pretty cool.
Thinking of moving to Texas
- Thread starter Chris
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There seems to be a lot of pride in Steak, Tex Mex and BBQ to name a few things I love to eat down there. Of course lots of good Mexican. Where I am from, I tend to make everything myself. Not the greatest food scene compared to some states like Texas.
What about Walla Walla, Washington? I don't know a lot about WW, but it is pretty and seems very affordable. All 4 seasons, and not rainy like our side of the Cascades. No state income tax too.
Been to Dallas, Ft. Worth, Amarillo, El Paso, Houston Austin and all over that state, but for some damn reason, never been to San Antonio and most people from Texas love it there. I guess I will have to roll on down to have a look around and eat.
Interesting as my brother chose VA due to all the taxes and has lived there for over 20 years...says it blows away taxes paid in other states. My 1965 colonial here in NY is 2200 sq' has almost 3/4 acre and in ground pool and are over $13K...in PA the brand new 3300 sq' house in a nice community is only $2800/year and amenity fees of $1800...can't wait to dump the NY house when kids are gone ( along with the $5800/year electric).
Yes, on Monday. LOL. We’ve been in the Hill Country for 15+ years and before that in Lubbock and Paris and Austin. This is a big move. It looks like Spokane is a nice place to live too. @Chris might consider it if he wants to escape the rain and dreariness without such an extreme distance move. Granted, no theme parks in Spokane, but lots of outdoor activity.
Probably nothing for the kids to do, and I'm sure the houses are priced like the rest of the PNW. I could be wrong.
Wow, $5800 a year for electric? Holy cow. I pay probably $100 a month here in Salem, Oregon.
Have you ever considered North Carolina: "Research Triangle" Raleigh/Durham area. I live in a town called Holly Springs, NC in Wake County. (about 25 miles outside of the Raleigh which is the Capital of NC). It has 4 seasons with minimal snow in the winter and hot summers. Not depressing lengths of rain or overcast weather like central NY. (I lived in Upstate NY and South Florida). The Raleigh/Durham area is growing, nice place to raise children, plenty of jobs, local lakes, hiking trails, 2 hours to the ocean, 4 hours to the mountains-Asheville, NHL Hockey-Carolina Hurricanes, AAA and AA Baseball, not far from a nice zoo-Asheboro Zoo. Some of the best health care in the country: UNC Hospital, Duke Hospital, WakeMed Hospital and Rex Hospital. Local Colleges: UNC/University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke, North Carolina State. Best of luck in your search.
yeah we are power hogs, heat pump pool heater, hot tub, Central AC, 14 fish tanks, large pond...self inflicted
Yes nice down there...but house prices are not cheap near UNC...we were in Pinehurst and I could live there.
Your annual expenses are more than my last jobs take home wages!
yeah we suck...need 100K/year minimum and my house is paid off....like I said self inflicted!
Pinehurst is a pretty area. Naturally prices for homes are more reasonable on the outside of Chapel Hill, Raleigh...less expensive just on the outskirts of any major city. My wife is Realtor/Broker: it's a challenge in some places for a middel class family to purchase a home.
North Carolina was something we had looked at as well. I'll have to ask my wife, but I believe she was saying the houses cost more there than she was expecting.
It's like San Francisco. People regularly make 250k plus a year, but the cost of living is so damn high that it basically puts them at just slightly over minimum wage when you compare things.
yeah, not as bad as SF...we bought in 97, did not multiple upgrade like most, always lived below our means and put away bucks as much as we could. We have had a better than most income but it was always both of us working and putting kids in daycare.....right or wrong.
The reality was we lived below what we needed, If my wife got a nice bonus it was banked, not spent, put away for college starting the year the kids where born.
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I don’t know how people do it with less than that. Shit has gotten out of control lately. Seems like everything is going up. I don’t even have kiddos yet haha.
Boggles my mind as well...we paid our house off 4 years ago (in 20 years) and I could not get a job in home depot and still live in my house!
We have five kids 15 and under. I make sub $100K. My wife stays home. We are buying a home in Spokane and will almost own it. My mortgage payment will drop $1700/month and will get to put a large chunk toward retirement.
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