Since Calif is broke & fixing to rape the populace big time to pay for all the free stuff that it has bestowed on non residents & political correctness. Higher gas taxes,registration fees, sales tax etc. The thought of relocating is tempting. Texas kind of interests me. Is there a city that closely resembles what orange county used to be. Drag strips, less congestion, more of a middle class upscale safe area. I hear Austin is nice, Any recommendations or am I dreaming . Lou
Lived in Austin for awhile. There are areas like Westlake that reminded me of SoCal. But the weather will never compare. 100+ and humidity in summer is worse then Phoenix, IMO. Didn't do to much racing in those years, but if I remember right I made it to a strip in San Antonio a few times.
Reply I see your from Phoenix I spent a little time in Prescott a nice area. But not much seemed to be going on, A lot cooler than Phoenix I heard.
Prescott is a decent place, up there last weekend. Days were about 60-70, night 40 degrees right now. Hits the high 90's on the hottest summer days. About 2 hours to Speedworld drag strip. It's more redneck then Phoenix, but some good bars and such. For what most SoCal houses sell for, you don't have to worry about neighbors if you don't want. Lots of open space.....
I am fairly new to Texas. I have been living here in Houston almost two years now and a majority of the people moving here is coming from California.
Phoenix seems the place to be. I have been visiting the area couple times a year looking for a place to settle. Last week I stayed near Surprise AZ. and checked out the Speedworld Drag Strip. Sure is nice to race in the winter. I think there are about 3 strips within a 30 mile radius to race at. Speedworld really starts rocking after 9 pm in the evening. In the summer you can do some racing late at night and forget about daytime
Lou, Not sure if you are looking to move and retire, or open a shop. Anyway, here is an interesting link. Cost of Living comparison calculator I compared Phoenix and Austin / Houston, and I was surprised to see that the COL is about 3-4% less in Houston. Anyway, I’ll make you a deal. If you decide to look around the Houston or Austin area, fly into Houston, and you are welcome to stay at the house and look around. You can make an easy trip to the Austin area from here, and I’ll let you take the GN for the ride on that trip. How’s that? Oh yeah ............ There may be hope for California http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA
Not to mention housing is cheap in TX. The house next door to my folks sold for 290,000. It was over 4000 square feet. It was only 6 years old.
Reply Thanks for the invitation & thats an interesting cost analysis program, I haven't found anywhere that I couldn't live at least 30% cheaper than Calif.My dream would be to have a house in a middle upper class neighborhood where I wouldn't have to dial 1 for English, about 2,400 sq. ft. with about an 1,800 ft. garage in back & an 1/8 mile driveway with ample shut down. Me retire never.I want to go out with a wrench in my hand, But for now this is all speculation & fun to think about.
It's hard to find a 2400 square foot house in an middle upper class neighborhood in texas unless its a 15 year old house that a neighborhood built around. 3500 square feet and up is pretty much the std build for the last 10 years and 4500 square feet and up is the std build for the last 5 years or so. Texas never really had a "housing bubble" so the bubble never burst, so you may be able to find a foreclosed house cheaper somewhere else, but for dollars for square foot, Texas is pretty hard to beat. Our property tax is high, so you need to take that into account when pricing houses. There are a lot of car people in Texas, so large garages are out there. I have an 8 car at my house and there are a few 7 cars in my subdivision. The Dallas area has 5 dragstrips (4 1/8th mile and 1 1/4 mile) in the metro area and many more within a 3 hour drive.
Reply What are your likes & dislikes about the area. Was it a good move for you. When Calif. was less populated there were less problems.What happened was it turned into a multi cultrual dumping ground for all the worlds problems. People trying to escape their country's misery & instead of leaving it behind brought it with them so the could feel more at home. So why not take one of the most beautiful states & trash it first.
As with any city, population = business opportunity = convenience = COL changes = crime = problems. (I know, I am preaching to the quire. :tongue I moved from Minneapolis to Houston about 9 years ago and so far, Houston has been good. I appreciate the diversity, like the warm weather and conveniences, and learned to tolerate and mostly ignore the ignorance. And Lou, I agree 100% with your statements; as with any state, the people making the laws think that political correctness needs to be improved as to “not hurt someone’s feelings”. IMHO, it is one of the downfalls of this society. Sorry for getting of track ……………. Easiest way is to make the trip ................ and check it out.
Reply Absolutely & I also appreciate diversity but too despise political correctness thats bringing down this country.One other question, Does Texas require smog checks & safety inspections.I do intend to take a trip more towards the summer to see if I can tolerate the heat & humidity I hear so much about. Are there any hills or mountains in your area.
Depends on what county you're in that determines smog checks. I lived in Bexar County (San Antonio) a few years ago, no smog checks required. State inspections are required every year regardless of county. No big deal though. That said, I would love to move back to San Antonio if I could get a job there. Kinda reminds me of San Diego but without the beaches and BS. And Texas has a Sonic at every street corner Still hard to beat So Cal for the weather though.
Lou, there are no Hills in the Houston area, pretty flat. If you want "Hills", I think Austin/San Antonio is the place to be. Gets a little colder there than Houston during winters but there is some of the most beautiful country , AKA TX Hill Country Land is pretty cheap in some areas as well. Heck, it's ALL cheap compared to CA pricing. Honestly, I get the inspection on the car, but it includes emissions and safety. Not real sure what a "SMOG" test entails. Excuse my ignorance on this. Oh, some maps with locations/elevation http://geology.com/state-map/texas.shtml
Smog checks are by county. Most large cities have them, but some counties just outside those large cities don't have them. All counties have a safety inspection, which means once a year I have to take the R1's off my TTA to make sure it passes the tread depth. The further north or west you go, the dryer the climate. The difference between California and Texas is our Ocean is hot, so there isn't really a "cool breeze off the ocean" except in the middle of winter.
Look into Grapevine Texas. Wine country. 45 minutes or so from a couple of tracks - both 1/8 and 1/4. 6 minutes from DFW airport. 20 minutes away from Dallas proper. ON LAKE GRAPEVINE which is beautiful. Great food, awesome festivals and great music to boot. Very friendly town. Also it's about 15-20 minutes away from Texas Motor Speedway. About an hour away from Texas Motorplex. Then there's about 50 other lakes within ear-shot. 6 hours away from the gulf coast.
Location Arlington is good except for the corrupt mayor (Jerry Jones buddy), police,and city councel, sky high property taxes so the corrupt city officials can pad their pockets, ludricous ordanances, Licenses for everything from a dog to the grass in your yard. Other than that its okay. Happy Resident
