(08-02-2023 10:27 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-kept-getting-outbid-californians-moving-to-texas-explain-why-they-re-changing-states/ar-AA1eFVQe?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1152d08dfd7844d69758d5833a9c9d89&ei=18

Just an FYI I thought some people might find interesting.

(08-02-2023 10:32 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:27 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-kept-getting-outbid-californians-moving-to-texas-explain-why-they-re-changing-states/ar-AA1eFVQe?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1152d08dfd7844d69758d5833a9c9d89&ei=18

Just an FYI I thought some people might find interesting.

Problem is, they bring their bullsh!t with them, and start voting accordingly. Austin is morphing into Silicon Valley, replete with high cost of living and out of control crime.

(08-02-2023 10:32 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:27 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-kept-getting-outbid-californians-moving-to-texas-explain-why-they-re-changing-states/ar-AA1eFVQe?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1152d08dfd7844d69758d5833a9c9d89&ei=18

Just an FYI I thought some people might find interesting.

Problem is, they bring their bullsh!t with them, and start voting accordingly. Austin is morphing into Silicon Valley, replete with high cost of living and out of control crime.

Quote:The weather has been an adjustment. Being able to live near the beach, go hiking and snowboarding and surfing all in the same day is not an option. And don't get him started on the food options, which are not nearly to the level in Orange County, he says.

"We're missing a lot of our favorite Mexican and sushi places," he says. "Here in Texas, we find it's really just business owners trying to capitalize on a cuisine and they don't know how to make it right."

He imparts this piece of advice for would-be movers.

"Sit down and crunch the numbers and make an educated decision," he says. "Not just quantitatively, but qualitatively."

(08-02-2023 10:50 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:32 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:27 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-kept-getting-outbid-californians-moving-to-texas-explain-why-they-re-changing-states/ar-AA1eFVQe?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1152d08dfd7844d69758d5833a9c9d89&ei=18

Just an FYI I thought some people might find interesting.

Problem is, they bring their bullsh!t with them, and start voting accordingly. Austin is morphing into Silicon Valley, replete with high cost of living and out of control crime.

Kind of a funny statement to say the Californians are bringing their politics to the People's Republic of Austin. Has Austin really started implementing different policies that don't jive with their past? I'm no longer in Texas, but massive amounts of homeless have been in Austin since at least the early 2010s, and crime has always been a discussion. I'd think any increase in crime is less due to an influx of Californians.

It would be interesting to see if there are any currently red areas in Texas that have been turned blue due to the influx of Californians. As the piece noted, a number of people leaving California are the conservative folks who want to get away from liberal politics.

The one thing that transplants have to be ready for is the change in quality of life from a non-financial perspective. The article touches on this at the end:

Quote:The weather has been an adjustment. Being able to live near the beach, go hiking and snowboarding and surfing all in the same day is not an option. And don't get him started on the food options, which are not nearly to the level in Orange County, he says.

"We're missing a lot of our favorite Mexican and sushi places," he says. "Here in Texas, we find it's really just business owners trying to capitalize on a cuisine and they don't know how to make it right."

He imparts this piece of advice for would-be movers.

"Sit down and crunch the numbers and make an educated decision," he says. "Not just quantitatively, but qualitatively."

To me, the biggest difference I've seen since leaving Texas (and going to North Carolina) is how much more accessible the outdoors are. There are a lot more high quality public recreational areas in states outside of Texas. I don't think many people realize just how limited public land is in Texas, especially when you compare it to California, which has a wealth of accessible public lands.

(08-02-2023 11:38 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  If I were to move to Tucson or Taos, I would expect some differences in the Mexican food. I wonder why they would expect no difference. Mexican food isn't even the same throughout Mexico.

(08-02-2023 10:50 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  The one thing that transplants have to be ready for is the change in quality of life from a non-financial perspective. The article touches on this at the end:

Quote:The weather has been an adjustment. Being able to live near the beach, go hiking and snowboarding and surfing all in the same day is not an option. And don't get him started on the food options, which are not nearly to the level in Orange County, he says.

"We're missing a lot of our favorite Mexican and sushi places," he says. "Here in Texas, we find it's really just business owners trying to capitalize on a cuisine and they don't know how to make it right."

(08-02-2023 10:50 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  To me, the biggest difference I've seen since leaving Texas (and going to North Carolina) is how much more accessible the outdoors are. There are a lot more high quality public recreational areas in states outside of Texas. I don't think many people realize just how limited public land is in Texas, especially when you compare it to California, which has a wealth of accessible public lands.

(08-02-2023 11:44 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:50 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:32 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:27 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-kept-getting-outbid-californians-moving-to-texas-explain-why-they-re-changing-states/ar-AA1eFVQe?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1152d08dfd7844d69758d5833a9c9d89&ei=18

Just an FYI I thought some people might find interesting.

Problem is, they bring their bullsh!t with them, and start voting accordingly. Austin is morphing into Silicon Valley, replete with high cost of living and out of control crime.

The real hill country is still far right. That is anything more than 20 min from downtown Austin.

Kind of a funny statement to say the Californians are bringing their politics to the People's Republic of Austin. Has Austin really started implementing different policies that don't jive with their past? I'm no longer in Texas, but massive amounts of homeless have been in Austin since at least the early 2010s, and crime has always been a discussion. I'd think any increase in crime is less due to an influx of Californians.

It would be interesting to see if there are any currently red areas in Texas that have been turned blue due to the influx of Californians. As the piece noted, a number of people leaving California are the conservative folks who want to get away from liberal politics.

The one thing that transplants have to be ready for is the change in quality of life from a non-financial perspective. The article touches on this at the end:

Quote:The weather has been an adjustment. Being able to live near the beach, go hiking and snowboarding and surfing all in the same day is not an option. And don't get him started on the food options, which are not nearly to the level in Orange County, he says.

"We're missing a lot of our favorite Mexican and sushi places," he says. "Here in Texas, we find it's really just business owners trying to capitalize on a cuisine and they don't know how to make it right."

He imparts this piece of advice for would-be movers.

"Sit down and crunch the numbers and make an educated decision," he says. "Not just quantitatively, but qualitatively."

To me, the biggest difference I've seen since leaving Texas (and going to North Carolina) is how much more accessible the outdoors are. There are a lot more high quality public recreational areas in states outside of Texas. I don't think many people realize just how limited public land is in Texas, especially when you compare it to California, which has a wealth of accessible public lands.

I think the description of these people is wrong. Having been in California (CV, LA and SF) in recent years and returning home, I think I have a better perspective than most.

The 'conservatives' that are leaving high cost areas there and moving here are not generally Republicans. They may be by California coastal standards, but you don't get a lot of people coming here from Bakersfield or Fresno... and when they do, you're right that they mostly choose places most similar to there... Like Austin, the Hill country and then Dallas and Houston. The Hill country I'd say HAS seen a shift from being highly conservative to being much more liberal, but it has always been said that a Texas liberal was more conservative than a California conservative. The CV is an exception... Most there are actually conservative... and the cost of living is highly similar to most places here. Not the same, but very similar... in part because its farm/oil/cattle land in a desert... so its not attractive for wealthy people to have a home, and the food is cheap because it doesn't have to be shipped.... Plus, LA 'steals' all of their water (the 2nd largest lake in the US used to be there and is now farm land with almost no running water at all) so they are very 'anti-big cities'.

I don't really disagree about the public lands... but one of the biggest problems in Texas vs California in that regard is that we don't have the topography that they do. We don't have many places where temperatures can vary y 40 degrees in a day... snow in the winter... near beaches.... elevation changes of 8,000 ft in a few hours etc etc etc.... It's part of why California is so popular in general, and not really a reflection (imo) of politics.

(08-02-2023 02:10 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 11:38 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  If I were to move to Tucson or Taos, I would expect some differences in the Mexican food. I wonder why they would expect no difference. Mexican food isn't even the same throughout Mexico.

To be clear, the comment was by one guy, not "they". But the most likely reason is that he is a typically parochial Californian, who is ignorant about the food of other regions for the same reason that Californians (like New Englanders and New Yorkers) tend to be ignorant of time zones, or American geography in general.

(08-02-2023 02:27 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  This is an astonishing quotation. But it is worth keeping in mind two things:
1. The guy quoted lives in Dallas, so at most he is speaking about Dallas, the most sterile of Texas's major cities -- not (as he claims) Texas. I'm not sure anyone who moved to Houston or Austin or San Antonio could make a similar statement with even remote plausibility. Anyone who genuinely believes that the change in food from the LA suburbs to Houston is a substantial downgrade in "quality of life" is . . . weird, to put it charitably.

2. To the extent that the quotation can be taken as evidence of any general phenomenon, it is more indicative of the well-known parochialism of Californians than anything else.

(08-02-2023 03:41 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  Houston food is universally awesome... and I travel and eat a lot.

(08-02-2023 03:41 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  Absolutely some of it is horrible and bland... but locals/foodies don't go there as much. Cali upscale is often more about the experience than the tastes.... and I'd say Texas is often the opposite.... perhaps in part because its often easier for them to create the experiences.

(08-02-2023 03:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  In Texas it’s Tex-Mex (what used to be called “Austin style” when I first came to Texas).

(08-02-2023 04:13 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 03:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  In Texas it’s Tex-Mex (what used to be called “Austin style” when I first came to Texas).

As everyone in Austin will tell you, Austin invented the taco. :)

(08-02-2023 02:27 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:50 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  The one thing that transplants have to be ready for is the change in quality of life from a non-financial perspective. The article touches on this at the end:

Quote:The weather has been an adjustment. Being able to live near the beach, go hiking and snowboarding and surfing all in the same day is not an option. And don't get him started on the food options, which are not nearly to the level in Orange County, he says.

"We're missing a lot of our favorite Mexican and sushi places," he says. "Here in Texas, we find it's really just business owners trying to capitalize on a cuisine and they don't know how to make it right."

This is an astonishing quotation. But it is worth keeping in mind two things:
1. The guy quoted lives in Dallas, so at most he is speaking about Dallas, the most sterile of Texas's major cities -- not (as he claims) Texas. I'm not sure anyone who moved to Houston or Austin or San Antonio could make a similar statement with even remote plausibility. Anyone who genuinely believes that the change in food from the LA suburbs to Houston is a substantial downgrade in "quality of life" is . . . weird, to put it charitably.

2. To the extent that the quotation can be taken as evidence of any general phenomenon, it is more indicative of the well-known parochialism of Californians than anything else.

(08-02-2023 02:43 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 10:50 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  To me, the biggest difference I've seen since leaving Texas (and going to North Carolina) is how much more accessible the outdoors are. There are a lot more high quality public recreational areas in states outside of Texas. I don't think many people realize just how limited public land is in Texas, especially when you compare it to California, which has a wealth of accessible public lands.

While I'm sure many would be quick to attribute the differences in reserved lands among various states to local politics, the primary reason may lie more in historic land ownership patterns and practices.

- Under Spanish and Mexican rule, Texas had a history of huge private land grants and big incentives to private immigration companies to encourage settlement (particularly from Catholic portions of Germany and Austria). Conversely, Texas was never a U.S. Federal territory, so the U.S. government never controlled vast areas of unclaimed land as it did in most western states. Nearly all current Federal land in Texas was acquired by gift (which is rare) or purchase (which is expensive and requires a willing seller), rather than through reservation-by-law like most Federal lands in the West. While latter-day politics may not have helped, the chief reason for the relative lack of government-owned land in Texas today may be that for the last two centuries there has been comparatively little government-owned land available to set aside.

- It has always seemed to me that the original 13 colonies have a lot of reserved lands under state control -- often centered on lakes and marshes. I'm not sure what the origin of that practice is, but it is notable. It may trace its roots to the English feudal practice in which large areas of forest, marsh, downs, and so one were routinely set aside as royal "deer parks" or other royal lands.

(08-02-2023 05:54 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  My take on Texas’ lack of public land has been that it’s not a priority of the State to create new public parks. So they aren’t actively looking for and trying to acquire park spaces.
I think historical factors are definitely impactful, but I wouldn’t accidentally let the state government off the hook here too. Some of the State Parks that Texas have are amazing, and they are used by a lot of Texans, making me wonder why Texas isn’t more aggressive at developing these third spaces across the entire state.

(08-02-2023 08:48 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-02-2023 05:54 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  My take on Texas’ lack of public land has been that it’s not a priority of the State to create new public parks. So they aren’t actively looking for and trying to acquire park spaces.
I think historical factors are definitely impactful, but I wouldn’t accidentally let the state government off the hook here too. Some of the State Parks that Texas have are amazing, and they are used by a lot of Texans, making me wonder why Texas isn’t more aggressive at developing these third spaces across the entire state.

As George pointed out rather succinctly, for historical reasons Texas does not have the large amounts of state or federal lands that other states do. When Texas was admitted to the union by treaty, what lands had been Republic of Texas lands became state land. So at one time there was virtually no federal land. Any federal lands have had to be purchased, often at great expense. I remember being very disappointed as a 19-year-old Midshipman 2/c, to be told that NAS Corpus Christi was on State of Texas land that was leased by the federal government, and therefore the drinking age on base was 21 instead the 18 that it was on most military bases.

Same thing applies to acquisition of additional state lands. That means that any additional park lands cannot simply be state lands devoted to that purpose, but rather private lands purchased by the state, and that adds significantly to the cost of such projects. So it is harder for Texas to create new parks than it is for many states.

One idea I've had. There are tons of federal land in western states. Since we basically screwed the American Indians by taking land that they were supposed to retain by treaty, why not turn over large amounts of federal land to the various tribes. They certainly won't manage it worse than the federales do.