Hey guys ...

Thought I would post this up in here as if I moved one of the first things I would do is look for a local Jeep crew to meet up with and make some new friends.

I wanted to get some thoughts on my situation from people that live in Texas. So here it goes.

Currently I live in Las Vegas, been here since 2001 (so Im considered a local), prior to that grew up in Orange County area of CA. Recently married to a native Texan (she grew up in Houston and moved to Vegas for me about 5 years ago). She has friends in Houston, as well as I do (only 1 though) so Houston seems like the easiest of places to move for friends, however we have been looking at a few cites:

-Houston

-Austin

-Dallas

I work out my house as I do sales for a Medical Device company, and have the ability to move anywhere I want, however Texas would be ideal as we have a lot of business in the area and it would benefit our company to set up a location there for shipping purposes. She is a event planner and is looking to work in corp or charitable events, but still would need to find a job where ever we move.

Reason for moving to Texas: 1) Good for work, 2) Looking to get out of Sin City and have a place we are comfortable having a family 3) Values - seems to both of us that Texans have more traditional values then those on the west coast 4) Cost of living - Texas with no state income tax and cost of housing is similar to Nevada. 5) More opportunity long term - Vegas has nothing to offer long term

My wife and I are both pretty conservative, Christian, libertarian leaning republican, love guns, like hunting (ducks and pheasants), foodies, movie buffs, love the outdoors (offroading, snowboarding {yea I know good luck with that in TX}, hiking, mountain biking, etc.), big motorsports fan, etc. So with that said here are my current thoughts on each place and how they would fit me:

Houston - easiest for friends, housing is fairly inexpensive, good job market for the wife, great for food, all the traditional big city amenities we are use to (shopping, restaurants, theaters), Great night life, down side seems to be humidity in the summer (although cooler then Austin and Dallas?), and lack of outdoors activity, hurricanes,

Austin - seems the best for outdoor lifestyle (lake Travis, tons of events {Formula 1, SBSW, X Games } mountain biking in the hills, track days at circuit of americans), also a great food town, less humidity then Houston, Google Fiber , great night life (music scene is awesome), however downside seems to be more liberal there, housing is more expensive, less jobs

Dallas - seems to have the least extreme heat in the summer, coolest winter (this is actually a plus for me), most conservative of all 3, cheapest housing of the 3, downsides seem too be: most conservative of all 3 (yes I know I put this as a benefit as well but can be a fault as well), seems like the least activities of all 3, most uptight and least receptive to out of staters (this is rumored, not saying this is true).

Whats all your thoughts? How off base am I on any of these? out of the 3 is there any one city you think we would fit best in? And of course which is the best town to own a Jeep in?

Thanks for any feedback you guys can throw out there

 

Seems like you did your research! I can't comment on Austin and Dallas other than I know that Austin is very liberal. I lived in Houston from 1999 - 2007. I liked it alot, there is always something to do, pretty much 24.7. However if you live IN Houston, the traffic is HORRIBLE! Every weekend the I-45 would be bumber to bumper with everyone going to Galveston for the weekend. I lived just outside the beltway on the south side. The humidity is insane! No seriously. I remember always leaving work at 9:30 in the evening (summertime) and it being just as hot and just as humid as it was during the day! My train of thought about big cities is that it is better to live near one than in one. Good Luck! My wife and I might have to move soon because of a job promotion (God willing) and I am hoping to be near the Dallas area... we shall see... Good Luck!

 

I love Houston. We moved here in 2005, left for a couple years and have been back for a couple again. We've lived in several places but the best so far is north east side. We lived in Houston by medical center for a while also which was great but not good if you have kids.

Austin has more options close by for outdoor activities that you would be interested in. As far as work there are a ton of options in and around Houston.

Good luck with your decision.

 

I've lived in Houston since 1978.
At 6 grew up in Clear Lake City (NASA)
At 29 moved to Webster (10miles from NASA)
At 34 moved to Friendswood (also 10 miles from NASA)
All neighborhoods surrounding NASA (family career) have always been wonderful. Very rarely make headline news. Crime rate very low. Have always felt safe in these towns.

I work for AT&T and because of that I drive all over Houston and surrounding areas and can tell you first hand.....THERE ARE JOBS EVERYWHERE. Majors are aerospace, manufacturing, petrochemical. Sooo many fields of work around here and they always seem to be hiring. Cost of living here is lower than most parts of Texas which is why I never left. Had several opportunities but from wage to living expenses, couldn't justify the move.

For 4 wheelin, south side where I'm from is pretty much beaches and mud holes. The north side of Houston has lots of heavily wooded areas and off road parks within an hour.

Good luck with your choice!

 

Hey guys ... thanks for the feedback. Seems like everyone is from the Houston area.

My wife grew up and Houston, and loved it, just complained about the smog and the humidity. For those of you that live in Houston, do you have areas to go biking? are there areas close by to go wheeling in the Jeep? ... basically what type of outdoor activities are there to do in the area?

 

I've lived in Arlington (DFW), Austin and Houston. Currently living in the outskirts of San Antonio in the hill country.

If you like the offroading and hill country, you can strike Houston off right away. You are 4-5 hours away from any good rock crawling.
I did like Houston as there is so much to do, and the night live is great, but that can be said of any of the places you mentioned. Traffic sucks monkey balls....

Wasn't the biggest fan of Dallas, always found myself going more towards Fort Worth, just because I liked the people better in that city. They were more down to earth compared to D-Town.

Austin, was a blast. Great night life, I never really had issues with the liberals and didn't really mingle with them. Guess that is part of being a college town. But if you stay away from the college scene, you'll find plenty of conservatives, however, it is the preferred place of families moving in from Comufornia. So it is only a matter of time before Local Politics will resemble that shitty state on the west coast.
Traffic sucked in all three places.

I know you didn't mention San Antonio, but it is my favorite town of 1.2 million in Texas. You can get around pretty easily, and business is booming.
I am an 1 to 1.5 hours away from most offroad wheeling places, and we have the best Jeep club in the country (Jeep Nation) that is very active, so making friends will be a breeze.
Check it out on Facebook, and you'll get an idea of how we are.

Of all the places I have lived I would rank them:
San Antonio
Austin
Houston
Fort Worth
Dallas

 

I really like the Webster / Friendswood area, I worked at Baybrook Mall for most of my time while living there!

 

I know it's not on your list, but the Amarillo area has a lot going for it: a booming economy, ultra-cheap housing, no humidity, low tax rate, plenty to do with the family and great wheeling. It isn't as large as the other places you're considering, but we're two hours from Lubbock, four-ish to Santa Fe, about six from Dallas and eight hours from Denver.

 

Born and raised in Texas, lived all over the country/world though (Los Angeles, NYC, Boulder, Singapore, etc.):

I came back to Texas last year and specifically chose Fort Worth. Can't say enough about it, great people, good food, music, nightlife, etc.. I grew up I'm Dallas and Houston and Fort Worth was always a dirty nasty place. Now that has been completely reversed, Fort Worth has all the best parts of Austin (culture and nightlife) without the mass Liberal sentiment. Downtown is clean (thanks to the Bass family) and you can walk around there at night with no worries. I live downtown and love it. You're a quick drive to sports (Arlington) and if you do want a bigger city feel, Dallas is only about 30 minutes east. You have the Trinity River a Walk project going in soon that will be expanding Ft Worth even more as we'll.

In terms of Jeeps, there are some great clubs here, and some good shops including Jeeps Unlimited up in Haslett.

 

As a personal preference I would not live in Houston. I grew up about an hour south of there and would never get any closer than that. Of the 3 you mentioned I would pic Austin. It has the most going on for it. Great lakes and out door activities, really good night life/ awesome live music, well located to go to Dallas, SA, or Houston in a few hrs drive. I personally live in San Antonio and love it. Its not to big still really close to the hill country and has less of a big city feel to me at least. I will say the con of Austin is the traffic sux. Thats my 2 cents on the matter.