Actually my job is looking for an accountant position.

 

Sugar Land (southwest Houston) was rated Money Magazine's 3rd best place to live in America in 2006. I grew up and went to high school there and I must say it's actually still really nice. There are 4 5A high schools within 10-15 miles of eachother, one being in the top 500 in the nation (Clements H.S.). It has great businesses there, every restaurant imagineable, and about a 45 min drive from Houston. If you're considering Houston I would definitely check out Sugar Land first.

Austin is also amazing. That is where my parents and two older brothers currently live. I really enjoy visiting there and there is a ton of stuff to do. You also have the University of Texas there which is a great college, and you're only 2 hours away from Texas A&M, the other great college in Texas. Austin is another awesome place to live IMO. You have to watch it though, the city is growing FAST, so if you're gonna go here, I would do it quickly, I have a feeling real estate will go up (even though I think at the moment it's going down).

I currently live in Fort Worth and travel to Dallas regularly. I don't have much experience in this area to give much of an intelligent opinion on the two cities, but from my experience so far, it has been very good.

If you're interested in cold hard statistics I would search google (money mag best places to live) and click on Texas. It will give you any relevant information about each city you're considering and it's actually quite detailed. Texas is a great place to live and I believe you'll enjoy it.

Also one quick little note to JDM, I've heard that saying "If you don't like Texas weather that's okay. Wait a minute and it'll change" a million times too. After mentioning it to my dad who's an airline pilot always going all over the country, he said people say that in every state he's been to. So I guess it's not just special to us. lol

 

lol, no racism involved. It's not so much getting out of California that I don't understand, but trying to figure out how you narrowed your choices down to Texas. Stand by for that PM.

 

Thanks for the info...I will take you up on the PM a little later.


What's company name and the nature of the business? What's the going rate for that position (estimate)?


Lots of info... thanks


I decided to take a mini vacation and visit Austin this September. I am planning on renting a car and drive around and visit the surronding cities. You guys are a great help and maybe I can meet you guys in person...If I end up moving to Texas, beer on me!

 

You bet. Austin is only 80 miles north of San Antonio, so that isn't a problem. Just let us know when you do come down in the Texas forum.

 

 

From an auto enthusiast's POV, Central Texas is great, but too many Californians and Northeasterners are moving into the hill country and ruining the great driving roads in the process.

Don't know about El Paso, but Houston is a little too flat.

 

plano is a great place to raise a family

 

plano or sugar land

 

I grew up in san antonio until I was 18 and moved to Austin. San Antonio is a great city to grow up in depending on which part of town you live. I lived in the country in china grove which is on hwy 87. The north side of san antonio is very nice, my brother just bought a house around the live oak area. I actully lived in Georgetown then Austin and now I bought a house in Manor so you can say I have been all over Austin area. I would highly recommend austin for living. Im not to sure how good the schools are but I know the schools in Manor are great and the housing out here is still new and more are being built as we speak. Look into Manor if your interested. Its about 20minutes from downtown austin right off of hwy 290east.

 

San Antonio it is the only city in Texas that gets to celebrate a championship!!! It is very family friendly as well and just keeps growing larger!! LOL

 

If you like keeping up with Jones'

 

You werent joking when you said country. I pulled up a satellite picture of some homes and man it looks like a forest! You dont see much of that in L.A...Might be nice. I will look further into Manor. Thanks.

 

Is plano expensive?

 

Plano West is. It's part of Collin county which was considered one of the most pretentious areas in the US. That is why on this board you've got locals always saying "stupid rich spoiled Plano West kids...etc..etc" when they talk about their Zs.

 

plano west.............nice place but it's great for white folks.

 

Fastest growing minority group, too bad we are everywhere huh...get used to it. Yet people still stereotype all Hispanics, I don't get offended at all, gringos pendejos

Been living in the United States now for 5 years, Las Colinas area, Irving, Texas has been my home ever since. Btw I am originally from NUEVO LEON, MEXICO

 

i live in las colinas too. I went to UT at Austin and lived in Waco.

Dallas is a good metropolitan place to live if that's what you're looking for. I live right by work so I don't know how Dallas traffic is. It takes me an hour to get out of town in Friday rush hour so it's not too bad. There are a ton of suburbs and cities right outside of the metro area that are very good. Very nice nieghborhoods wherever you go. Tons of stuff to do and you can get away from it all if you live just outside of town like Plano. Ft. Worth area is also good and growing. Tons of jobs.

Houston traffic sucks. And it is super humid. It's the sweatiest city in the US I believe. But it is very diverse and you can find some really good areas. Sugarland and The Woodlands are good but probably more expensive than the rest of the area. Personally, I don't like houston. My brother went to Rice and I visited a few times. All my college friends found jobs there though so there is no shortage of jobs. The recent migration of Katrina victims has scarred it's reputation.

Austin is a good size city that has a small town feel to it. There is a ton of stuff to do. Houston is 2.5 hrs away and San Antonio about 45 min. Traffic is starting to get really bad since there are really 2 major highways that run N and S and the population is growing. It's a good college town with 50k+ students at UT. Be ready for some wierdness though; I saw a dude on a unicycle near campus juggling pins at 8 am on a saturday. Very laid back city and you can wear jeans almost anywhere.

Waco is a small town that is growing very quickly. it has changed so much since I leff for college. Very very cheap to build your own house and the good school is Midway in Hewitt. It's right in the middle between Dallas and Austin, 1.5 hours each way so you can find stuff to do on the weekends. The town itself is pretty boring. Not much to do with the exception of a few restaurants and a bar here and there. You can consider it a college town with baylor students all over the place.

Weather isn't an issue anywhere else. it's hot everywhere. I wouldn't live out west in el paso cuz it seems like it's in the middle of nowhere.

I'm actually moving to SoCal. Wanna recommend some places right between UCLA and Monrovia? I need to minimize travel time both ways. Thanks.

 

I haven't driven around SA much, but I can tell you from experience that Austin, Dallas, and Houston, all have heavy traffic when people are going and coming from work. However, that is from a perspective here. I've seen photos of LA being gridlocked, and it looks pretty bad there, if not worse.

Personnaly I would move a bit aways from the city and would rather have that 45 min drive to work. Only reason being, everything here in Dallas, can't speak for the other major cities, is growing out. To the north of Dallas; Plano, Allen, Frisco, and to the east, Garland, Rowlett, Rockwall, Forney, are all becoming heavier populated. Just trying to think down the road in 5-10 years, if this is where you plan to stay, you will eventually be absorbed into a large suburb.

To the other members who live in Houston, Austin, SA, are yall noticing the same growth like this in the suburb areas? I know someday I will move further out, just not sure where yet.

 

A friend of mine moved to Sugar Land, TX. It's kind of close to Houston but the weather sucks! Cheap homes and low cost of living is a plus.