Texas. Can you really live there?

[Topspin]

Was thinking of the possibility of semi-retirin, semi-tiling, semi-flippin in Texas.

Landed in Austin and drove to Waco to have a sit down with Chip and Joanna last week. Temp was 93° and 91% humidity when I landed. Next day was 96° and humidity at a comfortable 60%. Is this what mid Texas is like? Is Texas just Biloxi Mississippi with cowboy boots?

Anyways, I enjoyed the highway from Austin to Waco. Looked like it was built yesterday.

So John, Kelly, and Paul- can a northerner adapt to the southern climes?

[Topspin]

Don’t get me wrong – no complaints. I enjoyed my trip and have a positive outlook. But – it’s really hot there.

Today it was 77° with like no humidity in Seattle and I was dripping wet. Now how would that work in Texas?

[evan1968]

Humidity- Air you can wear.

[Davy]

Sure you can. I had lived in Texas back in my High School days, went back to Cally and then returned to Texas in 1980. 1980 was a record year for heat here, the Dallas area saw 69 days that summer with 100 or more temps. The humidity is usually a little less up here in North Texas but the temps can get a little higher than Austin and Houston. My dad lives south of Abilene and the humidity is less there and the wind blows most of the time. I'm not sure how much work there is in West Texas though.

No matter where you go, you'll have to deal with something you won't like.

[Just In Tile LLC]

Moved from Cali 8 years ago, the humidity and bugs were a big change compared to dry desert air and relatively no bugs for us. Spending time outside meant having a fan on us A body of water helps things in the summer. Would never move back to California.

[mullet]

The heat and humidity keeps you in shape. The bugs in the south are for a reason, it keep massive yankee population moving to the south at a minimum.

[evan1968]

The mosquitos in Florida are so big they have tail #'s.

[cx]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Landed in Austin and drove to Waco to have a sit down with Chip and Joanna last week. Temp was 93° and 91% humidity when I landed. Next day was 96° and humidity at a comfortable 60%. Is this what mid Texas is like? Is Texas just Biloxi Mississippi with cowboy boots?

No, it gets much hotter in the summer in south Texas. Some years we hit 100+ before it gets to be July, but usually late July and August are the hot times. Working outdoors gets to be a problem because you can't even touch some of the building materials, 'specially metal roofing. Is why the tradition of Siesta got started, eh?

But the winters have been pretty mild for the past 20 years or so. Last time I remember temps in the single digits was back in the 1990s, seems like.

I'd avoid the People's Republic of Austin if at all possible, but that's a cultural thing, rather than a climate thing. The Boerne area, where I currently reside, is, overall, the most pleasant climate I've lived in.

[Topspin]

All good info. Other than Austin-Istan I’ve been drawn towards the lone star.

Not to do tile, but continue to flip and make my nest egg go about 4x farther than here in the people’s republic of Seattle. Yes, it’s here too.

Looked at homes in Waco. Had to hold myself back from laughing at the home prices. Saw an amazing limestone 4,000 sq ft home in the high end neighborhood going for a whopping $430K. Out my way that would be $2M +. I could sell my rather middle of the road home in Seattle area and get two of those limestone mansions, and have some spare change left over.

Or just get a reasonable $ home and Ree-tarr with home sale pile large enough to last. But then there’s the heat. And the bugs. Left Minnesota to get away from the cold and bugs, only to go from too cold to too hot? And bugs.

Lots of good points tho. Sunshine, cost of living, and I might even get learn a new language. Currently no habla Español.

[jadnashua]

I lived in El Paso for a couple of years, first in the Army, then working for Raytheon. The high desert is a bit different than further east where it's generally more humid. The high desert can have some radical differences in temperature from day/night. The thing about much of the west that someone who grew up in the NE part of the world is how far it is to anything. Then, you have the attitude of, 'if we don't carry it, you don't need it!'. Say you want to buy a car...there may be one dealer in the brand you want...the next dealership could be 50-100 miles or more away and most people won't go there to shop, so the price is what it is...this applies to a lot of products, but the internet has helped, but won't help with big, bulky things especially if they weigh a lot.

FWIW, 110-degrees wasn't unusual, and at night, it might get into the 60's unless it was humid, which didn't happen all that often. They typically got 80-90% of their annual rainfall in a couple of weeks, often in July. One January, a friend's roses bloomed as it got warm enough.

Course, I just read that the Rio is essentially dry almost up to Albuquerque, and water is a precious commodity, something Seattle probably doesn't worry about as much! Many of their wells are like 3-4000' deep and analysis indicates it got there 10's of thousands of years ago, so won't likely be replenished, and, it's getting saltier.

[cx]

One big point about Texas climate is that it depends where you are in the state. The differences between El Paso and Texarkana and Amarillo and Corpus Christi are quite dramatic, aside from the actual distances between them. You'd need to do a whole lot of traveling before you can say you've seen what Texas climate is like.

If you're trying to maximize the difference in cost of living from where you are to where you're going, that's just one more reason to avoid Austin.

[Jim Farrell Tiler]

i have heard a midget is a texan with the s#@t kicked out of him....LOL

[evan1968]

Keep watching that turd spin the wrong direction Jim.

[Jim Farrell Tiler]

perhaps its the right direction

[John Bridge]

Hey Kevin,

I know you're a beer fella. That's probably the biggest difference you'll face. The West Coast is way ahead of us in the number and quality of micro-breweries and craft beer availability . . . but we do have craft beers and micro-brews.

Weather: As you know I'm originally a Seattle boy, but I've lived in the Sun Belt most of my life, and I've never really looked back at the idea of living in the Seattle area again. The summers are nice, but the rest of the year is dismal. People there really look forward to "sun breaks." During Texas winters we have mostly very nice weather with an occasional rain break.

We live here for the months that are not super hot, and there are about eight of them. May this year is abnormally hot. It usually doesn't start cooking until June. As Kelly mentioned, July and August are always miserable, be we have air conditioning everywhere you can imagine.

September is warm also, but it's not anything like summer. Like anywhere else, it takes a year of two to get fully adjusted.

Aside from housing being more reasonable than elsewhere, Texas has other advantages. I know you live in a liberal society up there, but there are advantages to our system of government here. We have no income tax for one, and if anyone in Austin even breaths the phrase someone goes after a rope. Also, we cannot go bankrupt. It's against our constitution. All proposed bills must be funded.

Our legislature meets only every other year, and the regular session is short. Further, we don't pay our legislators very much. Our governor is weak compared to those of other states. We like it that way. I know Alaska is still the last frontier, but Texas comes in second. There is a spirit of independence here that doesn't exist in many other places.

Anyway, it's up to you. If you come we'll welcome you warmly; if you don't come we won't miss you.