Should I Move to TX?
November 9, 2015 6:59 PM Subscribe
I'm in CA and my company has folded. My research shows that moving to TX would be a good plan because, running the numbers, there is a reasonable amount of daily postings for positions I am suitable for across the TX metro job markets, and house prices are considerably less (read: affordable) compared to CA metro areas. So it all makes reasonable sense except for this: I have no emotional drive to relocate there.
Additional details:
1) I have lived in Los Angeles for 13 years:
a) I like it here, but I know I'll never be able to afford a home here. Not that I have a significant passion to own a home, it's just that the idea of renting for ever doesn't feel like an optimal financial direction to be consciously taking.
b) I'm a little bored of Los Angeles too, although I'm aware that moving to a TX city isn't going to be massively more interesting (no offense, TX!).
c) I do really like the idea of change, although I'm also mindful of the logistical costs - making new friends, finding doctors & dentists etc (although I have no dependants and only a U-haul van worth of stuff).
d) I'm a reasonably strong introvert/ homebody, so I spend most of my time bouncing around my apartment anyway - so in a sense, maybe it doesn't matter where I live?
2) My rough plan would be: get temp housing in Austin, apply for jobs in all TX metro areas, move to wherever I can pick up a job within TX, get a 6 or 12 month rental, look at property if all's good after this time.
3) If I could choose somewhere to move to, it'd be CO - because I am passionate about skiiing, and in my fantasies folks in CO go skiing, like, every weekend during the season. Unfortunately, the job markets for positions I am suitable for in CO are really poor compared to CA & TX.
4) My stats on job markets come from research using glassdoor city reports and running appropriate searches on Indeed.
5) I'm eligible for maximum CA UI for 6 months.
Additional details:
1) I have lived in Los Angeles for 13 years:
a) I like it here, but I know I'll never be able to afford a home here. Not that I have a significant passion to own a home, it's just that the idea of renting for ever doesn't feel like an optimal financial direction to be consciously taking.
b) I'm a little bored of Los Angeles too, although I'm aware that moving to a TX city isn't going to be massively more interesting (no offense, TX!).
c) I do really like the idea of change, although I'm also mindful of the logistical costs - making new friends, finding doctors & dentists etc (although I have no dependants and only a U-haul van worth of stuff).
d) I'm a reasonably strong introvert/ homebody, so I spend most of my time bouncing around my apartment anyway - so in a sense, maybe it doesn't matter where I live?
2) My rough plan would be: get temp housing in Austin, apply for jobs in all TX metro areas, move to wherever I can pick up a job within TX, get a 6 or 12 month rental, look at property if all's good after this time.
3) If I could choose somewhere to move to, it'd be CO - because I am passionate about skiiing, and in my fantasies folks in CO go skiing, like, every weekend during the season. Unfortunately, the job markets for positions I am suitable for in CO are really poor compared to CA & TX.
4) My stats on job markets come from research using glassdoor city reports and running appropriate searches on Indeed.
5) I'm eligible for maximum CA UI for 6 months.
Unfortunately, the job markets for positions I am suitable for in CO are really poor compared to CA & TX.
You don't need to get hired by a hundred different companies. You just need to get hired by one. If Colorado is really the place that you think of wistfully when you think about moving... maybe it's worth giving a month or two to an all-out effort to find something there? And then if that doesn't work, come up with a second plan. Like, nobody says they think of Cleveland when software developers look for work, and it's definitely not as good a market as Silicon Valley, but I know devs who work in Cleveland who've never gone more than a few weeks between jobs. Whatever your industry is, some places, there may be fewer jobs but also fewer people who work in that line. Especially in more out-of-the-way places, looking for a job from elsewhere is a thing people do, you don't necessarily have to move to Colorado just to start looking.
Now, I'm sure there are some industries where "poor" could be "virtually nothing", but it just being "less than Austin" doesn't necessarily mean it would be impossible for you to find a job in a timely fashion. Not that I'm saying anything negative about Texas, just that if you're always going to wish you'd tried to find something in Colorado, think about what it'd actually hurt to take some time to try.
posted by Sequence at 7:11 PM on November 9, 2015 [14 favorites]
You don't need to get hired by a hundred different companies. You just need to get hired by one. If Colorado is really the place that you think of wistfully when you think about moving... maybe it's worth giving a month or two to an all-out effort to find something there? And then if that doesn't work, come up with a second plan. Like, nobody says they think of Cleveland when software developers look for work, and it's definitely not as good a market as Silicon Valley, but I know devs who work in Cleveland who've never gone more than a few weeks between jobs. Whatever your industry is, some places, there may be fewer jobs but also fewer people who work in that line. Especially in more out-of-the-way places, looking for a job from elsewhere is a thing people do, you don't necessarily have to move to Colorado just to start looking.
Now, I'm sure there are some industries where "poor" could be "virtually nothing", but it just being "less than Austin" doesn't necessarily mean it would be impossible for you to find a job in a timely fashion. Not that I'm saying anything negative about Texas, just that if you're always going to wish you'd tried to find something in Colorado, think about what it'd actually hurt to take some time to try.
posted by Sequence at 7:11 PM on November 9, 2015 [14 favorites]
Colorado is pretty awesome, have you also looked at Utah / Salt Lake City, and Boisie Idaho?
You might reach out to recruiters in Colorado to see if they can position you if that is what your really want.
posted by nickggully at 7:19 PM on November 9, 2015
You might reach out to recruiters in Colorado to see if they can position you if that is what your really want.
posted by nickggully at 7:19 PM on November 9, 2015
Texas cities can be wildly different; it's a real big place, in case you haven't heard. Austin is great, but drive a few miles outside, and it's something completely different.
You need to do more research before your move. In your plan, you may go to Austin, fall in love, but then get a job in Houston, which is pretty much the polar opposite.
If you looooove skiing, get thee to Salt Lake City.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:56 PM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
You need to do more research before your move. In your plan, you may go to Austin, fall in love, but then get a job in Houston, which is pretty much the polar opposite.
If you looooove skiing, get thee to Salt Lake City.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:56 PM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
in my fantasies folks in CO go skiing, like, every weekend during the season.
The thing is, skiing here in Colorado is waaaaaay up on the mountain, so if you work along the Front Range like most of us do here (anything from Fort Collins up north to Pueblo/Colorado Springs down south) it's a heck of a drive. I-70 traffic can be a nightmare.
If I were into just skiing alone, I'd be looking in Utah.
posted by mochapickle at 7:57 PM on November 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
The thing is, skiing here in Colorado is waaaaaay up on the mountain, so if you work along the Front Range like most of us do here (anything from Fort Collins up north to Pueblo/Colorado Springs down south) it's a heck of a drive. I-70 traffic can be a nightmare.
If I were into just skiing alone, I'd be looking in Utah.
posted by mochapickle at 7:57 PM on November 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Honestly, I wouldn't recommend moving to Austin. I mean, if you happen to be a software developer, the market is such that some company will pay for you to relocate here, but that means you don't have to move here to look for a job.
Austin is... not really interesting. It's not 'weird', it's not as liberal as it thinks it is, etc. (Basically, Austin would fall over dead from shock if it were to encounter Oakland. Or possibly even (parts of) Minneapolis.) Everything feels really generic, with an interesting coffee shop or restaurant thrown in every so often. Social circles and employment are noticeably segregated. I moved here because it's where the best job offer I had was. I don't regret that (I actually really like my job), but I don't see myself staying in Austin and clearly I wouldn't tell someone to move here.
The population is transient, but I feel like people try to use how long they've been in Austin as a kind of status symbol because clearly anyone who moves here only did so because they thought it was cool. Despite that, it's not a closed society like Minnesota is (where social circles freeze in the seventh grade, leaving everyone not from Minnesota to be friends only with each other)--people will do the judging thing on meeting you but will then be open to you as a potential friend.
posted by hoyland at 8:05 PM on November 9, 2015 [8 favorites]
Austin is... not really interesting. It's not 'weird', it's not as liberal as it thinks it is, etc. (Basically, Austin would fall over dead from shock if it were to encounter Oakland. Or possibly even (parts of) Minneapolis.) Everything feels really generic, with an interesting coffee shop or restaurant thrown in every so often. Social circles and employment are noticeably segregated. I moved here because it's where the best job offer I had was. I don't regret that (I actually really like my job), but I don't see myself staying in Austin and clearly I wouldn't tell someone to move here.
The population is transient, but I feel like people try to use how long they've been in Austin as a kind of status symbol because clearly anyone who moves here only did so because they thought it was cool. Despite that, it's not a closed society like Minnesota is (where social circles freeze in the seventh grade, leaving everyone not from Minnesota to be friends only with each other)--people will do the judging thing on meeting you but will then be open to you as a potential friend.
posted by hoyland at 8:05 PM on November 9, 2015 [8 favorites]
My coworkers in SLC (I'm in LA) literally go skiing after work; they can be up at Snowbird in like 20 minutes (where I believe they have at least one lit run for night skiing), and on the weekend they just pop over to Park City or Sundance or Deer Valley. The other 5 months of the year they do the same thing but with bikes. I don't know why a skier would live anywhere else.
Austin is packed to the gills, traffic is bullshit, the bro culture is the worst outside SV, housing costs are the highest in the state, and there are still plenty of shitty racist garbage people and horrible politics. (Not saying Utah doesn't have serious issues, but its counterculture runs to a more refreshing attitude than Austin's. And frankly their state politics are still better than Texas. So is their microbrew.)
I grew up in East Texas and spent the first 20 years of my adulthood in North Texas. If you had an unavoidable need to be there, you could find enough to sustain you, and if you got a job that you would truly love there you should go, but I wouldn't pin any particular hopes on it.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:25 PM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Austin is packed to the gills, traffic is bullshit, the bro culture is the worst outside SV, housing costs are the highest in the state, and there are still plenty of shitty racist garbage people and horrible politics. (Not saying Utah doesn't have serious issues, but its counterculture runs to a more refreshing attitude than Austin's. And frankly their state politics are still better than Texas. So is their microbrew.)
I grew up in East Texas and spent the first 20 years of my adulthood in North Texas. If you had an unavoidable need to be there, you could find enough to sustain you, and if you got a job that you would truly love there you should go, but I wouldn't pin any particular hopes on it.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:25 PM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think you should do all you can to get your resume out in the places you want to be. In my experience settling for second best usually means I correct a mistake a couple of years later. Correcting some of those mistakes has been rather expensive.
What I'm about to say is all very much my opinion and YMMV, but I kind of hated Austin, even if I loved the food(!), and yet I cannot imagine living in any other city in Texas. Which is why I now live in Seattle and am more than happy to pay almost double the rent, even if I'm doing it through my tears. Some of those tears are happy.
You didn't mention your political persuasion, but if you are at all liberal...Texas is going to be as hard to live in as any other state in the Deep South. Parts of the state may be "blue," and most of the state may be "purple," but there's no time when you're going to forget the state is "red," not so long as there are people like Louie Gohmert and major cities like Houston voting against LGBT rights.
Many people are eager to tell you Austin is "not really like the rest of Texas"—we all know what this means, whether we think it's a good or bad thing—but it is, of course, the heart of Texas governance and home to many hyper-conservative megachurches. I'm making a broad generalization, but I found Austin was filled with people who sometimes disagreed with far-right ideology, but were very tolerant of it, including the bigotry and inequality.
I know you say you know TX cities won't be as interesting, but I think you should really, really explore this aspect of your move. With both TX and CO, you're no longer going to be in a big international hub, which means you lose diversity and all that comes with it. And you're probably going to be landlocked. This was incredibly noticeable to my husband and me when we lived in Austin, and it ultimately made the city a little bit boring (for us). On multiple occasions, people would tell us how they weren't from "around there" or were from "far off," and we found out that meant they'd come from another part of Texas. I mean, I understand Texas is big, but my husband is from Australia, so Lubbock seems rather close, you know?
TL;DR: My advice? Do NOT make this decision lightly.
posted by iamfantastikate at 8:32 PM on November 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
What I'm about to say is all very much my opinion and YMMV, but I kind of hated Austin, even if I loved the food(!), and yet I cannot imagine living in any other city in Texas. Which is why I now live in Seattle and am more than happy to pay almost double the rent, even if I'm doing it through my tears. Some of those tears are happy.
You didn't mention your political persuasion, but if you are at all liberal...Texas is going to be as hard to live in as any other state in the Deep South. Parts of the state may be "blue," and most of the state may be "purple," but there's no time when you're going to forget the state is "red," not so long as there are people like Louie Gohmert and major cities like Houston voting against LGBT rights.
Many people are eager to tell you Austin is "not really like the rest of Texas"—we all know what this means, whether we think it's a good or bad thing—but it is, of course, the heart of Texas governance and home to many hyper-conservative megachurches. I'm making a broad generalization, but I found Austin was filled with people who sometimes disagreed with far-right ideology, but were very tolerant of it, including the bigotry and inequality.
I know you say you know TX cities won't be as interesting, but I think you should really, really explore this aspect of your move. With both TX and CO, you're no longer going to be in a big international hub, which means you lose diversity and all that comes with it. And you're probably going to be landlocked. This was incredibly noticeable to my husband and me when we lived in Austin, and it ultimately made the city a little bit boring (for us). On multiple occasions, people would tell us how they weren't from "around there" or were from "far off," and we found out that meant they'd come from another part of Texas. I mean, I understand Texas is big, but my husband is from Australia, so Lubbock seems rather close, you know?
TL;DR: My advice? Do NOT make this decision lightly.
posted by iamfantastikate at 8:32 PM on November 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
The thing is you can't move to Austin in 2005 when it was quite different. Austin is really a victim of its own success - traffic, urban sprawl, etc. It's weird, funky flame is barely flickering. I liked Dallas, but had no illusions that it was cool in any way, shape or form. If I had to move back to Texas, it would either be Dallas or San Antonio.
I think you're going about this from the wrong angle. You only need one job. Find the best towns for you and start papering those places with your resume. If Colorado is the place that calls you then find a way to be there.
posted by 26.2 at 8:36 PM on November 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
I think you're going about this from the wrong angle. You only need one job. Find the best towns for you and start papering those places with your resume. If Colorado is the place that calls you then find a way to be there.
posted by 26.2 at 8:36 PM on November 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
No, no, a thousand times no. My wife and I, native Californians, moved to take new jobs in Austin and fled back to the Bay Area after just over a year. The veneer of liberalism is very thin. The weather is terrible. The traffic is awful (with no serious public transit to speak of). And while it's cheaper, it's not cheap. We literally cried tears of joy to leave that place.
posted by falconred at 10:33 PM on November 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by falconred at 10:33 PM on November 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
Hmm. As someone who used to live in SLC (relocated from elsewhere, from 1978 to 1988, and then visited every year until this year), lived in Ann Arbor, has visited Austin in the 1990's, and now lives in the LA region, I tell you:
1) I personally would really, really, really strongly resist a move to Texas, for multiple reasons that include unappealing climate (have you been in Austin in July?), politics and conservative ideology that makes me me want to scream (e.g., have you read what the state is doing to Planned Parenthood?), and more.
2) If you love skiing and you work in a tech industry, I nth what other people said about Salt Lake City being a good choice. It has a lot of people now, so you can make friends and find places to go, and it has abundant skiing and other outdoor activities. As someone upstream said, you can be up in the mountains in 20 minutes. Probably the main downside is the conservative religion that controls much of the state. It is a definite negative. However, given the choice between Texas and Utah, I would pick Utah in this regard.
3) As other people said, if you really want to be in Colorado, it is really worth trying extra hard to be there instead of some place like Texas. Later in life, you may have a much harder time getting there.
posted by StrawberryPie at 11:12 PM on November 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
1) I personally would really, really, really strongly resist a move to Texas, for multiple reasons that include unappealing climate (have you been in Austin in July?), politics and conservative ideology that makes me me want to scream (e.g., have you read what the state is doing to Planned Parenthood?), and more.
2) If you love skiing and you work in a tech industry, I nth what other people said about Salt Lake City being a good choice. It has a lot of people now, so you can make friends and find places to go, and it has abundant skiing and other outdoor activities. As someone upstream said, you can be up in the mountains in 20 minutes. Probably the main downside is the conservative religion that controls much of the state. It is a definite negative. However, given the choice between Texas and Utah, I would pick Utah in this regard.
3) As other people said, if you really want to be in Colorado, it is really worth trying extra hard to be there instead of some place like Texas. Later in life, you may have a much harder time getting there.
posted by StrawberryPie at 11:12 PM on November 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
What people are saying about the proximity of SLC to skiing is true -- the skiing really is that close. I don't know about the tech sector there but I drove through SLC on the highway just a week or so ago and there were billboards advertising tech jobs, so there is clearly some level of demand. Friends who live in Boise go skiing on weekends, but they have a longer drive than people I know in SLC, where they can go after work as was mentioned above.
Personally, my experience has been that if I am happy to be in a place, it is a lot easier to make connections (both for work and for friendship) and have an overall good life, compared to the times I have lived in a place that seemed to make sense but where I wasn't happy. I'd prioritize that over the numbers and at least give it a serious try for a couple of months. I don't know about the legalities, but if you have six months of unemployment, can you use that to fund a few months living cheap in CO or SLC as a test, and then move to Texas if that doesn't work out?
posted by Dip Flash at 4:50 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Personally, my experience has been that if I am happy to be in a place, it is a lot easier to make connections (both for work and for friendship) and have an overall good life, compared to the times I have lived in a place that seemed to make sense but where I wasn't happy. I'd prioritize that over the numbers and at least give it a serious try for a couple of months. I don't know about the legalities, but if you have six months of unemployment, can you use that to fund a few months living cheap in CO or SLC as a test, and then move to Texas if that doesn't work out?
posted by Dip Flash at 4:50 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you lived in LA for 13 years, where were you before that? I ask because as others have noted moving to Texas can come as a culture shock and climate shock, but it might be that you spent your time before LA in Birmingham. If you have never spent more than a week or so in a place that's routinely over 100F (and breaks 110F pretty much every summer), do not underestimate how fucking gross it is.
I definitely would not get temp housing in Austin *unless* that were the best city to find employment for your particular industry. It is easily the most expensive metro area in the state. Thinking across all industries, you're more likely to find employment in DFW or Houston, so you might as well bite the bullet and move to one of those. Central Houston is nicer, trendier, etc than central Dallas or Fort Worth but if you move there you're likely to end up in a more affordable suburb/exurb.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:08 AM on November 10, 2015
I definitely would not get temp housing in Austin *unless* that were the best city to find employment for your particular industry. It is easily the most expensive metro area in the state. Thinking across all industries, you're more likely to find employment in DFW or Houston, so you might as well bite the bullet and move to one of those. Central Houston is nicer, trendier, etc than central Dallas or Fort Worth but if you move there you're likely to end up in a more affordable suburb/exurb.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:08 AM on November 10, 2015
Austin is amazing but as others have said, expensive - and traffic is a problem. Every other city in Texas sucks. Have you ever been to Texas?
I'd strongly reconsider this and really try to live somewhere you love if possible.
posted by getawaysticks at 8:16 AM on November 10, 2015
I'd strongly reconsider this and really try to live somewhere you love if possible.
posted by getawaysticks at 8:16 AM on November 10, 2015
I live in Austin and it is getting more and more expensive and the commutes are terrible. I moved to be closer to work six months ago and it regularly takes me 45 minutes or more to go 6 miles.
posted by hrj at 9:34 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by hrj at 9:34 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Howdy from a Houston resident since 1991. Don't move here.
Positives are cheap housing (though rapidly getting less so), low cost of living in general, abundant jobs in the tech sector, great (and highly diverse) grocery shopping, and good options for dining out. There are also three good renaissance fairs (Sherwood, TRF and Scarby) within striking distance, if you're into that.
Negatives include but are not limited to:
1) The weather. I cannot overstate just how miserable this place is eight (or more) months out of the year. Like being outside? Too bad. Outside is what you dash through to get from one air-conditioned space to another if you absolutely can't avoid it.
2) Traffic. Sucks, but maybe not comparable to LA. Still, there are plenty of other options where you won't spend multiple hours a week in traffic.
2b) Transportation. Private car is your only option. Public transportation is either completely absent or uselessly slow except in very limited cases. Cycling or walking is out -- there's no safe place to do it, and most of the year you're courting heat stroke anyway.
3) Politics. The big cities are nominally blue (you will recall noddingly that Houston's current mayor is gay and was openly so when elected). However, Texas as a whole is the absolute nadir of "do everything big business wants and who cares about the environment or individual citizens or anything beyond the next quarterly earnings statement" attitude.
4) Religion. "Christian, evangelical" is the presumptive default setting. Some of them don't mean any harm by; plenty do. This also feeds into the politics in an extremely ugly "So, how's that establishment clause working out for you, again?" way. See the recent defeat of the City of Houston's HERO ordinance at the polls.
Basically, if you have an economically or socially progressive bone in your body, living in Texas means you will be, on a regular basis, questioning whether your stomach acid really needs to be that particular pH.
I have a job I really like, but if not for that I wouldn't stay here long. I've given serious consideration to leaving anyway. Knowing what I do, if I lived elsewhere, I'd never move here if I had any other reasonable option.
posted by sourcequench at 9:43 AM on November 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Positives are cheap housing (though rapidly getting less so), low cost of living in general, abundant jobs in the tech sector, great (and highly diverse) grocery shopping, and good options for dining out. There are also three good renaissance fairs (Sherwood, TRF and Scarby) within striking distance, if you're into that.
Negatives include but are not limited to:
1) The weather. I cannot overstate just how miserable this place is eight (or more) months out of the year. Like being outside? Too bad. Outside is what you dash through to get from one air-conditioned space to another if you absolutely can't avoid it.
2) Traffic. Sucks, but maybe not comparable to LA. Still, there are plenty of other options where you won't spend multiple hours a week in traffic.
2b) Transportation. Private car is your only option. Public transportation is either completely absent or uselessly slow except in very limited cases. Cycling or walking is out -- there's no safe place to do it, and most of the year you're courting heat stroke anyway.
3) Politics. The big cities are nominally blue (you will recall noddingly that Houston's current mayor is gay and was openly so when elected). However, Texas as a whole is the absolute nadir of "do everything big business wants and who cares about the environment or individual citizens or anything beyond the next quarterly earnings statement" attitude.
4) Religion. "Christian, evangelical" is the presumptive default setting. Some of them don't mean any harm by; plenty do. This also feeds into the politics in an extremely ugly "So, how's that establishment clause working out for you, again?" way. See the recent defeat of the City of Houston's HERO ordinance at the polls.
Basically, if you have an economically or socially progressive bone in your body, living in Texas means you will be, on a regular basis, questioning whether your stomach acid really needs to be that particular pH.
I have a job I really like, but if not for that I wouldn't stay here long. I've given serious consideration to leaving anyway. Knowing what I do, if I lived elsewhere, I'd never move here if I had any other reasonable option.
posted by sourcequench at 9:43 AM on November 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
I live in Austin and as everyone so far as said - it isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I am seriously thinking of leaving. holyland and sourcequench hit the nail on the head - it's not that cool and weird anymore, traffic sucks, it's expensive and did people tell you how hot it is 8 months out of 12? Not to mention the gun-toting crazy evangelical "Christians". Texas is not all that it's cracked up to be.
posted by ATX Peanut at 12:17 PM on November 10, 2015
posted by ATX Peanut at 12:17 PM on November 10, 2015
I'm a Texan (dallas specifically) and I am very happy here. I think the city has a lot to offer, I love my neighborhood and neighbors, I live within easy walking distance of 2 grocery stores, a fruiteria, a specialty store and a wal-mart, tons of bars and local restaurants, coffee shops, a bakery, a popsicle store, my gym and plenty of other things. If I'm willing to drive there are lots of other options for food, entertainment, arts, festivals, okay outdoor space, etc., etc., etc.
But there are plenty of negatives too- It can be incredibly hot here in the summer and the summer can be very long, it's a red state and you can never really forget that even when deep into urban-blue areas.
Mostly, the biggest negative I see is that moving as an adult is HARD. Without easy opportunities to meet and make friends, I think you might struggle and even an introvert would probably some social life. If you're passionate and excited and really willing to go out of your way to meet people it would probably be fine, but if you're already feeling ambivalent then I think it might be harder than you are anticipating.
If you have any Dallas questions let me know.
posted by sarahsayssoo at 1:59 PM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
But there are plenty of negatives too- It can be incredibly hot here in the summer and the summer can be very long, it's a red state and you can never really forget that even when deep into urban-blue areas.
Mostly, the biggest negative I see is that moving as an adult is HARD. Without easy opportunities to meet and make friends, I think you might struggle and even an introvert would probably some social life. If you're passionate and excited and really willing to go out of your way to meet people it would probably be fine, but if you're already feeling ambivalent then I think it might be harder than you are anticipating.
If you have any Dallas questions let me know.
posted by sarahsayssoo at 1:59 PM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've lived in Houston since 1992, and I second everything sourcequench said. Houston is rapidly becoming as hip as Austin - frankly, at this point it may be more hip, but you don't realize it if you don't live here and regularly explore parts of the city that were previously boring - but it still has all the awful qualities mentioned by sourcequench. I'm working on moving away from here, and I wouldn't recommend anyone move here unless they absolutely couldn't find a job anywhere else.
That said, if you do end up in Houston, let us know. We have a great group of MeFites here, and while we don't get together as often as we should, we stay in touch via Facebook and Twitter, and I count local MeFites to be among my best friends in the area.
(Which reminds me, we still need to have our 2014 Houston Secret Quonsar Party. We tend to run a little behind.)
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:57 PM on November 10, 2015
That said, if you do end up in Houston, let us know. We have a great group of MeFites here, and while we don't get together as often as we should, we stay in touch via Facebook and Twitter, and I count local MeFites to be among my best friends in the area.
(Which reminds me, we still need to have our 2014 Houston Secret Quonsar Party. We tend to run a little behind.)
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:57 PM on November 10, 2015
Oh, and I would put Karbach Brewery's Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter up against anything Utah has to offer.
And I agree with hoyland about Austin.
posted by MexicanYenta at 12:09 AM on November 11, 2015
And I agree with hoyland about Austin.
posted by MexicanYenta at 12:09 AM on November 11, 2015
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I can't recommend Dallas or Houston, having never spent time there. But from what I've heard they're both heavy on traffic and other things that make city living shitty. We moved to SA two years ago from the Midwest and are in love with it! Plus, no state income tax.
posted by wwartorff at 7:07 PM on November 9, 2015