What is it like to live in Texas?

[lax16]

Texas is great! I echo what others have said. I grew up in Texas and am raising my family here. I grew up in Fort Worth but now live in Houston. I’ve been pretty much all over the state. It is very diverse. People are friendly. Life is good and affordable. Houses are cheaper than in Utah. Lots of Baptists here, but there are more Catholics the further south you go.

It sounds great!!!

People complain about the weather, but I think people complain about the weather no matter where one lives. Yes, it gets hot in the summer, and summer never seems to end. However, **everything **is air conditioned. I know someone who has an air conditioned dog house. We just get up and do outside things in the morning, have a slow Southern afternoon, and come back out in the evening. Winters are not really too bad. We can have quick weather changes when fronts come through the plains. The wild flowers in the spring are glorious.

Are there people out in the summer? We lived in Las Vegas (Henderson) for 13 years and I couldn’t take the summers with the kids being indoors all day.

Coming from Utah, you will appreciate that no one will look at you weird if you order an iced tea at lunch or a beer at dinner. No one will really care all that much about where you go to church. Texas is a conservative state but we have a strong libertarian streak. Most people are very much “live and let live”.

That sounds absolutely refreshing!!!
People around here get really mad if you have a cup of coffee.

I love that combination of conservative and libertarian. I guess that is why I am so drawn to Texas.

Being former LDS and having lived in Utah for college, I appreciate where you are coming from, and you will likely find Texas to be quite liberating. Feel free to PM me.

I really appreciate your perspective. It has been hard living here even though there are many nice things about Utah.
Liberating sounds absolutely wonderful about now! I’m ready for a change.

 

[lax16]

Burt Macklin said:

“Houston is miles of flat, boring wasteland and Texas sized ghettos.”

Or, to look at it differently, miles of lush, tropical suburbs. I haven’t lived there, so this is just a from-the-window-of-a-car impression. Houston’s humidity is ferocious, right?

“Expect your waste line to expand a little if you make the move.”

My doctor made the same warning. He thought that the combination of fried food and food-centered Baptist socializing are a dangerous combination.

I have to say, just about everything tastes better deep-fried. (Case in point–okra.)

“On the plus side, jobs are plentiful and homes are cheap. Houston is probably the only town where a poor schlub like myself could hope to be gainfully employed with a nice home. In other parts of the country I would be struggling to even get by. You have to take the good with the bad I suppose.”

Yes. Texas is GREAT for people with moderate incomes–inexpensive, but with actual employment. That is a rare combination these days. Cost-of-living was why we left DC–I was discovering that it was close to impossible to find a house in a decent neighborhood for under $400k. You would not believe how many $475-495k houses in slummy neighborhoods that I visited, back in the day.

California is crazy expensive as well. It takes the fun out of things!

 

[lax16]

It depends on what partof Texas. I’m in the south by the gulf. Weather here is hot and humid 90% of the year. I hate it. This winter was such a welcome change.
Where I live is pretty welcoming to new comers. Pleanty of parishes to choose from.

Utah is super dry. My eye doctor told me that my eyes are too dry from living here. I guess that keeps things comfortable but can cause other problems as well.

It is great to hear that there are plenty of parishes to choose from. Here in Utah, we have several, but not so many!

 

[lax16]

According to my sister, Hot and miserable. According to some recent reading on my part, not a bad place if you want a decent socioeconomic boost, as jobs are easier to find and pay better for the cost of living. But it depends on where you live and what you do.

For myself, I could never even consider it. Too hot.

That is the one thing I consistently hear about Texas - too hot.

However, if the people are nice it just might not matter so much!

 

[lax16]

I love the bayous, the piney woods and the coastal plains. Ain’t nothin’ better than gettin’ out of the city to enjoy the expansive night sky full of stars.

Houston is humid, but it also doesn’t get above 100 all that often (unlike in San Antonio or D/FW where it is not so humid). If it does, the humidity is also way down. The humidity is great for my skin and hair. The desert of Utah caused all kinds of damage to my hair, even when I let it dry naturally. Everything is air conditioned. If I think about my typical day, I rarely venture outside when the heat is unbearable. I go from air conditioned house to garage to air conditioned car to parking garage to air conditioned office building and then back home. Evenings are not so bad and are spent outside. On the weekends, we spend the mornings outside, come back in for lunch, spend the afternoons in the house then venture back outside in the evening.

Agree about everything tasting better deep fried, especially okra. We had deep fried bacon at the Rodeo. What a combo!

You can buy a nice home in a good neighborhood for under $200k. $400+ practically will buy you a mansion.

#1 reason to leave Utah for Texas - no inversions in the winter.

Actually, it was the inversion this past winter that has pushed me over the edge.

The smell of the air was so disgusting - it actually gets in your mouth.

I am ready for some good food - Utah is not so good when it comes to food.

 

[lax16]

Houston weather is miserable for 3-4 months out of the year. No getting around that one

Biking and walking are still a foreign concept here and food is plentiful and cheap. You might live across the street from a shopping center but still have to drive because there is no infrastructure for crossing the road.

Suburbs of Katy, Sugar Land, Woodlands, Kingwood all have affordable homes and good schools. I remember looking in New Orleans and I would have had to spend close to 350k to get a comparable home to the one I have here for 190k.

Great tips - I just love reading all the stuff you guys are telling me about Texas!!

 

[lax16]

sandy. sometimes smells of cow poop especially near amarillo. But overall it seems a very diverse climate with many a friendly folk. I know of very many awesome parishes.

What places have the best parishes and weather, in your opinion?

 

[lax16]

I’m not a native Texan, but I love this state.

Texas is a wonderful huge state with diversity in just about everything … race, religion, climate, food, , etc. Texans are a proud bunch. Sometimes to the extent of being blowhards.

My advice is to pay more attention to those with positive offerings about this state, rather than the naysayers.

I live in Amarillo. Perhaps the real " Windy City". But, consists of wonderful people, low humidity , reasonable cost of living and low unemployment.

It’s 5-6 hours to mountains, skiing, or fly fishing or whatever else people enjoy .

Consider this about this large, wonderful state to give you an idea about its size… It’s about the same distance from Amarillo to Chicago, as it is from Amarillo to Brownsville. Tx

My husband and I stopped in Amarillo driving through Texas on our honeymoon 22 years ago! I remember I had ribs at the Chili’s there.

You are right to pay attention to the positives. However, the problem we made when we moved to Utah is that we paid attention to the wrong negatives. I like to hear it all - the good and the bad!

 

[lax16]

iepuras said:

“Houston is humid, but it also doesn’t get above 100 all that often (unlike in San Antonio or D/FW where it is not so humid). If it does, the humidity is also way down.”

Exactly–in our area, also, there seems to be an inverse relationship between the heat and the humidity. Our most humid days are often in the high 70s or in the 80s, while the 100+ degree days are very dry and oven-like. So you don’t have to deal with high humidity and super high temperatures at the same time.

Oh, and nobody has mentioned the bugs yet.

“This is one of the largest common cockroaches in Texas, reaching 1-1/2 to 2 inches.”

insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg22.html

That’s not including the antennae, either.

The first time I visited our town in Texas, a future colleague of my husband was walking me around a rental house that had been vacant for a while. I noticed some huge dead bugs.

Me: Are those roaches?

Husband’s future colleague: Everything’s bigger in Texas.

Now, if there is one thing I have to say about Utah is that we really don’t have many bugs.

No mosquitoes to speak of, no fleas, no cockroaches, just spiders.

There are huge cockroaches in Palm Springs, as well. Scared our dog even.

 

[lax16]

There are also poisonous snakes in places where you wouldn’t expect them. Our family has seen a diamond back just blending into the leaves in a big city park and my husband was once very surprised to find another poisonous snake (copperhead?) underneath an archery target, also in the same big city park.

As soon as you have any sort of nature at all (or even in newish suburban neighborhoods), you start seeing that kind of thing. Not all the time, but it does happen. Some friends discovered that the rattling noise coming from their suburban driveway at night was (of course) a rattlesnake which was enjoying the warm asphalt.

The further south, the more scorpions, I’ve heard. They’re not a big deal.

 

[lax16]

Great city, but lets be honest, if Houston gets beat up for being too hot 3 months of the year, one from Amarillo should admit to it being way to dang cold 3-5 months of the year.

I could see myself living in almost any part of Texas. A great state to live in.

Did you know: that when you are in Texarkana, you are closer to the Atlantic ocean than El Paso. When you are in El Paso you are closer to the Pacific ocean than Texarkana. When you are in Brownsville, you are closer to Mexico city than Dalhart. And when you are in Dalhart, you are closer to Canada than Brownsville. So yes: lots of diversity in geography. Lots of diversity in ethnicities. But more importantly, not much diversity it how nice people are in the state.

And if you ignore Austin, there are not too many wackos (just joking).

Nice people sounds really good!

 

[lax16]

A good book:

amazon.com/Texas-Got-Right-Sam-Wyly/dp/1595910743/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395253352&sr=1-1&keywords=how+texas+got+it+right

BTW, as far as the Catholic element of the Great State. In general, you will find the parishes in Texas to be more conservative and traditional than most other parts of the country, certainly than the Midwest. Of course that is a generalization, but the pattern is certainly there. It is unfortunate that Texas cities tend to have higher tuition rates at Catholic schools than many other parts of the country. I do not know why, but based on what we pay around here, and what relatives and friends elsewhere pay, that pattern also seems to hold valid. Lots of very full churches on Sundays, we need more parishes in the larger cities due to the very large immigrant population. Parts of the state (eg the northeast) is still very much predominantly protestant. But it seems that almost all anti-Catholic sentiment is gone from the state.

Thanks for the book recommendation!

What are the churches like - are they beautiful and traditional or more modern?

 

[lax16]

Let me tell you about my city. In general, San Antonio, TX, has good weather. Sometimes it will get really hot…a few times in may get really cold. But generally we have a temperate climate.

Is very humid in San Antonio?

As far as things to do in San Antonio…well…what can you imagine? We have a highly commercialized river bank—the River Walk. We have professional sports teams, namely basketball, as well as college football. Museums downtown as well a professional symphony orchestra and chorus. I think there is also a rodeo in town. Finally we also have an extensive City of San Antonio Park System, some of them are located near the public libraries—so there is a double source of leisure right there.

Do the locals walk around the River Walk or is it more tourists?

As far as Catholic life is concerned, I would highly invite everyone to visit my own parish at least once: Our Lady of the Atonement (Roman) Catholic Church, the first Anglican Use parish in the country and indeed the world. There is also the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Little Flower (I will let those who have attended comment). I am also told that St. Mary Claret Catholic Church has beautiful liturgy, and from their website, it appears they have an SATB choir which sings occasionally. Eastern Catholics include the St. George Maronite Catholic Church as well as a Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic community which meets on the first, third, and fifth Sunday of each month for Divine Liturgy and every Lenten Friday for Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (google St. Anastasia the Great Martyr Byzantine Catholic Community). There is also a Syro-Malabar Catholic parish in north San Antonio (I have not been here). Another community of note is the TLM community, which I think celebrates the Sung Mass at least once a month (I will need to check that place out myself). They are currently meeting at St. Pius X Catholic Church, though it is an archdiocesan parish, not an SSPX one.

Thanks for this!

Another city I would recommend (about 4 hours east of San Antonio) would be Galveston, near Houston. It has beaches, so if you are interested in that kind of thing, check that place out. It does get kind of humid there.

Thank you!

 

[lax16]

You bet. We DO have cold weather here in Amarillo, but except for every 6-7 years we don’t have enough snow to paralyze the city. And that would just be for 24-48 hours.

However, when folks down state get heat, we do too but with much less humidity. I grew up in the Hill Country. A great place for newbies to move to.

Thanks!

 

[lax16]

St. Mary’s at Texas A&M has more vocations to the priesthood or religious life than a lot of Catholic universities.

aggiecatholic.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=222

Yes, I have heard that there is a very dynamic presence on campus. Awesome!

 

[lax16]

Speaking of bugs, watch out for fire ants. Seriously they are nasty little buggers and live just about everywhere in giant ant hill mounds.
When I lived in Texas I found the people to be very proud of their state and also friendly. The weather in Houston was very hot and humid from May to October but the winter is mild and not humid. San Antonio in the summer can be so humid it takes your breath away.

It appears that the bugs and the humidity are a couple of the negative aspects of Texas.

 

[Xantippe]

lax16 said:

“Are there people out in the summer? We lived in Las Vegas (Henderson) for 13 years and I couldn’t take the summers with the kids being indoors all day.”

Not really, except in the very early morning and later evening (which is unfortunately when the mosquitoes are busy). I mean, it is possible to survive a trek across a Walmart parking lot under the midday sun, but you really don’t want to spend any unnecessary time outside from about 10-5.

We do a lot of summer camps with our kids and especially swim lessons. We’ve also bought water park season passes two years running, which are very affordable when you spend a lot of time there. We also have a membership at the children’s museum and we have a $2 discount movie theater (50 cents on Tuesdays, I believe). With one thing and another, we get through the summer OK. I should probably mention that school starts really early in a lot of places (mid or late August) and ends really early (end of May).

Visiting Northern relatives and friends in the summer is also very popular. If you clue them in to the fact that you routinely have 70+ degree days in the winter and are happy to have visitors, it may work out brilliantly. We have grandmas and grandpas in the Pacific Northwest that we normally visit that time of year.

Oh yeah, and we have chiggers. I had never encountered them elsewhere in the US, so it was a surprise to discover that fairly often when I was trying to do yard work, I’d wind up with this ring of fire around my ankles.

boyslife.org/outdoors/wilderness-first-aid-qa/29247/how-do-you-treat-chigger-bites/

 

[lax16]

It also depends how big a city you want.

Dallas has everything in it, but it takes around an hour to get from any two points. (At least in my limited experience.) We have discovered that when we do trips there, it’s best to just choose a single destination, because otherwise you spend too much time in the car.

I personally prefer a town in the six digits where you can get from end to end in 20 minutes. We can always visit the big city, as needed.

We live in a city of about 90k and I like it. However, we are surrounded by many other cities.

 

[Xantippe]

Oh, and stay hydrated.

We had some relatives visiting who weren’t drinking enough water, and they really didn’t do well.

 

[1ke]

Thanks for the book recommendation!

What are the churches like - are they beautiful and traditional or more modern?

I’m afraid that it is difficult to grasp the size of TX. The answer is “all of the above”. And recommending an individual parish is really not practical. You would need to determine where you were moving for overall purposes-- job, etc-- and then select a parish based on where you end up moving.

There are 146 parishes just in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston alone (not counting the Eastern Rite Churches, of which there are also a good number).

archgh.org/Our-Church/About-Us/Statistics/