Would you move to Texas for USD 5k more a month

[Constance17]

DH has been offered a job in U.S, we have children aged 6 & 8. What concerns you most?

If you’re white, wealthy and religious (or at least faux religious) I’m sure it’s all good.

Right . . . no brown people in Texas.

Almost one in four Texans have Hispanic ancestry. Texas also has one of the largest AA populations in the country. Houston and Dallas are both 24% AA.

I have a clients brown Muslims, who goes to spend Ramadan with their Houston based daughters (both married) annually. They love it there, and visit the mosque down the street, daily while there.

Watching with interest OP as I have been offered a role in the US, the first year I’d be based in Texas and then would move up to DC. The money is life changing for me but I’m really not keen on Texas, wondering if I could stick it for a year!

I'm in the US and I posted way earlier that I would not move to Texas (heat guns politics) but I think I would for a year if the money was life-changing and then you had a move to DC on the cards. That year may be lovely (as well as hot and culturally shocking) -people in the US are so friendly and companies/ neighbours/churches/ schools/community groups work hard to create true communities that welcome everyone.

Most of the stuff that was posted on this thread about US education and its inferiority to the wonderful British system just tells me that British arrogance is alive and well and has never left home even for a day trip. I suspect most of those posters are not Scottish though so a bit unfair to say British maybe.

I'm quite blown away by this thread some replies are quite something.
I'm worried about stabbings in the south east, drugs social media, bombings pavement mounted van attacks, guns aren't the only way our kids can get hurt.

Sorry if I've missed it but where in Texas are you thinking of living?
A close friend of DH made the move and the difference in lifestyle has had a really positive influence on him. He misses the UK history and cultural arts and that wasn't something he was expecting but the city he's in has so much to do.
His neighbourhood is very family friendly with easy access to trails and parks as well as being easy to get into the city.
There are things to get used to but plenty to enjoy as well. One thing i like thwt sounds so silly is that going to sports fixtures is affordable. DS was able to enjoy games of well known teams at short notice with affordable tickets.
After our visit my DS last year was desperate to move out there. He enjoyed so much about it as did our daughter.
I do think there is a culture in Texas, the food, the outdoor lifestyle, family time.
Health insurance packages are often included in expat packages
Housing isn't necessarily cheaper but what you can get for your money because of the space they have out there is often better.

Faffandahalf I don't doubt your fears, but it's worth mentioning that Texas is home to one of the United States' largest and fastest growing Muslim populations. There were 338 mosques in Texas as of 2018, and there is a growing awareness of Texas Muslims as a voting bloc. Muslim student associations have been in existence on University of Texas campuses since the late 1960s.

Oh I'd just love that. Go for it.

Namingetiquette
I don't buy this British kids are more educated shit, if that were the case, why are Americans far more innovative? Why are Americans leaders in technology and science?

I believe Mutinerie may have hit on the answer...
Finally parents have a very different approach towards parenting. Very few limits, very few interactions with reality, like every kid is gifted and gets a medal, basically parents protect their kids from every possible frustration. I don't think this is very healthy.

Finally parents have a very different approach towards parenting. Very few limits, very few interactions with reality, like every kid is gifted and gets a medal, basically parents protect their kids from every possible frustration. I don't think this is very healthy.

I have no idea if you are referencing British or American parenting because there are definitely a large % of parents obsessed with catchments and their little angels getting everything they are entitled to here. Another thing I will say is that a lot of Brits let their kids run wild, and bring their babies with shitty diapers in to Starbucks for other patrons to enjoy. I can honestly say I have never seen the amount of babies in any American Starbucks that I have seen in the UK.

Hmmmmm. Just been on holidays in the US and met a few Texans. Not my type of people (Trumpists).

Custardee

Yep, it's August, and it's the month of Hell here in Texas. What you said is absolutely true, for four to six weeks. It's like living on the moon. You go from one air-conditioned space to another via car. He's what I did as a kid, and how I've handled it as a parent: You go outdoors in the morning and head back in by 10:30 or 11. Then, in the evening, like 7pm, you let the kids go out to play again. You take them to indoor play-places. It's not all bad. You can do the experiments that only work in extreme heat like frying an egg on the sidewalk and baking cookies on the dashboard of the car. When I was a kid, we would put the winter's snow in a container in the freezer. During August, we would get it back out, dump it on the concrete, and time how long it took for it to evaporate.

Just wanted to add that I am dark, and I've experienced negativity both in the UK and here. Don't act like it doesn't exist there.

DS will be doing French, music (and speciality in whatever he's chooses) and art classes when he starts school in September.

They also have a horticulture program. Also a strong sustainability program.

A class size of 6. He's already had a PT and two OT assessments (we have a full time OT at the school, which is 90 kids aged 6-18) and he's not even started yet.

Goddamn our shitty US schooling.

I have to say that chucking an iPhone at your kids and letting them run riot in restaurants just doesn't happen (from what I've seen) at all in the States.

I'm shocked when I go back to the UK at how little respect a lot of people have for themselves and each other. The amount of rubbish on the sides of the roads for starters.

Naming exactly.

I’m shocked reading some of these posts, they’re just awful and if they were referring to any other country they’d be deemed racist.

We’re here in the US for a month and I don’t recognise much of these posts,getting so tired re British Xenophobia and arrogance, it’s embarassing.

Firstly I don’t feel safe in London and felt a lot safer in NYC last week. Travelled the subway the whole time and didn’t get a whiff of any trouble and was met with kindness and courtesy the whole time. Now travelling around and ironically the only over indulgent loud parenting I’ve come across has been with UK families( a fair bit of whining too).

I’ve noticed US kids seem to enjoy nature, be dressed more like kids and have simpler expectations, they also don’t seem to be handed a phone every 5 minutes.

I’ve noticed how relaxed Americans are and how much they enjoy the outdoors and their stunning country. There is no stress when they have to queue or wait. They are so courteous and just get on with things.

Re Trump and guns. Anti Trump views are everywhere- in the papers, on TV, in shops.... Ditto the call to sort out gun control.

We sleepwalked into Boris , the shit show that is the Tories and Brexit. It doesn’t speak for all of us and neither does the homophobia and racism that is very much in existence in the UK.Trump and guns don’t speak for the whole of the US.

Re schools, we’re pretty similar on the Pisa tables to the US and nowhere near the top. We have nothing to crow about. The top world unis are all American.

Op I’d grab this chance and see some of the country, it’s stunning and the people are lovely. The food is lovely too and I’ve found it very easy to find healthy food. Meals out have been way better than the UK and they have Trader Joes.

@Owlbabie5 thank you so much for your post. It's made me a bit teary eyed. Yes there's some downsides to this country but I think there are more upsides. I moved here feeling a little hostile and more than a little superior. I'm ashamed of my previous prejudice, it really is an incredible country.

I would only move to Texas because I wanted to move to Texas; the money would be irrelevant. I have actually lived in America before; amazing scenery and entertainment possibilities. That's all I can say that was nice about my experience of living there.

Not enough money.

Trump and Johnson are peas in a pod. Both the US and UK are taking major strides to the right.

I wish I could say to you to not move to Texas and that things are much better here. A lot of what we take for granted - healthcare, welfare state - will disappear in the coming years. If the job and money are better in the US, the sensible move would be to take it.

The US is very big. NY is not the same as Texas.

I'd go and visit the actual place to get a feel for it before deciding, but I doubt I would. At least for now.
But then I don't live in the UK now.

Also consider all the costs, including health care. 5k more may not be enough.

@catsofdoom. You also have to realise that is not the norm. Our elementary has 1100 kids, no languages learned. Middle school has 2500 kids, no language options, let alone horticulture etc.. just the standard, band, drama, art and choir and then the core subjects Pre AP or academic stream. High schools, not there yet, but presume they’ll get a language, 3.500 kids. They get lost in the crowd.

But yes the support for children with additional needs is good. One of mine has had 2 assessments and ST. My toddler is getting ST now and when they turn 3 they’ll be taken over by the school district for free ST, if they still require it. They also provide free preK for children that need additional help before starting school formally at 5.

A lot is changing language provision in the UK in recent decades. Modern languages are quickly disappearing from schools in the UK.

The proportion of pupils sitting modern language GCSEs at the end of key stage 4 fell from 76% in 2002 to 47% in 2017.

Your children can end up being taught that evolution isn't true and that dinosaurs lived among humans.

Your children can end up being taught that evolution isn't true and that dinosaurs lived among humans.

Wtf?!!! 😂😂😂😂 I'm dying!

Whereas in many schools in the UK (mine included) you get taught dinosaurs didn't exist and a big bearded guy created the earth because women are unruly sluts.

I don’t recognize at all what people are saying about US schooling. Okay, so my children are in a state school in a wealthy CT suburb, but the parent body is highly educated, and the standards are incredibly high. My son started learning Spanish in K, and both Mandarin and French are studied in high school. The class sizes at elementary are 14-16, and I couldn’t be more impressed with the teachers.

Guns and Trump are roundly detested where I live. But yes, the state of affairs right now is vile, and who knows if I’d live here if my spouse wasn’t American.

To anyone suggesting that we "don't have history," we have quite a lot of historical points of interest. They just aren't European in nature. That's quite a colonial statement to make on your part. I'm very proud that some of my ancestors are from the tribes that are connected to this area. I'm sorry that you can't see their importance.

That's a hard no at the moment that country is unstable at the moment, having said that so is ours. Heaven help us all.