Texas or California..if you had to choose which would you move to?

[picklesrule]

Just that really..A move to the US looks likely and these are the two most likely candidates..just wanted some opinions on weather/lifestyle/living costs and schools..everything really!!

DH is keen on Texas as we could get a lot more for our money there he thinks(?) but I'm concerned about the heat and it's impact in an outdoor lifestyle And drawn to California for that.

Also I know very little about the two states but assume Cali the more liberal, less religious etc which would be more my cup of tea..is that accurate or just a gross generalisation?!

Any info gratefully received!

Minnesota. :o

But seriously, though I'm American I've never been to either. I think both have their great and not-so-great aspects. Will you get to choose which part of the state you move to?

I have lived in Texas as a child, and visited CA for a three week holiday as an adult. My instinct would be CA, especially for outdoor sports and less harsh weather.

Lived in Chicago for a couple of years. I'd go for California bit more laid back than Texas. But most importantly California has the Napa Valley!

Have visited California and loved it there - if I were moving to America would choose California :)

To state the bleeding obvious, both are huge huge places. I'd pick SF over Houston, but Austin over LA. I wouldn't be able to pick "England vs Scotland", do you mean Burnley, Exeter, Catford, Kendal?
In general I'd pick California though, just not LA.

I've lived in Texas (Galveston) and totally loved it. It was extremely humid as well as being hot, to the extent that my glasses would steam up when I stepped from air conditioned building to the outside. So everywhere has air conditioning all the time otherwise in the summer you would be literally dripping with sweat! In the summer swimming in the ocean is like swimming in warm soup.

It is lovely in late autumn/spring though. Just like a nice summer's day in UK, not too hot. I think California is like that all the time! I have some friends who live in Texas who long to move back to California but property much cheaper in Texas so they'd have to downsize.

I've only visited California as a tourist. Disliked LA (too smoggy, full of sky scrapers) but loved San Francisco.

I'd go for California, but would also love to move to Texas too! Lucky you to have that choice.

Well, they're both the size of many countries! So need more specifics on which towns.

Generally I'd say California though.

I don't think you could ever pay me enough to live in Texas, and I'm American (east coast)

I've heard Northern California is fabulous.

But so are parts of Texas. They definitely have their own "big" culture there. :) From what I've heard, anyway.

Thanks all! Yes aware that my question is a bit too general can't quite get my head around how big everywhere is in the states!

If Texas it would be Dallas or just to the north of Dallas I think..if California it would be somewhere near Palo Alto area
Any knowledge of those areas would be great!!

I understand schools vary hugely from district to district..are there many international schools generally? And do they tend to be well regarded or are you better off with a great state/private school using the American system?
Thanks all..

North California is great. I lived in the Palo Alto area for nearly five years while doing my PhD ( a few years ago now). Don't fancy Texas and never met anyone from outside Texas who did, though I think Houston is supposed to be quite pleasant. I visited Dallas once briefly, years ago. No sense of a city centre at all. TOTALLy different from San Francisco, which pretty much everyone loves.

Palo Alto area very expensive though, as you know.

Dreamingbohemian what puts you off Texas?
My general impression is that Ca or somewhere coastal would be more our cup of tea (liberal, less religious, less of a backwater I guess) but DH thinks I'm grossly generalising and parts of Texas are not like that at all..

We had to decide between Dallas and San Diego, it was an easy decision for me. Texas has big weather, big bugs and humidity in spades. None of which I like. Tornadoes scare the shit out of me and most of my friends in TX don't have basements. It is an extremely red state and I bleed liberal (I didn't in England BTW) because the States is sooooo conservative and TX is a prime example. You have to work hard to be bitten by a mossie here. In TX they have flying cockroaches.

You do get more for your money, true, but to make a huge generalisation, if an area is really popular to people they will pay more to live there. If one is more expensive than the other then it is often because more people would rather live there than the other place.

It would totally depend where you were going to be though. I would choose a few places in TX over Bakersfield frinstance. Once you know where it would be ask again and also ask at the city-data forums.

Most Americans think it was a slam dunk between our choices. Most Texans I know ask 'why didn't you come to Texas?!?!' -- when I tell them about big bugs and the weather they absolutely concede it.

Oh god, if you can afford it, Palo Alto in a heartbeat.

I just answered you on another thread. Definitely with CheefulYank on this one. I live in Tx and we have - heat - 30 degrees again today, and its only going to get hotter and more humid. So no playing outside. Mosquitos and bugs. The bugman comes to spray the inside of my house every 6 weeks to keep the bugs out. In the main, only one political party is tolerated here. . The car is king. Drive-through everything - banks, drycleaners, etc. Big hair was big in the 1980s, and you still see it sometimes.

Thanks all..wentshopping the bugs sound horrid.. And the heat not great..we have lived in Indonesia previously so at least used to it but I was hoping to move somewhere with a more normal climate!! Hadn't realised Tx got so hot for so long..what do kids do about playing sports etc?
Think my DH is being attracted by lower taxes, bigger houses etc in Tx but not looking at the other Aspects as closely..will show him these opinions..got any pics of those bugs that will scare him

California every time
Texas too conservative & too hot

I could never live in Texas (just look at their elected governors) although I hear Austin is actually okay. California can be lovely but very expensive.

Oh my god, Palo Alto vs Dallas is no competition!

I admit, as an east coaster I am very biased But Texas generally is extremely conservative -- not just politically, but socially, in a way that I think would be very hard for Brits to deal with. Guns, death penalty, homophobia, fundamentalism, yes I am generalising a huge deal but these things are basically more acceptable there and I would personally not want my kids going to school there and thinking these are all normal things.

I think it would be a bit narrow-minded to just look at house size and property and not consider the broader environment.

Put it this way, people from Texas are very proud of being from Texas and like to go on about seceding from the country and having their own republic.... and pretty much everyone in the northeast would be happy to see them go

apologies to anyone from Texas I've offended, feel free to slag off NY if you like!

But by the same token, the Southerners who aren't the stereotype are so genuinely kind and fun. No one throws a better party. :o

It's funny, how different the regions are. Of course in Minnesota we've got terrible bugs too, and guns all over the place.

Good luck with your decision! I think the laid back vibe of Palo Alto would be great. :)

Thanks all. Think DH has just been looking at statistics so far rather than the actual feel of the places iyswim as obviously much harder to judge that from afar..
So I guess financially Texas looks the better bet but from a social/lifestyle perspective CA has to be winning!
Lots to think about.. we have a while before any decisions have to be made as still finishing another posting so could all change I guess!

One other question..where do people look (on internet) for houses to rent? Is there a right move equivalent? Found Trulia but it doesn't seem to have a huge number of rentals. Does that tend to be something you have to look for on the ground? We'll have relocation agents so not too big a deal but like to get looking at what kind of places there are!

Try www.craigslist.org for rentals and all kinds of stuff. It gives an idea of costs, but don't send any money till you go in a house and view for yourself. There are always scams everywhere.

I am American and I'd have to vote for neither state, to be honest.

I lived in Texas for 8 years and it was dreadful. Hot and miserable, and very very "Texan". Some people love it, but for me it was every Southern/Texan stereotype brought to life.

California is a lovely place to visit, absolutely gorgeous--but very expensive, crowded and dealing with a mess of budgeting and governmental problems (DH lived there while going to Uni and says he wouldn't return)