Well, I’ve lived in Texas since April of 1997, so I’m going with Texas things. I probably also won’t stop at three.
Jobs- I moved here because the job market was more robust than Florida at the time when I was looking. It took about 4.5 months to land something decent but that’s still better than anything I was experiencing pre move. In fact, it was a contract work position my dad had here that had me looking at Texas in the first place.
Cost of living- This is really more Houston than the other Texas cities but it was so much cheaper here than the alternatives I was considering in NJ/NY and DC. It’s become more expensive, especially as homeowners subjected to the high taxation, but things like gas and groceries are still significantly cheaper than other states.
Food- I’m still a Jersey girl who misses all of the yummy goodness in the NY Metro area but between Tex Mex, true Mexican food, steaks, chili, barbecue, Louisiana crossover cuisine and even the significant German and Czech influences … well, we have phenomenal food.
Honorable mentions…
- A busy cruise port that’s an easy drive from home
- Tons of sports, from college to pro. It’s also nice that outdoor sports, like softball, can be a year round thing for us
- While I’m not a beach person, we do have them, and you can get pretty blue water if you’re willing to drive a bit to get away from the silt of the Mississippi
- While it’s a bit of a drive from our location, we’re only one state away from skiing (NM)
- We have two National Parks as well as a state park with a bison herd
- Bluebonnet and wildflower season, in general, is beautiful
- Blue Bell- OK, you know I’m not a real Texan because it’s not my favorite ice cream. Still, it makes so many people i know happy, so gratitude for their joy.
- Rodeo- Each year there is a massive, multi week, rodeo. It’s really not my thing but it does a lot of good for FFA kids as well as a wide variety of vendors. The concert lineup has not been to my liking in recent years, but it was really good in my early years and is so much more than country. Because of the rodeo, I’ve seen entertainment like Barry Manilow, Def Lepard, and Tony Bennett.
I’m sure there’s more but I won’t bore you
