I'm an expat moving to the US in Texas, where do you recommend I relocate?

[RodNIc91]

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! :toast

[MultiTroll]

Can you co exist with Trumptards?

Some really nice country places but they are loaded with Magats.

Does the population of the town / city / area matter to you?

[Extra Stout]

The state is very large with wide variations among regions, and I don’t know where you’re coming from, why you’re coming, or what you’re accustomed to.

Parts of the state are filled with some of the shittiest swine masquerading as humans on earth.

[Millennial_Messiah]

South side of Dallas

[RodNIc91]

I'm currently living in Budapest with my gf. It's quite an international environment so something similar would be nice.

I've heard good things of Austin, so we're considering that. Also that would allow me to be close to San Antonio to go see the Spurs, but my gf is concerned about the shootings.

I'm moving because of working purposes, but I've been told it doesn't necessarily have to be Texas. Although considering taxes and the offer, I'm not sure there could be a better alternative.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I'm currently living in Budapest with my gf. It's quite an international environment so something similar would be nice.

I've heard good things of Austin, so we're considering that. Also that would allow me to be close to San Antonio to go see the Spurs, but my gf is concerned about the shootings.

I'm moving because of working purposes, but I've been told it doesn't necessarily have to be Texas. Although considering taxes and the offer, I'm not sure there could be a better alternative.

If you're a liberal and still don't like state tax, move to the State of Washington or New Hampshire. Texas is full and we all have lots of guns and like to shoot with them.

[baseline bum]

I'm currently living in Budapest with my gf. It's quite an international environment so something similar would be nice.

I've heard good things of Austin, so we're considering that. Also that would allow me to be close to San Antonio to go see the Spurs, but my gf is concerned about the shootings.

I'm moving because of working purposes, but I've been told it doesn't necessarily have to be Texas. Although considering taxes and the offer, I'm not sure there could be a better alternative.

Why are you concerned more about shootings in Austin vs other places in Texas? The two worst mass shootings in this area were in small towns, eg Uvalde (population 15,000) and Sutherland Springs (population 600).

[Adam Lambert]

The DFW area has affordable places to live and plenty of variety on neighborhoods, lifestyle, etc. in and around the suburbs. If you want to narrow your search I'd probably start there.

[DeadlyDynasty]

If you do happen to experience a mass shooting then do me a favor and use guitardude as a human shield

[MultiTroll]

If a person had a place on the Colorado River could they boat all the way into Austin?
Like what if you're way out like Highland Heaven?

[Mark Celibate]

oh boy

[Mark Celibate]

I'm gonna save the rant, but any big city in Texas is going to be a complete sh!thole, more particular, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston are a special kind and at that point you are moving into Mogadishu, Kabul, Riyadh, Baghdad, etc type of awful

[Adam Lambert]

I'm gonna save the rant, but any big city in Texas is going to be a complete sh!thole, more particular, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston are a special kind and at that point you are moving into Mogadishu, Kabul, Riyadh, Baghdad, etc type of awful

If you're generally afraid of people and having things to do for entertainment, definitely take Mark's advice here.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Why are you concerned more about shootings in Austin vs other places in Texas? The two worst mass shootings in this area were in small towns, eg Uvalde (population 15,000) and Sutherland Springs (population 600).

Typical liberals to shit on Texas but prop up Austin

[Millennial_Messiah]

If you're generally afraid of people and having things to do for entertainment, definitely take Mark's advice here.
Mark lives in the Glacier National Park area in NW Montana. So yeah. I guess hunting and watching ice melt is entertaining.

[Millennial_Messiah]

The DFW area has affordable places to live and plenty of variety on neighborhoods, lifestyle, etc. in and around the suburbs. If you want to narrow your search I'd probably start there.

It's gone way up in the past 15 years though. Way way up. Like Denton is still fairly affordable if you're not by the university iirc.

[FrostKing]

I'm currently living in Budapest with my gf. It's quite an international environment so something similar would be nice.

I've heard good things of Austin, so we're considering that. Also that would allow me to be close to San Antonio to go see the Spurs, but my gf is concerned about the shootings.

I'm moving because of working purposes, but I've been told it doesn't necessarily have to be Texas. Although considering taxes and the offer, I'm not sure there could be a better alternative.
This is a good start. Need a bit more information though.

Have you been to USA before - what did you like/dislike most.

Are you looking to possibly set roots here meaning you want affordable place that allows you to stockpile savings. But also means commuting to social areas

Or are you looking to enjoy your current life stage with the GF thus an expensive booming metro area is a must

USA has alot of options so finding a comfortable mix is possible.

[SnakeBoy]

https://clauswilke.com/dataviz/color_basics_files/figure-html/map-Texas-race-1.png
https://texasleftist.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/12/Texas-Counties-Af-Am-Pop-1024x802.jpg

[Millennial_Messiah]

*

[Millennial_Messiah]

^ SnakeBoy :tu

[Millennial_Messiah]

that's crazy how far republican those western counties are even with the Hispanic plurality / majority in a lot of those counties especially near the Permian basin.

[pgardn]

https://clauswilke.com/dataviz/color_basics_files/figure-html/map-Texas-race-1.png
https://texasleftist.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/12/Texas-Counties-Af-Am-Pop-1024x802.jpg


This is the kind of map(s) old Republican men who fear skin color will give you.
And at the same time leave out the fact that the largest ethnic group is not white, or black.
Its Hispanic. Texas has a border with Mexico. Who would have figured...

Fear and disinformation.
So along those lines I will take the liberty of telling you the poster of these maps had a massive stroke and his head rotted off.

[Trainwreck2100]

I'm currently living in Budapest with my gf. It's quite an international environment so something similar would be nice.

I've heard good things of Austin, so we're considering that. Also that would allow me to be close to San Antonio to go see the Spurs, but my gf is concerned about the shootings.

I'm moving because of working purposes, but I've been told it doesn't necessarily have to be Texas. Although considering taxes and the offer, I'm not sure there could be a better alternative.

there's nowhere like that here check out cost of living between here and some other states your interested in we don't have an income tax but our sales taxes and property taxes are high as fuck. You should also look into how much a commute you're comfortable with, everything here is far away. Also make sure that the health insurance for this new job ain't bad, you gf is fucked if she gets sick though

[Millennial_Messiah]

there's nowhere like that here check out cost of living between here and some other states your interested in we don't have an income tax but our sales taxes and property taxes are high as fuck. You should also look into how much a commute you're comfortable with, everything here is far away. Also make sure that the health insurance for this new job ain't bad, you gf is fucked if she gets sick though
His GF is fucked if she gets pregnant and isn't ready to go through with a pregnancy. Should probably move to the northeast or west coast imo.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Yeah Texas really fucks you over hard with property tax. Sales tax is about average and it's not too much to complain about. The property tax is among the worst in the country though. No income tax but the drivers are bad and summer is 8-9 months out of the year.

[SnakeBoy]

Also make sure that the health insurance for this new job ain't bad, you gf is fucked if she gets sick though

His girlfriend can get on an ACA plan during open enrollment. I hear they are great.


His GF is fucked if she gets pregnant and isn't ready to go through with a pregnancy. Should probably move to the northeast or west coast imo.

Only takes a road trip if she needs to kill a baby.

[baseline bum]

summer is 8-9 months out of the year.

Last year for sure but at least so far this year El Nino has been putting in work. Weird to still see green grass when it's nearly June.

[Extra Stout]

If your favorite thing about Hungary is Viktor Orban, you’ll love Texas. Except Austin.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Last year for sure but at least so far this year El Nino has been putting in work. Weird to still see green grass when it's nearly June.

It's hot but it's not as stupid hot as last year or say 2011. But it's been too wet imo. You either get too hot or too wet. I like summer days to be in the 70s with cool nights and reasonable amount of dryness and low humidity days.

[Millennial_Messiah]

His girlfriend can get on an ACA plan during open enrollment. I hear they are great.



Only takes a road trip if she needs to kill a baby.
ACA-Obamacare plans are terrible, I would know. The network is extremely limited and often you have to drive hours for basic care, god forbid specialists.

A clump of cells that can't survive outside of the womb isn't a baby.

[Extra Stout]

His GF is fucked if she gets pregnant and isn't ready to go through with a pregnancy. Should probably move to the northeast or west coast imo.
The West Coast cities’ downtowns are all trashed and full of homeless drug addict zombies. Retailers are pulling out left and right.

That leaves the Northeast.

[Millennial_Messiah]

The West Coast cities’ downtowns are all trashed and full of homeless drug addict zombies. Retailers are pulling out left and right.

That leaves the Northeast.
yup, the West Coast Democrat leaders have steadily ran the area (sad, the weather there is generally pleasant) into a post-apocalyptic dystopian reality in the past few decades.

While the Northeast Democrats run their places more similar to how European countries and cities are run, the democrats on the West coast are just outright nuts and like you said, zombies.

It all starts at the top. The hobo zombies and trashed, looted, vandalized streets in places like Cali, Portland, and Seattle didn't just come out of nowhere.

[Millennial_Messiah]

The Northeast is indeed the most European in terms of climate, weather, political policy, and also just ethnically and in general. It should always be the natural starting point for anyone moving from Europe.

Boston is a good starter city/metro imo for people moving from Europe. The tax is moderate for US standards but mild for European standards. The climate is similar to most of Europe, especially Western Europe and the UK. There's lots of jobs there. Cost of living isn't cheap but it isn't insane like some places and it's on par with most European cities.

[Extra Stout]

So anyway, if you want a diverse, dense, European-style city with an international feel and lots of amenities walking distance away or within reach of public transportation, don’t move to Texas at all. Not even Austin. Stick to the Northeast like MM says.

If you want American-style living with a large house in an anodyne suburban area using an automobile to get where you need to go, then any large Texas city will do. Austin is the most “hip,” being a liberal college town with extensive nightlife. Houston is a really good foodie city, and has a good arts scene, and is leafy and green, but the climate is hot and very humid, with a good solid four months with high temperatures over 35 C. Think India. Also, it is enormous, with sometimes an hour drive on the freeway to get across town. Dallas is similar to Houston, just as sprawling, but not as humid, not as green, with not as good an arts scene. San Antonio has more of a small-town feel despite being the same size as Austin. The pace of life is slower. The culture is a blend of Mexico and Texas.

All these Texas cities also have what we call “gentrified” areas, where older parts of town have been refurbished and the poor have been pushed elsewhere. These provide a measure of city living, with nice flats, though not with all the urban amenities of a European alpha city.

[SnakeBoy]

It's hot but it's not as stupid hot as last year or say 2011. But it's been too wet imo. You either get too hot or too wet. I like summer days to be in the 70s with cool nights and reasonable amount of dryness and low humidity days.

Too wet? Where in Texas are you? SA area is still in extreme & exceptional drought.

We have gotten El Nino rain yet. That usually doesn't come until fall. Then we will be talking about all of the flooding. I'm looking forward to our aquifer getting refilled.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Too wet? Where in Texas are you? SA area is still in extreme & exceptional drought.

We have gotten El Nino rain yet. That usually doesn't come until fall. Then we will be talking about all of the flooding. I'm looking forward to our aquifer getting refilled.

Rain in SA peaks from April to early June, regardless of ENSO status (neutral, La Nina or El Nino). Often, it comes with severe storms, hail, tornado watches, and power outages. There's a secondary peak in October that's associated with El Nino years, but it doesn't come with severe storms, hail, much lightning or risk for any tornadoes. Though it causes flooding especially flash flooding.

SA tends to be bone dry in late June, July/August even in El Nino years and especially in El Nino years because the only rain threat outside of a few isolated popcorn sea breeze showers during that time of year, is from tropical systems like the tropical disturbance (wasn't strong enough to get a name) that made landfall at the end of June 2002 and infamously parked over us for a month, or Tropical Storm Erin in 2007. We got rain from Dolly in 2008. Stuff like that. But El Nino generally ---> weaker hurricane and tropical cyclone season for the Gulf, Caribbean and Atlantic due to increased wind shear, so less chance of TDs, TSs and hurricanes threatening Texas in the summer months.

With a Super La Nina event like the ones in 2011 and 2022 you can get a bone dry wet (spring) season, but in a normal year you'll get about as much rain as we did this spring, maybe a tad less.

[baseline bum]

Too wet? Where in Texas are you? SA area is still in extreme & exceptional drought.


We came out of that shit last month

https://res.cloudinary.com/graham-media-group/image/upload/f_auto/q_auto/c_scale,w_400/v9999999999/media/weather/san_drought?_a=AJARNWIA

Will probably go back in the summer but it's nice seeing shit green in June for once

[FrostKing]

So anyway, if you want a diverse, dense, European-style city with an international feel and lots of amenities walking distance away or within reach of public transportation, don’t move to Texas at all. Not even Austin. Stick to the Northeast like MM says.

If you want American-style living with a large house in an anodyne suburban area using an automobile to get where you need to go, then any large Texas city will do. Austin is the most “hip,” being a liberal college town with extensive nightlife. Houston is a really good foodie city, and has a good arts scene, and is leafy and green, but the climate is hot and very humid, with a good solid four months with high temperatures over 35 C. Think India. Also, it is enormous, with sometimes an hour drive on the freeway to get across town. Dallas is similar to Houston, just as sprawling, but not as humid, not as green, with not as good an arts scene. San Antonio has more of a small-town feel despite being the same size as Austin. The pace of life is slower. The culture is a blend of Mexico and Texas.

All these Texas cities also have what we call “gentrified” areas, where older parts of town have been refurbished and the poor have been pushed elsewhere. These provide a measure of city living, with nice flats, though not with all the urban amenities of a European alpha city.
I like this advice

Still confused why OP chose Texas and what's his prior experience in the USA

I remember back in the day a very ethnic Chinese rich aunt of my GFs (at the time) moved to Texas to live with an American husband and it took her a while to adjust. Although Texas has alot to offer even arguably Top10 State, I think someone new to America and no experience with Mexican cuisine/culture would find it difficult to start off.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I like this advice

Still confused why OP chose Texas and what's his prior experience in the USA

I remember back in the day a very ethnic Chinese rich aunt of my GFs (at the time) moved to Texas to live with an American husband and it took her a while to adjust. Although Texas has alot to offer even arguably Top10 State, I think someone new to America and no experience with Mexican cuisine/culture would find it difficult to start off.
Right. Ethnically Chinese would do best in a big West coast city or NYC, but it's expensive. Any liberal place on the northeast seaboard might do.

[Monostradamus]

Dallas is flat, mostly boring, and has the worst drivers of any major city on the planet. Texas in general blows, but Dallas is especially awful.

The areas north of Dallas before you get to the Red River (south Oklahoma i saaaaiiiiddddd) are growing fast but I’d move there if you have to stay in Texas. But of course prepare for hail to pound your car into oblivion every April/May.

Just don’t move to Texas.

[Mark Celibate]

Dallas is flat, mostly boring, and has the worst drivers of any major city on the planet. Texas in general blows, but Dallas is especially awful.

The areas north of Dallas before you get to the Red River (south Oklahoma i saaaaiiiiddddd) are growing fast but I’d move there if you have to stay in Texas. But of course prepare for hail to pound your car into oblivion every April/May.

Just don’t move to Texas.

yep, outside of "having good jobs" DFW has nothing really going for it. If you absolutely HAVE to move there, suburban areas like Prosper, Frisco, Mckinney etc have good school districts if you have kids ... but it's not like the "generic white suburb with good schooling" is independent to DFW or anything

"I'm going to go on vacation to DFW" - said nobody ever i saaaaaiiiiiiddddd

[Millennial_Messiah]

yep, outside of "having good jobs" DFW has nothing really going for it. If you absolutely HAVE to move there, suburban areas like Prosper, Frisco, Mckinney etc have good school districts if you have kids ... but it's not like the "generic white suburb with good schooling" is independent to DFW or anything

"I'm going to go on vacation to DFW" - said nobody ever i saaaaaiiiiiiddddd

Is there anywhere in Texas at all that's a vacation destination spot? People from all over go to Florida, Myrtle Beach, NOLA, Cali, Hawaii. Those are year round attractions. Then there are the mountains, especially Colorado, the great lakes (particularly in summer and fall), and the nicer national parks, weather permitting. What does Texas have that's really alluring at all? 9 months of blazing hot summer and tons of bugs?

[Extra Stout]

Is there anywhere in Texas at all that's a vacation destination spot? People from all over go to Florida, Myrtle Beach, NOLA, Cali, Hawaii. Those are year round attractions. Then there are the mountains, especially Colorado, the great lakes (particularly in summer and fall), and the nicer national parks, weather permitting. What does Texas have that's really alluring at all? 9 months of blazing hot summer and tons of bugs?
South Padre Island
Big Bend
San Antonio

I personally like Port Aransas, but it’s not a nationally popular destination like those other three.

[Mark Celibate]

Is there anywhere in Texas at all that's a vacation destination spot? People from all over go to Florida, Myrtle Beach, NOLA, Cali, Hawaii. Those are year round attractions. Then there are the mountains, especially Colorado, the great lakes (particularly in summer and fall), and the nicer national parks, weather permitting. What does Texas have that's really alluring at all? 9 months of blazing hot summer and tons of bugs?

South Padre is really the only place I can think of, but even then that's more of a place people IN Texas go to that don't want to fly. You won't hear many people from other states go "Oh I really want to go to South Padre"...although it's not bad.

Maybe it's not fair to say the word "vacation" but still, whenever somebody is making a big move to DFW it's always because they got a job at "insert big name Fortune 100 company". and then it's cost of living...work, cost of living...that's all people talk about when talking about Big D. Boorrringgg. You never hear "oh make sure you visit X.Y.Z. You'll really love it!" Which creates a soulless, keeping up with the Joneses culture.

And I'm not even sure these "good jobs" you always hear about in DFW are even that good anymore. Last time I was there and had an onsite tech job at a big name company, it seemed like we were only interviewing the dregs of society. Interestingly enough, that really changed after COVID. Went from interviewing good quality candidates to Somalian/Nigerian refugees w/ three DUIs almost overnight for literally the same position. It was like all the smart people that worked at these places just disappeared overnight. Either affirmative action in overdrive, great Reset , etc That's when I knew it was it was time to hit the eject button.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Last year for sure but at least so far this year El Nino has been putting in work. Weird to still see green grass when it's nearly June.

This winter will be fun.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Houston and Dallas are on the international tour list. There are all kinds of events happening in both cities all the time.

From a rural aspect driving around East Texas it like much of the South is a wasteland of deserted 1950s brick downtowns, Walmarts, and Dollar Generals. The farms you see are not homesteads for the most part. Instead you will see the clusters of trailers for the low wage workers.

You start heading NW over the hill country towards Waco or to Lubbock and the rural areas start to improve. Lot more family homesteads holding on and communities with functional downtowns. Lot more ranching and livestock out those areas.

Of course West Texas is beautiful but 100s of miles of nothing outside of Fort Stockton and a few other places.

There is a ton of money and opportunity in Houston. The way the city is zoned, they have consolidated all the poverty to these areas around downtown. You end with ghetto as far as the eye can see with pockets around Midtown, Petroleum Row, and the like. Kinda third world frankly. Then of course you have the swamp weather, a million refineries on the coast blowing their shit inland and Hurricanes every few years.

Dallas is weird because of how decentralized it is. There is a ton of money here as well but it is not as concentrated around a few industries like Houston. Because of how Dallas is so divided, living in Plano is different than Irving is different than Dallas or Fort Worth proper. The number of toll roads is also remarkable. Dallas elites have this smarmy arrogance about them I don't see elsewhere in the state so much.

Austin used to be a glorified hippy commune. Tech giants and cultural ultrawealthy elite types moved in over the past 25 years so now 'Keep Austin Weird" is only niche culture. The city has undergone a lot of gentrification over the past 25 years and areas around south and east austin have seen a lot of racial friction much like what happened in NY 10 years prior. They also play games with their zoning. They have a vice quarter around 6th street downtown. Outside of there they make it difficult to get a liquor license. That area used to be a lot of fun but now it is more lawless.

San Antonio used to have a small town feel but now the city is pushing out to another loop it just doesn't feel that way anymore. At the same time there are not the large tech or oil companies. The city and local groups have done a lot of work over the last decade or so building art districts and the like. There has been quite a lot of art and culture being produced in the city lately. San Antonio also has the most graft. Your most likely to run into a building inspector expecting you to up his fishing game to pass and the like. Houston is second in that regard.

[Millennial_Messiah]

South Padre is really the only place I can think of, but even then that's more of a place people IN Texas go to that don't want to fly. You won't hear many people from other states go "Oh I really want to go to South Padre"...although it's not bad.

Maybe it's not fair to say the word "vacation" but still, whenever somebody is making a big move to DFW it's always because they got a job at "insert big name Fortune 100 company". and then it's cost of living...work, cost of living...that's all people talk about when talking about Big D. Boorrringgg. You never hear "oh make sure you visit X.Y.Z. You'll really love it!" Which creates a soulless, keeping up with the Joneses culture.

And I'm not even sure these "good jobs" you always hear about in DFW are even that good anymore. Last time I was there and had an onsite tech job at a big name company, it seemed like we were only interviewing the dregs of society. Interestingly enough, that really changed after COVID. Went from interviewing good quality candidates to Somalian/Nigerian refugees w/ three DUIs almost overnight for literally the same position. It was like all the smart people that worked at these places just disappeared overnight. Either affirmative action in overdrive, great Reset , etc That's when I knew it was it was time to hit the eject button.

DFW is quite a boring place to live. You have a decent six flags, top golfs, golf courses, Main Event's (which is fun even as a young adult, not just for teens) and are within driving distance of a couple casinos just on the Oklahoma side. That's about it. It's landlocked, hot, continental, humid, nothing interesting outdoorsy like lakes or mountains or beaches.

As far as the jobs go, yeah they've been a lot less selective since covid and more willing to hire shittier candidates if it means they can pay them half as much.

[Extra Stout]

There is a ton of money and opportunity in Houston. The way the city is zoned, they have consolidated all the poverty to these areas around downtown. You end with ghetto as far as the eye can see with pockets around Midtown, Petroleum Row, and the like. Kinda third world frankly. Then of course you have the swamp weather, a million refineries on the coast blowing their shit inland and Hurricanes every few years.
Well, first of all, there IS no zoning in Houston. Second, the landscape you describe was accurate 30 years ago, but now the Heights and East Downtown have gentrified, with the western part of the Third Ward in progress. The poverty and crime are now more dispersed.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Well, first of all, there IS no zoning in Houston. Second, the landscape you describe was accurate 30 years ago, but now the Heights and East Downtown have gentrified, with the western part of the Third Ward in progress. The poverty and crime are now more dispersed.

I lived there last year. The pockets may be bigger but it is still a 15-20 min drive between the pockets as you drive through town. Areas have also deteriorated as white flight keeps pushing money up the highways. Gentrification is why you have those pockets in the first place.

[Extra Stout]

I lived there last year. The pockets may be bigger but it is still a 15-20 min drive between the pockets as you drive through town. Areas have also deteriorated as white flight keeps pushing money up the highways. Gentrification is why you have those pockets in the first place.
The west side is a pretty solid “pocket” from the Medical Center up to Garden Oaks.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The west side is a pretty solid “pocket” from the Medical Center up to Garden Oaks.

It's more like a tunnel and it illustrates the point. The ghetto to the north and north east of there is still vast and entrenched. It's culturally isolated where they speak very differently than any area around it. Houston is a unique US city.

[Mark Celibate]

DFW is quite a boring place to live. You have a decent six flags, top golfs, golf courses, Main Event's (which is fun even as a young adult, not just for teens) and are within driving distance of a couple casinos just on the Oklahoma side. That's about it. It's landlocked, hot, continental, humid, nothing interesting outdoorsy like lakes or mountains or beaches.

As far as the jobs go, yeah they've been a lot less selective since covid and more willing to hire shittier candidates if it means they can pay them half as much.

:lol Main Event
:lol driving hours to a casino

goddamn that sh1t is 100% true and just depressing to read tbh. I guess it really
is just seeing eating more and more at fancy restaurants, drowning yourself in alcohol, Toyota Music factory , and seeing whatever the latest Jewish Avengers movie bread and circus imho. Sounds amazing

[FrostKing]

OP, let's trade Apartments

[Millennial_Messiah]

OP, let's trade Apartments

OP lives in a house in northwest Montana. He hasn't lived in DFW in years.

I just hope he and the other soft voters of MT vote against Jon Tester in next year's senate election. That fat dude may not be THE problem, but he's a key cog in the problem. Don't let his fake "centrist" appeal sway them like in the past 3 times he's been up for election. He's absolutely 100% a part of the problem in the US and votes the wrong way on almost every single important issue on the federal level that is against the will of the vast majority of Montanans. Jon Tester does NOT represent Montana.

[FrostKing]

OP lives in a house in northwest Montana. He hasn't lived in DFW in years.

I just hope he and the other soft voters of MT vote against Jon Tester in next year's senate election. That fat dude may not be THE problem, but he's a key cog in the problem. Don't let his fake "centrist" appeal sway them like in the past 3 times he's been up for election. He's absolutely 100% a part of the problem in the US and votes the wrong way on almost every single important issue on the federal level that is against the will of the vast majority of Montanans. Jon Tester does NOT represent Montana.
I mean Budapest. Geez you guys attack each other. There's no one on here I wouldn't grab a beer with.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I've lived in most of the major cities and never had any issue finding things to do. Of course I have friends.

I see old man crying as he walk into a Marvel movie listening to the Jazz Festival or any of the other hundreds of events put on in major cities every year.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I mean Budapest. Geez you guys attack each other. There's no one on here I wouldn't grab a beer with.

Hungary seems like one of the best places to live in Europe. Do at least half of people speak decent English?

[Spurs Homer]

Someone should send this thread to the Texas tourism folks…

this thread could be in their training class of what NOT to tell prospective travelers to the state of texas!

thats it and thats all

[Millennial_Messiah]

Someone should send this thread to the Texas tourism folks…

this thread could be in their training class of what NOT to tell prospective travelers to the state of texas!

thats it and thats all

It's called realism, smarty pants.

Texas is boring, expensive, hot as hell, humid, and full.

Move to a different state. Travel wise there isn't much to see. Take a selfie with The Alamo. The JFK Memorial. The State Capitol, if you're going at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning when there's lighter traffic. HEB, Bucee's if you want. Go to both six flags parks, they are each worth a visit... Sea World San Antonio is just okay, and not nearly as good as the one in Orlando. Not much else to do compared to other states.

[Mark Celibate]

I've lived in most of the major cities and never had any issue finding things to do. Of course I have friends.

I see old man crying as he walk into a Marvel movie listening to the Jazz Festival or any of the other hundreds of events put on in major cities every year.

Neither have I. Actually had great times both in DFW and Houston. I've already laid out the blueprint on this site and how to make the most of living in big cities as a young adult.

Point I'm making is that neither city has anything unique about them that you can't do anywhere else. And like you said, DFW has an "arrogant" culture that is very real, and as someone who has traveled all over the country, I was surprised not to find any other city that has that even comes close to the "douchebag" level. and both cities are getting more and more ghetto tbh

[Spurs Homer]

It's called realism, smarty pants.

Texas is boring, expensive, hot as hell, humid, and full.

Move to a different state. Travel wise there isn't much to see. Take a selfie with The Alamo. The JFK Memorial. The State Capitol, if you're going at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning when there's lighter traffic. HEB, Bucee's if you want. Go to both six flags parks, they are each worth a visit... Sea World San Antonio is just okay, and not nearly as good as the one in Orlando. Not much else to do compared to other states.

never said i disagreed with all the garbage you posted and not even defending shithole texas

but im old and dont need to “entertain” myself by seeking out picturesque places and when i do- i travel to beautiful places like california, northwest usa, hawaii, etc…

if the OP is still young, texas probably will be boring

the west coast is gorgeous if you are young and looking for the ultimate playground

if you watch faux news
1) you are an idiot
2) you will think cali is a cesspool because
3) you are an idiot who watches faux news

[Millennial_Messiah]

never said i disagreed with all the garbage you posted and not even defending shithole texas

but im old and dont need to “entertain” myself by seeking out picturesque places and when i do- i travel to beautiful places like california, northwest usa, hawaii, etc…

if the OP is still young, texas probably will be boring

the west coast is gorgeous if you are young and looking for the ultimate playground

if you watch faux news
1) you are an idiot
2) you will think cali is a cesspool because
3) you are an idiot who watches faux news

California's problems are mainly that it's expensive and full of hoboes and illegals who settle there because the weather is nice and such.

I drove through south central LA in August 9, 2021 and actually saw, with my own two eyes, tents full of savage families under all of the bridges and even in the myriad construction zones on the sides of major thoroughfare roads in the sun in broad ass daylight. No, they weren't armed and trying to shoot at my car, but it was still a traumatic experience. The government needs to defund Ukraine and start building housing projects out in the desert on BLM-owned land to place all these people, get the hoboes off the streets and transform them from savagery to civilized.

[Spurs Homer]

California's problems are mainly that it's expensive and full of hoboes and illegals who settle there because the weather is nice and such.

I drove through south central LA in August 9, 2021 and actually saw, with my own two eyes, tents full of savage families under all of the bridges and even in the myriad construction zones on the sides of major thoroughfare roads in the sun in broad ass daylight. No, they weren't armed and trying to shoot at my car, but it was still a traumatic experience. The government needs to defund Ukraine and start building housing projects out in the desert on BLM-owned land to place all these people, get the hoboes off the streets and transform them from savagery to civilized.

yeah yeah… perspective…

i lived in l.a. for 20 years and saw the same and here is what you are missing:

i NEVER drove back or had to deal with any of that in my EVERYDAY life…just like i dont drive under austin overpasses near downtown too fucking often either

i actually spent years in hollyweird and saw homeless every day, was approached by them every day, was asked for money everyday and dealt with the issues in a myriad of ways including at times ignoring them

i also traveled all over that state and witnessed gorgeous gorgeous places , mountains, beaches, forests, deserts, and found paradise among the vastness

still is the most beautiful state in the country despite faux news agenda

i always remember thinking to myself when i had had an eventful day where i navigated amongst paradise to the shitholes back to paradise and thinking: “man, i love this fucking place- it has the absolute BEST and the absolute WORST of everything….


but keep swallowing faux channel propaganda and stay away as i am sure california and its people will be better off without you cultists

[Adam Lambert]

DFW is quite a boring place to live. You have a decent six flags, top golfs, golf courses, Main Event's (which is fun even as a young adult, not just for teens) and are within driving distance of a couple casinos just on the Oklahoma side. That's about it. It's landlocked, hot, continental, humid, nothing interesting outdoorsy like lakes or mountains or beaches.

:lol This is such an oddly specific group of "places to go" in DFW, like are you a grown ass man who just wants to go to adult Chuck E Cheese all the time?

Most Texas cities are landlocked and flat, but DFW has plenty of decent lakes if that's your thing. Growing up in Houston I got more than my fair share of Galveston and its brown muddy beaches, I'd rather be on a boat on Lake Lewisville at this point.

I'd never put DFW on a list of best places to live in the world... but if we're talking Texas only, I can't think of anything I need from a home city that I could get in another Texas city and not DFW. It's way less humid than the other cities, you've got teams for all of the major 4 pro sports, you've got like 10 concert venues in the area that bring good bands, a great and broad selection of food options (you can find a great restaurant for any kind of food you're looking for), art, theater, a major international airport with as many direct flights to as many destinations as you're going to get anywhere else, a ton of corporate headquarters, and it's got a better rail system than any other TX city (even though it's still pretty shitty compared to cities that got this right a long time ago).

I wish Dallas had better public transportation, less heat, and mountains... But again, you're not going to find those things in any other TX city either.

[lebomb]

:lol This is such an oddly specific group of "places to go" in DFW, like are you a grown ass man who just wants to go to adult Chuck E Cheese all the time?

Most Texas cities are landlocked and flat, but DFW has plenty of decent lakes if that's your thing. Growing up in Houston I got more than my fair share of Galveston and its brown muddy beaches, I'd rather be on a boat on Lake Lewisville at this point.

I'd never put DFW on a list of best places to live in the world... but if we're talking Texas only, I can't think of anything I need from a home city that I could get in another Texas city and not DFW. It's way less humid than the other cities, you've got teams for all of the major 4 pro sports, you've got like 10 concert venues in the area that bring good bands, a great and broad selection of food options (you can find a great restaurant for any kind of food you're looking for), art, theater, a major international airport with as many direct flights to as many destinations as you're going to get anywhere else, a ton of corporate headquarters, and it's got a better rail system than any other TX city (even though it's still pretty shitty compared to cities that got this right a long time ago).

I wish Dallas had better public transportation, less heat, and mountains... But again, you're not going to find those things in any other TX city either.


Except for the 50 times a year the tornado sirens go off and the watermelon sized hail that comes with it. One severe storm can wipe out what took you to build the previous 15yrs. I know because I lived there. Hated it.

[Adam Lambert]

I've lived in most of the major cities and never had any issue finding things to do. Of course I have friends.

This is really the key to being happy wherever you live. No one really does the touristy stuff in their own city anyway. There's good social pockets in probably every city. People in the Lakewood/Lake Highlands area of Dallas are more my vibe, you don't have to deal with as much of the Dallas douchebaggery if you steer clear of places like Uptown, or Legacy in Plano.

[Adam Lambert]

Except for the 50 times a year the tornado sirens go off and the watermelon sized hail that comes with it. One severe storm can wipe out what took you to build the previous 15yrs. I know because I lived there. Hated it.

Rather deal with hail than flooding from hurricanes tbh. Only time I got bad hail, it got me a brand new roof. Score!

[leemajors]

:lol This is such an oddly specific group of "places to go" in DFW, like are you a grown ass man who just wants to go to adult Chuck E Cheese all the time?

Most Texas cities are landlocked and flat, but DFW has plenty of decent lakes if that's your thing. Growing up in Houston I got more than my fair share of Galveston and its brown muddy beaches, I'd rather be on a boat on Lake Lewisville at this point.

I'd never put DFW on a list of best places to live in the world... but if we're talking Texas only, I can't think of anything I need from a home city that I could get in another Texas city and not DFW. It's way less humid than the other cities, you've got teams for all of the major 4 pro sports, you've got like 10 concert venues in the area that bring good bands, a great and broad selection of food options (you can find a great restaurant for any kind of food you're looking for), art, theater, a major international airport with as many direct flights to as many destinations as you're going to get anywhere else, a ton of corporate headquarters, and it's got a better rail system than any other TX city (even though it's still pretty shitty compared to cities that got this right a long time ago).

I wish Dallas had better public transportation, less heat, and mountains... But again, you're not going to find those things in any other TX city either.

Meow Wolf is open in Grapevine next month, I'm going to that for sure. Houston in 2024 too.

[baseline bum]

Rather deal with hail than flooding from hurricanes tbh. Only time I got bad hail, it got me a brand new roof. Score!

Tornados scare the fucking hell out of me. I still remember when one passed over my house when I was a kid and we were all huddled up in the hallway with all the doors closed and I felt all the air rushing out of every room from under the doors into the hallway and up through the attic and thinking well I guess I'm dying here. But luckily it just only took off a bunch of roof shingles, shot a big burst of hail through a window, and tore up a tree in my front yard, though it did fuck a neighbor across the alley from me pretty badly.

[Spurs Homer]

Tornados scare the fucking hell out of me. I still remember when one passed over my house when I was a kid and we were all huddled up in the hallway with all the doors closed and I felt all the air rushing out of every room from under the doors into the hallway and up through the attic and thinking well I guess I'm dying here. But luckily it just only took off a bunch of roof shingles, shot a big burst of hail through a window, and tore up a tree in my front yard, though it did fuck a neighbor across the alley from me pretty badly.

sounds like you were - 1 in a million lucky as fuck!

[Millennial_Messiah]

yeah yeah… perspective…

i lived in l.a. for 20 years and saw the same and here is what you are missing:

i NEVER drove back or had to deal with any of that in my EVERYDAY life…just like i dont drive under austin overpasses near downtown too fucking often either

i actually spent years in hollyweird and saw homeless every day, was approached by them every day, was asked for money everyday and dealt with the issues in a myriad of ways including at times ignoring them

i also traveled all over that state and witnessed gorgeous gorgeous places , mountains, beaches, forests, deserts, and found paradise among the vastness

still is the most beautiful state in the country despite faux news agenda

i always remember thinking to myself when i had had an eventful day where i navigated amongst paradise to the shitholes back to paradise and thinking: “man, i love this fucking place- it has the absolute BEST and the absolute WORST of everything….


but keep swallowing faux channel propaganda and stay away as i am sure california and its people will be better off without you cultists

I think CA is a great place to visit if you know where to go and where not to go. You can hack it and use the left wing policy to your advantage to do stuff for cheap there and it's not hot at night year round and humid like TX and places in the east half of the country. use temperature to your advantage, stay nights in your car at a nice upscale park in hidden locations, they're all over just not in the uber populated areas. One issue I found out in person about CA is the lack of 4G cell reception in non urban/suburban areas, though.

[Millennial_Messiah]

This is really the key to being happy wherever you live. No one really does the touristy stuff in their own city anyway. There's good social pockets in probably every city. People in the Lakewood/Lake Highlands area of Dallas are more my vibe, you don't have to deal with as much of the Dallas douchebaggery if you steer clear of places like Uptown, or Legacy in Plano.
that was my spot from 2016-2019, I was there all the time

[Millennial_Messiah]

:lol This is such an oddly specific group of "places to go" in DFW, like are you a grown ass man who just wants to go to adult Chuck E Cheese all the time?

Most Texas cities are landlocked and flat, but DFW has plenty of decent lakes if that's your thing. Growing up in Houston I got more than my fair share of Galveston and its brown muddy beaches, I'd rather be on a boat on Lake Lewisville at this point.

I'd never put DFW on a list of best places to live in the world... but if we're talking Texas only, I can't think of anything I need from a home city that I could get in another Texas city and not DFW. It's way less humid than the other cities, you've got teams for all of the major 4 pro sports, you've got like 10 concert venues in the area that bring good bands, a great and broad selection of food options (you can find a great restaurant for any kind of food you're looking for), art, theater, a major international airport with as many direct flights to as many destinations as you're going to get anywhere else, a ton of corporate headquarters, and it's got a better rail system than any other TX city (even though it's still pretty shitty compared to cities that got this right a long time ago).

I wish Dallas had better public transportation, less heat, and mountains... But again, you're not going to find those things in any other TX city either.

Adult chuck e cheese >>>>>> shitty bars, lowlifes, drunks, smoker, potential for getting shot imo

I lived near Lake Lewisville. It's ok. Nothing special. Some decent hunting in the forests surrounding it in November. Full of bugs from April to mid October.

DFW is like the Atlanta or LA of the center part of the country. Very much urban and suburban sprawl. Takes way too long to drive from one side of the metro to the other. Lots of options for everything but like you said it's not some great destination and the weather sucks for the most part outside of like December to February. And from December to February, if there is an inch of snow in DFW once every ten years... you lose power and water for a week.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Even if it was inexpensive and not full of the social negatives, I probably wouldn't settle in California for the simple reason of geological flaws. Don't want my mansion to burn down, fall down in a mudslide, or break in pieces due to an earthquake. I value immortality and want to settle somewhere where I can reasonably live forever.

[Mark Celibate]

Adult chuck e cheese >>>>>> shitty bars, lowlifes, drunks, smoker, potential for getting shot imo

I lived near Lake Lewisville. It's ok. Nothing special. Some decent hunting in the forests surrounding it in November. Full of bugs from April to mid October.

DFW is like the Atlanta or LA of the center part of the country. Very much urban and suburban sprawl. Takes way too long to drive from one side of the metro to the other. Lots of options for everything but like you said it's not some great destination and the weather sucks for the most part outside of like December to February. And from December to February, if there is an inch of snow in DFW once every ten years... you lose power and water for a week.

rofl yeah I've visited Atlanta a couple times and it's literally the exact same city

[Millennial_Messiah]

rofl yeah I've visited Atlanta a couple times and it's literally the exact same city

Yup. Agreed. Though the niggies are much more spread out throughout the suburbs these days in the Atlanta metro compared to places like Denton/Collin and even Tarrant county which still have strong white majorities. Dallas county is similar to Fulton county but DFW doesn't have a Dekalb clone. Even Tarrant is still much whiter than Cobb county GA. Hence the partisan lean of the Metroplex being much more purple than the Atlantaplex where the democrats run dictator margins.

[baseline bum]

sounds like you were - 1 in a million lucky as fuck!

Turned out to be a pretty weak tornado thankfully that didn't do a ton of damage in my neighborhood other than the house across the alley from me. But was scary as hell at the time to hear a bunch of hail thrown through the window at high speed and then immediately after feel the air getting sucked up from the rest of the house through the hallway we were in and thinking oh shit this fucker is right over us.

[Spurs Homer]

Turned out to be a pretty weak tornado thankfully that didn't do a ton of damage in my neighborhood other than the house across the alley from me. But was scary as hell at the time to hear a bunch of hail thrown through the window at high speed and then immediately after feel the air getting sucked up from the rest of the house through the hallway we were in and thinking oh shit this fucker is right over us.

it is scary- did you feel…

was the air “charged?” Like electricity in the air, hard to explain…but i distinctly remember my lone encounter with a nearby tornado as a kid travelin…

we stopped at a rest area in Kansas and there was a pending thunderstorm and the wind picked up and we had to rush back to the car…
as we neared the car- this fucking whoosh of air just scared the crap out of me and as we looked west from the freeway- we spotted the funnel about maybe 300-500 yards on the horizon moving sideways
it was still daylight but due to the storm, the clouds covered everything and it got dark really fast and looking west where the sun had been setting it was like a sliver of light with dark clouds covering the rest of the sky…and thats where we clearly saw the funnel spinning and dancing and moving fast

it kept moving like -left to right luckily and never got any closer but the air was pregnant with a charged electricity feeling- my hair on my arms stood up

just weird and scary for a teen…lol

[baseline bum]

it is scary- did you feel…

was the air “charged?” Like electricity in the air, hard to explain…but i distinctly remember my lone encounter with a nearby tornado as a kid travelin…

we stopped at a rest area in Kansas and there was a pending thunderstorm and the wind picked up and we had to rush back to the car…
as we neared the car- this fucking whoosh of air just scared the crap out of me and as we looked west from the freeway- we spotted the funnel about maybe 300-500 yards on the horizon moving sideways
it was still daylight but due to the storm, the clouds covered everything and it got dark really fast and looking west where the sun had been setting it was like a sliver of light with dark clouds covering the rest of the sky…and thats where we clearly saw the funnel spinning and dancing and moving fast

it kept moving like -left to right luckily and never got any closer but the air was pregnant with a charged electricity feeling- my hair on my arms stood up

just weird and scary for a teen…lol

I didn't particularly feel any kind of static electricity or anything. Just happened really quickly. It was gone before any of us could even say anything when it passed over. I was about ten and scared shitless that moment though. Got the tornado warning siren that I had never even heard until then blaring all over the neighborhood and then all of a sudden could feel that thing directly overhead, could hear it, and once it passed walked into my parents bedroom to see a bunch of hail against the opposite wall so the stuff came in pretty parallel to the ground which only makes sense if from pretty fast rotation. Never saw it since it came at night.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I didn't particularly feel any kind of static electricity or anything. Just happened really quickly. It was gone before any of us could even say anything when it passed over. I was about ten and scared shitless that moment though. Got the tornado warning siren that I had never even heard until then blaring all over the neighborhood and then all of a sudden could feel that thing directly overhead, could hear it, and once it passed walked into my parents bedroom to see a bunch of hail against the opposite wall so the stuff came in pretty parallel to the ground which only makes sense if from pretty fast rotation. Never saw it since it came at night.
The "night nadoes" are the most dangerous and deadly and also the most unfair. But it's par for course in the Deep South, I guess. At least in the Great Plains and Northern states (corn belt / rust belt) they pretty much exclusively happen in the daytime (afternoon hours).

[Adam Lambert]

Adult chuck e cheese >>>>>> shitty bars, lowlifes, drunks, smoker, potential for getting shot imo

I have a hard time believing you can't find any non-shitty bars even in the Lewisville area, but I guess I don't know what your standard is. What kind of bars do other cities have that DFW is lacking?

Smoking is banned indoors in almost every area of DFW now. I think there might be some holdout burbs, but those are the ones you probably wouldn't be going to anyway.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I have a hard time believing you can't find any non-shitty bars even in the Lewisville area, but I guess I don't know what your standard is. What kind of bars do other cities have that DFW is lacking?

Smoking is banned indoors in almost every area of DFW now. I think there might be some holdout burbs, but those are the ones you probably wouldn't be going to anyway.

smoking banned indoors =/= practically everyone you meet in those places is a lowlife smoker with a shitty job, especially the ugly wretched frumpy smoker females that go to those places... just because they go out for a smoke instead of smoking inside doesn't make them any less disgusting :lol

Bars in general are just shitty, and I don't really drink because I don't like the taste. I don't mind being drunk but I do drive a lot and take my car everywhere so drinking and driving is a no no but in general I don't like the taste of alcohol so I don't buy it and it's also way expensive at bars. Bars are just not my thing for all those reasons. Dance clubs are nice if you have a partner but everyone that goes there is paired up so you're a loser if you go in there as a solo male.

I prefer meeting people organically in a more healthy setting, where people aren't drunk and high and shit. Where people live a more active and healthy and generally diurnal lifestyle like me. Where the women are fit and healthy and educated, intellectual, and career oriented, and actually don't smoke.

I did the bar scene in my early 20s.... not for me. Now I go back to doing the things that made me happier as a teenager.

[Chucho]

The west side is a pretty solid “pocket” from the Medical Center up to Garden Oaks.

You mean Northwest side, no?

I know I've been away from San Antonio for awhile and it's changed dramatically the last 15 years, but there's no way anyone would associate the Medical Center with the west side of San Antonio.

[Millennial_Messiah]

You mean Northwest side, no?

I know I've been away from San Antonio for awhile and it's changed dramatically the last 15 years, but there's no way anyone would associate the Medical Center with the west side of San Antonio.

What do you consider to be the west side? Like the ghetto good off Old Highway 90 by Edgewood all the way to roughly the Guadalupe Community Center / Lanier High School?

[Adam Lambert]

I prefer meeting people organically in a more healthy setting, where people aren't drunk and high and shit. Where people live a more active and healthy and generally diurnal lifestyle like me. Where the women are fit and healthy and educated, intellectual, and career oriented, and actually don't smoke.

Plenty of that in Dallas in my experience. Where have you found this to more often be the case?

[Millennial_Messiah]

Plenty of that in Dallas in my experience. Where have you found this to more often be the case?

Pretty much any decent sized suburb / mid sized city that isn't in a confederate or southern state.

[Millennial_Messiah]

NYC, Columbus Ohio, one of the nicer areas in Michigan (Ann Arbor/Grand Rapids), Colorado (the girls are VERY fit there, but unfortunately they tend to be taken because there's 115 men for every 100 women there), Wisconsin, hell even Omaha. I'm sure California has a lot of hotties too but they're just outnumbered a lot by men, as much if not worse than Colorado.

In Texas and most of the southern states the chicks tend to be fat and/or smokers. Tatted up. Got pregnant young and have a shitty career and no college education and are "trying" to carve out a life for themselves. Recurring theme in the Deep South and Smoker Belt / Bible Belt.

[Extra Stout]

You mean Northwest side, no?

I know I've been away from San Antonio for awhile and it's changed dramatically the last 15 years, but there's no way anyone would associate the Medical Center with the west side of San Antonio.
I was talking about Houston. FL was claiming downtown was surrounded by a ring of poverty except for a couple of pockets. I was claiming that one of the pockets was a contiguous swath running from the near southwest (Medical Center) to six miles north of downtown (Garden Oaks). He called that a “tunnel” (even though said tunnel extends all the way out past 610 to the west) but I decided that arguing further about whether or not being downtown being surrounded on two-and-a-half to three sides by entrenched poverty constitutes a “ring” was pointless.

[Extra Stout]

Double post

[FrostKing]

Come to San Diego if you have good funds and enjoy beach/hikes. Very respectful city full of transplants. Most conservative big city in California. Negative is always in a car between places but lesser traffic than LA.

Mexican culture undertone here. Beach vibe is strong. Low crime & problems. Overall clean. Some argue it lacks a culture but you'll be too busy enjoying yourself to complain.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Come to San Diego if you have good funds and enjoy beach/hikes. Very respectful city full of transplants. Most conservative big city in California. Negative is always in a car between places but lesser traffic than LA.

Mexican culture undertone here. Beach vibe is strong. Low crime & problems. Overall clean. Some argue it lacks a culture but you'll be too busy enjoying yourself to complain.

Letting the Chargers walk out of town was stupid. The big stadium in Inglewood is stupid. Qualcomm was just fine.

[baseline bum]

Come to San Diego if you have good funds and enjoy beach/hikes. Very respectful city full of transplants. Most conservative big city in California. Negative is always in a car between places but lesser traffic than LA.

Mexican culture undertone here. Beach vibe is strong. Low crime & problems. Overall clean. Some argue it lacks a culture but you'll be too busy enjoying yourself to complain.

I love San Diego. Has most of the positives of LA, eg amazing weather, nice beaches, not too far for great hiking in the mountains but without LA traffic. It has the best air & space museum I have ever seen too; liked it much more than the Smithsonian's Air & Space museum.

[RodNIc91]

This is a good start. Need a bit more information though.

Have you been to USA before - what did you like/dislike most.

Are you looking to possibly set roots here meaning you want affordable place that allows you to stockpile savings. But also means commuting to social areas

Or are you looking to enjoy your current life stage with the GF thus an expensive booming metro area is a must

USA has alot of options so finding a comfortable mix is possible.

Thanks! Budapest is great in that it is a capital city but a small one at that, meaning everything you would need is fairly nearby i.e. 15-30 mins tops with the public transportation. I know Europe in comparison to the US has more affinity towards public transport, whereas in the US there is a big need to own/have a car. We also like it very much here because of the diversity and variety of cultures and people we're able to meet and interact.

We're not European though -- we're actually latinos, so I guess we're more familiar with what the US culture is like.

We're also young 27-30 ish, so we're definitely not ready or eager to go to the suburbs just yet. From a cost perspective I think California is ruled out.

[RodNIc91]

I like this advice

Still confused why OP chose Texas and what's his prior experience in the USA

I remember back in the day a very ethnic Chinese rich aunt of my GFs (at the time) moved to Texas to live with an American husband and it took her a while to adjust. Although Texas has alot to offer even arguably Top10 State, I think someone new to America and no experience with Mexican cuisine/culture would find it difficult to start off.

I didn't choose Texas, the offer has been placed there but at the moment it is 100% remote with travel. So I've been told I have some flexibility to choose from.

I have some experience with America coming as a tourist for a few times (3-4) and I've been to Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and NYC, but it's a very different perspective going as a tourist than actually living there. I guess what is appealing from Texas would be low taxes, being close to the Spurs and we prefer being in a warmer climate. We're not really used to having seasons coming from Latin America.

[RodNIc91]

Hungary seems like one of the best places to live in Europe. Do at least half of people speak decent English?

In terms of quality of life it is quite good. Transportation system works fine, lots of job opportunities, city is gorgeous, weather is not as extreme as other parts in Europe, it's also relatively in the center so it's good for moving around.

What sucks is being paid in HUF and not in EUR. Lots of big companies moved here along to reduce labour costs, so basically they pay cheap, which makes it hard to move around and travel.

In Budapest, half the people speak decent English, but it's not as easy to communicate and learning Hungarian is hard as hell. Up there with Mandarin. So doing everyday shit like grocery shopping or running an errand to the bank can be very annoying.

[RodNIc91]

NYC, Columbus Ohio, one of the nicer areas in Michigan (Ann Arbor/Grand Rapids), Colorado (the girls are VERY fit there, but unfortunately they tend to be taken because there's 115 men for every 100 women there), Wisconsin, hell even Omaha. I'm sure California has a lot of hotties too but they're just outnumbered a lot by men, as much if not worse than Colorado.

In Texas and most of the southern states the chicks tend to be fat and/or smokers. Tatted up. Got pregnant young and have a shitty career and no college education and are "trying" to carve out a life for themselves. Recurring theme in the Deep South and Smoker Belt / Bible Belt.

I guess Brooklyn, Boulder, Colorado, or Denver are also options, but we're also looking for a shorter way home in comparison to Budapest which is 15+ hours away from an emergency in our country.

I guess I'm biased a bit because of the chance to have the Spurs fairly near.

[RodNIc91]

Come to San Diego if you have good funds and enjoy beach/hikes. Very respectful city full of transplants. Most conservative big city in California. Negative is always in a car between places but lesser traffic than LA.

Mexican culture undertone here. Beach vibe is strong. Low crime & problems. Overall clean. Some argue it lacks a culture but you'll be too busy enjoying yourself to complain.

We have a good US friend who is originally from San Diego and recommended the place + a coworker also recommended it to me. Thing is about cost of living. I guess we would be able to afford it if/when my gf would get a job there.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I guess Brooklyn, Boulder, Colorado, or Denver are also options, but we're also looking for a shorter way home in comparison to Budapest which is 15+ hours away from an emergency in our country.

I guess I'm biased a bit because of the chance to have the Spurs fairly near.

If cost of living is an issue I would recommend West Memphis, Arkansas. Cost of living is among the very cheapest in the entire USA. It's just across the river from Memphis, Tennessee which is near the geographic center of the country and has airport access to everywhere and is extremely affordable to live in. Just buy your groceries on the Arkansas side because TN has a grocery tax. Also a short flight from San Antonio and the Spurs play the Grizzlies 4 times per year because they're in the same division so you're guaranteed to see them at minimum twice per year. It's closer to Budapest than Denver or Texas or California, too.

[Extra Stout]

We have a good US friend who is originally from San Diego and recommended the place + a coworker also recommended it to me. Thing is about cost of living. I guess we would be able to afford it if/when my gf would get a job there.
The cheapest cost of living in Texas is in the Rio Grande Valley, Wichita Falls, and Amarillo. Really anywhere with low housing costs. The dramatic increase in home prices coupled with high property taxes has really driven the big Texas cities down the list.

The Deep South also has cheap living.

If your income will support you in any of the big Texas cities, then the advice given in the thread stands regarding how to choose among them.

[RodNIc91]

If cost of living is an issue I would recommend West Memphis, Arkansas. Cost of living is among the very cheapest in the entire USA. It's just across the river from Memphis, Tennessee which is near the geographic center of the country and has airport access to everywhere and is extremely affordable to live in. Just buy your groceries on the Arkansas side because TN has a grocery tax. Also a short flight from San Antonio and the Spurs play the Grizzlies 4 times per year because they're in the same division so you're guaranteed to see them at minimum twice per year. It's closer to Budapest than Denver or Texas or California, too.

Awesome, thanks!! Actually, I meant that Budapest is 15+ hours from our country. Being in the US is already a step in the right direction because we're from Latin America :tu

[ElNono]

Still confused why OP chose Texas and what's his prior experience in the USA

Yep. Just a terrible State to live year-round, tbh...

Weather, beaches and people-wise, hard to beat California, but you have to afford living here.

For international-style living, both NY and NJ (slightly cheaper) are good options in the NE, though snow sucks. The NW also has some good options in Seattle/Portland, but depends where.

The whole income taxes thing is a bit overrated as well, generally you get paid more in places like California or New York, because the expectation is that you'll afford those taxes.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Yep. Just a terrible State to live year-round, tbh...

Weather, beaches and people-wise, hard to beat California, but you have to afford living here.

For international-style living, both NY and NJ (slightly cheaper) are good options in the NE, though snow sucks. The NW also has some good options in Seattle/Portland, but depends where.

The whole income taxes thing is a bit overrated as well, generally you get paid more in places like California or New York, because the expectation is that you'll afford those taxes.
Before it was that way... but for the high end W2 jobs you make about the same in each.

If you're a lower middle class worker making like teacher level salary, then yes the difference is enough. Teachers typically make around $50K in SA, $55K in DFW, $70K in NYC and close to $80K in the expensive parts of California... so there's a substantial incremental and proportional difference there.

But for stuff like high end tech type jobs, it's maybe $145K in DFW, $140K in SA, $145K in NYC and LA and maybe $150K in Silicon Valley/SF... and that might be pushing it. And that was pre-covid. Since covid, the cost of living adjustment has grown thinner and thinner because of hybrid and remote working. There's hardly any difference to justify the difference in taxes and cost of living.

[ElNono]

Before it was that way... but for the high end W2 jobs you make about the same in each.

False, clearly you never had one of those. I can live literally anywhere I want in the world, but I know first hand that people doing similar work in Texas or Florida simply earn less than in LA or SF. Similarly when I lived in NJ, I made substantially more than the same worker in Texas.

That said, when you're in that tier, sometimes you're ok with leaving some money on the table to move to a place you feel it's better for you.


If you're a lower middle class worker making like teacher level salary, then yes the difference is enough. Teachers typically make around $50K in SA, $55K in DFW, $70K in NYC and close to $80K in the expensive parts of California... so there's a substantial incremental and proportional difference there.

But for stuff like high end tech type jobs, it's maybe $145K in DFW, $140K in SA, $145K in NYC and LA and maybe $150K in Silicon Valley/SF... and that might be pushing it. And that was pre-covid. Since covid, the cost of living adjustment has grown thinner and thinner because of hybrid and remote working. There's hardly any difference to justify the difference in taxes and cost of living.

High end tech jobs in LA or SF don't go below $200K once you include bonuses, stock maturities, etc. But, sure, you get taxed more as well. Exactly what I was stating.

[baseline bum]

I guess Brooklyn, Boulder, Colorado, or Denver are also options, but we're also looking for a shorter way home in comparison to Budapest which is 15+ hours away from an emergency in our country.

I guess I'm biased a bit because of the chance to have the Spurs fairly near.

Are you planning on being a season ticket holder or just say going to 5 games a year? If the latter with full remote work but still close enough to make the occasional road trip for a Spurs game you could check out a place like Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, or Port Isabel so you get beaches and fishing and the weather is nicer. Though Port Isabel is quite a bit farther drive to San Antonio than Corpus or Port Aransas since it's right off the Mexican border.

Though if you really want nice summer weather for being outdoors Colorado is fucking hard to beat.

[Millennial_Messiah]

when you're in that tier, sometimes you're ok with leaving some money on the table to move to a place you feel it's better for you.


That's a true statement. Sometimes if you're in that tier you just have to choose what's more worth it to you, that 3rd car garage space and extra half acre and extra 1000 sqft of house, or a smaller house with equal or higher operating costs but a much better weather climate and a social climate that more fits your needs.

[Millennial_Messiah]

High end tech jobs in LA or SF don't go below $200K once you include bonuses, stock maturities, etc. But, sure, you get taxed more as well. Exactly what I was stating.

What do you mean by "high end"? The big name IT consulting firms generally don't pay over $140k-150k for any of their senior level consultants regardless of location. From their perspective, they are paying from their stash of rupees out of India and they couldn't care less whether your state income tax is 13.3% or 0.0%. (Plus, SF city limits tacks on an additional 1.0%, but not very many tech jobs are left in the SF city limits.)

[ElNono]

What do you mean by "high end"? The big name IT consulting firms generally don't pay over $140k-150k for any of their senior level consultants regardless of location. From their perspective, they are paying from their stash of rupees out of India and they couldn't care less whether your state income tax is 13.3% or 0.0%. (Plus, SF city limits tacks on an additional 1.0%, but not very many tech jobs are left in the SF city limits.)

I'm talking about the Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Sony, etc 'senior' positions, especially having to do with engineering or R&D. The competition for that kind of talent is brutal in the entire Valley and LA.

Can't say much more, but the swings in that kind of talent are also brutal due to bidding wars, since CA pretty much outright banned non-competes.

But you have to be in the area. Austin is starting to shape up like that as well and if you think it's gentrified now, wait 5-10 years, it's only gonna get much worse.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I'm talking about the Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Sony, etc 'senior' positions, especially having to do with engineering or R&D. The competition for that kind of talent is brutal in the entire Valley and LA.

Can't say much more, but the swings in that kind of talent are also brutal due to bidding wars, since CA pretty much outright banned non-competes.

But you have to be in the area. Austin is starting to shape up like that as well and if you think it's gentrified now, wait 5-10 years, it's only gonna get much worse.

one of the few good things that state government has done :tu

[Millennial_Messiah]

I'm talking about the Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Sony, etc 'senior' positions, especially having to do with engineering or R&D. The competition for that kind of talent is brutal in the entire Valley and LA.

I guess for the full time employment direct hire positions. All I know is the India IT consulting world. Never really had an opportunity at direct hire. But consulting comes with lower expectations too.

[baseline bum]

It's hot but it's not as stupid hot as last year or say 2011. But it's been too wet imo. You either get too hot or too wet. I like summer days to be in the 70s with cool nights and reasonable amount of dryness and low humidity days.

Ugh spoke too soon about our summer. Now we're getting 100s for a week and a half straight and two weeks earlier than average (average first day of 100+ in San Antonio is June 26th).

[DeadlyDynasty]

Getting sick of gulyas and lecso mate?

I love Budapest, good people unlike the rest of Orbanistan. You can find me and the wife at Cafe Gerbeaud at least once a month

[DeadlyDynasty]

Budapest has the most scenic riverfront of the Danube. Bratislava 2nd and Vienna a surprising and disappointing 3rd.

[Millennial_Messiah]

^ I want to go to Europe some day

[Millennial_Messiah]

Ugh spoke too soon about our summer. Now we're getting 100s for a week and a half straight and two weeks earlier than average (average first day of 100+ in San Antonio is June 26th).

True, but, it's still a lot later than our first and first batch of 100+ degree days last year.

[baseline bum]

True, but, it's still a lot later than our first and first batch of 100+ degree days last year.

Wow it's better than the literal worst summer in the recorded history of the city. Kind of a low bar to clear.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Wow it's better than the literal worst summer in the recorded history of the city. Kind of a low bar to clear.

Worst first half (and second half of spring) but it was a front heavy summer. July and August weren't exactly setting records.

2011 IMO was worse because there was literally no rain the entire spring and summer and early fall. The high temps were consistently around 107 degrees throughout the summer not just one half or the other.

Side note: possibly I'm biased because I was a junior in high school that year and I actually had to walk in it and live in it on a daily basis. Couldn't get out of it by driving north somewhere or to the mountains if I wanted to.

But I do remember pretty vividly a Tropical Storm Don (or Donald?) in the summer of 2011 that formed over the Gulf and was supposed to develop into a hurricane and hit Texas and be a major drought buster but instead it met the massive 1045 millibar high pressure ridge parked over us and literally fell apart into a naked swirl and disintegrated before landfall.

[baseline bum]

Worst first half (and second half of spring) but it was a front heavy summer. July and August weren't exactly setting records.


July 2022 was either the hottest or second hottest month ever recorded in San Antonio, I forget. It was really close either way with August 2011. July was a nightmare especially the week that like 105+ with high dewpoints every day. I remember one day it rained and dropped the temp to 85 and then an hour and a half later it was like 104 but now with elevated humidity because of the rain.

[Millennial_Messiah]

July 2022 was either the hottest or second hottest month ever recorded in San Antonio, I forget. It was really close either way with August 2011. July was nightmare especially the week that like 105+ with high dewpoints every day.

I was here in most of July actually and yeah it was bad but I thought May and June were worse because they were bigger anomalies. Plus I spent lots of June in other places including Denver and still couldn't escape the 100 degree heat even there in June. The whole country east of the Rockies was scorching and parched in June 2022. And gas was over $5 per gallon and over $4.50 even in Texas.

Awful year, but the fall wasn't too bad IMO.

[baseline bum]

I was here in most of July actually and yeah it was bad but I thought May and June were worse because they were bigger anomalies. Plus I spent lots of June in other places including Denver and still couldn't escape the 100 degree heat even there in June. The whole country east of the Rockies was scorching and parched in June 2022. And gas was over $5 per gallon and over $4.50 even in Texas.

Awful year, but the fall wasn't too bad IMO.

July 2022 was a huge anomaly. Our average number of 100 degree days per year the last 20-25 years is like 18 and we had 29 in July if I remember right. June was definitely horrible with like 18 though. Still with it being a heavy El Nino year I was hoping this summer would just be an average summer, not even a cool one. But hard to see that if we're going to have 6 or 7 days of 100+ in the next ten since July and August are the months these kind of heat domes are normal in all but the coolest years.

[Millennial_Messiah]

July 2022 was a huge anomaly. Our average number of 100 degree days per year the last 20-25 years is like 18 and we had 29 in July if I remember right. June was definitely horrible with like 18 though. Still with it being a heavy El Nino year I was hoping this summer would just be an average summer, not even a cool one. But hard to see that if we're going to have 6 or 7 days of 100+ in the next ten since July and August are the months these kind of heat domes are normal in all but the coolest years.

With the Omega Blocking pattern in place I don't foresee a wet or stormy Texas this summer. The heat records won't likely top last year because we've already had enough cooling from the springtime troughiness/jet stream that brought us plenty of rain the last couple months. However it will still be above average. Summers coming off a previous La Nina where El Nino just started to form, using 2004 and 2009 as analog years... are typically still average to above average in temperatures and average to below average in precipitation.

Summers like 2010 where El Nino dominated the previous year/cycle are the ones that are typically significantly wetter and cooler than average with a much weaker Texas ridge from June to August. The wild card is if you get a tropical something to bring rain and reduced temps, which is always possible. And in a few very rare cases like for example all of July 2002, those weak landfalling tropical systems can become stuck between two ridges with weak summer steering currents and park over Texas and dump a month of monsoon-like rain that completely floods places like San Antonio. But that's an exceptional case.

Generally speaking when you have an El Nino develop from out of a La Nina during the springtime, you don't see the effects of the new El Nino until the late fall and winter. We will likely see a wetter than average winter in 2023-24 with an increased chance of ice and snow compared to average. But still, since it's Texas, most of the precip will fall in the form of rain. Typically El Nino winters are more rainy than they are ultra-cold for Texas, because the signature El Nino monsoon trough (subtropical jet) doesn't give the area many opportunities for large-scale high pressure ridges to come settle in and cause raditional cooling, the kind of extreme cooling that caused all the outages in say, Feb. 2021.

[Millennial_Messiah]

From every Youtube streamer I've seen who is a legit meteorologist, for this summer of 2023:

Texas and the Central Plains will still be average to above average in terms of temperature and average to below average in terms of precipitation.

The Northeast USA and most of the East Coast will be both cooler and wetter.

The Southeast and Florida will be about average in temperature and rain.

The Upper Midwest USA / most of the rust belt will be cooler and drier.

The northern Plains will be cooler and wetter, with an enhanced risk of severe weather around Iowa, southern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin.

The interior Mountain West and the Pacific Northwest will be much warmer AND drier than average.

Coastal California will be slightly warmer and slightly wetter than average.

The interior Southwest (southeast CA, NV, AZ, NM, southern Utah) will be slightly cooler than average and about an average amount of rain, though it will still get hot because it's the Desert Southwest.

That is that.

[baseline bum]

With the Omega Blocking pattern in place I don't foresee a wet or stormy Texas this summer.

We're not in an omega pattern any more. The omega pattern was why we had so much rain in late May and early June since storms were sneaking in from the low pressure system to the west through the bottom of the omega due to the high being way north around the Dakotas. Now we have a high just to the SW of us in Mexico that's buttfucking us for the next ~10 days.

[Millennial_Messiah]

We're not in an omega pattern any more. The omega pattern was why we had so much rain in late May and early June since storms were sneaking in from the low pressure system to the west through the bottom of the omega due to the high being way north around the Dakotas. Now we have a high just to the SW of us in Mexico that's buttfucking us for the next ~10 days.
On the bright side, to the SW of us in Mexico is typically where the nasty late spring storms that are often severe and tornadic come from... think the last Super El Nino year 1997 and the Jarrell tornado... late May 1997... so yeah, 108 degree highs next week suck but they're better than extended power outages, hail-dented cars, and risk of having your house torn apart like a house of cards by a tornado. Also, we've had way too much damn rain already this spring, and we've already shelled out $210 just this year alone on five... FIVE... lawn mowings after only having had to get the goddamn lawn mowed once last spring.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Last day of double digit temps for at least a couple weeks today (Monday). Enjoy! :)

[RodNIc91]

Yep. Just a terrible State to live year-round, tbh...

Weather, beaches and people-wise, hard to beat California, but you have to afford living here.

For international-style living, both NY and NJ (slightly cheaper) are good options in the NE, though snow sucks. The NW also has some good options in Seattle/Portland, but depends where.

The whole income taxes thing is a bit overrated as well, generally you get paid more in places like California or New York, because the expectation is that you'll afford those taxes.

Hey Nono, what's up? What would be the minimum required to be able to live in California?

[Millennial_Messiah]

Hey Nono, what's up? What would be the minimum required to be able to live in California?

LA Metro - $150k per year gross for family of 4
SF/SV Metro - $200k per year gross for family of 4
SD Metro - $130k per year gross for family of 4
Other coastal parts of CA not within major metros - about $120k per year gross for family of 4
Central Valley - $90k per year gross for family of 4
Desert hot eastern part near Arizona - about $70k per year gross for family of 4. Gas is still stupid expensive even if you're in say, Needles.

[RodNIc91]

LA Metro - $150k per year gross for family of 4
SF/SV Metro - $200k per year gross for family of 4
SD Metro - $130k per year gross for family of 4
Other coastal parts of CA not within major metros - about $120k per year gross for family of 4
Central Valley - $90k per year gross for family of 4
Desert hot eastern part near Arizona - about $70k per year gross for family of 4. Gas is still stupid expensive even if you're in say, Needles.

Thanks MM, awesome info! Do you the figures are fairly similar in Texas, Colorado and NY/NJ? I think we're down to these options. I've been doing research with platforms such as Numbeo but I don't know how accurate it is.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Thanks MM, awesome info! Do you the figures are fairly similar in Texas, Colorado and NY/NJ? I think we're down to these options. I've been doing research with platforms such as Numbeo but I don't know how accurate it is.

Texas is about 30% cheaper. Colorado is expensive, if you're anywhere near Denver or in the mountains it's probably only about 10-15% cheaper. If you want to live in rural east Colorado out in the windy high plains where there's no one and nothing but dust bowl ghost towns every few hundred kilometers... it's very inexpensive there, but again it's rural and very boring flat brown land. NY is almost as expensive as LA and you can't have a car in NYC realistically. New Jersey is moderately more affordable but still expensive and there's a lot of problems there... high crime, water pollution, toxic waste dumps, pricey toll roads and very high taxes on EVERYTHING, even more so than CA or NY or IL. I wouldn't really recommend NJ (especially the northern part near NYC) except to maybe visit a couple places and skedaddle up on out of there.

[Extra Stout]

One thing I would do if I were a non-American looking to relocate internationally to the USA would be to talk to a relocation expert who understands the United States. It might not be the wisest idea to choose where to live based upon feedback from a basketball forum, even if contributors sincerely are trying to help.

[Fat Brandon Bass]

> 2023
> still wageslaving

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/484/104/0d1.png

[Millennial_Messiah]

^does wfh with little work to do qualify as NEET? I mean like making six figures not having to travel to an office pretty much living it up living the NEET lifestyle but still technically employed and paid very well.

[Millennial_Messiah]

also, caught you on that burner, Mark Celibate :lol

[Mark Celibate]

^does wfh with little work to do qualify as NEET? I mean like making six figures not having to travel to an office pretty much living it up living the NEET lifestyle but still technically employed and paid very well.

yeah feel like I'm halfway there working from home... feel much more energized working from home 6-7 hours a day making well into six figures as opposed to driving to the office every day trying to work while Shaniqua is yelling on the phone and arguing with her boo-thang in the cubicle next to you for 8 hours a day.

Speaking of, some lunatic recruiter called me the other day (I'm always willing to listen in case there's something better out there). Call was going ok until I told her I was working remote, and she said "Oh how does it feel to only work a few hours a day"...assuming that all WFH'ers dont actually work. I could tell this was not going to go well :lol she went on to describe the job which sounded like the usual IT sweatshop...told her I didn't think it was a good fit. She then started to go on a rant about how WFH was ruining the country before I hung up after a few seconds. Funny thing was, she sounded like a Zoomer who was probably getting paid dirt cheap just regurgitating Boomer talking points :lol

[Millennial_Messiah]

yeah feel like I'm halfway there working from home... feel much more energized working from home 6-7 hours a day making well into six figures as opposed to driving to the office every day trying to work while Shaniqua is yelling on the phone and arguing with her boo-thang in the cubicle next to you for 8 hours a day.

Speaking of, some lunatic recruiter called me the other day (I'm always willing to listen in case there's something better out there). Call was going ok until I told her I was working remote, and she said "Oh how does it feel to only work a few hours a day"...assuming that all WFH'ers dont actually work. I could tell this was not going to go well :lol she went on to describe the job which sounded like the usual IT sweatshop...told her I didn't think it was a good fit. She then started to go on a rant about how WFH was ruining the country before I hung up after a few seconds. Funny thing was, she sounded like a Zoomer who was probably getting paid dirt cheap just regurgitating Boomer talking points :lol
Yeah, that's one thing I definitely don't agree with Elon Musk and the Boomer GOPs like Sean Hannity about.

I'm very pro-WFH and my livelihood pretty much depends on it at this point. It's either that or government dole for me.

[Mark Celibate]

Yeah, that's one thing I definitely don't agree with Elon Musk and the Boomer GOPs like Sean Hannity about.

I'm very pro-WFH and my livelihood pretty much depends on it at this point. It's either that or government dole for me.

Yeah onsite is pretty much a no go for me at this point too. It's not even actually going onsite that's the problem, I don't mind making a reasonable commute and sitting in a cubicle if I like the work and the pay is good.

The problem, atleast in IT, is that the talent pool for working onsite seems to have dropped off a cliff post-COVID. All the good talent refuses to come onsite, so you will be guaranteed to be working with the dregs of society. The last place I worked onsite was a large, reputable company so I thought that I'd be working with good people. Nope. One of our main engineers was arrested for his third DUI the month before we hired him, and would randomly disappear for hours at a time. The only people we could interview were sh!tty people from India who sucked, or Lagos, Nigeria con artists. Everyday there was a major outage, because they had terrible talent and nobody could actually execute anything properly in a maintenance window. And these were for highly "specialized" positions. in the more general, non IT departments ... it felt like most of the employees were a couple IQ points higher than qualifying for going on "retard" disability. I got out of there real quick, once I realized I was going to be overworked/over-relied upon very soon being one of the few competent employees they could actually get their hands on.

that's how a lot of sh!tty IT departments operate these days. Overwork the lone, white/asian guy and make a bunch of diversity hires who are unqualified just to look good

[Millennial_Messiah]

Yeah onsite is pretty much a no go for me at this point too. It's not even actually going onsite that's the problem, I don't mind making a reasonable commute and sitting in a cubicle if I like the work and the pay is good.
My Onsite work criteria is:

Minimum $500k per year, free parking, free food pass from the cafeteria, free onsite gym pass, and my job responsibility is to do data mining and statistics, data science not with coding but with tools like SAS Enterprise Miner, SPSS, Azure Analysis Services, Google Analytics tools etc.... i.e. the hypothesis testing / regression / neural net decision tree k-means type stuff that I'm good at.... and for up to and no greater than 8 hours... that is doable. I'd be the best damn worker that they'd have and they'd get their money's worth for sure because I'm a savant at that statistics shit.

Anything less than that and it's WFH or bust.

[RodNIc91]

Thanks everybody for their help!!

[Millennial_Messiah]

^ Also forgot to add to my post an unlimited access to an air conditioned room that I can sleep at nights on nights I don't feel like driving back. It can be something as simple as a small conference room with a twin sized bed. But it needs to be dark and have strong air conditioning, ideally its own AC unit that I can set to 65 degrees or less like in a hotel room.

[Millennial_Messiah]

And believe me I've stayed nights in real life in those type of spaces as well. The best one was at the old Hewlett Packard site on Legacy drive in Plano when I was working in that building in June 2016. On those hot summer nights from Monday to Thursday I'd sleep on the isthmus (6th-8th floor) located only at the top floors between the HP-occupied south end of the building and the dystopian vacant north end. The building... It was Ross Perot's creation in the early '80s. The isthmus itself was mostly vacant too except for a reception desk on the 6th floor and a few other very sparsely occupied spaces on the 6th floor and a few janitor spaces on the 8th floor.

At some point while I was working there, about midway through my 2nd week in... (The first week I spent sleeping in the elevator by the north tower which never got used but which got too hot, and I spent one night under the desk in my cubicle and one night in the heat on the 8th floor which wasn't air conditioned but with my box fan on blowing air in my face... I tried a LOT of different things).... but around mid-June I found me a nice little private conference room on the 7th floor that was very dark, had a lock, had its own AC unit and plenty of space -- more than enough, actually. So I'd have my sleeping bag and pillows and blankets up there and stayed nights instead of driving the long drive back to Denton on weekdays. I'd save money by only going back to Denton on Fridays and back to Plano on Mondays until my lease in Denton expired later that summer.

[Millennial_Messiah]

But it wasn't done there. In 2019 I found miscellaneous spots to sleep in the office campus on M-R weeknights when working for Fidelity because that was a long drive between Southlake/Westlake and The Colony where I lived. Also that was summertime (June as well) so no sleeping in the car, but just like with HP I leveraged the gym access for morning showers, but unlike with HP there was a fee. Still worth it though. Saved gas, mileage, and hassle. Also I got a bunch of free food, don't ask me how but I did. I barely worked but I made it look like I was working as I was at my desk enough to keep the contract at least for enough time.

[Millennial_Messiah]

In early 2020 (Jan-Feb) just before covid and WFH, I was contracting at Verizon, my last fulltime onsite location in DFW. Nice large office campus there at Hidden Ridge in Irving. I knew all the ins and outs of that building as well and there were plenty of nice dark rooms and places to sleep in the cellar (there were actually 3 levels of basement and they were barely trafficked and only an elevator or three flights of stairs from the gym and parking lot) and it was winter so didn't ever have to worry about needing AC. Sometimes I slept in my car under the darkest possible parking space in that garage if I was scared of getting caught alone sleeping in the bunker basement in the office but I never did get caught. Having the gym right there on the main floor close by in the mornings was convenient and also there was an open access basketball court, complete with basketballs, for me or anyone else to openly shoot hoops on. I probably spent more time shooting hoops there than actually working, though I pretended to work most of the days. IN addition to the main gym there were also these bonus janitor showers located deep in the basement that I'd use at night when I felt like a shower or rubbing one out because unfortunately that gym did close at like 8pm or so. I never had to pay there though.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Long story short, office working was always logistically miserable for me so once I got into fulltime WFH it was a blessing and one I'll never ever want to give up.

The closest I actually got to getting caught was on June 28, 2016 on a Tuesday my very first week and second day at Bank of America on Corporate drive in Plano. I was a dumbass by sleeping in the conference room in the "A" building but really there was no completely safe place to sleep there because it's a banking client and there's a fuckton of surveillance there. Fortunately that was only one night and I did get a lease and place to stay in nearby The Colony like a couple nights later. A little overpriced for one corner room in a rooming house from a landlord I met off craigslist but it was better than driving to Denton or losing my first (technically second, but first $70k or better) job out of college.

On that Tuesday night around 10:30pm or so I was sleeping under the desk in that conference room and it was closed facing looking in, but open faced looking out. The fat old white guy who was doing security for securitas that night opened the door and holy shit. I opened my eyes to slits and just hoped for the best. Didn't make a sound. He turned the light on and looked for about 10 seconds then turned it off and closed the door back again. I was frickin' relieved. Scary shit.

[Mark Celibate]

In early 2020 (Jan-Feb) just before covid and WFH, I was contracting at Verizon, my last fulltime onsite location in DFW. Nice large office campus there at Hidden Ridge in Irving. I knew all the ins and outs of that building as well and there were plenty of nice dark rooms and places to sleep in the cellar (there were actually 3 levels of basement and they were barely trafficked and only an elevator or three flights of stairs from the gym and parking lot) and it was winter so didn't ever have to worry about needing AC. Sometimes I slept in my car under the darkest possible parking space in that garage if I was scared of getting caught alone sleeping in the bunker basement in the office but I never did get caught. Having the gym right there on the main floor close by in the mornings was convenient and also there was an open access basketball court, complete with basketballs, for me or anyone else to openly shoot hoops on. I probably spent more time shooting hoops there than actually working, though I pretended to work most of the days. IN addition to the main gym there were also these bonus janitor showers located deep in the basement that I'd use at night when I felt like a shower or rubbing one out because unfortunately that gym did close at like 8pm or so. I never had to pay there though.

:lol wtf...serious question, are you Jewish? Those are the only people i know that can come up with these crazy elaborate plans to save money like that. tbh I had a friend who was Jewish who intentionally drove a beat up car and pretended he was homeless to Food Banks around DFW...essentially got free food for years despite making over $250k/yr

Surprised as a contractor you did that and took the risk of them canning your a$$ thinking you were crazy imho

[Millennial_Messiah]

:lol wtf...serious question, are you Jewish? Those are the only people i know that can come up with these crazy elaborate plans to save money like that. tbh I had a friend who was Jewish who intentionally drove a beat up car and pretended he was homeless to Food Banks around DFW...essentially got free food for years despite making over $250k/yr

Surprised as a contractor you did that and took the risk of them canning your a$$ thinking you were crazy imho

I'm not jewish, but I'm a paleo for sure. A unique ass individual. :tu And been doing that shit since 2016.

Even before 2016. The years at UNT in undergrad. 2013-2016.

First semester, fall 2013 I would wait until nobody's looking and stuff my tote bag with gallons of milk from the meal plan cafeteria halls to feed my Kefir grains for the yogurt I made in my dorm room. I did have a private room and that did cost extra, but it was worth it growing up an only child and all I wouldn't have done well with another guy sleeping in my bedroom. As for the Kefir yogurt making... was something that kept me occupied and healthy that semester.

Throughout (especially first year because i had the unlimited meal plan which was required for first-years, but the other 2 years I bought on-campus limited cafeteria meal plans which I'd use strategically) I'd do a lot of stuff like stuffing backpacks full of containers of food to eat (I never had a problem eating leftovers; my mom raised me to eat leftovers basically) and take back to my apartment and I'd have a whole fridge loaded with leftover dorm hall food. And instead of buying expensive sodas for my apartment I'd just keep gatorade also stashed from the dorm cafeterias because that shit kept forever. I got acclimated to enjoying heavily diluted gatorade (I think it might have been powerade actually) because it lasted longer and I always made a point of emphasis to stay hydrated because of kidney stones.

[Tyronn Lue]

yeah feel like I'm halfway there working from home... feel much more energized working from home 6-7 hours a day making well into six figures as opposed to driving to the office every day trying to work while Shaniqua is yelling on the phone and arguing with her boo-thang in the cubicle next to you for 8 hours a day.

Speaking of, some lunatic recruiter called me the other day (I'm always willing to listen in case there's something better out there). Call was going ok until I told her I was working remote, and she said "Oh how does it feel to only work a few hours a day"...assuming that all WFH'ers dont actually work. I could tell this was not going to go well :lol she went on to describe the job which sounded like the usual IT sweatshop...told her I didn't think it was a good fit. She then started to go on a rant about how WFH was ruining the country before I hung up after a few seconds. Funny thing was, she sounded like a Zoomer who was probably getting paid dirt cheap just regurgitating Boomer talking points :lol
When I wfh I seem to miss lunch and do about 10 hours. It's much easier going in because the day is over at 5, I get a lunch and get some side chatter.

[ElNono]

I guess for the full time employment direct hire positions. All I know is the India IT consulting world. Never really had an opportunity at direct hire. But consulting comes with lower expectations too.

You don't want to be in that game, competing with cheap visas, tbh... plus there's high demand for direct hires if you're in the right place in CA and you're demonstrably good.

[ElNono]

Hey Nono, what's up? What would be the minimum required to be able to live in California?

Sup bro. Congrats on the move.

Depends where in California and how far you want to commute. Just to give you an idea, in West Los Angeles, a 2 bedroom apt, rent is ~4k/month. Total expenses are probably around $6k/month, considering electricity, internet, water, groceries, gas, etc.

Houses start at ~1.5m. But that's amongst the most expensive areas. If you head down to Hawtorne or Torrance you might be able to get something cheaper, but have to commute more. You do have nice beaches and great weather all year round.

Then there's the east side, which is cheapest (depending where). San Francisco is more or less the same, just slightly more expensive, minus the beach.

If yo get out of the cities and like to drive, things get cheaper as well.

Again, it's all about having a job that covers those costs and puts you in a competitive place. It's true that in the tech world you can do a lot of this stuff remotely, but companies aren't dumb. They know what your overhead is and what the average salary for a position is in every area.

Other considerations you might want to think about are things like healthcare, for example. Texas is definitely one of those States that rank pretty poorly on that.

[Millennial_Messiah]

You don't want to be in that game, competing with cheap visas, tbh... plus there's high demand for direct hires if you're in the right place in CA and you're demonstrably good.

1. I'm not in CA

2. (more important) I'm not demonstrably good. I'm mediocre at the actual job, at best. My best job skill by far has been interviewing and then keeping up with all the bare minimum required tasks to stay employed as long as possible. I figure all my energy to work hard got pretty much burned out in high school and college.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I'm a full time employee for employers based out of India and the key to staying employed for a year or longer at a time is to fly under the radar and not make a big name of yourself. Don't piss people off, and try to be forgotten. Do the bare minimum (such as keeping up with emails, compliance trainings, and password resets on time) to not trigger a flag.

To date, my best job skill by far and away... is interviewing. Great at hyping and selling myself and my resume up to the point where they want me. After that I'm pretty much a zero when it comes to work ethic.

[Mark Celibate]

I'm a full time employee for employers based out of India and the key to staying employed for a year or longer at a time is to fly under the radar and not make a big name of yourself. Don't piss people off, and try to be forgotten. Do the bare minimum (such as keeping up with emails, compliance trainings, and password resets on time) to not trigger a flag.

To date, my best job skill by far and away... is interviewing. Great at hyping and selling myself and my resume up to the point where they want me. After that I'm pretty much a zero when it comes to work ethic.

yeah IT can be one of those fields where it's best not to be known as the superstar, especially at a sh!t company where talent is at a premium. People will never leave you alone and you'll just get more and more dumped on your plate. But at certain places, going above and beyond has helped me acquire the additional skills that have helped me get better jobs in the future. my remote gig now was actually because I did great work for a client 4 years ago as a contractor, and they wanted to hire me full time agreeing to have me live anywhere when many of them are required to go onsite once a week and be in the area. Wouldn't have happened if I didn't bust my a$$ for them beforehand.

But yeah, I've worked at poorly managed, retard factories where it's best just to lay low and job hop as soon as you can and forget about forming any kind of relationships rofl

[ElNono]

There are definitely good and bad places everywhere, tbh... Also, working for big corp sometimes means dealing with other type of problems, like internal politics, tone deaf management, etc.
But, generally, if you have a good group of people around, and the place is good, and you like what you do, things click quickly. Plus you get to connect with other people that might reach out down the road.

I also had my own business and worked as a contractor for many years, but that also carries stress levels associated with what's my next gig going to be, etc. When you're younger, it might not matter much, but once you have a family, things change.

There's really not a single answer to this stuff, really depends on the person and situation.

[Millennial_Messiah]

yeah IT can be one of those fields where it's best not to be known as the superstar, especially at a sh!t company where talent is at a premium. People will never leave you alone and you'll just get more and more dumped on your plate. But at certain places, going above and beyond has helped me acquire the additional skills that have helped me get better jobs in the future. my remote gig now was actually because I did great work for a client 4 years ago as a contractor, and they wanted to hire me full time agreeing to have me live anywhere when many of them are required to go onsite once a week and be in the area. Wouldn't have happened if I didn't bust my a$$ for them beforehand.

But yeah, I've worked at poorly managed, retard factories where it's best just to lay low and job hop as soon as you can and forget about forming any kind of relationships rofl

I just work from wherever wherever and don't give a fuck. Since covid it's pretty hard for them to actually force the employees who have been remote literally over 3 years now to actually go back onsite to a new office so as an employee you can lie your ass off saying that you'd travel or relocate or whatever but they never actually care if you do or not

[Millennial_Messiah]

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! :toast

So, where did you and your family ultimately decide?

[baseline bum]

So, where did you and your family ultimately decide?

Hopefully not San Antonio, having another fucking summer like last year is making me want to go back to LA despite having what looks to be another epic Spurs team in the making.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Hopefully not San Antonio, having another fucking summer like last year is making me want to go back to LA despite having what looks to be another epic Spurs team in the making.

It's going to be around 100 there in LA, a few days above that even in the next couple weeks. Though, probably less humidity, as the nights are low 70s instead of around 80 like here.

[baseline bum]

It's going to be around 100 there in LA, a few days above that even in the next couple weeks. Though, probably less humidity, as the nights are low 70s instead of around 80 like here.

Nope

https://i.ibb.co/MZhvN7J/LA.png

[RodNIc91]

Hey MM! We want to go and check out San Diego once we arrive in the US.

However our ability to move there depends on my fiancee's ability to get a job that allows us to live there -- can't afford it just with my job as it currently stands.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Hey MM! We want to go and check out San Diego once we arrive in the US.

However our ability to move there depends on my fiancee's ability to get a job that allows us to live there -- can't afford it just with my job as it currently stands.
San Diego has great weather most of the year, great beaches and great women. And a theme park. No more sports teams, though. Military bases. A little close for comfort to Mexico. Very expensive.

[Mark Celibate]

Hey MM! We want to go and check out San Diego once we arrive in the US.

However our ability to move there depends on my fiancee's ability to get a job that allows us to live there -- can't afford it just with my job as it currently stands.

San Diego is great if you can afford it. Easily my favorite city in the US. Perfect weather, beaches, endless things to do, and the culture there is laid back.

Like I said before, Texas isn't bad outside of the big cities. Even then there's a wide range between them. San Antonio/Austin are ok, Houston is humid overall not bad but there is a 1% chance you will get shot everytime you go to your car. And then there's Dallas, TX, the Big D. It's up there with Mogadishu, Somalia and Baghdad, Iraq as one of the worst places in the world to live as far as overall quality of life goes IMO