Cheapest and best place in USA to live?

[cowboy]

I just came back from Texas. First time ever in or near Texas. I visited both Houston and Austin. I have lived in Cali my whole life and have heard only terrible things about Texas so my expectations were well…ZERO.

After visiting for the first time I was pleasantly surprised. Surprised in terms of how nice some of these areas actually are. The west side of Austin near Lake Austin and Lake Travis are very nice. Rolling hills and lush. Definitely didn’t feel like I was in Texas.

In Houston Uptown is all new and done very nice. They basically have like (2) downtowns. Plenty of shopping, fine restaurant’s, etc. It feels like Cali at time. In terms of living in Houston, The Woodlands are simply incredible. Best master planned community I have ever seen. Hands down. Dense forest. I sure didn’t feel like I was in Texas.

Home prices I would say are 1/3 to 1/4 the prices of California when comparing area and house. Texas makes their homes much better than Cali. All rockwork on the outside standard. Property taxes are higher than Cali at 3-4%. Texas has no state income tax so you save there. Gasoline is about 35% cheaper than Cali.

Overall, Texas is definitely livable. I learned my lesson in terms of listening to people say how good/bad a place is. Do this, go see the place with your own two eyes and experience it for yourself.

Two thumbs up for Austin and the Woodlands in Houston. I wouldn’t be surprised if I lived in either of these places in a year.

[mixxalot]

Miami and Austin sound great

Anyways, I am fluent in Spanish and have a great time when I party with Latinos as long as they are not the ghetto trash kind that are so common here in Cali or the migrant workers. Nothing against hard working latinos from Mexico who come here for a better life. From what I hear and see thus far there are plenty of well educated Cubans in Miami so thats cool. Yes, I love dancing salsa and good healthy latin food.

Ideally a place in Austin (if I like it there) and a pad in Miami would rock.
Both for what an overpriced place in San Diego cost and have the best of both worlds with coastal living and country/shopping. Right now just saving up my cash and excited about the new job and challenges ahead.

[kev374]

Austin has a good IT industry, the pay is equal to or in some cases more than in LA but the cost of living is much less. Factor in housing and you’re looking at 50% less in costs. That is HUGE!

Living in LA/OC is not feasible anymore for people starting out since you cannot get ahead unless you either make over $200,000/yr or bought a home before 1999.

If home prices crash and rents go down then things may look promising but until then it’s not a good place to get ahead financially.

[mixxalot]

I agree- all of the major metro areas in California (SF/SJ/LA/OC/SD) are not affordable for those making less than 200k a year compared to Denver or Dallas or Austin for example.

[CardiffBaseball]

Austin has the cool factor, but The Woodlands is not far from George Bush International and trust me I’d rather be in and out of travel as quickly as possible. I don’t know if it’s changed but one more advantage to Continental is they used to have a great first class upgrade policy, going by space available and not having to use mileage. As a single guy, The Woodlands might be a bit boring for you, I don’t know.

Again Dallas probably the most convenient for Travel followed closely by Houston. However Continental has hubs in Cleveland and Newark which cover the Midwest and East Coast more completely so you have a slightly greater chance of connecting flights in Houston.

With Denver, many of United’s west coast flights stop over there. However I don’t know if the reverse is true, that you can live in Denver and get to any city in 3-4 hours. Salt Lake city is a Delta Hub.

To that point I suppose Atlanta is possible. However the advantage DFW has is that American really blasts to about anywhere from Dallas.

[sdrealtor]

Before buying in The Woodlands look at their HOA. I know people that lived there and it is among the most draconian I have ever heard of.

[Anonymous]

NC and FL are out due to humidity, weather and hicks.

Contrary to what the internet bigots say, there is plenty of culture and lots of liberals in Houston–BUT the heat and humidity are among the worst in the United States. If you’ve ruled out NC and FL because of weather, then you most definitely won’t like Houston and probably not Dallas either. Austin summers are bad, but nothing like Houston. Then again, we do have this invention called air conditioning…

Why not Salt Lake City? Better recreational opportunities than even San Diego and the weather not much worse. A little snow in the valley during the winter, but the sun comes out and melts it away fairly soon. The Mormons are no longer dominant in the city itself, and anyway, even the most conservative Mormons aren’t at all like those stupid southern rednecks or the moronic southern blacks. (I grew up in the Deep South and visit my bible-thumping relatives there each Christmas, btw, so I know what I’m talking about.)

[mixxalot]

A few potential places for me to check out:

1. Salt Lake City, Utah
2. Denver, Colorado
3. Virginia Beach, VA
4. Miami, FL

These offer much of what I would be happy with as places to live and not cost a fortune like San Diego. I think that strategic wise, Utah and Denver are good except in winter for travel to both coasts and continental USA on business. Anyways, I have a year or two to be concerned about it before I decide to buy a home.

[cowboy]

For the most part, I thought HOA in Houston and Austin were cheap. $50/month typical and $200/month maximum. Some included trash. I consider $150/month in SD cheap.

[CardiffBaseball]

I will repeat the mantra that you should only pick cities that air travel is easy. Trust me every hop you have to take each week can cause delays. For that reason I’d throw out the Virginia Beach option.

Also I don’t know who you are working for but it was my experience that most people who get into these traveling consulting postions do not end up doing it for as many years as they thought they would. Therefore if there is a home office of the employer, it’s not a bad idea to consider that, so that you can slide into a non-customer facing job when you get burned out.

[cowboy]

I have heard a few people say Denver is pretty expensive.

[Anonymous]

For someone who wont have to except Denver wages, it is dirt cheap compared to San Diego. 300k will get you a great home in many of the nice Denver suburbs. Go to realtor.com and search in Littleton, CO, Arvada, CO, or Castle Rock, CO and see what you find.

[mixxalot]

Denver wages and tech market

Actually thats great- I can afford more house in Denver, Utah or Miami than San Diego. Will see how things go next couple years. No rush. Time is on my side thats the key is patience.

Tech jobs pay well in Denver believe it or not- as much as San Diego.

[Anonymous]

People say Asheville, is one of the most liberal places in NC. It’s not. I’m not surprised to see a previous post about a crowd cheering for lynching. On top of it, it is incredibly boring. I moved here about a year ago and am doing all that I can do to get out! Asheville is full of smelly hippies, smelly girls with hairy pits who serve food, BO (are you getting the point here???) and subarus. I never should have left Florida. Move to Miami. Have a life and enjoy it!

[Anonymous]

I just left Nc, because my son wasn’t getting the proper education he is hearing impaired. So we moved back home to Mountain Home Arkansas on my dads 18 acers, he is willing to allow single family move a mobile on the land for free except for elec.(pay your own) if you can help me and my son to build a small house for us. But you can’t do drugs or drink or have wild parties.
Theres great fishing and very good schools.

[Author]

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