The Texpatriates Thread

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

Alajuela, Costa Rica

[Biff Tannen 45673]

1 minute ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

Alajuela, Costa Rica

Oh.  Thought you meant in the US.  Still fucked up.

[Goredho 17399]

3 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

WTF.  Where was this?

$350 it was at a male strip club.

[StassneyHorn 6575]

Bout to do 3 months in Nashville, then Chicago from mid April til November.

Finally found a good deal on Airbnb with mid term/short term rentals with no service fees/taxes/cleaning fees

[Brisketexan 105095]

Bribed my first cop.  Pulled over:
“Oh this is going to be very expensive.  $700.  It would be cheaper if you paid now. $200.”  
“Don’t have $200.  I’ve got $90”.  
“Well, it’s actually $90.”

Had an old friend that happened to in Juarez. Cop says it’s $100 fine, but if you pay now, it’s $50. My buddy says I only have $20. Cop says ok, the fine is $20. My buddy says “the thing is, that’s my lunch money. Would you take $10?” Cop begrudgingly says “fine…it’s $10.” My buddy then says “ok…can you make change for a $20?”
And he did. That’s how you bribe a cop like a boss.

[UpperWestside 6162]

Watching Texas descend into the abyss because of so many horrific people in charge makes me not ever want to even visit the state again. My mom has asked me several times to come back to visit and I tell her there’s a plane ticket for her to come to New York anytime she wants to stay as long as she wants. 
 

I have been thinking long-term about where I want to live and I am pretty certain it will not be in the US. Where I am on holiday right now is my end goal for where to live, but that’ll take some time and a ton of work to pull it off.

[Tuco 5076]

So, here in Seattle we have a vote coming up. It’s a ballot initiative on whether the city should set up a board to manage nonprofit social housing coops basically. King County has a great website that summarizes the initiative, provides details, and has a pro and con position. The pro position is penned by some liberal Democrats. No surprise there. The con position is penned by some liberal, grassroots, activists, who believe it’s an unnecessary distraction that diverts resources from current efforts. Hard for me to distinguish who is right. They both seem like good people who disagree on how to achieve a noble goal.

Meanwhile, my friends back in Nebraska are fighting efforts to make drag shows illegal. Abortion, voting rights, and gun control are also on the docket.

I almost feel guilty.

[Hefeweizen 5311]

Bump.  Just heard from friends in Travis Country they are selling and moving to Vermont.  Out of my friend group about half has left Texas at this point.  Wild.

[Goredho 17399]

2 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

Bump.  Just heard from friends in Travis Country they are selling and moving to Vermont.  Out of my friend group about half has left Texas at this point.  Wild.

Did they give you reasons?

[nbmishoid 949]

On 2/10/2023 at 2:12 PM, Tuco said:

So, here in Seattle we have a vote coming up. It’s a ballot initiative on whether the city should set up a board to manage nonprofit social housing coops basically. King County has a great website that summarizes the initiative, provides details, and has a pro and con position. The pro position is penned by some liberal Democrats. No surprise there. The con position is penned by some liberal, grassroots, activists, who believe it’s an unnecessary distraction that diverts resources from current efforts. Hard for me to distinguish who is right. They both seem like good people who disagree on how to achieve a noble goal.

Meanwhile, my friends back in Nebraska are fighting efforts to make drag shows illegal. Abortion, voting rights, and gun control are also on the docket.

I almost feel guilty.

Tuco

We are guilty, of a dreadful, selfish crime.  Making the right life choice for one goddam time.  

[Todd Gack 432]

We're beginning very early stages of exploring a move to other states.  Frontrunners are CO, WA, MA, VT... 

Question for those with school-aged children - how big a role should public schools play in choosing a new place to call home?  Seems to me it should be priority 1 (or at worst 2), but I'm open to other viewpoints.  Kids are 3 and 6, so ideally we'd only move once and let them finish K-12 there.

So far the only "research" I've done is limited to searching real estate in areas with GreatSchools ratings of 6 or higher.  What other resources are out there to find good/decent public schools in a particular state?

[Mdhorn 5948]

I really enjoy Maryland.  Has some fun towns and is central to anywhere I want to go--NYC, Philly, Maine, MA, Richmond, Shenandoah, the beach or a flight overseas.   I'm happy retiring here when the time comes.  If I want to go to DC, it's less than 5 miles to Capitol Hill.  Fortunately, I live in a forgotten enclave.  If you get a chance, maybe look into College Park Maryland or Hyattsville.  Nice houses and out door spaces with several local beer gardens and restaurants.  And again--you can go anywhere you want.  

[Guest]

This thread makes me laugh. I bet there's a whole lot of "Texpatriates" that are regretting their decision right about now.

Sure, it may not be 105 degrees for 60 straight days where you live. And maybe you've actually seen rain in the past 90 days. And well, maybe you have actual public lands and a natural landscape that doesn't include paving everything over to put in the world's largest gas station.

But do you have razor wire and sawblade buoys at your state's border? What about 21 kids and teachers that the state would actually like to forget about instead of preventing anyone from going through that again? Hell, I bet you don't have Elon Musk and Joe Rogan carpet-bagging their way to your state.

Yep, I bet you're eating crow right about now.

[Goredho 17399]

1 hour ago, Todd Gack said:

We're beginning very early stages of exploring a move to other states.  Frontrunners are CO, WA, MA, VT... 

Question for those with school-aged children - how big a role should public schools play in choosing a new place to call home?  Seems to me it should be priority 1 (or at worst 2), but I'm open to other viewpoints.  Kids are 3 and 6, so ideally we'd only move once and let them finish K-12 there.

So far the only "research" I've done is limited to searching real estate in areas with GreatSchools ratings of 6 or higher.  What other resources are out there to find good/decent public schools in a particular state?

I can really only speak to rural Colorado, since that is where we wound up.  Colorado is solidly blue-leaning at the state level, but varies greatly in its political leanings county-to-county.  And county presidential voting trends tell you an awful lot about the quality of government services in that area, including schools and public education.  That is at least true in the rural counties outside outside of the I-25 urban centers.  El Paso county (contains Colorado Springs) leans red, but I am sure it has some good schools within it.  But if you are wanting to be out of the city, I would pay attention to this map:

The counties that are rural and red will have the local politics dominated by libertarians with conservative, small government views.  These counties will have relatively low property values, relatively low taxes, relatively little money available and thus relatively poor government services.  The schools will not be great, and if your kid's education is important, you'll want to not rely on public education in these areas.

If I was looking to raise a family outside of the cities in Colorado, I would target La Plata County in the Southwest (Durango area) or Chafee County in the center (Salida/Buena Vista area).  The resort areas like Breckenridge and Vail are wealthy and have good services/public education, but in my experience with my family, they don't feel like real towns with families and community.  90% of the population are vacationers, seasonal workers and wealthy second home owners who are only there part time.  Great to visit, but you and the rest of your family will feel isolated in a sea of transient passerbys if you live there.

Durango and Salida are great rural communities and my two favorite towns in Colorado.  Both are politically moderate, place value on things like public education, are priced within the reach of someone coming from a suburb of Austin, and are near everything you think about when you think of Colorado (mountains, skiing, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, etc...).  They are small, but big enough to have most of the things you want like a hospital, some decent restaurants, etc...

Durango is larger (19,000 vs 5,800) and is a bit more accessible to the outside world as it has a small airport with commercial flights.  It's a college town (Fort Lewis).  Salida has a small community college.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Goredho

[SydneyCarton 48076]

1 hour ago, Todd Gack said:

We're beginning very early stages of exploring a move to other states.  Frontrunners are CO, WA, MA, VT... 

Question for those with school-aged children - how big a role should public schools play in choosing a new place to call home?  Seems to me it should be priority 1 (or at worst 2), but I'm open to other viewpoints.  Kids are 3 and 6, so ideally we'd only move once and let them finish K-12 there.

So far the only "research" I've done is limited to searching real estate in areas with GreatSchools ratings of 6 or higher.  What other resources are out there to find good/decent public schools in a particular state?

If you're not averse to cold weather, the school system in MA is arguably the best in the country. Plus don't they have unviersal healthcare at the state level?

[ohchaucer 1443]

Or Connecticut. On the coast, at least. We are NYC suburbanites but moved up here to Westport for the schools.

[CooterBrown 18006]

2 hours ago, Todd Gack said:

We're beginning very early stages of exploring a move to other states.  Frontrunners are CO, WA, MA, VT... 

Question for those with school-aged children - how big a role should public schools play in choosing a new place to call home?  Seems to me it should be priority 1 (or at worst 2), but I'm open to other viewpoints.  Kids are 3 and 6, so ideally we'd only move once and let them finish K-12 there.

So far the only "research" I've done is limited to searching real estate in areas with GreatSchools ratings of 6 or higher.  What other resources are out there to find good/decent public schools in a particular state?

If I'm not mistaken, GreatSchools.org rates schools based only against schools in the same state, not nationwide.  So a high performing state may have a school that rates a 5 out of 10 but if you really delve into the raw data that 5 may actually be a better school than an 8 in Texas. So, I wouldn't pay much attention that overall rating.

I'd pay attention to the college readiness section on the website. I think you can glean a lot of info based on that data.

Edited August 24, 2023 by CooterBrown

[G650 14249]

2 hours ago, Todd Gack said:

We're beginning very early stages of exploring a move to other states.  Frontrunners are CO, WA, MA, VT... 

Question for those with school-aged children - how big a role should public schools play in choosing a new place to call home?  Seems to me it should be priority 1 (or at worst 2), but I'm open to other viewpoints.  Kids are 3 and 6, so ideally we'd only move once and let them finish K-12 there.

So far the only "research" I've done is limited to searching real estate in areas with GreatSchools ratings of 6 or higher.  What other resources are out there to find good/decent public schools in a particular state?

VA statewide can be hit and miss, but my city has some of the best public schools in the country. There's plenty of drawbacks though to weigh. Overall a good state to live in and we have the beach at least.

[Neonmoon 38129]

1 hour ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

This thread makes me laugh. I bet there's a whole lot of "Texpatriates" that are regretting their decision right about now.

Sure, it may not be 105 degrees for 60 straight days where you live. And maybe you've actually seen rain in the past 90 days. And well, maybe you have actual public lands and a natural landscape that doesn't include paving everything over to put in the world's largest gas station.

But do you have razor wire and sawblade buoys at your state's border? What about 21 kids and teachers that the state would actually like to forget about instead of preventing anyone from going through that again? Hell, I bet you don't have Elon Musk and Joe Rogan carpet-bagging their way to your state.

Yep, I bet you're eating crow right about now.

Not a day goes by that my wife and I don’t mention to each other how happy we are that we moved out of Texas. 

[SydneyCarton 48076]

10 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Not a day goes by that my wife and I don’t mention to each other how happy we are that we moved out of Texas. 

Not a day goes by that I don't co-opt other friends and family to try and get my wife to accept the idea of moving  out of texas. Only 13 more years. 

[BrickHorn 18218]

50 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

If you're not averse to cold weather, the school system in MA is arguably the best in the country. Plus don't they have unviersal healthcare at the state level?

I love Massachusetts, but the weather is depressing most of the year. That said, we recently visited and I was reminded how dedicated the state is to providing public resources. Between public transportation, public park space (on what would be nearly priceless real estate), public health services, investment in public education, etc., Massachusetts just kicks Texas’s every-man-for-himself Ayn Randian ass in that regard.

It’s awesome and a completely different mentality. An idea that what’s good for the community is good for everyone, and worth investing in. And it creates a sense that everyone has a voice and a role to play in society. 

[SydneyCarton 48076]

1 minute ago, BrickHorn said:

I love Massachusetts, but the weather is depressing most of the year. That said, we recently visited and I was reminded how dedicated the state is to providing public resources. Between public transportation, public park space (on what would be nearly priceless real estate), public health services, investment in public education, etc., Massachusetts just kicks Texas’s every-man-for-himself Ayn Randian ass in that regard.

It’s awesome and a completely different mentality. An idea that what’s good for the community is good for everyone, and worth investing in. And it creates a sense that everyone has a voice and a role to play in society. 

Counterpoint, Texas:

[Biff Tannen 45673]

1 hour ago, BrickHorn said:

An idea that what’s good for the community is good for everyone, and worth investing in. And it creates a sense that everyone has a voice and a role to play in society. 

[Lurch 5930]

We joked when we left Texas for Florida 6 years ago that at least our vote would start to count. So much for that. Now the wife wants to move again because “these aren’t our people”. Love the beach and hate the cold, so we may have to leave the country altogether.

[Biff Tannen 45673]

1 hour ago, Lurch said:

We joked when we left Texas for Florida 6 years ago that at least our vote would start to count. So much for that. Now the wife wants to move again because “these aren’t our people”. Love the beach and hate the cold, so we may have to leave the country altogether.

California's just sitting there man.

[Post Oak 20210]

I think we've got about 10 years before we are out. Leaning toward western NC where it is currently 87.

[SydneyCarton 48076]

3 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

I think we've got about 10 years before we are out. Leaning toward western NC where it is currently 87.

THis is high on my list, I'm banking on them getting more Blue. ALso, you can buy fucking like 80 acres in the Smokey Mountains with tremendous views for like 800k. I'll never understand why the fuck Texas is so expensive. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

1 hour ago, ohchaucer said:

Or Connecticut. On the coast, at least. We are NYC suburbanites but moved up here to Westport for the schools.

I know lots of folks in Westport.  If I had kids, that would be one of my top choices in the Tri-State area.

['stache 21802]

My wife has family in Mystic, CT. We've considered it, but Providence is the closest metro, and it's just okay. You can take a train into Boston or NYC, but it's not high speed, so it's not exactly a commute. I'll never understand why this country failed to even consider high speed rail for so long, especially along the eastern corridor. I'm still pretty sure my exit plan is Washington, DC. I know I could find good work there, but the pay is my concern. I'd need to double my income to live in the parts of DC I like. I'm confident I could make it happen if and when I pull the trigger. Backup is Minneapolis. After this summer, I think I'd be okay with a few months of bitter cold. At least you can wear coats and use the skyway system. 

[softlynow 1814]

1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

THis is high on my list, I'm banking on them getting more Blue. ALso, you can buy fucking like 80 acres in the Smokey Mountains with tremendous views for like 800k. I'll never understand why the fuck Texas is so expensive. 

Unfortunately I'm tied to heavily to this state to consider moving, but NC would be my first choice, vith Virginia a very close second.

I just to have to hope that we can survive this Christofascist moment, and Texas government becomes simply mildly disappointing again.

[G650 14249]

5 minutes ago, 'stache said:

My wife has family in Mystic, CT. We've considered it, but Providence is the closest metro, and it's just okay. You can take a train into Boston or NYC, but it's not high speed, so it's not exactly a commute. I'll never understand why this country failed to even consider high speed rail for so long, especially along the eastern corridor. I'm still pretty sure my exit plan is Washington, DC. I know I could find good work there, but the pay is my concern. I'd need to double my income to live in the parts of DC I like. I'm confident I could make it happen if and when I pull the trigger. Backup is Minneapolis. After this summer, I think I'd be okay with a few months of bitter cold. At least you can wear coats and use the skyway system. 

Eh, you can get pretty decent stuff in DC for not too crazy.

 

I've always threatened to have a flat in Georgetown as a weekend escape but that's a different conversation entirely

[Biff Tannen 45673]

1 hour ago, 'stache said:

I'll never understand why this country failed to even consider high speed rail for so long, especially along the eastern corridor.

A big part of the blame is on GM and the large auto makers of the early 20th century.  There's a documentary about it somewhere.

[safe sex 11709]

Goddam I hope I have a rich relative whom I've never met but that has taken a secret and silent interest in my life and wills their fortune to me when they die.

Fingers crossed I guess!

[SimonBolivar 10958]

Anyone made the jump to CO as a Texas teacher? Wife wants out but she's an elementary school bilingual teacher and doesn't know the testing or credentialing system up there.

[Post Oak 20210]

15 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

THis is high on my list, I'm banking on them getting more Blue. ALso, you can buy fucking like 80 acres in the Smokey Mountains with tremendous views for like 800k. I'll never understand why the fuck Texas is so expensive. 

Yep. We are looking at the Asheville area but anywhere in that area would be great. Although from my limited research Asheville is the bluest.

We've also talked to our kids about going out of state for college. Theyre still in elementary so it's no big deal right now but Im ready to be done with Texas and don't want to have my kids are grandkids here either. Luckily there are plenty of good schools in NC.

Hell we might even adopt App State as our B team just so we can go to games here.

 

[G650 14249]

For those of you looking at NC, the upside is you have good spots in the western part of the state, such as Asheville, the middle, and on the coast like Wilmington and to a lesser extent to OBX. The downside is the GOP legislature is going ham, and you are really rolling the dice on anything trending blue.

Virginia on the other hand, unless you are a moonshiner, the western part of the state is a no go. Charlottesville is super cool, that's about as far west as you can get. Politically, Virginia is a solid blue state at this point, regardless of the fact we elected Bobby Newport governor last go round.

3 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

Yep. We are looking at the Asheville area but anywhere in that area would be great. Although from my limited research Asheville is the bluest.

We've also talked to our kids about going out of state for college. Theyre still in elementary so it's no big deal right now but Im ready to be done with Texas and don't want to have my kids are grandkids here either. Luckily there are plenty of good schools in NC.

Hell we might even adopt App State as our B team just so we can go to games here.

 

Prepare to be cold AF in Boone.

[Goredho 17399]

4 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

Anyone made the jump to CO as a Texas teacher? Wife wants out but she's an elementary school bilingual teacher and doesn't know the testing or credentialing system up there.

No se.  I can maybe find out from someone, though.  Any specific questions?

[CooterBrown 18006]

8 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

Anyone made the jump to CO as a Texas teacher? Wife wants out but she's an elementary school bilingual teacher and doesn't know the testing or credentialing system up there.

Looks like you can do the paperwork before you move and have it ready to go...

https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprof/OOSreqs

https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprof/outofstateteacher

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by CooterBrown

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, G650 said:

Prepare to be cold AF in Boone.

We talking like low 90s or what?

[Todd Gack 432]

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

If you're not averse to cold weather, the school system in MA is arguably the best in the country. Plus don't they have unviersal healthcare at the state level?

The lists I've seen show either MA or NJ as having the best public schools.  Color me shocked that Jersey isn't only Jets fans and jersey shore guido morons.

['stache 21802]

38 minutes ago, G650 said:

Eh, you can get pretty decent stuff in DC for not too crazy.

 

I've always threatened to have a flat in Georgetown as a weekend escape but that's a different conversation entirely

We have two kids so would need three bedrooms (kids are six years apart, one boy one girl, wouldn't be fair to make them share a room). Assuming we'd rent to start out, everything I'm finding that I like is $3,000 at the low end. I could pull it off, but it would be tight unless I can significantly increase my income. It's helpful that my wife just started working as a high school guidance counselor, and DC pays almost twice what Tulsa Public Schools pay. Kind of goes along with who values what in this country. 

[G650 14249]

2 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Kind of goes along with who values what in this country. 

Quite so

[SimonBolivar 10958]

28 minutes ago, Goredho said:

No se.  I can maybe find out from someone, though.  Any specific questions?

@CooterBrown hooked me up and of course it'll come down to a complete change of lifestyle for us. We have a 3-year-old house here in Texas and our affordability in the Denver area looks like apartment life or buying somewhere far out like by the airport. I've always been in the "fuck that I'm going to help change Texas" person but as I age that becomes less and less realistic and summer is just annoying.  We have friends in the Denver area already and visit it often, but making the leap is the hardest part.

[BrickHorn 18218]

57 minutes ago, softlynow said:

I just to have to hope that we can survive this Christofascist moment

If only you had supported me in explaining to the numbskulls on Hornfans that Jesus is fake, maybe we could have averted this Christofascist moment altogether.

[Todd Gack 432]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

If I'm not mistaken, GreatSchools.org rates schools based only against schools in the same state, not nationwide.  So a high performing state may have a school that rates a 5 out of 10 but if you really delve into the raw data that 5 may actually be a better school than an 8 in Texas. So, I wouldn't pay much attention that overall rating.

I'd pay attention to the college readiness section on the website. I think you can glean a lot of info based on that data.

I had not realized this, definitely something I should look into.  Much thanks.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

21 minutes ago, Todd Gack said:

The lists I've seen show either MA or NJ as having the best public schools.  Color me shocked that Jersey isn't only Jets fans and jersey shore guido morons.

There are some really pretty areas in NJ. You just have to know where to look.  It is really a shame that most people's impression of NJ is the fucking Neward airport.

That said, life is too short to live in NJ or CT if you are single or have no kids.  Even if you are close in (10-15 miles) from Midtown, you are looking at an hour to an hour and a half commute.

[Foosters 17850]

57 minutes ago, G650 said:

 The downside is the GOP legislature is going ham, and you are really rolling the dice on anything trending blue.

Yeah, other than the weather (which is big) I'm not seeing a lot of differences politically in Texas and NC. Urban, educated areas are blue; but rural areas are red, crazy, and effectively run the state.

Admittedly, I have not paid much attention to local NC politics.

[G650 14249]

10 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

There are some really pretty areas in NJ

Just to be clear my Aunt and Uncle have live in one of the "pretty" parts of the state my whole life, so I am familiar

 

But yeah fuck New Jersey.

[Hefeweizen 5311]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

California's just sitting there man.

I’m sitting here chuckling.  Got done with work around 330 my time, going to go on a bike ride on the bike trail that runs along the coast over 20 miles along Monterey bay.  It’s about 67 degrees, sunny, nice breeze.  
 

Yeah I feel like I hit the gotdam lottery.

[Biff Tannen 45673]

1 hour ago, Hefeweizen said:

I’m sitting here chuckling.  Got done with work around 330 my time, going to go on a bike ride on the bike trail that runs along the coast over 20 miles along Monterey bay.  It’s about 67 degrees, sunny, nice breeze.  
 

Yeah I feel like I hit the gotdam lottery.

You did.