Texas or not Texas

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BJPZOO

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My wife and I are currently living in FL, but are thinking about making a move to TX Midland/Odessa area how is the cost of living out there? Are they gun Friendly? Also what is the job market like? I just want open land where I can shoot when I want FL sucks to many people. :cuss:

Bobby
 
I am in marketing and my wife is a teacher.....But I can do about anything,,,,strong back weak mind....lol :banghead:
 
Texas

Be better to move to the Houston area - strong job market (4th largest city in US), great medical care, affordable housing.

Also, Texas overall has some of the most gun friendly laws in the nation!
 
I grew up out in West Texas and my Grandparents lived in Midland Odessa for a time. I know many people that live out there love it, but I always referred to it as Slowdeatha. I haven't been out there in a while, but since the oil boom isn't booming out there like it was I don't think their economy is nearly what it used to be. Plus the water taste awful.

San Angelo was a nice place to live, Abilene is a nice little town, I love Fort Worth (living here since college), Dallas is not too bad if you like that sort of thing, and Houston is pretty much an armpit (heat + humidity). Although, being from Florida you are probably used to the humidity. Austin is a liberal mecca. They have t-shirts printed up that say "Keep Austin Weird" for a reason.

Of course, if I was independantly wealthy, or retired, I would live in the Alpine/Big Bend area, or the Southern tip of the Texas coast in a heartbeat. Big Bend is beautiful, sparsely populated, and your neighbors are people like Art. Actually being in Terlingua, he would be your neighbor.
 
I haven't been out there in a while, but since the oil boom isn't booming out there like it was I don't think their economy is nearly what it used to be
Click to expand...

The boom is back ...big time in Midland. Don't know what kind of marketing positions would be available there.... :uhoh:

My sister and her family settled there after trying a half dozen other places. They like it. West Texas folks are great people. Midland is a nice sized town that will have anything you could want. Lubbock is not to far a drive if you needed more malls or chain restaurants (or the best steak in the world)

Housing is affordable across the income ranges....you should be abel to find something nice in your range, whatever that might be.

As for land to shoot on, better plan on buying it. No public land out there. Midland has a public range but I've never been there. Make friends that own land and will let you shoot or buy your own. Midland overall seems gun friendly. Lots of good gun shops....Between the Walls is outstanding.

For a city, Midland is great...Odessa less so.

Smoke
 
Hey whats wrong with Odessa?



If you move to west Texas make sure to look out for the ginourmous harvester ants, the big stinky black beetles, and the devils claws.

Devils_Claw_Basket.jpg
 
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The main attraction of Midland-Odessa is that they are great places to raise a family. Politically conservative, very church-oriented. Climate is not too bad- a little colder than what you're used to in FL (but not much) and dry heat in the summer.

That said- my wife and I are not church people, have grown kids, and I am not that conservative but we'd go back there in heartbeat. Just a nice place to live.

If you are in marketing, have some other general business experience and have a good resume you should have no problem getting something in Midland. As far as your Mrs. goes, when my wife and I lived there in the early 1990's it was easier for someone with teaching credentials to get on in Ector County ISD (Odessa) than Midland.

You need to be able to drive distances, it takes a while to get to anywhere from the area. However, there are great state and national parks within a few hours.
 
I lived in Austin for 4 years.
Liberal, wierd, and expensive it is and I loved every minute of my time there.
Still have major fantasies about going back.
Great city if you have some cash to spend.
 
Spent 1974 to 1995 in Odessa, great place to grow up, people are the Nice's you ever seen. Odessa have the best infrastructure I have seen, roads are wide get paved once ever couple of years, every residential street has a alley in the back for the trash trucks, someone was on the ball when it was thought out. Midland has more money and better shopping, and better Golf courses.Both have the Best Mexican food(give my left nuts for Rosie's Cafe right now or Taco Villa) But since the Boom is back it has become the Wild West again. Cost of living is cheap. Slowdeatha is right nobody moves at a fast pace.
 
I'd buy the land outside Fort Worth, maybe in Weatherford. Then you are within driving distance to an area with a good job market but don't have to live in the middle of the hustle and bustle.
 
weatherford is slowly getting crowded now; look at south main and 20. i still can't figure out why aledo hasn't boomed. in another year or two, i'll probably move back there, even though i'm still only a 40 minute drive away.
there are so many places around the metroplex to live and two major cities to work in. there are a huge number of corporate headquarters in north dallas around plano and richardson.


i think Texas has a lot to offer. just about any of the big cities will have plenty. you won't see the rain like you do in florida, nor will you get those 80 degree sunny days. you'll get 100+ sunny days during the summer. any place near the panhandle usually has a little more harsher winters. my cousin went to tech. from what i hear, they have some of the purtiest women in this fine state. :cool:
 
Houston will drive you North

I ended up in Indiana. I will get back but not to Houston. I plan to keep at least 150 miles between me and the beach.
If you have an interest in an active outdoor activity for employment the Oilfield could be a healthy choice. Just remember the rig is not a safe place to be. Huge tool steel machinery inches and lined up just right break and move suddenly under thousands and millions of Pounds of pressure or leverage. I stopped spending my days off drinking and decided to move on after the ROF.
The armpit of TX is more likely Alice.
 
I use Odessa and Midland for monthly shopping. I'd suggest going out there for a week or so and looking around. There are some good, cheap motels on Business 20 in Odessa.

What I like about Odessa is that even at rush hour you can get around town with no hassle. Divided six-lane streets are Good Things.

There are two groups which put on gunshows in Odessa and Midland, and they're a bit too frequent, really. However, it's not a bad deal for a browser. :)

I guess you could call O-M a "base of operations" from which to go and do. That means getting a high mpg car or small pickup...

Art
 
We love living in Austin (actually we live a bit north of Austin in Cedar Park).

The BIG news in Texas right now (well, perpetually really) is about school finance and teacher pay. As a teacher, your wife should research this before you decide to move here. She may find herself taking a wage cut. I have no idea how Texas compares to Florida, but I keep reading that we're near the bottom of the scale.

That said, we will never leave Texas unless some unforseen event forces me to look for a job elsewhere.

Are we gun friendly? Texas defined gun friendly! :)

Cheers,
ChickenHawk
 
I have lived within 50 miles of Odessa-Midland for 59 years.I would never live any other place......come on up.. :cool:
 
According to the cost of living calulator on realtor.com, if you make $100k per year and live in Brandon, Fl then you'll have to make $87,808 in Midland, TX to maintain the same lifestyle.
 
Texas is actually pretty good pay for teachers. The increases per year are what sucks. My wife ended up getting a teaching job a week after we moved here. She actually had two offers within a week. This is in the Austin area.

I have only been here for 2 months and we love it.

Speaking of which - I am out of ammo and need to go do some priming!
 
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