R2I Club Member Hangout

People (especially first generation immigrants like us) tend to stick to coastal areas (New York, NJ, SF Bay Area, SoCal(LA, San Diego), Florida etc) because of job opportunities, weather, large percentage of immigrant population etc

But lot of Indians after being in other areas for 10+ years also move to Texas cities like Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio.

Leave big houses/saving in state taxes part, how is the overall experience in living in these cities?
Focus on:
1. Weather
2. Temples
3. Connectivity to India and Europe
4. Household help (gardeners, cleaners etc)
5. Tourist/vacation spots
6. Food scene (restaurants, takeouts, caterers for Desi food)
7. Fresh fruits/meat/vegetables in grocery stores

Having lived in TX for a long time ( I will just talk about living in and around Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio ) , I can say

1. Weather --> Be prepared for extreme heat ( > 6 months ) and pleasant winters ( snow storm was a rare event )
2. Temples --> There are Ganesha and Venkateshwara temples around ( could be atleast 30-40 min drive depending on where you live )
3. Connectivity to India and Europe --> Dallas and Houston are well connected
4. Household help (gardeners, cleaners etc) --> Our Mexican workers are here to help. Border is pretty close
5. Tourist/vacation spots --> Do NOT expect anything here. There is not much to see here in TX , maybe big bend national park which is a long drive from these cities. Its quite a drive to cross Texas.
6. Food scene (restaurants, takeouts, caterers for Desi food) --> Houston and Dallas have good choice. Austin and San Antonio not so much, but slowly improving
7. Fresh fruits/meat/vegetables in grocery stores --> Costco is here multiple locations and HEB is a good grocery chain where you find everywhere. Do nto know about meat.

I was in Houston over the weekend for a wedding and it was very green compared to Dallas. I was once considering moving to Houston instead of Florida and started regretting after seeing all the new homes priced much lower than in Tampa but quickly felt vindicated after seeing the signboard " Bridge may freeze before the rest of the highway" - all in the space of the 30-minute ride from the airport to the hotel! Overall,

Houston suburbs seem to be a good place to settle down in retirement if you don't mind the occasional ice storms and the resultant power cuts. Having said all that, I am waiting for my first hurricane in my neck of the woods...

SAPPORO wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 8:10 am I was in Houston over the weekend for a wedding and it was very green compared to Dallas. I was once considering moving to Houston instead of Florida and started regretting after seeing all the new homes priced much lower than in Tampa but quickly felt vindicated after seeing the signboard " Bridge may freeze before the rest of the highway" - all in the space of the 30-minute ride from the airport to the hotel! Overall,

Houston suburbs seem to be a good place to settle down in retirement if you don't mind the occasional ice storms and the resultant power cuts. Having said all that, I am waiting for my first hurricane in my neck of the woods...

That bridge may freeze .. warning is an extreme case like running into your ex from India at your local Costco Houston is very humid and that was my pet peeve living there

desi4ever wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 10:21 pm

SAPPORO wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 8:10 am I was in Houston over the weekend for a wedding and it was very green compared to Dallas. I was once considering moving to Houston instead of Florida and started regretting after seeing all the new homes priced much lower than in Tampa but quickly felt vindicated after seeing the signboard " Bridge may freeze before the rest of the highway" - all in the space of the 30-minute ride from the airport to the hotel! Overall,

Houston suburbs seem to be a good place to settle down in retirement if you don't mind the occasional ice storms and the resultant power cuts. Having said all that, I am waiting for my first hurricane in my neck of the woods...

That bridge may freeze .. warning is an extreme case like running into your ex from India at your local Costco Houston is very humid and that was my pet peeve living there

You probably got spoilt by relatively warm winter in 2023 and/or WFH and forgot about the low temperatures in 2021 and 2022 that were as low as 15 and there was an Ice storm in 2021 with power cuts lasting for days and we were concerned about Houstonians in the forum. I hated Feb and March in NJ more than Dec and Jan since ice is a bigger threat than snow. So, it's probably similar to running into someone who likes like your ex if not the actual ex from India at the local Costco
Added later: I got delayed for my outdoor morning coffee routine by a few minutes finishing up on this post and it had already become very hot and humid outside!

Deleted - first one for this forum

Houstonian here - Houston suburbs are still priced reasonably compared to crazy increases I saw over the last couple of years in FL cities (~100K cheaper for a 2500 sq ft house). smallish Indian grocery stores compared to NJ. while the property taxes seem high (~3.2% in some new developments due to MUD) overall tax burden is not that bad since home prices are less - it may not be so in Dallas and Austin. we were paying more in taxes in NJ for a smaller house.

we had 1 or 2 days the past January when the temps dipped below freezing. A couple of our hibiscus plants died - no big deal