I'm thinking of moving to Texas....

[Bullwinkle925]

from California sometime in the future. I have doubts as to myself being welcomed there in lieu of my political/religious views. Any hopes of carving out a liberal-thinking, latte-drinking, book-reading culture club? Not to mention any hopes of turning Texas into a 'blue state'??

[babylonsister]

1. Hi, Bullwinkle, and

welcome to DU! First off, TX is huge! So I'd say it all depends on where in TX you might be thinking of moving, and take it from there.

[secedeeconomically]

2. Does the expression "When hell freezes over" ring a bell?

You have a better chance getting water out of stone before converting a Texas shit kicker lol

[crispini]

5. Oh, you don't even live here.

And a lot of those Texas good'ol'boys are union men.

[secedeeconomically]

6. Been there many time on business. But seriously

Austin is a cool place

[don954]

3. From an ex-texan

you will only be happy in Austin, which is pretty blue. If you never want to talk politics again, you can try anywhere else...

[gaia_gardener]

4. What about South TX?

It went really blue this year.

[Xipe Totec]

8. Not exactly true, lots of blue spots in Texas

The entire Rio Grande Valley, from Laredo to Corpus Christi southward went for Kerry, and many of the large urban centers too. know the Greater Houston area has lots of blue.

If you go to the rural areas, that's a whole 'nother matter.

[crispini]

7. There is a thriving Democratic community in Dallas.

We had the largest national KE phonebank on Election Day. Yes, larger than Chicago, even. We elected three Democratic judges and a lesbian Hispanic Democratic sherriff. We have the largest gay community outside San Francisco. This year the mayor, all of the city council, and the police chief were all in the annual gay pride parade. Dallas also has a thriving live music scene. Check out Polyphonic Spree -- a 24 piece symphonic hippy pop rock'n'roll band. They are wonderful.

That said, don't move to the Dallas SUBURBS. :scared:

Edited to add: Our housing prices are also waaaay cheaper than Austin. You can still buy something affordable and cute and funky in East Dallas. Austin? Good luck, it's really getting EXPENSIVE.

[Skink]

10. Move to the Hill country.

That way you can spend your days counting Hummers and Bush Bumper stickers.

[rainbow4321]

38. Dallas County sheriff..

I was so happy back in November when the WaPo had an article on the new county sheriff....I had been starting to feel kinda bad constantly referring to this lady online whenever I was defending Texas <being not just a red state but shrub's red state> after Black Tuesday. I really wasn't trying to turn her into a "not all Texans are hateful racist bigots" poster child but her winning was the best example down here. Still boggles my mind how Dallas County elected her by 51% and yet shrub got around 51% and took the county...makes no sense.

[RobbyRoo]

9. Austin

Try Austin. The liberal, cultural hub of Texas.





http://www.cafepress.com/bsofa

[Rick Myers]

11. Austin!!!

Ya beat me too it!!!

But you'd be welcome here in Minneapolis!!! If you like the cold. It's dropping thru 0 right now with wind chills tonight at -25 to -35!

Happy Holidays!!!

[Chipper Chat]

12. Three words:

Austin.....Austin.....Austin.
Are you getting the message?

[Gothmog]

13. Houston is somewhat blue

Houston has blue sections. The mayor is a democrat and we are making some progress. Keep away from Sugarland and the home of Tom Delay

[muse]

20. Join some of us in the red areas of TX. We need the company . . .

and the help. (cough) Sugar Land (cough)

[crispini]

14. Do you already have a specific place in mind?

And you'll have to learn to ignore the Texas-bashers on DU if ya move. I don't even go into those threads anymore ... :grr:

Edit: I found it! Here's the "Where we all live" thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=180&topic_id=268

[Bullwinkle925]

15. Here's the Deal......

My sister and her husband are moving to Irving and want me to move closer. I also have my eye on Bend, Oregon - but don't know anyone there. I do tend to make friends rather easily - but perhaps it's beter to live closer to family. Sigh.
I'll miss the SF Bay Area - and the cool bay breezes that come in the evenings, but it would be nice to live close to family.
AArrgghh!
By-the-by - how far is Austin from Dallas?

[yellowdogintexas]

16. about 3 1/2 hours drive straight up I 35

Of course you could come over to Fort Worth and help us as we regenerate our Democrats.

Irving is to the North of Dallas, not too far from the airport.

Austin is to the south of Fort Worth Dallas.

You would enjoy Austin a lot. It is a really neat city, and has a university there too.

[crispini]

17. Oooo, Fort Worth is nice.

Lively little down town and quite charming.

Irving.... feh. You'll always be in the car driving somewhere (like Dallas proper, or Ft. Worth). Irving itself doesn't have a lot to recommend it.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. agreed. My rule of thumb is no employment east of 360

My new job starting the 27th is at I-35 and 820 on the north side.
Not the best commute but definitely not the worst.

[yellowdogintexas]

22. and thanks for the nice comments on Fort Worth

Like I always say, only reason to go to Dallas is because when I get to the other side, I'm on my way to Kentucky

[crispini]

27. pppppttttthhhh.

Hey, *I* said something nice about *your* town.... :P

[yellowdogintexas]

28. I do love the museums in Dallas and we go to see them on

occasion, Dallas traffic just makes me crazy. I just never want to have to commute to Dallas, definitely.

Actually the long running civic pride war between the two cities is nothing short of hilarious.

did you know that Amon Carter used to take a sack lunch when he had to go to Dallas so he would not have to spend money there?

It is also very interesting to have these two great cities so near one another, and so totally different in ambience and style. I have often wondered if Minneapolis and St Paul are as different from one another or if they are more homogenous than Dallas/FW.

Hope you did not take my Dallas joke too seriously!!!!

Merry Christmas!

[crispini]

29. Naw, just teasing. :)

I actually think Dallas and Ft. Worth like each other more than Dallas and Houston. I've NEVER heard ANY Dallasite say nice things about Houston.... and vice versa.

I'll say a nice thing about Houston in the Christmas spirit: We have a lot of cool DU'ers who live there! :evilgrin:

Merry Christmas to you too!

[yellowdogintexas]

32. Oh Yeah. hating Houston is a Texas pastime

I hate Houston

[rainbow4321]

37. Fort Worth-Dallas vs Dallas-Fort Worth

It's funny how some TV and radio station DJ's will refer to the area as Fort Worth-Dallas--may not seem like a big deal unless you are live around here and know the sibling rivalry between the 2 cities. Anyone remember when one of the Dallas mayors <was it Miller?> said something like Dallas could learn a thing or two from it's younger sibling <paraphrased>--referring to Ft Worth. I forget the exact context but I think it may have been about downtown Dallas turning into a ghost town after all the downtown workers go home at 5 pm while Ft Worth had built up their after hours downtown. It was a comment madeduring a Dallas city politician field trip to Ft Worth a few yrs ago.
Funny how two cities that are forever linked by the "D-FW" initials can be so <culturally> different.

[fudge stripe cookays]

30. Irving is actually WEST of Dallas.

And crispini's right. Not much to recommend it. Her area is really cool though. East Dallas is where it's at as far as the coolness/liberalness factor. (Lakewood, Little Forest Hills, and Lower Greenville areas are all very cool, historical types of places)

And Dallas needs more help than Austin does. Austin's blue. And will remain that way. More immigre's can help us turn the Metroplex bluer! We'd love to have you join us Bull!

FSC

[crispini]

18. Here ya go, nice Dallas area links:

Keep Dallas Plastic, progressive collective website justt getting started-- http://keepdallas.editme.com/

Dallas music scene: http://www.texasgigs.com/

Our old Dallas for Kerry website: http://www.dallasforkerry.com/
All the events are gone but it'll give you an idea of what we did, esp. our blog.

That's all I can think of for now.

[fudge stripe cookays]

31. Here's some more:

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/option_15.jsp
(for democgraphics and such)

http://www.oakcliff.com/getting_to_north_oak_cliff.htm
(Oak Cliff link; historical area. Predominantly black and Latino, but many beautiful historical houses. Lots of Democrats!)

http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20020911_lakewood.htm
(Article on Lakewood neighborhood; my former home. I miss it desperately!)

http://www.digitalcity.com/dallas/neighborhoodsdallas/
(City life; various links)

http://www.10best.com/Dallas/Know_Before_You_Go_(SM)/Neighborhoods/
(Some neighborhood descriptions)

Notes: Oak Lawn is predominantly gay but always hopping, avoid Plano, most of Collin County, Denton County and Rockwall County like the plague. (Trsut me: I live in Rockwall County-- I KNOW!)

FSC

[Bullwinkle925]

19. Thanks

I really appreciate your input. A lot to consider.

[tavalon]

42. Too far in my opinion, way too far

It's about 3-4 hours in driving time, but about 100 years ideologically. If the South is the Bible Belt, Dallas is the belt buckle.

And yes, you will miss the Bay Area more than you could know. Texas is way different.

[johncoby2]

23. When we find weapons of mass destruction.....

Hell might freeze over.

Don't be a dumb ass. At the very least move to Mississipi.

[Bullwinkle925]

24. Be Nice

My move is primarily centered on being close to a family member.

[johncoby2]

33. Oh in that case....

There are just a few rules you should know:

Dont get sick.
Dont get old.
Dont get poor.
And dont get screwed by a homebuilder, because you will find NO compassion here.

[CitySky]

25. Where's your family member, Bullwinkle?

As for turning the state blue, we'd love you to come anywhere in TX and join us in the fight!

:hi:

Speaking for Houston, lots of Dems live in the neighborhoods "inside the loop." i live in Montrose, a perfect eclectic/coffee shop/arty kind of place. From my house I can walk to a wonderful place called The Chocolate Bar, which is of course a blessing and a curse! K/E signs outnumbered B/C signs around here by at least 4 to 1.

The West Houston Democrats ("outside the loop" to the West, but not so far as the Beltway) would also love your company, i'm sure! We have some of them here at DU.

-Sky in Houston

[Bullwinkle925]

26. Hello

My sister and her husband just built a home in Irving. He's living there now while she finishes up law school in PA. I'm beside myself not knowing what to do. I know that I'll eventually move 'somewhere' - just not sure what to do.
Such is life, eh?

[merci_me]

34. Actually West Houston Dems

goes from the Galleria (the Loop) all the way to HWY 6. The thing is, it's wide east to west but very confined, north to south. It's only from the Katy (I-10) to Westheimer. Basically, it's the Energy Corridor, which seems to have only a small percentage of native Texans. The natives seem to have moved out to the Republican suburbs over the last 20 years. On our 37 house long street, only two people are natives and they're both from far-a-way west Texas and married to non-Texans.


To the north of us, there are the Spring Branch Dems and the Cy-Fair Dems. To the west the Katy Dems and to the south of Westheimer, closer to the Loop, the Meyerland and Bellaire Dems and beyond Gessner, the Alief Dems and from there, the Ft. Bend Dems pick up.

Houston has DEMS!!

Mary

[txaslftist]

35. If you come to Lubbock, that'll make two of us.

democrats, that is.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

36. Darn !

I guess you got dibbs on him, you saw him first.

[tavalon]

39. Only in Austin

And don't leave the confines of same. The rest of this state is well, bizarre and loonie, dangerous if you are found guilty of the crime of being gay or black.

Does that help?

Question for you - WTF reason would you have for coming to such a backwards state?

[Bullwinkle925]

40. Read "Here's the Deal" further up in this thread......

I'm still debating.

[GOPisEvil]

41. You could have had brunch with us today, if you were in Austin.

I'm jus' sayin'...:D

[bookman]

43. I'd welcome you

I live in a heavy repug Houston suburb. I'm happy to say I'm finding more and more liberals here. We're the ones with the "we told you so" look. :)

Politics aside I like living here. But I'm retired and have some nice blue state benefits.