Looking at Dallas, perhaps Austin, Tx. Also, Tampa Area, perhaps the panhandle of Florida.

Anyone want to comment - Pros/Cons? Thanks.

You need to work?

Love the Panhandle, but things can be slow.

Tampa is not my favorite

Austin is liberal.

Dallas/FW not bad, but big and beaucoup traffic.


Give us your criteria.

Yes, looking to relo for work. Criteria: A good paying stable career would be nice. Is Austin as bad as say CA? Yes, traffic in Dallas is nuts, but if I lived close the commute might not be too bad. What's the scoop on Tampa area? Thanks much.

I am an hour N of the Tampa airport in Homosassa. Depends on where you want to be. Dunedin is nice but a hot spot now. Are you looking for beaches or hunting and fishing? What do you do for work?

If you currently live in a metropolitan area, Austin won't seem that bad. There is a lot going on there, both economically and culturally. If you currently live in a rural or semi-rural area, it will probably be a bit overwhelming. My only brush with the Panhandle of Florida was Pensacola back when I was in the Navy--no current info or insight. Probably should PM some of the campfire members that live in both areas and ask specific questions. If I were looking to relocate to Texas, I would take a hard look at San Antonio. It is a culturally diverse city with a lot of charm and amenities. Both of my daughters and their families migrated there, by their own choice.

PM me if you have specific questions about the Austin area.

Yes, it's run by a bunch of liberal fruitcakes. It's also got more jobs than you can shake a stick at and nearly noncrime that you'll notice.

No but it's probably 60%. Traffic is terrible. Summer lasts 6 months and it's really hot. Property taxes have skyrocketed as have housing prices. Politics are ridiculous at the city level for liberal reasons and ridiculous at the state level for conservative reasons. Despite these things the absolute worst thing about Austin is the allergies. Something caustic blooms 9 months of the year(Ragweed in the fall, Cedar in the winter, Oak and Grasses in the spring, and mold year round) and if you have a small allergy it will become debilitating.

The good things are crime is very low, there are lots of jobs, lots of single women, the people are polite and friendly(compared to where I came from), there are lots of restaurants, and it's fairly scenic...for Texas.

Austin is a pretty cool town and the panhandle of Florida is one of my favorite areas in the south east.

Austin will have more jobs, entertainment, restaurants, etc......The panhandle has great beaches and is pretty relaxed. Definitely more "southern".

Austin is FUBAR for traffic. The I 35 parking lot, MO-PAC or more-pac. Williamson and Travis counties are getting expensive i.e. Rent, taxes. Hey, but it is weird and I guess people love that.

I'm 25 miles east of Austin. We are becoming extremely cosmopolitan here in the creek bottom so you get the mix of say Los Angeles with just the right touch of banjo pickin' inbreds to make it all interesting!!!

The panhandle is nice. Plenty of work, especially if you like building / fixing stuff. World class fishing, and the hunting is better in N. Fl. than most who live there realize. We go to P'cola on a regular basis and are headed that way today. Quite a bit of retired military in the area "with just the right touch of banjo pickin' inbreds to make it all interesting!!!" Thanks kaywoodie!

Anytime Bama! 😁

Spend a long evening down on 6th street in Austin before you make up your mind...

Everyone in town who owns a guitar is a musician! Even if they really can play it!!

The rooster heads come out of the woodworks after dark there on 6th street...

Some of the "musicians" only play a meat flute...

And we ALL know about the piccolo player!!!!

😉

I think it depends on what you are looking for. You should have good access to deer hunting in any part of Texas. You can also do that in the Panhandle of Florida, either in Florida proper or into Alabama. Great saltwater fishing along the panhandle. I have caught big azz Red Snapper six miles off the beach.

Tampa will have good saltwater fishing and good fresh water fishing near-by, but you will be a long ways from any really good deer hunting. I had a guy in my deer club in SC last year that lived in Tampa and drove 9 hours up on the weekends to hunt deer.

Remember, if you have kids and move to Austin, they will be exposed to all the liberal kids.....I'd not want that.

Go to Florida

If it's any kind of barometer, there is no one from the south moving here to this county. Excluding Mexico. Whole Lots From there. Three top states appear to be California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Least that's where they tell me where the're from. Smartest ones I know who moved here like 15-35 years ago are all the retired Air Force staff NCO's from just about all over who stayed here after Bergstrom AFB shut down. Reason I know they are smart is because they have no issues telling you just how damn smart they are! 😂

Good stuff, a little amusement as well. Work - Past mostly healthcare sales, stint as a Financial Consultant that began the week before 9 11.........and an MBA in 2014 that I want to put to good use. As much as I like hunting, work is the primary consideration, single ladies next. My children are grown so it's just me looking to make a change.

Saltwater fishing is very alluring, and might trump deer hunting. Crime, as in low crime is important. As to the heat, well being here in La, it's what I know, though have entertained moving to northwest Ar, Bentonville/Rogers, Fayetteville area where the Ozarks helps to qwell the summer heat. Traffic will be an adjustment in a metro, been thru Dallas not long ago, and heard about Austin. Yes, it seems Taxes keep increasing, but the property values do to, I guess it's a by-product, perhaps a wash if you don't sell in a downturn. That said, not keen of paying MORE taxes, but if the salary offset...........and the Music piece of Austin would be nice. Not looking for trouble on 6th but here it's something to see. Perhaps I need to make a trip to Austin just to take a look.

Appreciate the input by all, enjoyed the info, and a few laughs

I just bought a home two hours north of Tampa........there's a reason for that.

But then again, I'm going to be fishing for a living so a quiet, little, Gulf Coast town is just perfect for me!


Good luck if you decide to head to Tampa.....you might try Bradenton instead.

The reason..........crime? So you are north, not south in Bradenton?

Thanks for the input, knew of Sarasota, but not Bradenton.

I don't know Florida.

Get to Austin a couple times a year as my wife grew up an hour or so to the northeast.

Of the choices given, northwest Arkansas would be hard to beat. . It is booming and it's only minutes from the I49 strip to get into authentic banjo picking.

No, I am two hours north, near Fanning Springs, FL.

I was suggesting that if you are set on the Tampa area, you might look into Bradenton, FL. My father lived there for a few years until he passed, so I had a chance to visit the area.

Mucho traffic in the Tampa/St. Pete area......too busy for me, that's why I went north to a quiet little area. And Yes, there will be more crime in that area.......

We call Bradenton--> Brandentucky for a reason. Can be some nice areas around there and I was seriously considering it at one time as I do like Sarasota and Venice but the places that are nice and on the water are $$$ and the places that are nice off the water are surrounded by riffraff it seems. It may be getting better but I was actually looking around Ellington right by the river on the water houses were in the mid 200K range a while back. I live an hour south of Frogman and agree with his assessment of the area.

I live in a very rural area in east central MS. I've got an old farmhouse and a few hundred acres around it and my family is from here, they're mostly deceased now though. Three years ago I found myself going through a divorce and my little piece of heaven is now getting a bit lonely. Peace and solitude is great, but too much of it can get to be "too much" With that in mind I bought a lot I'm planning to build on on Perdido Key outside Pensacola FL a year or so back, love the NW FL area. I'll always keep my MS place, but want a second home in a place with more to do. I've got friends around my FL place and I'm a couple hundred feet from the prettiest beach you ever saw so those were big factors. There's a lot of activity going on in the panhandle. I don't know about jobs in the area (I commute to work as a pilot), but the area seems to be booming especially in the 30A area between Destin and Panama City so that should make job hunting easier. It is definitely more "southern" than the other parts of Florida. Tampa is nice from what I've seen of it though I suspect the crime is going to be more as it's a bigger city than anything in the panhandle. My picking of the perdido key area had a lot to do with me being close to an airport that my company flies into so I can hitch a ride to work when it's time.

I recently drove through Dallas coming back from a prairie dog hunt, parts are OK as you get outside the city to the north and west, but overall it isn't a place I'd want to live. It seemed like every place I stopped was filled with hispanics sporting tattoos from head to toe. I found myself trying to figure out what mexican drug gang they belonged to. Not the type of people I want living anywhere near me.

Austin is a lot nicer than Dallas in my mind. I fly through there every now and then and have roamed the downtown quite a bit. The music scene is great there on 6th st as mentioned but I'm not sure I'd pick a place to live based on that. You can find a lively music scene anywhere along the coast from Louisiana to Florida in all the beach towns. I have heard from a lot of people that Austin's traffic is terrible and housing prices are high.

How much crime in an area is an issue that's generally easy to figure out, just look at the demographics of the area. High numbers of blacks and hispanics are going to mean high crime. With that in mind, stay away from those areas and you'll be OK. Dallas has high numbers of both so I would expect pretty high crime. With Austin I'd imagine it's kind of pocketed. Along the FL panhandle some cities like Panama City have areas with big black populations therefore high crime. It's usually isolated though, stay away from those areas and the crime should be low.

I will say that I think the woman situation is good in the FL panhandle. It seems to be a destination place to move for 30-40 year old women coming off a divorce. Chics like the beach and most secretly dream of living near one someday. When they go through a divorce many will use that see that life changing event as an opportunity to move where they've always wanted to live.

Good luck with your search

Never heard anything good about Tampa. Lived 4 hours from there my whole life, been there twice, to go to Busch Gardens, then get outta there. San Antonio is cool....

Very good feedback and much to reflect on, appreciate everyone's feedback. Nothing against SA, but spent a week there years ago for job training and it was at peak heat....enjoyed the boardwalk there a few trips on other business meetings as well. Seems like FL would not be bad for me if I could land a solid job with career growth, that might not be easy, but here the oil/gas biz has tanked, bringing down all, Crime rates, taxes, as well as regulation, do not make for a good outlook for the state or my area. Traffic is definitely a quality of life issue, whether to/from work, or otherwise. It's often 1-3 hours of commute for many living in the DFW area, sure Austin and Tampa may be similar. I've driven Orlando to Tampa Bay, and just did leave there back to the Orlando airport right as rush hour was getting started. That was 2006 and it was very busy. No doubt if one could locate outside the metro, it would be less congested, and expensive.

Thanks again.

All kinds of jobs in Permian Basin