Hey guys, hope y'all all had good holidays. I think I'm gonna try to move out of Texas ASAP so y'alls convo about moving from a week or so ago was interesting to me. Born and raised here, and will always love this state but I'm literally getting priced out. If I wanted to stay in the city I'd probably be renting for the rest of my life, or at least that's how it looks right now. Michigan is very tempting, only problem is I'm used to Texas heat but I bet I could learn to live with it...
Anyway, as far as music goes I played my first "bad" show on NYE weekend (I'd type this whole ordeal out but I'm currently at work), and I got my board to a place where I like it. I used to have problems with the pedals falling off and not sticking to the velcro so I replaced all of it and it's working great now (pic below of my pedals staying on). I got an isolated power supply for it as well. My girlfriend also got me the boss RC-5 looper which has been pretty sick to play with (also in the pic). Mostly I just use the drum loops to practice but I've played around with some recordings and whatnot too.
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Gonna give you some advice (and disclaimer-It might only be worth what you paid for it (i.e. free) ;-) )…
I was born and raised in Texas…
Grew up in Lubbock until I was 12 when we moved to DFW…
Went to school at A&M, lived in San Antonio for a year before I had to take care of a terminally ill parent and decided I wanted to leave the state…I’m throwing this in here bc I was a “Native” Texan and lived there my entire life until I move out in my mid-20s…
Moved to Seattle for a bit (gorgeous, but turbo expensive and the weather almost ended me-I LOVE rain, but I could NOT handle living in that climate)-Moved to Arizona for a while afterwards before I decided to move to Houston a few years later <—-(HUGE life MISTAKE outside of meeting my girlfriend/who is now my Wife)…We lived in New Mexico for a few years before landing in Colorado…
At this point in my life-There is literally NOTHING I miss about living in Texas save for some REALLY nice people I met when I worked in San Antonio and the food (although once Chuy’s moved into Colorado I’m not even sure I care about that bc I can still get a decent Tex Mex fix if I get desperate)…
I haven’t been back to Dallas since 2017, but OMFG that town has been overrun…
I know a LOT of people moved there the last 20 years, and I feel like it finally has taken its toll on the few things that make Texas otherwise not a bad to live…
My sister hasn’t lived there in about 20 years either-She said there’s literally nothing appealing about the state that would make her wanna go back especially at this point in her life after living other places…
I feel like cost of living is no longer advantageous there from what I’ve seen and relatives on my Wife’s side that live there have said things just keep expanding…
Toll roads are also RIDICULOUS and almost unavoidable in both Houston and DFW…I get that you can technically avoid the toll roads, but it’s such a pain in the…Bass neck ;-) that it’s not really a solution…
I REALLY do NOT think you will regret leaving…
I know what state pride is like there so I’m sure that you still have to deal with people who think it’s the greatest place in the history of ever/want to form their own country, etc, but honestly, once ya get out of the state- some of the flaws become even more glaring/obvious…
Admittedly I did not care for New Mexico-Crazy windy and lots of dust storms like West Texas and I don’t feel like wages really align with cost of living…I felt like both my Wife and I had VERY limited opportunities professionally which is why we left…
Arizona (Phoenix metro in particular) is probably the “most similar” place I’ve found to Texas-Giant sprawl, Hotter than H- in the summer time and part of Spring and Fall, Winter is no snow/very mild, cost of living is “reasonable” overall and the overall economy is pretty good (there are also enough people living there that there are some good professional opportunities)…It also feels very “open” which I appreciated after living in the Northwest for a bit…
Idk how much the great exodus from California is impacting Arizona (I assume it’s probably like Colorado where people are moving to escape high cost of living in California and managing to drive up the cost of housing and a bunch of other things in the process), but if you want something “somewhat” similar without a bunch of crazy state pride- maybe (???) add Phoenix to your search…
Colorado has been REALLY good to us overall (I can’t believe we’ve been here 8 years at this point), but Winter here is difficult IMO…
Since I grew up in a warm climate I struggle w days like today where it got dark a little after 5pm, it snowed and it’s 4 degrees outside at the moment)…
I know a lot of people would disagree w me on that assessment, but I definitely would NOT wanna live in the Midwest after living here…FWIW-Most people I’ve met that moved here from Michigan are really nice and it might be a good change for you if you want something completely different)…
I’m REALLY hoping I land in Las Vegas for the back half of my 40s and retirement especially if our house here keeps appreciating, but probably not gonna hold my breathe on that one bc the Wife is much less interested in moving there than I am bc she really likes it here…
We also (blessedly/fortunately) have employment here for now, own a home, and have s decent number of close friends here so I don’t wanna F- that up by prematurely implementing moving to another city…
So…
Idk if any of this “helps” you per se, but ultimately I would say that personally after having left Texas and making the mistake of moving back-I am TOTALLY onboard if you are thinking of leaving…
Constantly being around the people with “Texas Pride” I feel like also gives you a false reality/perception of how “great” the state is…
Sure there are worse places than Texas, but BELIEVE me when I say there are also better ones out there…
Let us know if you are successful in getting out and where you end up…
Best of luck to you whatever you decide…
Thanks! \m/
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