I grew up an hour from Austin, and they have some really pretty country side.

http://www.wilco.org/

 

...huff, huff...huff, huff...


google.....



....huff, huff.....is



*cough*....I need to quit smoking....there's a thread somewhere...

SEARCH !!!

no....it's research....


GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND ! ! ! !





huff, huff, huff....




man, I am soooooo bored Kobi.....

 

I can't speak about DFW. I'm sure it's a great place to work and live. Being from the Houston area, I can shed some light on this region.

Here in Greater Houston, the hot spots to live are Kingwood (north east), The Woodlands(north), Katy (west), Sugar land (south west), League City near NASA (south).

Houston ranked second nationally in employment growth rate, among the 10 most populous metro areas according to 2006 survey.


Not sure if you've seen/used something like this Cost-of-Living Wizard http://swz.salary.com/costoflivingwi...coll_start.asp

Dallas has a cost of living that is ~36% less than that of Los Angeles.
Ft. Worth's cost of living that is ~41% less than that of Los Angeles.
Houston's cost of living is ~42% less than Los Angeles.

Based on a $75,00/year income:
Dallas = $19,887 net increase in disposable income
Ft. Worth = $20,213 net increase in disposable income
Houston = $24,607 net increase in disposable income

I'm a educator in the greater Houston area. So I am speaking with experience. Jobs here, in the education field, are plentiful. Houston is a city that is growing by 100,00 new residents each year. That kind of growth demands new schools and new staff. In fact I recently decided to change districts and attended the Texas Gulf Coast Teacher Job fair on June 5 (Tuesday). Four hours of visiting booths and meeting district reps netted me 7 interviews. I was extended 3 job offers by June 8 (Friday). Signed my 07-08 contract one week later after all the background checks and school board vote. I'm looking forward to the move and the 16% pay raise. Texas, as a whole, is currently experiencing a shortage in nearly all teaching fields, especially in mathematics and sciences.

Just for comparison sake:
Houston
Starting teacher pay in Houston Independent School District $42,725
Starting teacher pay in Klien Independent School District 40,150 (only 06-07 pay scale info available)
Starting teacher pay in Pasadena Independent School District $41,503

LA
Starting teacher pay in Burbank Unified School District $43,805
Starting teacher pay in Pasadena Unified School District $51,972
Starting teacher pay in Glendale Unified School District $42,446

 

Interesting on the starting pay. My wife has about 10 years as an educator and I hope she can get a little more (I also hope she can get her years of service.) She has been teaching in low income/third world conditions for too long. I have to assume the schools are better there.

I have done the COL conversions and we would actually come out quite ahead. With what we could get for our condo we could buy a really nice house. I wouldn't mind being a little country/rural if I could get to the city when I need to.

We plan on having kids and I want to raise them in a good place.

Again, that for all the ideas. And no...I do not want to be a lumberjack.

 

If I ever move out of Jersey, I'm going to NC. Texas is a close second.

 

I spent time in both NC and SC while in the Army. I didn't mind it, but I think TX is as far as the wife would go.

 

Starting pay is just for apples to apples comparison for 1st year teachers. I'm sure her years of experience would transfer and she would earn the corresponding salary. Some schools are great and some are not. The areas that I listed as hot spots to live are in the suburbs and have more affluent residents that take pride in the children's education (on average). They have newer facilities, technology in every classroom, and offer loads of interesting courses. Schools downtown and the surrounding industrial areas are struggling academically (thus the high turnover in staffing).

Go 40 miles in any direction from downtown Houston and you will find yourself in a rural/country setting with cows, john deere tractors, and diesel dualies. Instead of lumberjack maybe you could be a cattle rancher. Can you say City Slickers.

 

Fort Worth or around it, is a great place to live. Much better than Dallas, unless you want the urban scene.

 

What about splitting the difference and say Arlington?

 

Arlington is not the greatest place to live, i work there, it's a strange place.

 

Can you elaborate?

 

It is a real melting pot. Lots of ethic gangs. Never comfortable there at movies ect, late at night.

 

Got it. Sounds like a typical city suburb here in LA. What about some of the other surrounding cities?

I wonder when we decide on about when we go, how soon to start sending the resumes out...

Thanks again for answering my questions.

 

I hate that drive back tho.

 

There are some solid communites around, just depends on what you like and want. You need to visit.