More good news from Texas

[clarice]

Texas ranks 2 cities in top ten for lowest cost of living.
"Our list factors in the major components of cost of living including: goods & services, groceries, health care, housing, transportation, and utilities"


[link:http://www.areavibes.com/library/10-cities-lowest-cost-of-living/|

[villager]

1. How's that Chamber of Commerce job working out?

[clarice]

2. What do you mean???? nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Villager means that it sounds like you're shilling for the CofC...

[clarice]

5. Perhaps he/she should address the content of

the post, rather than resort to name calling. Thanks for the
clarification CP.

[villager]

7. Actually, it's the OP that sounds like that...

[clarice]

10. Huh ????? nt

[LondonReign2]

34. I repeat, from the last time you spewed this crap

"Republican rule has allowed businesses to pollute as much as they want, bust unions, and avoid and/or cap liability. It is indeed a great environment for business. Just not so great for human beings."

[hobbit709]

4. too bad the average wages are even lower.

[clarice]

8. Nope....25th

[link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income|

[hobbit709]

11. Take away the 1%ers and we're near the bottom.

we also rank in the most people at the poverty level.

[BlueJazz]

6. Texas is in the bottom 5 states when it comes to income for the poor and middle class.

It's easy to have lower living expenses when your salary's suck.

The problem is when you want to buy a product that is the same price everywhere; Car, TV, IPad...Etc...

[clarice]

9. Nope.... see new post. nt

[BlueStreak]

12. Having 26% of the citizens without health care, and downgrading hundreds of miles of roads

from paved to unpaved will keep the cost of living down (unless you get sick sometime.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/why-texas-has-the-highest-percentage-of-uninsured-people-in-the-us/2011/08/02/gIQA1wIdHJ_blog.html

[clarice]

13. And you live in.....?nt

[BlueStreak]

36. Indiana with 12% uninsured, and that's a crime.

There is nothing about Texas that I would like to see the rest of the nation adopt. Nothing personal, but it is not not the model I'm looking for. And yes, I have lived there.

[clarice]

44. Indiana is a lovely State. nt

[ann---]

14. The only good news that could come from Texas

in my view, is that it seceded from the union.

[clarice]

15. Thank you Ms. Hatey-Hate. nt

[Paladin]

17. Well, at least you can spell "seceded" correctly.

That puts you ahead of a number of our resident Texas haters.

[clarice]

19. Paladin....why do you think there is so much hate for Texas?

or is it just for ME ?

[Paladin]

22. Ignorant posts, directed at the entirety of Texas and its residents.

Including the 3.3 million Texans who cast votes for Obama a few months ago. People who would never think of holding blanket prejudices against all black people or all Jewish people or all gay people, have no problem stereotyping every single resident of Texas as a Rick Perry wannabe. And I never tire of condemning them for it---not that it seems to do much good, anymore.....

[clarice]

24. I thought so. Thanks. nt

[denverbill]

26. It's probably mostly just you.

After all, on all of DU I haven't seen anyone post any threads about how great their state is, except you, and you have posted at least 2 in the last week. People don't like braggarts, and they particularly don't like braggarts talking up how great things are in a state run entirely by Republicans, and in a state which is a basket case in terms of poverty, pollution, and illegal labor. But, thanks to the complete lack of scruples on the part of Texas businessmen, Texas will be turning blue before much longer. That will make things interesting.

[clarice]

27. And I thought we were becoming friends. nt

[SheilaT]

54. Trust me, the hate for Texas

has almost nothing to do with you personally. It has to do with how appalling Texas is in many ways. If the only thing that state ever did wrong was to give us President George W Bush, it would still have a lot to answer for.

[clarice]

56. and Lyndon Johnson. nt

[SheilaT]

63. For all Lyndon Johnson's many flaws,

He was a total incompetent who squandered a growing budget surplus to get us into endless unnecessary war and took about a third of his total time in office as vacations.

I sincerely hope the Republicans are paying you to spend your time here, because you won't convince anyone that Texas is totally wonderful.

I do like to say that we live in a wonderful country with fifty wonderful states, and for all of us there are states you couldn't pay us to

[clarice]

65. FYI, I've only voted Republican once in my life. What else ya got? nt

[LanternWaste]

16. since we rank number two in cost of living, and number seven (in the world, not amongst states) as a

Cost of living is great until one realizes that Texas ranks 47th in SAT scores, 44th in graduation rates, 50th in percentage of population who've graduated from high school; bottom third of states in child welfare, close to the bottom for Medicaid services and quality of life for individuals with disabilities, etc.

However, since we rank number two in cost of living, and number seven (in the world, not amongst states) as a producer of CO2, I s'pose it's a wash for an intractable dogma...

[clarice]

18. Thanks Lantern, you do have a way of looking at the bright side. nt

[trumad]

20. Listen dude---

You're simply shilling for Rick Perry.

The stats Latern shows above has me thinking that this is not a great place to raise a kid.

[clarice]

21. Dude????? Gnarly man. nt

[trumad]

23. Please explain?

Texas ranks 47th in SAT scores, 44th in graduation rates, 50th in percentage of population who've graduated from high school; bottom third of states in child welfare, close to the bottom for Medicaid services and quality of life for individuals with disabilities, etc.

[clarice]

25. Ah !!!!! but the BEST music. nt

[tkmorris]

29. I don't think good music matters a lot to...

Someone who received a bad education, has few job prospects, and an abysmal social safety net.

Look, I'm not trying to throw stones here (I happen to live in Florida) but you are sounding more like a tourism ad than someone who is making a logical argument. Texas has it's good points (Austin!), and it's bad, but you have to be able to acknowledge the bad if you want anyone to listen to your version of the good. Otherwise you just sound like you're giving a sales pitch.

[clarice]

30. Duly noted. Thanks. nt

[trumad]

35. You can't...

as they say in Texas---all hat and no cattle.

[GeorgeGist]

28. Check their crime rates.

[Zen Democrat]

31. This clearly says "cities in Texas" not the entire state of Texas.

And the cities are Democratic strongholds. Houston has a lesbian mayor and a strong Democratic base. It's very progressive with a strong LGBT community and is now considered the No. 1 city in the US for diversity of population.

The fact that the yahoos in Deep East Texas and West Texas have had control for 20 years is the problem. But that's changing for the better a little bit every single day.

I live in the city and love it. We have a Pacifica radio station and have had for 40 years. We have a strong progressive infrastructure in Houston. No acknowledged Republican has ever won a city-wide election in Houston, to my knowledge.

[clarice]

45. Zen, thank you, I live in Houston also. nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

32. Since you are aware that there is a whole forum dedicated to this state, one

can only surmise that you post these flamebait pieces for no reason other than to stir up shit.

Texass sucks. It is a horrible place run by horrible people and the nation would be better off without it. The few good things it as (inadvertently or through random chance) produced are far outweighed by the bad things is has and continues to impose on the rest of the nation.

Happy now?

[clarice]

47. Yes, very happy, thank you. nt

[Notafraidtoo]

33. Again with the Rick Perry propaganda.

And again you show how silly it is, the reason cost of living is low is because no one makes any money and people don't want to be there DUH! supply and demand, Its expensive in good places this isn't something to be proud of just like with the whole number one in small business climate means that employers can abuse employees and can endanger consumers.

[clarice]

51. I would respectfully disagree, people are moving to Texas

in droves. There is a saying in Texas. " I wasn't born in Texas,
but I came here as soon as I could."

[malokvale77]

37. Oh please

This place is a shit hole of the worst magnitude. All you've done is show, you're a top per-center.

Try living on minimum wage and 30 hours a week. All of those goods and services are out of reach.
The only reason you get those things at such a low cost, is because people like me, don't get fair compensation.

You would know that if you ever came out of your gated community.

Your "braggadocio" is shameful.

[clarice]

43. mean spirited. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

70. Rose colored glasses.

[clarice]

72. a bird in the hand........ nt

[malokvale77]

81. Yes

Obviously, the poster can afford many.

[malokvale77]

80. No

Truth

[Aristus]

39. The trade-off is, you have to live in Texas.

The I-5 Corridor of Washington State has a notoriously high cost of living. But I'll take it. I'm never living in Texas again...

[clarice]

48. Washington is a very picturesque State. nt

[Aristus]

52. Yeah. It's beautiful here. I love it.

I used to love living in Texas, too. But that was when I was a kid, long before I learned to understand politics. It can be a great state again, and people like Senator Wendy Davis and our Texan DU-ers are proof of that.

But even if it re-gains its erstwhile greatness someday, I still won't live there. Cockroaches...

[clarice]

53. ROACHES *shudder*....

I saw one so big the other day, it had gold chains and a Mister T haircut.

[Aristus]

57. When I was a kid,

my Dad woke up one morning to find a cockroach trying on his combat boots.

[clarice]

59. LOLOLOL !!!!!nt

[Aristus]

60. And they were too SMALL!

[clarice]

61. The small ones make a good gumbo. nt

[Aristus]

62. I'll take your word for it...

Now, do you mean putting them in the gumbo in purpose? Because I'm familiar with how easily cockroaches can find their way into food by accident. Yet another reason I live in the cool rainy PNW. I hated pouring a bowl of cereal in the morning, and having a roach be the free surprise in the box...

[clarice]

68. Sorry, just tryin' to be funny. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

71. Cockroaches and summers from Hell! The heat and humidity unbearable for me and the reason I left,

after twenty years.

[clarice]

79. Especially hot this year. nt

[Kingofalldems]

40. By any chance are you a republican?

[clarice]

42. LOL....not even CLOSE. nt

[pnwmom]

41. And your low cost cities have a minimum wage of only $7.25 and a Governor

who has just rejected free Federal money for a major Medicaid expansion.

[clarice]

49. We're working on that. nt

[cali]

46. too bad that they rate so abysmally on REAL quality of life standards

high school graduation

obesity

health care

women's issues

and on and on.

[clarice]

50. Hi Cali !! how's it going ? Good to hear from you....

I 'm sure that every State has issues that need to be changed.
We are trying hard.

[cali]

64. look, I understand feeling pride in your state

but you present such a one sided view of things.

[clarice]

67. I guess I'm a "glass half full" type of Gal. nt

[ananda]

55. Hmm..

I've lived in Texas all my life, and the cost of living here IS relatively low.
But the poor do live in extreme poverty conditions, and immigrant labor
has been historically exploited.

Here in Austin the cost of living is somewhat higher than it was in Houston.
Real estate and rentals account for that, along with groceries. The utilities
are a bit lower, though.

In Sacramento and down to San Simeon, the gas prices are about 20 to 40
cents a gallon higher depending. Groceries in Sacramento were lower, though.
I would expect real estate and rentals to be on a par with Austin's.

Now San Francisco is a whole other story. The cost of living there is very high
because of real estate. For example, for an apartment similar to the one I'm
living in now, I'd have to pay 3 to 4 times as much per month. A little bitty dump
of an apartment goes for about $1600 a month there.

So all in all I'm happy here in Austin. It's green and radical and funky. But I sure
wouldn't want to be poor here. I expect that there are states who treat their
poor much better.

[clarice]

58. All true, I still have my "Keep Austin Weird" T-shirt. nt

[ananda]

66. Cool beans.

I miss Houston's culture a lot, but I prefer Austin's weather and landscape.
It's fun demonstrating here at the capitol too. People here are just so
happy and friendly too. It's as though there are no strangers.

[clarice]

69. I always have a good time in Austin. TOO good a time. nt

[bravenak]

73. Well Alaska is bigger.

It's a competition. But at least you have beaches instead of mudflats.

[clarice]

74. LOL...there is an old joke in Texas that goes...

Alaskan "Alaska is bigger than Texas"
Texan "Not when it melts"

Come to think of it, I guess that's not too funny nowadays.

[bravenak]

75. Yeah we're melting.

We should ship you guys some water.

[clarice]

77. Thanks, we could sure use it. nt

[DebJ]

76. My sister lived in El Paso for about 15 years.

She said the city is more than 50% immigrants during the day, then empties out at night.
Some of that labor is people who do things like cleaning houses for practically zero wages.
That would keep the 'cost of living' down; but I don't see what is good about it.

[clarice]

78. Yes, I'm afraid that is true...however

It is more than they could ever make in Mexico. I guess it's
a trade off.