So still in limbo somewhat. But a couple weeks ago my boss informed me that our company was consolidating offices (in West Des Moines, IA,,Clovis,NM,, and Abilene,TX) to a common office in north Fort Worth, TX. Long story short, he asked if my family would consider moving to TX. Would include a moving package, and promotion/salary raise. Longer story short, with all the virus stuff and now BLM protests all across the country and the necessary restructuring of moving everyone. We're waiting on raise info but we're preparing the house to sell and looking for a place in TX. Once we find out salary we will make our final decision. So those who have or currently live in the area tell me about TX. Good or bad places to live around north side of Fort Worth Vehicle registration. Both hot rod and DD if there is anything we need to know (Iowa does not have any yearly vehicle inspections or emissions testing) Most importantly for the hamb crowd. What's around the area as far as: Car cruise/show scene Regular meetups Clubs for like-minded hot rodders And just to keep it topical here's a couple pics of what will be making the move with us Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A lot of great people in the area. Bob Wilson is on the North side. The Pate swap meet is right there.
I live in Watauga, just NE of Ft. Worth. Depends on your housing budget on where you need to look and distance to the job location. Any car over 24 years old only gets safety inspection unless you put antique tags on it, then it doesn't have to be inspected and tags are good for 5 years. There are a ton of car clubs around here for every car you can imagine and there are car shows pretty much every weekend (when things get back to normal). As mentioned the Pate swap meet, Decatur swap meet and Southwest swap meets are all within a short drive. I have been here since 75 and love it.... Despite the summer heat!
New office is said to be in Southlake (out of my price range) we've been looking in the Haslet and Keller areas. As for vehicle inspection. What's involved? My horn doesn't work currently and I have no turn signals (factory) here it follows what factory equipment was when new. But with no actual inspection that never actually came up. Are there any milage restrictions for antique plates? I like to run year of make plates on my cars. In IA nobody fusses about it though you can let the dot know what number you'll show but I never did that and never even been asked about it. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Don't hate that lol though I assume they compensate with higher property tax and sales tax? Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Pretty sure one of @Dan Hay 's relatives did all my pinstriping here in Des Moines Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
As long as I don't have to like the Longhorns I think I can manage the rest of that lol Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
You've asked a lot of questions, so please ask again if I don't answer them all. I was born in Des Moines, and spent most of my days from age 7- 24 in Phoenix Arizona. I did a small stint back in DSM from 95-97. That being said, Texas is a nice happy medium between those two extremes. It gets got here, but not Arizona hot, and not DSM sticky humid (unless it rains). We can also have snow and ice but it hasn't snowed here more that flurries since 2015. The economy is booming here. We bought a house in 2010 and are in the process of selling, and we are gonna make a ton of cash just from the market going up in the last 10 years. Housing is still reasonable here, but it's in an upward direction. Haslet and Keller are nice, most of those towns the neighborhoods are less than 20 years old, all of North Fort Worth is newish. The car scene in Texas in general is pretty good. I tend to quit doing car stuff in the summer months because of the heat, but the winters are mild, and you can drive your rod everyday if you want, no ice, snow, salt. So it's pretty much year round hot rod season here. We do get cold snaps, but it'll be in the 70's the very next week, or sometimes the next day.. As for your Ford, register it as an antique and it needs no inspection. Technically to be registered as an antique you may only drive it to shows or if you're working on it. I've NEVER heard anyone pulled over and the cop question the antique status, if they did, you've been working on it and you're shaking it down, or on the way to a car show. It's cheap too, I can't remember what it costs, but the Antique registration only comes up every 5 years. You can also run Year of Manufacture plates with the Antique registration. Texas is a really great place to live. We are generally politically conservative, with the metropolitan areas having concentrations of liberals. There are LOTS of people moving here from California. It's kind of a bummer. But, it's still great. I could go on and on probably, let me know if you have more questions, and I'll give you my number if you want to talk more. I am a teacher so I can talk to you about school districts, etc. as well. ONE THING I HATE about Texas is the property taxes are very high. But remember there is no state income tax, so it might be a wash in the end. And, Yes, I think My Uncle Chris Hay striped your sedan, looks good!
For years I lived in NM, because of my recent disability wife and I moved to WA with the father inlaw. While getting Social security straightened out. ... When we got our financial situation fixed, and the wife wanted to move back to NM, I showed her houses we could afford to pay cash for and move to Texas. We are 1 hour outside of Abilene in a small town, No traffic, no headaches, no problems. We love it. One example, While I was sick and fighting social security, I did not drive and let my drivers license expire. Washington state wanted over $150 to get it started to re-instate ... Texas charged me $25 for complete done deal. Real estate is cheaper here, I was able to pay cash for my house. With me being disabled, I pay $400 a year for my property taxes. The weather is warmer then some places 100 degrees today... We love it. When we drove here in January to search and buy a house a few years ago, We were iced in the motel for a week. Roads were terrible & semi trailers turned over on the side of the freeway ... just a freak storm, we moved here anyways and barely gets to frost temps in the couple years we have lived here. Just saying, I live on a fixed income and Texas may be the only place I can afford to live. I bring in just a hair over $2k a month. I can pay my monthly bills and taxes, eat good and a little left over to work on my project. If I was younger and better health, I wish I would have moved here sooner. Does this explain how I feel about Texas
Texas is the best state in the union for sure. Great car culture and hot rod friendly. I put antique tags on mine and only have to renew every 5 years and no inspection necessary.
Native Texan here for 68 years. I can’t imagine living any place else. I laugh when I hear about people putting cars up for the winter. Occasional hail storm suck though.
When things get normal again, Texas Motor Speedway hosts Pate Swap Meet, Good guys twice a year. Four hour drive to Austin for the Lone Star Roundup, Pistons and Paint in Denton, local car shows every weekend, plenty of swap meets and NO SALT ON THE ROADS!!!!!
Yea, what all the others have said here. I grew up in Arlington through grade school and junior high. I loved it with plenty to do as a kid. My dad was transferred to Oklahoma before I went to high school and I hated Oklahoma at first. So, I moved back to Arlington for my first year of college after high school. That lasted about a year until I lost my scholarship so ended back in Oklahoma. I still have lots of good friends in Texas including Dan Hay that commented here. My only issue with the DFW area is the traffic. Otherwise, it is almost as great of a place to live as Oklahoma.
I had a former boss who was from Texas. He used to say "if you don't like the weather in Texas, wait 5 minutes and it will change". Lots of Californians moving to Texas for no state income tax but what others have said high property taxes. And from a friend who did make the move to north of Dallas, lots of toll roads.
Native Texan here. It has been my good fortune to visit almost all 50 states. It is apparant why people like Northern California and the mountains of Washington and Florida beaches and the sweeping plains of mid America. In Texas we have it all. It is truely one of the best places in the world to live. As far as the rodding scene/culture, it is diverse, but a little thin in the number of resources like shops and national events compared to say California and the upper midwest. And property taxes are deductible anyway. Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Texas is the best place I've ever lived in. We lived in Grapevine which is just east of Fort Worth. No state income tax. Reasonable housing and property taxes, great people and old car scene. You'll love it there.
Check the County web site for property tax info. Most counties now have searchable property tax info available for each address.
I lived in Plano in the early 80s, and I have to say, Texas has the best wildflowers, especially Texas Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush. They make great backgrounds for photos of traditional hot rods and customs.
Great place to raise your family and get out and enjoy your hot rods year 'round. It gets hot during the six-month long summer, and we get ice during the winter, and storms during the spring. But October is great! Like has been said, there is no income tax but property taxes are pretty high. The cities are getting PACKED with people in your shoes. Welcome to Texas.
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