Californians and – A family’s move from California to Texas, sparked by the promise of lower living costs, turned into regret and a plan to return. The story ignited nearly 700 comments, about 100 emails, and a split debate over affordability, jobs, politics, taxes, culture, and
For this family, the promise was simple: leave California, land in Texas, spend less. Instead, the experience left them unhappy enough that they’re now planning to go back to the Golden State.
The debate over which state is better to live in isn’t new in the U.S.—it’s practically a national pastime. Still, the pandemic made it hotter. People moved from California to Texas in droves, and every move like that carries a weight far beyond personal preference. It’s about affordability, jobs, politics, taxes, culture, and housing, all rolled into one relocation.
My colleague Alcynna Lloyd recently reignited the argument for BI readers by writing about a family that left California for Texas in search of a lower cost of living. In her account. the family didn’t just struggle with day-to-day life—they came away unhappy with much of the experience and decided they were planning a return to California.
That story struck a nerve. Readers jumped into the conversation: nearly 700 comments poured in on the recently launched comments section, a place where people can engage directly with the journalism and with each other. Alcynna also received roughly 100 emails from people eager to weigh in.
What arrived was not a tidy consensus. Some commenters argued the family made a mistake leaving California in the first place. Others pushed back hard, saying the family’s experience didn’t reflect the reality of living in Texas.
One of the clearest counterpoints came from a commenter who wrote that Texas is “very diverse” and “not all parts of Texas are the same.” They pointed to El Paso—where the family described in Alcynna’s story currently lives—and said life there “can be pretty different from the state’s other cities.”
But pro-California sentiment wasn’t hard to find. A commenter who identified themselves as a fourth-generation Texan wrote: “Welcome Back!” They added: “Yes, its cheaper to live in Texas, but you get what you pay for.”
As the reactions piled up, the newsroom also checked the temperature in a more systematic way. AI was used to analyze sentiment across the reader comments on Alcynna’s story, and the takeaway was that pro-Texas takes appeared to hold a slight majority.
The argument even pulled at family dynamics. I’m a New Yorker, but my in-laws live in Dallas. Every time I visit, they pitch Dallas as the place to settle permanently—an offer I politely refuse.
California or Texas. what people want to believe often comes down to their lived experience. and sometimes their access to it. And for readers watching someone else’s move unfold in real time. this debate isn’t theoretical—it’s personal math done with rent. commute times. and the expectation of a better life.
If you’re wondering where you’d land, the question is simple enough to ask out loud: California or Texas—what state do you prefer to live in, and why? Readers were invited to share their answers at srussolillo@insider.com.
California Texas debate cost of living housing affordability El Paso Dallas reader comments relocation jobs taxes culture