Texas isn’t – A California family’s move back from El Paso puts a spotlight on why “Texas is bigger” can also mean “Texas doesn’t fit everyone.” Readers flooded in with their own regrets—or gratitude—while weighing heat, property taxes, job risks, and the reality that Texas
When Guadalupe Galindo-Nevarez and her family left for Texas, the promise sounded simple: lower costs, affordable housing, and a jobs boom that seemed to pull people in from everywhere.
But after four years in El Paso, they’re planning to move back to California.
The decision didn’t come down to one headline. It was a stack of daily trade-offs that added up—extreme summer heat. limited outdoor activities. and high property tax bills. She also had to balance what she found on the ground against what had drawn her family in the first place. She told MISRYOUM that while she found El Paso beautiful and was attracted by Texas’s lower cost of living. the advantages weren’t enough to outweigh those pressures.
Her story landed with a jolt far beyond one family. After it was published in May, MISRYOUM received nearly 100 emails, and the article itself drew nearly 700 comments as of publication.
The reaction was split in a way that mirrored the move itself. Some readers said they regretted moving to Texas, too. Others insisted the state delivered what they wanted—and more. A recurring view emerged from the middle of the debate: maybe the problem wasn’t Texas. Maybe it was El Paso—or simply the particular match between expectations and the reality of that specific region.
“Texas is very diverse, and not all parts of Texas are the same,” one commenter wrote, adding that life in El Paso can look very different from life in any of the state’s other cities.
That point matters because Texas is not one single living experience. It’s the second-largest state in the US, behind only Alaska. It contains four geographic regions and 12 economic regions, each tied to distinct industries, cultures, politics, and ways of life.
In other words, El Paso can feel like its own world inside Texas.
El Paso sits in far West Texas—in the Chihuahuan Desert and along the US-Mexico border—giving it a distinct bicultural identity. With Fort Bliss nearby, defense is one of the region’s major economic drivers, alongside aerospace and manufacturing.
The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, or DFW, is described as moving to a different rhythm entirely. North Texas is marked by sprawling suburbs, dense urban centers, towering skylines, shopping centers, and restaurants. Its major industries include financial services, technology, and hospitality.
That contrast was central to what commenters argued about cost, politics, and climate. Many pointed to differences between El Paso and other major Texas cities—specifically mentioning politics, housing costs, and weather.
One commenter urged readers not to generalize from one place to the rest of the state. “Instead of going straight back to California. do the research and see where in Texas you might get the things you are looking for. ” they wrote. They singled out Austin as a standout and argued that “the suburbs of these cities are cheaper tax wise” and that there are areas with “bustling night life. day life. culture. and untold outdoor recreation.”.
Another commenter put the comparison even more sharply: “El Paso is more like New Mexico than the rest of Texas,” they wrote, adding, “I will never understand how El Paso could be compared to ANY other Texas city like San Antonio, Austin, Dallas or even Houston.”
Culture and politics also showed up repeatedly in the comment threads, often as personal friction rather than abstract debate. One reader wrote that what the article was “conspicuously silent” on was “the ENORMOUS cultural divide between California and Texas.” Another shared a story of a friend leaving Texas after disliking changes in local Texas government.
Others, including people who identified as Texans, were ready with a different kind of reassurance. They said they were happy a transplant was planning to leave. One commenter who identified as a California transplant from Texas said they were glad to have Galindo-Nevarez back in the Golden State: “As a 4th generation Texan that moved to California. all I can say is Welcome Back!” they wrote. “Yes, its cheaper to live in Texas, but you get what you pay for.”.
Underneath all the arguments was an uncomfortable reality that no one could easily escape: Texas can look like an escape plan at first, and then still feel wrong once housing costs, taxes, climate, and local culture start shaping everyday life.
And Galindo-Nevarez’s story is now part of a wider, messier conversation about why so many newcomers are drawn to Texas in the first place—and why some reconsider as conditions change.
For years, Business Insider has written about people who moved to Texas from other states. Many were drawn by the same assets: lower cost of living, relatively affordable housing, and a strong job market. Texas has attracted “hundreds of thousands” of new residents. from everyday people to high-profile arrivals like Elon Musk and Bella Hadid.
But as home prices climbed, property tax bills grew, and layoffs rippled through major tech hubs like Austin, some transplants began to rethink the move.
In May, Galindo-Nevarez became part of that reconsideration—planning to return to California after four years in El Paso.
No matter how readers positioned themselves in the debate, one point kept coming through. As one commenter put it, “It would seem some research and the location where one lives makes all the difference in the world.”
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