TheaterFire

Moving from Long Island to Plano

Posted by Particular_Draw_8028@reddit | plano | View on Reddit | 25 comments

As the title says, I’m moving with my wife from Long Island to Plano in a couple months. I’m a Nassau county native, shes a lifelong Texan. Any survival tips?

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25 Comments

FindingTheHelpers@reddit

Have a prepared response to “what church do you go to?”
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ComfortableFormer216@reddit

We just moved from Manhattan to Plano in August and I’ve loved it. Husband is from Houston and I’m from Boston. There is a lot more diversity than I thought. Great food! There are lots of parks and outdoor areas. Definitely more going on than I thought. We only had one car for the first few months and fortunately lived close to a shopping area, so I walked quite a bit. It’s been a little harder to meet people, but I also have a baby so that’s probably on me. Honestly my biggest concern is that I hope to have another kid at some point and being a pregnant person in TX terrifies me. I’ve met a few women who have given some recommendations for an OBGYN, but yeah, it’s still TX.
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FeyreArchereon@reddit

Texas isn't walkable like New York, we rely heavily on our cars. It can be hot starting late March to late October. Sometimes it's 80 on Christmas. We get about 3 weeks ish of winter a year. Case and point we had ice last week and tomorrow it will be almost 80. We say sir and ma'am regardless of age. Welcome to Texas.
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Cinamunch@reddit

LI is not walkable. It's not "the city".
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Cinamunch@reddit

I’m married to a New Yorker who lived on LI for a while, and all of his family is still there. The biggest differences you’ll experience… - Things are much slower in Dallas. Don’t expect fast service—everyone is chatty. That actually makes it much easier to make real connections. - LI feels very “stuck.” Everyone sort of dresses the same, does the same things, and has a similar mentality. People are more diverse here. - Religion is very in-your-face here. There also aren’t as many Catholics or Jews. - Bagels are awful. - The highways—people drive extremely fast, and there are so many of them. Traffic is better, but people still complain about it here. - Summers are awful. I’m from Miami and thought I could handle the heat… yeah, no! If you have more questions, feel free to DM me.
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aek82@reddit

So, here are some good things about Plano. - City services are run well. Water, trash pickup, roads, emergency services, building code/inspection, parks/rec, etc. compare favorably to other cities in the US. - People complain about the traffic alot here but the Plano road system is well maintained compared to Austin and Houston. Pot holes get fixed and roads get repaired. - The park and recreation centers / libraries here are one of the best in the city. If you live near a recreation center, I would tour one to see if you like it. - Internet here is fast. Fiber to the home was installed 20 years ago and still works. Lots of availability. - The area is very safe. Murder and robberies are rare. The most dangerous thing here are drivers that speed and don't yield. - The healthcare system here is fairly convenient. There's three major hospitals within city limits. - If you're into golf, the muni and public golf courses in general north DFW area is reasonably priced. You have tons of options. Off the top of my head, thats all I could think of.
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whatever1713@reddit

Texan here but I lived in upstate NY for a few years and MA. My two suggestions have to do with driving: 1. If there’s snow or ice, no one here knows how to drive in either nor do we have the infrastructure to clear the roads, so don’t drive if you can help it (every dumbass with an suv thinks it’ll be fine in ice or snow) 2. The casual “fuck you’s” and fingers along with honking I saw (mostly in NYC) aren’t worth it here (in TX, generally). People take it too personally and many, many people have guns. You read enough of shootings from road rage that it’s best to not get into with anyone. Even when they’re driving like pricks.
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aek82@reddit

There was a road rage shooting last night in Irving.
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dalcowboysstarsmavs@reddit

I agree with the second bullet. I recently flipped off a driver after a long interaction. He followed me for several more miles and mimicked shooting me while reaching for something in his car. I only got away from him because a police car was on the side of the road. I will be keeping my fingers to myself for the foreseeable future.
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peacelovetacos247@reddit

I came here to say the second one 😂 I’ve never been to New York so it might not be exactly the same there, but spent a week at my friend’s house in Boston and felt like I was experiencing culture shock coming from Texas lol. The constant honking and just overall madness in their style of driving was so jarring to me at first. Everyone was just communicating though, no one was actually upset. The craziest thing I saw was when an ambulance needed to get by in the Ted Williams tunnel - it was like everyone spoke the same secret language and knew exactly what to do/when to do it. It never would have gone that smoothly in Texas lmao. It’s hard to explain if people haven’t experienced it themselves. But yeah, op, take whatever’s advice. If you want to flip some birds, just try to keep it under the dash 😂 The people here are short fused and take everything personally when driving. They’re also batshit crazy and won’t think twice about tailing you, break checking you, purposely swerving or blocking you in, following you to your destination, or unfortunately being little trigger happy every once in a while.😩
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Lurcher99@reddit

The closest beach is a flight to Cancun
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PM_ME_YER_MUDFLAPS@reddit

I live near independence and 121, so my advice if pretty localized. Summers are brutal, and you can have maybe two weeks of really cold snow and ice that TX utilities generally aren’t prepared for. Housing construction dates mostly from the 90’s and is of course kind of questionable, but that is par for the course down here in the south. Public transportation is pretty much nonexistent. On the bright side, at least where I live is that DFW is actually pretty culturally diverse. Plenty of Asian grocery stores, some Indian grocery stores, and even some Islamic and African focused grocery stores. Strong Islamic influence in my area. They are generally nicer than the fundagelical churches that are prevalent through the south. State politics are insanely Rethuglican, but the big cities are generally fine. In short, if your family income is north of a quarter million you can live quite comfortably here. Also DFW has some wicked deals on flights around the world if you like to travel.
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Byrdie_girl@reddit

The heat in new York is nothing like the heat in Texas. Summer will kill you. On the other side Winters are not nearly as bad but no one known how to deal with it around here
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sharkieshadooontt@reddit

I grew up in NJ, and go back to NJ, VA quite often. Texas has dry heat, the humidity on the east coast is WAY worse
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InternetsIsBoring@reddit

Pro tip, check your face and check the faces of people walking around. Heat or cold they look miserable. By adjusting your own face the 100° degree over or -20° windchill on that one weekend doesn't feel as bad. And yeah, I called everyone ugly
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boosted32vee@reddit

Well I'll be the first to say welcome to Texas. You'll love Collin County, we live just East of Plano/Allen in Parker. My wife is from LI and we visit once a year (Huntington Bay, Dix Hills, Farmington, East Meadow, Mellville) areas. Most all the highways here are like the I-495. The speed limits if no traffic are 75+, no 55mphs around here. Our 3 lane streets are 45-50mph limits in Plano and surrounding areas. Like someone else posted, unlike LI, people here are not as rude as drivers in LI, people around here all carry guns, so even though everyone speeds, most are respectful, at least in Collin County. You didn't post where in LI you are from, so I can only compare to the areas I mentioned. Anything near NYC city (Brooklyn, Queens) there's nothing like those areas around here. I hope you have a safe move, feel free to DM me if you need any other questions asked. Also the homes in Plano have only natural gas, no heating oil or basements (some homes are all electric). You get to choose your electricity provider and water is NTWD, fair prices. Trash and recycling bins are provided and picked up weekly, bulk trash can be taken to two local transfer stations twice a month with a water bill for free. Plano is really safe, plano police dont f-around here, dont speed and have your registration and Insurance current and no problems. Schools are awesome, plenty of restaurants and entertainment, no need to go to Dallas, unless you are a Mavs, Stars fan or big concerts at the AAC. Cowboys are in Arlington. Ft.Worth is cool to visit. Anyway, im rambling, have a safe move.
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drumsticks_baby@reddit

Welcome!
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ChuckWeezy@reddit

* Not all BBQ is created equal * Watch out for the dynamic toll road pricing * Deep Ellum is cool, but get out before dark * In the summer, get ready. It's really only bad, bad the second half of July and through August * The heat is one thing. Heat + humidity is what will get you. * Understand that southern hospitality is a very real thing. You're going to meet some great people! * Also, southern assholes. * We get some crazy rain storms. People forget how to drive. * DFW is huge. As big as Rhode Island. * You can get anywhere from Plano in about 45 minutes - assuming normal traffic * Rush hour is rush hour. Learn the side streets in your most frequently visited areas. * If you're close to an HEB, go there.
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Confusedsoul2292@reddit

Wait, what ? Ask your wife lol
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Distribution-Radiant@reddit

It gets pretty hot in the summer, and Plano (really, the entire state aside from college towns) is not very walkable. You're looking at at least a couple of miles to get to a grocery store, and that's assuming your neighborhood backs up to one. Bodegas aren't really a thing in TX. We do have convenience stores at nearly every intersection, but most of them don't have any fresh or hot foods. Kroger is the primary grocery store in Plano, followed by Albertsons/Tom Thumb (same company). Kroger is usually cheaper as long as you don't mind punching in your phone # at the register. And if you like Whole Foods, bring your own bags. Walmart has their Neighborhood Market concept in Plano too - it's a basic grocery store. People in Texas are generally friendly, but there's going to be a bit of culture shock. It's not the "everybody carries a gun" culture sometimes portrayed on TV/in movies showing Texans (though you'll see that very occasionally), but it's going to be a bit different. You're also going to need a vehicle of some kind unless you're in downtown Plano, since everything is so spread out. Even a bicycle will be fine though, I've been using one as my primary transportation for a couple of years.
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iruvar@reddit

Don't tangle with pick-up trucks round here unless you like being run off the road
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PermanentThrowawayID@reddit

A non-negligible percent of your work will be with those who are sticklers on social manners and decorum (not even saying that’s bad). They’re probably gonna silently judge you, instinctively or not, so keep that in mind.
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PantherCityRes@reddit

These are the same people that bang bibles and scream about being victims of religious persecution and the islamification of Texas btw… Fucking gems for human beings I tell ya
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mf2td@reddit

Make a map for your house because you’ll get lost in it
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picircle@reddit

🤭😸🤣😹😆😂😆🐱😆😆
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