Cappytan: at the risk of hijacking this thread, come on down! There's one thing we have and that's lots of room! That, and definitely lots of individualism (I myself am far from "red", but here, with a fiesty enough attitude, people will give you your space). We also take great pride in being one of the few states that the big government is still afraid of messing with (we've been through several revolutions)... too much. We at least give them pause. I myself, along with my husband) am a Libertarian with very socially liberal leanings. Even though Texans are seen as mostly Republican, there's a spirit here that says as lon as you're willing to stand up for your beliefs, whether popular or not (i.e., before the recent federal law, my husband and I performed same sex marriages for couples who'd had to go out of state to get an "official" one so friends and family could share in the celebration)... it's all about being able to hold your own in a place like this. There's somewhat (not always, but for the most part), a high respect for people who, even if they have differing views, will look you in the eye and say, "yeah, what of it", instead of a half hearted acquiescence to public opinion bc you don't have the courage to stand up for what you believe to be right. There's more overall respect here (from my experience) for individualism than I experienced up north (as a side note, some of the most covertly and vehemently racist and homophobic individuals I ever met were up north, where I lived for 8+ years). People would feel very comfortable in spouting their racism and homophobic (all very hush hush) with me I guess bc I'm from TX. I was shocked. But I digress and apologize for redirecting this thread. PM me if you want tips on relocating to TX.