10 good things about Texas, off the top of my head:
1. Relatively low cost of living. I used to have a 575 sq. ft. apartment in a nice area of Dallas (not a suburb, Dallas proper) paying $550 per month.
2. Guns, of course. Easy to find, easy to purchase, easy to own and use without being assumed to be a violent thug. There was no background check when I bought a Bersa .380 from a gun range/shop a few years ago, though that may have changed.
3. Barbecue and steakhouses. Everywhere.
4. Weather. Yes, it's sweltering in the summer. But I'll gladly take that in exchange for spring-like weather for pretty much the entire rest of the year.
5. There's something really nice about going down the highway and seeing a bunch of longhorn cattle grazing. Or in my case, just slightly outside my neighborhood.
6. Fiscal conservatism, at least, is not a dirty word. People pretend to be fiscally conservative when they're not, they try to
earn favor from the Tea Partiers in order to win elections, etc. Yes, it's all a load of bullshit. But the rhetoric at least gives lip service to the notion of small government. (Faint praise, I know)
7. Liberal as it is, I love Austin. Full of quirky restaurants and shops, tattoo parlors, roller derby...it's almost too cool for its own good. The
Center for Inquiry holds regular meetings and events there. My brother and sister-in-law recently moved there, giving me a great reason to visit. I'd live there in a heartbeat.
8. The beach at Galveston, Corpus Christi, Padre Island, etc. may not be the most exotic or gorgeous in the world, but it is pretty. It's a good cheap vacation to go down there with some friends and rent a beach house for a few days.
9. The biggest renaissance fair in the country:
Texas Renaissance Festival just north of Houston. If you're into that sort of thing.
10. If you don't have kids and want to be left alone, it's a pretty good place to do it if you're also allergic to lots of snow.