I moved up here to Virginia in 2016 for grad school. I’ve been here a while (still like to lurk on Texas subs to keep up with what’s going on back home haha), but I really enjoy living in Virginia. Governor Youngkin is trash but my fingers are crossed that democrats will be able to keep control of one of the state houses—Youngkin tried to push a lot of his agenda through this spring, but most got gutted since democrats control the state senate.

I’m currently living in Richmond and love it here. It reminds me of the Austin that I grew up around in the 90s—it’s pretty artsy and eclectic here; lots of fantastic food options; it’s a VERY liberal city (aggressively so, maybe more than Austin); and the James river runs right through town (there’s a couple of swimming spots and you can kayak and paddle board). There’s also a few legit spots for hill country BBQ ran by Texans who still go back and forth between TX/VA.

Housing is going up in price, just like every where else in the country, but prices in Richmond (and anywhere else in the state) are lower than what you’d find in Northern Virginia/DC suburbs.

It’s also wonderful to have all 4 seasons here, and we don’t have as many weather catastrophes here compared with some other parts of the country. You can also drive to the mountains or go to the beach and not have to drive all day across the state to get there haha (RVA is 2 hours from the blue ridge mountains, and 1.5 hours from Virginia Beach).

Anyway, hope this helps! I know I’m not currently living in TX, but I still hope it’s useful info. It also doesn’t hurt to stay in TX and fight the good fight (though I’m sure y’all are exhausted by that to some degree).