I'm a third-generation Californian who moved to Texas for a fresh start: 'I couldn't afford to live there anymore'

• Eric Hartnett, 57, moved to Prosper, Texas, after living in California his entire life.
• He was tired of California's high cost of living and having to keep up with the Joneses.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with California native Eric Hartnett, a photographer and bar owner, who moved to Prosper, Texas, in 2018. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

I was a third-generation Californian, born and raised. I lived in Southern California — Los Angeles — for 40 years, and then in the north, in a city called Healdsburg, for 10 years.

The state was deep in my blood until I just couldn't afford to live there anymore.

The average cost of living, housing prices — everything was just too much. I was making six figures and not going out every day, and still barely putting any money in the bank.

My breaking point was in 2017. I had an employee who had two young children. He decided to buy a house so they could play and have a good time. He bought a 1,800-square-foot house in the northernmost region of Sonoma County for $650,000. The home had dog pee stains on its carpet from the previous owner. After buying the home, he couldn't even afford to purchase a new carpet.

I thought it was ridiculous.

A friend introduced me to the areas north of Dallas

I had a dear friend who was also fed up with California and wanted to get out. Three years prior to me leaving the state, we flew to Dallas and spent a week driving from McKinney all the way down to Austin.

We checked out all of these different little areas in Texas and decided that North Dallas was most in line with where I wanted to live — whether the city I ended up living in was Frisco, McKinney, or Prosper.

Before buying a home, I flew out to Texas three times, so I was kind of familiar with the North Dallas area. I was mainly looking for a home near Highway 75, but I just was not finding anything.

My friend, who was a realtor, had also been looking in the North Dallas area. He found a home that he thought I'd like in Prosper. I was skeptical at first, because I didn't know a lot about the city, but I saw a lot of new development around the area. So I said, 'Yeah, let's do that.'

I also decided I was going to open a wine bar in the area. With all the expansion going on here, I thought the area was in need of that kind of facility.

I'm getting better value for my money in Texas

In 2018, I purchased my 4,500-square-foot home for $648,000. It was sold with about $15,000 worth of furniture and came with a washer-dryer.

When I was living in Sonoma, I was renting a 2,500-square-foot, four-bedroom house that I shared with a roommate. Rent was about $2,000 a month. I also rented a 900-square-foot house — like a granny unit to another house — that cost me $1,800 a month.

A lot of people complain about the housing tax in Texas, but more than 50% of it goes to the local schools. If you don't have kids and you want to live in an area with smaller property taxes, there are older communities where you'll pay less.

The kicker is there's no income tax in Texas — it doesn't matter where you live.

I love to barbecue and grill. I bought asparagus in Texas for $1.90 a bunch. Two weeks later, I made a trip to Northern California to visit and was asked to cook. The asparagus there was $5. It was from the same place in Mexico and the exact same product.

Everything in Texas is, in most cases, less expensive by comparison to California, and it adds up.

The weather and scenery are my least favorite things about Texas

There are places that look like vacation spots in Texas, but it's not a quick afternoon getaway — that's one big trade-off. I like to go for drives and take my camera out and film wildlife. There's only so many pictures of cows I can take.

People ask me if I miss the ocean in California, and I tell them that for $100 I can jump on a plane and go to the ocean.

I've come to realize that everybody leaves Texas and goes on vacation in August because it's so darn hot. We get like 10 days of fall, and then it'll be cold for three months.

Another huge shock in comparison to California is that in the summertime, the state doesn't cool down at night. You can't open the windows. If you don't have A/C, you're in trouble.

Those are two big shocks, but they're not game-stoppers.

I'm more at peace in Texas

The bar I opened in 2019 had a good vibe and great reputation, but COVID hit. We were shut down basically for a year, and I had to close the bar. This year, I've got another bar opening in Celina, which is just north of Prosper.

In California you could have no job, be broke — or on the border of it — but still pay to get your hair done and lease a BMW, basically trying to keep up with the Joneses.

In Texas, that just doesn't exist. As long as you take care of yourself, you're going to have a great time.