Best Part of Living in a Red State?

[JazzFanInTX]

95. I retired to the Austin suburbs and love it.

It's actually a tiny blue island in a red state. Travis County voted 60 percent for President Obama in 2012. Within the Austin city limits, I've heard that housing prices are high, but I'm in the suburbs and paid 143k for a 1900 square foot single-story home built in 2005. That was at the bottom of the market in 2011, and it's since been assessed at a hair over 150k.

It's a friendly place. I love it here. I've never been out front about political affiliation, having worked in the defense business, which is dominated by right-wingers. Great music scene here, even a very good jazz scene, which surprised the heck out of me.

Pros (in my area): Affordable housing, ethnic diversity, friendly people, no state income tax. Texas-sized breakfast tacos!
Cons: Property taxes are high, but that's understandable given no state income tax. Traffic in Austin gets pretty insane, but I'm away from that in my area, and being retired, only need to do local driving unless I go to a concert in the city.