[stirfrykitty]

Meanwhile here in Texas, that level of heat is business as usual. I get that most places in the EU don't have aircon, as they rarely need it, barring southern EU, which I have spent considerable amounts of time in. I far prefer the misty moors of England over anything with tons of sun.

Having grown up in Europe, I do prefer their weather when it's normal for them. If only I could convince my wife to move somewhere with a proper 4 seasons rather than this hideous backwater of heat and humidity.

[ilikehurdles]

Good luck! My wife and I were fond of Texas (well... really only Austin and select parts of Houston) -- but I was more fond of having four seasons than anything Austin had to offer. A move to Boston convinced her pretty easily and since then we're both on the same page about sticking to places with similar climates. We would love to see our friends in Texas more but ever moving back is a very hard no, both due to weather and politics.

I also grew up in Europe for a few years at least.

[hestipod]

Guess some Texans have seen your post ;) Not in TX myself but after a recent Texas-like heat/humidity wave I found myself thinking how much more energized and comfortable I felt after it left, but it was still subjectively quite a high temperature. Such oppressive heat really does affect your quality of life in a big way. I lived in Europe for many years without air conditioning and was never more than mildly uncomfortable on the worst days. There was something very different about the heat...it may be as simple as humidity levels, but it was not particularly dry where I lived and visited either. Here I don't see many days that would be tolerable without AC.

[stirfrykitty]

Good comment. I loathe Texas, but I'm here because of the wife and her family. I would prefer to live someplace where it's overcast 90% of the time, and where it rains at least twice a week. I also prefer snow on the ground for a couple of months. Here in the Houston area, the heat, humidity, insects, and sheer amounts of concrete all contribute to the lack of comfort. Moreover, there are too many people here all shoved into a space that really cannot accommodate them.

[ilikehurdles]

Maybe I'm biased, but take a look at Denver as a compromise? It doesn't fit all of your preferences (it's very sunny and the snow melts quickly), but it's also very low humidity, convenient to snowy towns in the mountains, and we've pretty much had at least a few minutes of rain every day for the last month or two.

There are also a ton of ex-Texans here.

[stirfrykitty]

Appreciate the comments. My brother lived in Denver for a few years. It's not really my cup of tea when I visited. Too much sun, and too high in altitude. I could barely breathe when I was there and my nose bled every day for the first three days.

My preferences would be Vermont, Snoqualmie, WA, Bellingham, WA, or the AK peninsula. Me and the sun are not friends.

[tsneed290]

A major difference is most Texans make use of air conditioning. Paris largely does not.

[hestipod]

Growing up in the US then living for quite some time in Europe it was initially weird for me to not see AC everywhere, but I quickly realized it was much more comfortable for me. Something about being in a cold building and then going out into a swamp heater just makes it more miserable. Maybe its slow acclimation or some subjective thing.

[stirfrykitty]

Not really acclimation, but willingness to suffer through it. I hate it when my children want to play outside because I'm out there for less than five minutes and my shirt is soaked through with sweat, it's unbearably hot, and the insects are legion. When I leave work in the late afternoon, it's so hot my car takes 10 minutes to cool down to where it's comfortable inside. By then my Right Guard has gone left and I'm having cold air blowing on wet skin. It really does suck.

[stirfrykitty]

And I mentioned same in my statement above. The entire lower half of the US would be largely unlivable without aircon. Even Alaska get 90+ in the summer, albeit for short bursts.