[QuiEgo]

>$515.50 per month for property taxes? That seems soo high.

Where I live (Texas), there is no state income tax. They make it up by having high property taxes. It's something like $20,000/year per $1MM of property value. $515.50 would be so nice...

> What does this cover - garbage collection, what else?

Here, none of that (Garbage is billed by use as a utility, like electricity. You're charged by how big of a bin you get).

It funds all the things the state and local government does - schools, roads, parks, police, fire, social services, anything tax would normally fund.

[iamalizard]

> Where I live (Texas), there is no state income tax. They make it up by having high property taxes.

I guess that makes some calculations quite different, like what rent should be, how much you can view a property as an investment, what types of businesses you can start there, and so on, compared to other states?

> You're charged by how big of a bin you get).

Are there no communal bins? Or is that for a closed community as opposed to a city? What would you do if you had to throw something out while you were walking around?

I've never been to the US so it's a bit of a culture shock.

[QuiEgo]

In general, rent in Texas is higher than some places but lower than say, the Bay Area in California, because there is much more supply.

I live in a neighborhood of single family homes that are on big lots and spaced out (perhaps 20-30 meters between homes). There is no community trash bins. There also is very little foot traffic, aside from people who live in the neighborhood. In more urban areas, there would be public trash cans.