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Considering a move to Texas. Pros and Cons?


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You could probably go almost anywhere and get large acreage. LOL.

 

If you want trees.... you probably want the eastern half of the state. West Texas is largely desert and cattle ranches.

 

Not sure about south, as I haven't been beyond I-10, though I hear it's beautiful down there. Just be prepared for a lot more humidity down that way.

 

Go west if you like "dry heat", though. :lol:

 

I don't think I'd want to live on the west TX border, except maybe for El Paso because El Paso's so large that you have some choices. (Minus the trees. :D ) Don't get me wrong... there ARE trees in El Paso. Just not like what you'd find on the east side of the state. The mountains are neat, though, and you can easily get away to New Mexico if you want more green. There's a wide variety of climate and topography in NM, as well (from desert to snow skiing in the mountains).

 

All in all, I can't think of too many Cons for your list. I *LOVE* Texas. Love their independent spirit, love their homeschooling laws, love the space, love their "no state income tax".... And since TX is so big, you can pretty much pick and choose the climate you like! ;)

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I'm doing this move right now. In fact packing today...truck tomorrow.

 

Trees you will need East Texas. One of the things I loved about Houston was that I had both Pine trees and palm trees. As I drove west out of Katy the trees really thinned out.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

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Central Texas--Austin and surrounding areas, maybe as far north as Killeen/Waco.

 

Dallas/Ft. Worth is nice, too. *I* could live there, but I like the Hill Country better.:)

 

Further south (San Antonio, Corpus Christi) are pretty and all, and I'm sure you can find acreage; however, the weather is much more humid, and Corpus does get hurricanes.

 

Texas has an excellent homeschool environment: a court case that decided that homeschools are the quivalent of private schools, which are unregulated. Pretty much the only requirement is that you have children :D (although even that is questionable, lol).

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What kind of climate are you looking for? What would you like to do with your acreage? Do you need to be close to job opportunities or will you try to live off your land?

 

There's a lot of variety in Texas, it's a BIG state.

 

Our hs laws are very easy. We don't have a state income tax, but our sales tax is quite high to make up for it. This is great if you can save a lot of your salary, it's not great if you spend almost all of it on living expenses. We are facing a huge budget deficit so we may be facing tax increases or budget cuts.

 

Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin have a lot of cultural and sports opportunities. But, those can be few and far between in more rural areas. It all depends on where in the state you are.

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The weather stinks. 100+ in the summer; unpredictable in the winter--this week, Wed-83; Thurs-50something; Fri-70something.

 

When it doesn't freeze, the mosquitoes don't die, & although the ones in the N are much bigger, they're fat & slow. We've got ninja mosquitoes here.

 

I love TX, but lately, that love is becoming more theoretical.

 

Oh, yeah, & allergies. They're a beast here. Austin is usually one of the top worst places in the nation for allergies, but this past yr, DFW outranked them. Oh, the joy.

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Oh, yeah, & allergies. They're a beast here. Austin is usually one of the top worst places in the nation for allergies, but this past yr, DFW outranked them. Oh, the joy.

And yet, Mr. Ellie has had fewer hay fever sneezing attacks here than he ever did in California--southern California as well as the S.F. Bay area. Go figure.

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Thanks everyone! Keep em coming :001_smile:.

I think generally, it is just less satisfying to live anywhere in America. Everyplace has thier problems. Our weather is a high of 26 today. Our house is really old and has no insulation--our kitchen was 49 this morning! Mosquitos stink--we get them too though is definatley freezes here and they die! Allergies are an issue, we will probably do a bee hive and see if that helps.

We would like to live off the land. We live in Colorado so we are used to the dry, so that would be great. We have lots of trees (ponderosa pines but I don't care much what kind of trees we get) where we are now and love that so dryish climate with trees is ideal. It is fine if the area is conservative too, we are pretty conservative. We do have a daughter who is half black so I am interested in a conservative but accepting place. I hope that helps paint a bit of a picture. My husband does not know what he wants to do for $! He has been an appraiser but the real estate market is so wonky now that it is really hard on us. We have some pretty good equity so are hoping to pay cash for a home.

 

 

OK,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, GO!:bigear::lol:

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The weather stinks. 100+ in the summer; unpredictable in the winter--this week, Wed-83; Thurs-50something; Fri-70something.

 

When it doesn't freeze, the mosquitoes don't die, & although the ones in the N are much bigger, they're fat & slow. We've got ninja mosquitoes here.

 

I love TX, but lately, that love is becoming more theoretical.

 

Oh, yeah, & allergies. They're a beast here. Austin is usually one of the top worst places in the nation for allergies, but this past yr, DFW outranked them. Oh, the joy.

 

I came from Vegas, and the heat isn't so bad. In fact, in some ways I coming to prefer it to the heat of Vegas. But on my FB, I belong to a group that calls the weather in Texas Bi-Polar. They aren't far off from the mark. One minute it's nice and sunny, the next it's humid and windy, then sunny, then thunderstorms... LOL It can't make up it's mind. We even got snow last year!! For being so hot in the summer, I was surprised at how cold it could get in the winter. Oh and the fog too... which I don't mind. I also don't mind the cloudy days, and as a matter of fact I *love* them.

 

She talks about the mosquitoes which ARE a pain!! But there are also fleas, that also don't die until the freeze. My poor Pom is partially bald at her hips because she is allergic to them or something and the itching even after treatment doesn't go away :(

 

There are also fire ants. Beware of them. Their mounds are slightly higher and look like a dark colored sand.

 

Allergies.... Oh. My. Goooooooooooooooosh! I had no idea I even really had allergies till we moved to Reno, and it set in my Vertigo so bad I was convinced I had a brain tumor or something. But then I moved here.... now I am keeping the vertigo at bay, but it wears me out. I am CONSTANTLY tired!! Breathing is eh, day to day can be good or bad. The sinuses KILL! I have constant headache and pain, but I also have a deviated septum, and I am not sure if it makes the whole thing worse. I notice for me it is mostly in the fall and spring, and I live near the Austin area. My step-son has also gotten them pretty bad, and now has developed asthma :(

 

Now for some of the good stuff... LOL

 

They have a tax-free WEEKEND just for back to school. Now while we may homeschool, we still need supplies (and clothes) and this is an awesome time to get them!! Combine them with educator discounts, too. There is also no food tax or state tax :)

 

Texas, could if they ever wanted too separate themselves form the US and be their own country. Not sure how it would work, but I hold onto that and their conservative views in this day and age and political climate. It's the only state that can fly their state flag at the same level as the U.S. flag :)

 

The TX pride is UNBELIEVABLE!!! I have lived in California, Utah, Nevada, and have never seen anything like it here. It makes YOU proud to be here. It brings a sense of communal spirit amongst everybody (at least in my area).

 

I love the "wide open spaces" and the green. Coming from Vegas it was like a breath of fresh air.

 

I also love the clouds, sometimes they hang so low, it's almost like you can touch them, and that is cool... at least to me.

 

I also love how reasonably priced the public pools are. We even have a $2 theater that gets new movies as they release out of the regular theater's and before they go to DVD. They even have 1/2 priced days.

 

I also love how everything seems to feel very family focused, from great parks, to low priced activities, and even free stuff within your own communities or cities.

 

I love most people seem God fearing. There is a respect here. It's different then when I lived in Utah and you'd see road signs announcing a missionary coming home or that it was homemaking activity night. It's in the tip of a hat, the open of a door, the "mam". It's the good ole country Southern charm, and an open and ready smile.

 

I LOVE the amount of homeschoolers out here. You finally feel like you belong, and not like you are the lone ranger. In my ward alone, which is small, we have 9 families!! Heck, Houston has their own Homeschooling store!

 

Man, that is a lot... but I feel like I could go on and on. Even for all of it's "cons", I love it here. It feels like home, and I am never leaving.

 

Oh one more thing, if you don't have insurance, in my area they have a place that places you buy income. I pay $15 for a Dr's visit, all my meds are free- including my Diabetes tester and supplies, and DDS stuff is sliding scale depending on what your getting down, and they space out there visits :) In ALL the places and towns I have lived, I have NEVER seen anything like it. Mental health visits are $6, and even my husbands ADD meds are free. One wasn't something they could get, so they set him up with a J&J RX plan, that covers them for free at a Walgreens. They have really come a long way out here being medically progressive.

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Thanks everyone! Keep em coming :001_smile:.

I think generally, it is just less satisfying to live anywhere in America. Everyplace has thier problems. Our weather is a high of 26 today. Our house is really old and has no insulation--our kitchen was 49 this morning! Mosquitos stink--we get them too though is definatley freezes here and they die! Allergies are an issue, we will probably do a bee hive and see if that helps.

We would like to live off the land. We live in Colorado so we are used to the dry, so that would be great. We have lots of trees (ponderosa pines but I don't care much what kind of trees we get) where we are now and love that so dryish climate with trees is ideal. It is fine if the area is conservative too, we are pretty conservative. We do have a daughter who is half black so I am interested in a conservative but accepting place. I hope that helps paint a bit of a picture. My husband does not know what he wants to do for $! He has been an appraiser but the real estate market is so wonky now that it is really hard on us. We have some pretty good equity so are hoping to pay cash for a home.

 

 

OK,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, GO!:bigear::lol:

 

Just seeing this, 2 things come to mind.

 

- I live in a VERY small town, and we have AA kids in the community. In my ward we even have an interracial couple and they have a child. I think it has all been handled very well. I have never seen any bigotry, so I hope that sets your mind at ease a little.

 

-Also, I can't believe I forgot to mention, TX house prices are INCREDIBLE!!! Of course I came from Vegas, where prices are astronomical, but even still.... I'd suggest getting on Realtor.com and put in some zip codes. I know out here, Round Rock which is just outside of Austin, it's small but still pretty well populated. It's 78681. If your looking for land though, and want to live off of it, you might check around Taylor. I have a friend who lives in Elgin, but she's not really in Elgin and they have A LOT of land with trees, horses, goats, donkeys, and a garden.

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I'm outside of Houston.

 

The downside is that it gets very hot, and the bugs are horrible.

 

The good thing is that I can grow food all year. Right now, my plants are loaded with tomatoes, I have plenty of lettuce and winter squash and hot peppers. the carrots are just about ready to harvest the first ones.

 

Property is still pretty reasonable here, and Houston has plenty of good paying jobs if your husband doesn't mind driving in.

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And yet, Mr. Ellie has had fewer hay fever sneezing attacks here than he ever did in California--southern California as well as the S.F. Bay area. Go figure.

 

Same thing happened with my dd. She went from being on breathing treatments and meds nearly all the time in IL, to practically nothing after we got to El Paso. And she "grew out of" her food allergies within a year of being there.

 

My 2nd dd who was born in El Paso suffered from environmental allergies in El Paso... moved here when she was 3 and continued to have environmental allergies, so the difference in climate didn't make any difference for her. Could be that she was allergic to something in the El Paso air, left that, and then was allergic to something else in the western Missouri air.

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Pros:

 

No state income tax

 

 

Oh, yeah, people tried to tell us how great that was. Turns out that property taxes more than make up for no state income tax. :glare:

 

Cons:

 

July and August

I like to say that Central Texas has four seasons: winter, early summer, summer, and late summer.:D

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Hi, we're in DFW. I've lived all over the country (and all over the world). It's pretty nice here. We spent a lot of time laughing hysterically at their property values, tho. You can actually buy a house for under $150,000 here that isn't completely sinking into the ground or on fire...:001_rolleyes: It's a BIG change from up north (where the asbestos huts were $300,000)- lol!

 

Groceries are a lot cheaper here...there are more stores to spend money at...:tongue_smilie:...no income tax...a lot of traffic where we live...a TON (absolute ton) of homeschooling activities - co-ops, enrichment classes, homeschool gym class, sports, park days, etc... It is EXTREMELY easy to homeschool here and people are very nice about it, too.

 

It also seems to be really booming here and I don't think Texas knows what a recession is (especially compared to where we moved from).

 

My only complaint so far...is the lack of parks. We are HUGE outdoors people - kayaking, hiking, camping, boating, etc - and there doesn't seem to be as many places to do that here as there was up north. You also have to pay to use the state parks, which isn't a big deal...but we thought was odd.

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We live in the Houston area. I definitely get the idea that things are better economy wise in Dallas. Dallas has trees as well. I would research where the economy is doing well in Texas, but I have heard good things about the DFW area, like I said. North Dallas in particular seems to be booming.

 

I don't know about Dallas, but here in Houston, homeschooling families of mixed races are not unusual and are well accepted - really no big deal.

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I've only lived in the DFW area and the Austin area. I vastly prefer Austin over Dallas, but both are great areas to live in. For the same price, you're likely to be able to get land closer to Austin than to Dallas.

 

Austin has a lot more parks than Dallas and a lot more pools and the pool hours/prices are also much more reasonable.

 

I've seen more mixed race couples and families in the Austin area than I did in the Dallas area, but it's been 7 years since we moved, so that could be due to timing more than location.

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I went to college in Austin for five years and I loved it there particularly in the spring. I thought it was so clear and beautiful that I could just reach out and touch the sky. I have to agree though with a previous poster that I wished I could just skip July and August because it was just too hot. Also, I could really do without the fire ants and the giant flying cockroaches. Strangely though, it never bothered me when the little lizards got into the house.

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We moved here to San Antonio from San Francisco. We didn't like much about the Bay Area so Tx has been a breath of fresh air for us. We are still trying to figure out the catch with our house after 3 years. We're still in reverse sticker shock after living in SF and Boston. No problems yet but why was it so cheap? :D.

 

The weather isn't my favorite but isn't terrible down here. The humidity isn't bad in this area but it does stay hot for a lot of the year. I prefer Boston weather so winter is really more fall for me. I miss snow. Now, it's great for my dc...Nearly everyday outside of July and August is an outside play day and my ds is still taking golf lessons in Nov and Dec. My family is allergy free, thankfully, but allergies affect a lot of people. Our biggest offenders are oak and cedar.

 

The community is great. It's diverse and accepting. I seems that's true in the bigger Tx cities. The people are really nice. The Bay Area was tough for us in this respect and we're glad to be in a different environment. There's also a lot for families to do here. I agree with what the PP said about the lack of parks and outdoorsy things. We have some but it isn't as plentiful as where I grew up in Oregon.

 

One thing I like about SA is that you can get acreage but still be close to the city. We live in the 'burbs with look alike houses and community pools but drive 10 mins north of us and you're in the middle of nowhere. That's one of the draws I'm pitching to my parents but they'll never move outside the PNW.

 

For a girl that told my dh I never wanted to live in Tx, I really like living here.

 

BTW, I did like in West Tx back when I was still in the military. I can't say I liked anything about it except that the people were friendly. It was a very different experience than we have here.

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Thanks everyone! Keep em coming :001_smile:.

I think generally, it is just less satisfying to live anywhere in America. Everyplace has thier problems. Our weather is a high of 26 today. Our house is really old and has no insulation--our kitchen was 49 this morning! Mosquitos stink--we get them too though is definatley freezes here and they die! Allergies are an issue, we will probably do a bee hive and see if that helps.

We would like to live off the land. We live in Colorado so we are used to the dry, so that would be great. We have lots of trees (ponderosa pines but I don't care much what kind of trees we get) where we are now and love that so dryish climate with trees is ideal. It is fine if the area is conservative too, we are pretty conservative. We do have a daughter who is half black so I am interested in a conservative but accepting place. I hope that helps paint a bit of a picture. My husband does not know what he wants to do for $! He has been an appraiser but the real estate market is so wonky now that it is really hard on us. We have some pretty good equity so are hoping to pay cash for a home.

 

 

OK,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, GO!:bigear::lol:

 

My parents live in west Texas - which is really almost the panhandle, not by El Paso. They're around Lubbock. So, in that area, smaller areas of land are super cheap if you can find them. My parents were able to get 35 acres for not a lot of money with a 5 bedroom house. Now, the house needed LOTS of work, but for what they paid, it was fine. They do have a huge garden and there's plenty of hunting. They're trying to get the pasture fenced so they can keep some cattle. ETA: I do NOT recommend living up on the Caprock. It is flat and brown - unless the cotton is green, but still not pretty.

 

There aren't tons of trees, but once you get off the caprock it is b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. It's not like anything you've ever seen. Google Caprock Canyons State Park to get some ideas. It is normally very dry, but they've had quite a bit of rain the last few years. The winters are cold in spurts. It'll be frigid for a few days, but then warms back up to the 60s for a few days. Very unpredictable.

 

You will be a ways from any big city. Lubbock, Amarillo, Plainview - those are pretty decent sized towns. There's a Wal-mart and real grocery store in Childress. My parents live 10 miles from any town, 20 miles from a grocery store, and 60 miles from a 'real' grocery store. But their community is good. Their church is close (10 mi), she subs at the school and knows many people from the community there and generally just likes it.

 

Good luck!

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We live in North Fort Worth and LOVE it. If I have any say in it, we'll never move out of the state. Other places are lovely to visit, but as soon as I step foot here, Texas was home.

 

Housing is very inexpensive compared to other parts of the country, so is food, and gas. People are generally friendly, there is a low level of diversity around the more rural areas, but in the bigger cities it's much higher. Same with cultural things (opera, ballet, museums, etc.) - great in the bigger cities, less in the smaller ones. But that's pretty normal. LOTS of churches of all different kinds (one on every street corner it seems), family activities, and the weather is GORGEOUS. Every part of the state has it's own particular flavor and subculture. The state is so big that what you find in El Paso will be NOTHING like what you find in Austin which will be NOTHING like what you find in Dallas. There are mountains, beaches, hills, plains, forests and almost deserts.

 

The downsides are that it gets ridiculously hot, the fireants and mosquitoes are unrelenting, traffic in the cities is horrific, and it can be a little WASP-y for some. You definitely pay the piper in July for those wonderfully mild Decembers.

 

The Texas Pride thing can be a little overwhelming for some people, but it is pretty pervasive and I love it. In fact, there is a billboard outside of town that mentions that DFW airport is larger than the island of Manhattan with the slogan "Texas, Our Texas" underneath - LOL.

 

 

Hope that helps, as you can see I love it here and am always looking to share the love :)

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This has been so fun to learn about your TX knowledge. It sounds just great (minus the mosquitos and fire ants et all)! We just have to get there to visit and from what I hear, we may want to rent for a long time to get a feel for what area suits us. Thank you all for the input.

I love the descriptions of the foggy days and the crisp clear days! I get a feel for a place with those special nuances.

We have a lot to talk and think about and still learn. This is fun!

Thanks all! (or y'all;))

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I have lived in Texas my entire life; grew up and now live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, went to college in central Texas (College Station), and lived for a couple of years just norht of Houston (Conroe).

 

Trees means a lot of different things in Texas, LOL! I love trees but one of the reasons I wanted out of Conroe was the East Texas Piney Woods made me claustrophobic. That was way too much trees!! Plus my allergies were horrible around the pine trees. Not too far west of our area, the "trees" become mostly mesquite and scrub cedar, which are not what most people think of when they say they want trees, but I still like that country, especially the area around Possum Kingdom Lake.

 

We are in the Post Oak area, which is really my favorite. I also love the Hill Country, outside of Austin. Anything south and west will be much more humid than other parts of the state (although it is still pretty humid in our area, but not like Houston). My husband lived in Lubbock when we first met and I am very glad he moved here instead of wanting me to move to the Panhandle; I just don't think I could handle the high plains.

 

If you want acerage, you will want to decide how you are going to use it and look into requirements for an agriculture exemption. Since we do not have a state income tax, we do have property taxes that can be pretty significant in some areas. Much of school funding comes from property taxes, so be aware that there are different taxing entities; you could have different school districts, utility districts, hospital districts, etc. that overlap a single city district or vice versa.

 

I love Texas and think it is a great place to live! I would recommend taking a trip or two around the state and just seeing what area "feels like home" to you. Our state is so diverse it is hard to recommend one area without a more specific wish list.

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I live near Ft. Worth. We've lived several places in Texas...I was born in the panhandle. If you like sunsets and fantastic thunderstorms, the panhandle is for you. I loved it! Especially near Amarillo/Canyon...LOVE the Palo Duro canyons.

 

But, we live near Ft. Worth now, to be near the airports. Great area. Great for homeschooling. I even like July and August. lol July and August are why we have pools, iced tea, and air conditioning. I have neighbors with purple martin houses, so mosquitoes aren't even that bad.

 

I'm a real estate agent. If I can answer specific questions, let me know.

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I'm a transplant to TX. My dh is from Louisiana. I'm from CA. We've lived in both of those states, plus TN. We finally made it here to TX, Austin, and will never leave if we can help it!

 

I can't speak to living in other parts of the state, although I've visited. I'd say the cons for me are: it's HOT. It takes a lonnnnnngggggg time to get out of the state by car, and then where are you?;), allergies can be bad. The pros have mostly been listed too. It's a great place to raise a family. Homeschooling is easy and readily accepted. My church is a church of many colors, lots of biracial families and tons of homeschoolers.

 

I think you'd really have to find out if what you can make living off the land will be able to pay for the property tax and other expenses. I don't know anything about that, besides just crunching the numbers. I'm such a suburbanite...clueless about that!

 

As for pests... My last house had roaches (in the trees) that used to give me nightmares, and huge menacing mosquitoes. Now we live in a house that backs up to a creek. I was worried about those two problems but it turns out we have scorpions in the rocks out back (they eat roaches so I haven't seen one in almost a year - but do have to watch for a small scorpion or two in the house:001_huh:) and the lovely gorgeous dragonflies who love to eat mosquitoes! I had no idea!:D Put up a Purple Martin house and/or a bat house and you will be almost mosquito free. I also have a deer that keeps pooping in my yard, but that's okay. Oh and Mr. Armadillo that is keeping the grubs out of my flower bed. I LOVE it!!! And, mind you, this is in the middle of Joe Normal Suburb!:lol:

 

I think you'll love it here.

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We do have a daughter who is half black so I am interested in a conservative but accepting place. I hope that helps paint a bit of a picture.

 

I know this is controversial but I have to say it. We are from Texas (both UT grads, and both our kids were born in TX). Almost all of our extended family is there, and we'd love to move back someday. BUT dh and I agree that one of the worst things about Texas is the race relations problem. It's probably not as bad in some of the big cities with more enlightened ideas. But in many of the smaller cities (Port Arthur and Jasper are East Texas cities with which I am very familiar) the racism is so prevalent that I am disgusted by it. I'm sure there are lovely people there so I hate to paint entire communities with a broad brush. But this was our personal experience. If you are moving to TX with an AA child, choose your city carefully.

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Are you TX-out already? I'm a native Texan: born and raised (mostly) in Houston, lived west of D/FW during high school, came to Austin for university, and currently live northwest of Austin.

 

Given that you want some land, I *think* central TX is where you should look first followed by outside the D/FW area. Land east and northeast of Austin tends to be cheaper than land west of Austin.

 

Allergies...um, yes, well central TX can wreak havoc on certain people's allergies mainly because of all the cedar (cursed be its name...). Other people have no problem with cedar, pine, etc. We tend to be dry, but definately have our humid times. Of course, having lived in Houston for the first 13 years of my life, I don't think a day is humid unless I see fish swimming in front of my face.

 

Weather: the seasons tend to be Bearable (works for either hot or cold), A/C on high 24/7, July and August.

 

Gardening: My family has a fairly large garden and grows fruit & veg throughout most of the year. Central TX has, I think, slightly more irregular weather than other parts of the state. We had an unusual snap freeze last month which killed our fall tomatoes, green beans, cukes, and peppers. (Nothing went to waste as we had enough to put up a lot of India relish!) Again east of Austin has more of the rich blackland prairie soil; west of Austin has more limestone/alkalai soil (except for northwestern Williamson County [Florence/Andice area] which has better soil).

 

Hope this helps a wee bit. Good luck!

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I know this is controversial but I have to say it. We are from Texas (both UT grads, and both our kids were born in TX). Almost all of our extended family is there, and we'd love to move back someday. BUT dh and I agree that one of the worst things about Texas is the race relations problem. It's probably not as bad in some of the big cities with more enlightened ideas. But in many of the smaller cities (Port Arthur and Jasper are East Texas cities with which I am very familiar) the racism is so prevalent that I am disgusted by it. I'm sure there are lovely people there so I hate to paint entire communities with a broad brush. But this was our personal experience. If you are moving to TX with an AA child, choose your city carefully.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up. We belong to a community and church where there are kids of all colors in families of all colors -- most or all of it through adoption. We are blessed that being different and being adopted is totally normal for her, I'd like to keep it that way. One of our sons is adopted too but he is white and looks just like us. We will keep all this in mind.

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I did wonder if there was racism in East Texas - that would have been my guest, but I didn't now for sure.

 

If you re interested in the Hill Country, but want trees you might want to look at the Bastrop area - the Lost Pines. Somehow the area is home to pine trees that aren't normally found in Texas west of East Texas. Bastrop is almost but not quite a suburb of Austin.

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The Austin area is really nice, I'd move there in a heartbeat if my DH received a job offer. Let's just say that I think I'd be a "duck out of water" in the other places in TX I've visited.

 

While I'm socially conservative, culturally I'm part of the "blue state elite". In terms of my politics I agree more with Sarah Palin than I do with Barack Obama, but I'd find it much easier to relate to Mr. Obama as a neighbor than Mrs. Palin. Not because I think I'm better than Joe & Jane Six-Pack but because our interests are so different. When the typical topic of small talk is something about which I couldn't care less (bowling, hunting, NASCAR, reality TV, college football, etc.) it's hard not to feel out-of-place. I learned this the hard way during the 5 years I spent as an Army wife. The folks were nearly universally nice, but I had very few friends with whom I felt like I could have a decent conversation.

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Probably the racial problem is stronger because there are so many people from different countries and across the United States moving specifically to areas where there is industry. They are coming here with talent and new skills, and in many cases making the schools better. Texas is at the bottom in terms of education and the high school drop out rate is incredible. This leaves job opportunities open for talent around the country and in other countries. The politicians aren't taken it seriously, so opportunities are being created for transplants. The most racial prejudice maybe in small towns in the middle of nowhere where people from the outside are not attracted to because there aren't any jobs there. I read also there is much poverty in Texas.

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Born in Wichita Falls, TX.

 

Moved to OH.

 

Moved back to wichita Falls, TX.

 

Moved to PA.

 

Moved to San Antonio, TX (college days)

 

Moved to OH then SD.

 

Moved to DFW,TX.

 

Moved to San Antonio, TX.

 

(Hubby spent a year in Houston.)

 

Moved to ND.

 

And then I couldn't get back to TX fast enough. :D

 

If I have any say in it, I will spend the rest of my days in Texas. I love it here. :)

 

If we ever move out of Arkansas again, it will be back to Texas. I loved living there. We were in DFW.

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We're from Los Angeles and we moved to TX ten years ago (military move). The homeschooling laws are great, the cost of living is excellent, but there is not much to do (as far as field trips go). We live in Fort Worth. If we could afford to move back to Los Angeles, we would.

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We're from Los Angeles and we moved to TX ten years ago (military move). The homeschooling laws are great, the cost of living is excellent, but there is not much to do (as far as field trips go). We live in Fort Worth. If we could afford to move back to Los Angeles, we would.

 

Wow... What kind of field trips are you looking for?

I couldn't wait to get back to Texas to do all the great things here.

 

I don't know the DFW area that well. (Grew up in Houston) but I know the Dr.Pepper plant is in Waco. There is a Blue Bel factory in brenham. The Washington-on-the-Brazos (where the Texas constitution was signed) and then the Alamo in San Antonio (where men died to give them time to sign the Texas constitution). There is NASA in South Houston, a gazillion museums in Houston proper (I remember their science museum, or is it natural history? In particular being great). The San Jacinto monument in Houston. And Battleship Texas to tour. I also remember going to see the Nutcracker at the opera in Houston with my girl scout troop. And a Coca-Cola bottling factory.

 

And the zoo of course (though evidently Waco has the best one)

 

Dallas has an AWESOME children's museum, I've heard. I have not managed to go there.

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Texas, could if they ever wanted too separate themselves form the US and be their own country. Not sure how it would work, but I hold onto that and their conservative views in this day and age and political climate. It's the only state that can fly their state flag at the same level as the U.S. flag :)

 

 

This may have been true when we first joined the Union.

 

However, Texas seceded from the Union during the Civil war (in fact the last battle was fought right here! A month after the War "ended") and we did not come back in under favorable conditions at all.

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I would give my right arm to move back to Colorado!! (of course I grew up there and I really miss home after being gone for 13 years!).

 

Yes, Texas is a great state to home school in and we are in East Texas and it is very conservative. I actually do not find this area to be that racially prejudiced, but that could be because have moved here from Louisiana and things were horrible down there in regard to racial issues, so it may be more what I was used to before.

 

I wouldn't particularly recommend this area - yes, it is beautiful and people are nice, but ugh...I just don't love it here. People don't take care of themselves, there are major drug issues and I have allergy issues and this isn't just East Texas...but the bugs are just crazy. And huge. And there seems to be tons of poisonous snakes/spiders/weeds...etc.

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Texas, could if they ever wanted too separate themselves form the US and be their own country. Not sure how it would work, but I hold onto that and their conservative views in this day and age and political climate. It's the only state that can fly their state flag at the same level as the U.S. flag :)

According to Snopes, this isn't true. Neither is it true that Texas could secede...even though Texas would make one awsome country. :D

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