Why we are not moving to Texas. (Houston, Dallas: crime, living in)

[BoulderJD]

Originally Posted by Moonlady

Just an observer comment - I've known a few gay gyus that live(d) in Bastrop. However, Austin is by far and large the liberal oasis in Texas. Get a few miles outside of town and you will sense the presence of the conservative majority in Texas. That's not to say however, that living there would be so bad, but it's not going to feel like Austin. You would have the proximity to a place where you can enjoy a gay bar or attend a gay/lesbian film festival but your immediate surroundings might not be as open. I would almost think it would be worse in a place like Fredricksburg, but Wimberly is close enough to Austin and home to lots of artsy types, so it may be better. I guess it's just one of those things you have tyo judge for yourself and feel.

My husband and I have been looking for a place to retire outside the Austin area and even though I enjoy some of the smaller towns, I "feel" a strong conservative presence in some areas and it just doesn't sit well with me. So, I kind of know what you mean. Best of luck to you though!

Thanks, Moonlady. Maybe one day rural Texas will have a more accepting, socially conscious attitude if there are more people like you and your husband. I remember the first time I drove into Aspen, Colorado. This was nearly 30 years ago before it became "hip" with the Hollywood establishment. Anyway, the "feeling" of acceptance and tolerance was so uplifting. Austin has something of that energy, but I long for the more rural environment.

Good luck to you and your husband in your journey.

[david4455]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

I think their problem with Wimberley wasn't tolerance but it's not the quaint sleepy village it pretends to be. It has horrible traffic for a town its size and it is the exact definition of not being pedestrian friendly.

That is exactly right....we were actually in Wimberley longer than anywhere else on our trip ( 3 days) and I kept wondering how a town that portray's itself as small, hip, artsy, etc....can be so pedestrian unfriendly.....I also was really troubled by the lack of river access.... except for the small park in town, the blue hole, and a few places to pay and get access... it is ALL privately owned with no where to just walk and enjoy like Blanco. Also ...unless I am mistaken there are no state parks nearby Wimberley.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by david4455

That is exactly right....we were actually in Wimberley longer than anywhere else on our trip ( 3 days) and I kept wondering how a town that portray's itself as small, hip, artsy, etc....can be so pedestrian unfriendly.....I also was really troubled by the lack of river access.... except for the small park in town, the blue hole, and a few places to pay and get access... it is ALL privately owned with no where to just walk and enjoy like Blanco. Also ...unless I am mistaken there are no state parks nearby Wimberley.

I'm guessing you only visited Austin and the surrounding area, right?

Just interesting that you wrote off a whole state because of one overrated, overcrowded metro area.

[austin-steve]

except for the small park in town, the blue hole, and a few places to pay and get access... it is ALL privately owned with no where to just walk and enjoy like Blanco.

Actually, the stretch of Cypress Creek, east of the RR12 bridge, on the south side of the creek is public space now. It's mostly natural, but there is a trail to walk on at the water's edge. You can swim in the creek from there.

Steve

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by david4455

Yes... rejoice....one less transplanted couple in the Austin area.

We thought we were going to move from the Pacific NW to the Austin area...

My partner and I ( gay) have spent the last week or so wandering the Texas Hill country and spending sometime in downtown Austin.

We had our heart set on Wimberley...all the pre-visit research said this town fit our lifestyle and needs.....surprisingly it was our least favorite place. I don't really get the attraction. The town was boring and the traffic barreling thru the town square did not fit a small town feeling.....no sidewalks into town didn't help as well. We went to several other small towns.....Lockhart, Elgin, Smithville, Bastrop...as a gay couple we did not feel comfortable,( all be it we did not give these places much time) We liked the town and homes of Bastrop. I could have lived there but wondered what life would have been like always a bit paranoid about how people "saw us'.......The other towns seemed depressed and the town squares deserted or dying.....the revival slow.


The city of Austin is wonderful....we are truly enjoying our stay.... we just can't afford it and not looking for an urban/suburban developement experience.....

This trip was important...we realized we have it really good in the Seattle area.

Hey your 10 reasons for not wanting to move to austin thread has over 600 posts, that should be something to consider.

Im not Gay, and cant really Identify what your looking for, but I agree with you that you have to great in Seattle. I love the Pac NW. Nobody from Washington/Oregon should move to Texas. Its just too different. I made the change to Austin....HUGE mistake. I now live in Phoenix, which at least feels more like the West to me. I Love the sunshine that I was denied in Wa. I couldnt stand the Texas sized summers with that HORRIBLE humidity.

[woodinvilleguy]

>> Nobody from Washington/Oregon should move to Texas?

That is a personal choice. I moved from Seattle to Austin and I'm loving it. I can't comment on the issues that one has to deal with when being gay in Texas as I'm not gay.

[jwb123]

Another PNW'er who is LOVING Texas... and I am not gay either.... not that there is anything wrong with that.

[schoenfraun]

I've been posting a lot about Taylor, a small town northeast of Austin, with a population of around 15,000 or so.

My husband and I just moved to Taylor from Austin a few months ago for the small town quiet.

One of our neighbors, a single retired man, is gay and has lived in this town for six or seven years and loves the town. He has lots of friends to whom he has introduced us, all very nice people who socialize a lot together, gay or straight, single or paired....

Another neighboring house is owned by a lesbian couple who don't care one way or the other how they are received. It's other people's problem! When they poured a new driveway, they wrote their names in the wet concrete at the place closest to the street, where people can see... They've told me that some older folks here give them the fisheye, but generally have found acceptance and welcoming from people here.

I think my neighbors are great, by the way, and I'm very grateful that they are here.

I realized it had to be an accepting place when I saw that SST Records, the label of Black Flag and Sonic Youth in the 1980s, is headquartered here in Taylor now--Greg Ginn, the guitarist of Black Flag and owner of the label, lives here. There's a big SST logo on a building downtown. He moved here in 2007, I think, or 2006.

So, punk rockers and folks of all types in Taylor.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

>> Nobody from Washington/Oregon should move to Texas?

That is a personal choice. I moved from Seattle to Austin and I'm loving it. I can't comment on the issues that one has to deal with when being gay in Texas as I'm not gay.

Well, I don't know if you have delt with a summer in Austin yet, so I cannot comment...If you have delt with the summer humidity which last well into September, and you still love it, then I would consider you an exception to the rule. Nothing wrong with loving Austin...I certainly would not want you to hate it just so I can be right. Me being right, and nearly 4 dollars will buy you a gallon of Gas (here in Arizona).

I liked Austin alot before Summer hit. I also have this addiction to Mountians that was too hard to overcome. On my way to work, It just drove me crazy to look off to the horizon and see a sea of spralling housing developements instead of mountains. We have crazy sprall here in AZ too, but we are in a vally.

Nothing on this planet will replace the volcanoes of the Cascade mountain range for me. Hill country does not qualify. I think the tallest hill is under 1000 ft as opposed to 14k Mount Shasta, Hood, ect. I would visit Bastrop just to feel like I was back home. In Phoenix, I just have to head to Flagstaff, and I feel like Im home. Im also crazy about the Desert here. Its so
Beautiful.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

Another PNW'er who is LOVING Texas... and I am not gay either.... not that there is anything wrong with that.

With the exception of Down town Austin, I would think Texas would not be that kind to Gay couples. As a former Seattle and Portland Resident, I think you would find a better acceptance in Washington state.