SoCal Family Looking for a Change (Dallas, Austin: transplants, house, neighborhood)

[JJinPDX]

We are a SoCal family (San Diego) looking for a change. Before I fork out money to come visit Austin, I thought I'd describe what I'm looking for and hope that you guys can tell me if I'm going to find that in the Austin area! My husband grew up in the DFW area. We feel that it's too church centered and not really what we're looking for. We are secular homeschoolers. We're republicans, however we are fairly socially liberal. We are looking for a more affordable cost of living (isn't everyone that thinks of Texas?), deeper connections with people, a more southern lifestyle (but without bible thumping...is that possible?), and we like the homeschooling/vaccination laws (or lack thereof) in Texas. Commute is not an issue. Is the Austin and surrounding suburbs welcoming to newcomers? Are people casual and real? Is there a rich homeschooling life outside of the inner city? We would like at least a half acre with a pool (not a tract home, unless the lots are far apart and it doesn't feel tracty) for under $700K. We don't want to live in an area with tons of construction and new development. We just aren't connecting with the community well here and feel like Austin might be a good mix of Texas tradition meets Portland food/culture. Does that sound stupid?

[Austin97]

that sounds about right for austin.

[JJinPDX]

Are there a lot of snakes and creepy insects in this area? We have rattlesnakes here which I hate. I'm wondering if there are scorpions and other giant bugs that are super common there, especially in nature areas or possibly on our land. What about watersnakes?

Any hope of finding good Mexican food?

[Austin97]

there is some actual mexican food, but not a lot. San antonio is better for that.

there are a lot of snakes and insects. But in 20 years I have only seen 1 rattle snake and 1 tarantula and I spend several days per week in the forest. The scorpions are tiny and I have had maybe 4 in the house, mainly right after it was built.

If you have the outside of your house sprayed quarterly, you wont get many bugs in the house. I did have a 3 inch tree roach land on my head inside the house the other day. First time that has happened.

[JT-3]

I think you'll be fine but there are plenty of snakes and lizards. We enjoy seeing those. We don't enjoy the large tree roaches (2 inches +) that show up inside sometimes.

[eirenecat]

It is my guess that you are probably not going to find precisely the homeschooling community you're looking for in the suburbs here. I know several homeschooling families who live outside of Austin proper, on small acreage, etc. They are all doing so for religious reasons. One is Mormon, the others are evangelical. The other homeschoolers I know are city-dwellers who are extremely crunchy and very liberal and are opting out of public school for different reasons, largely idealogical or political.

Also, you should be aware that most of the Austin-area pediatricians and larger pediatric practices within regional clinics are beginning to refuse to accept unvaccinated kids. My SIL is a pediatrician finishing her residency at Dell Children's Hospital right now, and we've talked a lot about this. Texas may be non-vaccination-friendly, but Austin is becoming decidedly less so.

Areas outside of town where you can get a non-tract home on at least a half acre with a pool under $700K are going tend to trend overall towards conservative (good for you) AND religious. I am thinking about Georgetown, Dripping Springs, Liberty Hill, Lakeway, Leander, etc. These aren't Bible belt exactly, but to they are not what I would call unreligious either.

Everytime I have lived outside Central Austin proper I have encountered scorpions, tarantulas, AND rattlesnakes. If you want to live on semi-acreage in a non-tract-home suburb, you're going to have snakes for sure. Get into more of the Hill Country area, and you will definitely have scorpions. I've lived in rural Oak Hill and Manor, and had both in both areas.

[vet8110]

I live on 2.5 acres in Leander and consider myself a liberal/non religious individual. I know there are others in my neighborhood that are similar. I don't know about home schooling as I have no children but there is a middle school and high school right next to my neighborhood. As far as insects go-yes we have a lot of them, but I enjoy nature and love watching the spiders, bees, scorpions, wasps, roaches etc.. go about their business. I have always loved insects and animals (probably why I became a vet.) If you don't like them I would not move to the country (which I do consider Leander more of the country even though I am only about 20 minutes from downtown Austin).

[janineg]

We moved here from San Diego a few years ago, and I'm seeing fewer insects and snakes. In San Diego, the weather is so nice that we would leave our sliding glass door open all the time, and so we saw many more critters in the house. Outside, I saw a water snake in a pond. Not much else except for fire ants. Luckily, fire ants make their presence known with their dirt mounds, so you can mostly avoid them.
I live in Cedar Park in a suburb. It's waaaay more religious than I expected or am used to. Just about everyone goes to church. Kids at school have asked my kids why they don't believe in God (never happened in San Diego). But there are some non-religious types, too.

[walker1962]

Originally Posted by JJinPDX

We are a SoCal family (San Diego) looking for a change. Before I fork out money to come visit Austin, I thought I'd describe what I'm looking for and hope that you guys can tell me if I'm going to find that in the Austin area! My husband grew up in the DFW area. We feel that it's too church centered and not really what we're looking for. We are secular homeschoolers. We're republicans, however we are fairly socially liberal. We are looking for a more affordable cost of living (isn't everyone that thinks of Texas?), deeper connections with people, a more southern lifestyle (but without bible thumping...is that possible?), and we like the homeschooling/vaccination laws (or lack thereof) in Texas. Commute is not an issue. Is the Austin and surrounding suburbs welcoming to newcomers? Are people casual and real? Is there a rich homeschooling life outside of the inner city? We would like at least a half acre with a pool (not a tract home, unless the lots are far apart and it doesn't feel tracty) for under $700K. We don't want to live in an area with tons of construction and new development. We just aren't connecting with the community well here and feel like Austin might be a good mix of Texas tradition meets Portland food/culture. Does that sound stupid?

Actually, D/FW is more diverse, and moderate in political thought than you believe. First, because its the biggest business hub outside of NYC and Chicago, there are a LOT of transplants from everywhere.
Second, a lot of those transplants are from diverse backgrounds, Indians in particular, have been a huge influx group. Dallas and FW mayors are basically moderate thinking public servants. Plano, a large Dallas suburb with significant corporate offices has a minority mayor. There area's voting patterns show areas were Trump won and areas where Clinton won. Typically, is west Texas towns and small east Texas cities where more conservative thinking is evident.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by JJinPDX

Are there a lot of snakes and creepy insects in this area? We have rattlesnakes here which I hate. I'm wondering if there are scorpions and other giant bugs that are super common there, especially in nature areas or possibly on our land. What about watersnakes?

Any hope of finding good Mexican food?

there are rattlesnakes and scorpions in the Austin area.There are cottonmouths.