Georgetown (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: real estate, home, to buy)

[chispirit]

My husband will retire from the military in 3 years time. We are thinking of moving away from Virginia since prices have gotten out of hand here with real estate and just plain every day living.
Hubby wants to get his CDL license to drive a truck after the military.
We were looking at Georgetown, TX to buy a house.
I have a few questions and hope to get an answer.

I am German / American and heard that there a lots of Germans around that area???

I heard from another source that one has to learn Spanish in order to get a job????

How are schools in Georgetown???? We have 2 kids that are in middle school and would be in high by the time we get ready to move.

Thanks in advance for any answers

[Trainwreck20]

There are quite a few people of german descent in central Texas, although typically more in the hill country areas (New Braunfels, Boerne, Fredericksburg, etc.). Anyway, very few actual Germans around, more the descendents and such, so you hear German being spoken less and less.

No need to know spanish. In San Antonio it might be helpful, but in Austin and north, not really at all.

G'town has had, historically, perfectly good public schools, although hardly ever rated 'exceptional'. There will probably be two HS by the time you move there, so I don't know how that will work or who will go where.....

[chispirit]

Thanks so much I appreciate it.

[love roses]

I live about 15 minutes South of Georgetown in Hutto. Yes, there are tons of German descendants in the hill country. My maternal great great grandfather settled in New Braunfels and was the towns first tailor as a matter of fact.(I know not relevant to the question) but the areas North of Austin (between Austin and maybe Jarrell/Salado) are primarily Czech and Swiss with some German thrown in.

It's not true about having to know Spanish to get a job. But I guess in some jobs it's helpful.

I'll just second Trainwreck about the schools.

It's a very pretty town by the way. And funny you should say your husband wants to get licensed to drive a truck. My husband is a contract driver.

[TexasHorseLady]

What they said. I live in Jarrell, our office is in Georgetown. Salado is famous for the annual Scots festival, but the Germanic influence can be felt.

No need to learn Spanish to get a job - far from it. But it'll make ordering great food in some restaurants easier!

Oh, and Salado has a large enough Scots population to have an annual festival, to add to the seasoning if Czech, German, Swiss. Walburg has a good restaurant that has German food and the Walburg Boys who tour Germany every year.

[chispirit]

Wow thanks for all the great replies. It's great to know that the Spanish thing is not true. The kids are learning Spanish in school but I only had 6 month in college in Germany and I can't remember a thing but counting from 1 -10...lol...



@love roses, is it easy to find a good job as trucker in your area then????

[love roses]

I think it is. My husband works for Lykes right now, but Eagle is a very good company. There are many more than just those two however, so he should have no problems. If he gets licensed to drive a bobtail or larger (it's measured in axles actually)such as a semi, he will be in much more demand. At least that's what my husband says since he drives a "bobtail". He says lots of guys available to drive the smaller trucks, but not as many for the larger ones. His office is out of North Austin actually, but they send him all over the place. Dallas, Waco, around Austin, McAllan, Corpus Christi, Houston. They do a lot of work at Dell and the airport and some of the military bases as well. He never knows really where they will send him day to day but most of those runs only take a few hours to get to. Say he leaves at around 6:30-7am, he'll be back home anywhere from around 5:45-7pm. McAllan is closer to Mexico though and that can take quite a while longer. On another note: He's an independant contractor and not a company employee. The only downside to that is that he doesn't get company benefits, but there is the OOIDA, which he just joined, and they provide benefits.

[chispirit]

Thanks love roses for all the great info you posted for me.
Sounds great so far :0)

[BJB817]

My wife and I moved to Georgetown last summer and like it. If you don't have to commute into Austin daily it's all the better!

There is some truth to the Spanish thing, but mostly if you're in construction or customer service. In your case it shouldn't be a big issue.

[chispirit]

Thanks BJB817 for your reply.