Where in Texas? (San Antonio, Austin, Spring: real estate, houses, job outlook)

[k.s.13]

Hi,

I grew up in North Dakota, spending 20 years living with the extreme seasons. I have been living in California, in Oceanside for the past 3 years. (Oceanside has a pop of 170,000 - its 30 min north of San Diego).

I am trying to figure out where to move. I love the weather in California, but the high cost of living and bad job outlook (I am a teacher) leave me looking for a better fit.

Here is what is important to me:

1. Climate: I love spring, summer, fall weather. I would like to live somewhere where it never freezes (or freezing is a once or twice a year occurrence).

I would prefer that during the year, it NEVER gets:
-colder than 35 degrees
-hotter than 100 degrees

** And has relatively low to medium humidity

2. Cost of Living & Living Space

I would love to live on 5-10 acres of land and have a hobby farm. I'd like to live within 1 hr drive of a big city with lots of things to do.

I would like to build my home near a small city/town (5,000 - 30,000 residents)

I would love to live in driving distance to a lake, so that I can go boating & fishing.


3. Employment

I would like to be within 1 hrs drive of a big city that offers lots of job opportunities. I am a teacher, so I could also find a job in a smaller town if there are any nice smaller towns in driving distance to a big city.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Willsson]

Visit the Texas Travel Guide to get an idea of the regions of Texas and features of those regions. You should also be able to review some smaller size locales within those regions.

The Travel Guide has a section for regions, cities, parents & teachers, and weather. Study some, then come back here with more questions.

[DanielWayne]

#2 is easy. The hard part is deciding where. #3 may not be so easy for a teacher due to the state's budget shortfall. Lots of teachers are losing their jobs. And #1 - I don't think it's possible without some compromise. You need to look at the regions as stated above to get an idea of the range of climates. The warmest places will be hot and humid in the summer, whereas the less humid places will get cold in the winter. And some of the less humid places will approach 100 too.

[Cathy4017]

I would prefer that during the year, it NEVER gets:
-colder than 35 degrees
-hotter than 100 degrees

You won't find that anywhere in Texas, at least not in the same place. The only area in Texas that I know of where it doesn't get below 35 degrees that often is the Rio Grande Valley. You have very, very hot summers and very high humidity to go along with that.

[Willsson]

I'd agree with both posters #3 and #4, which is why I suggested to review the Texas Travel Guide. There's going to be some trade offs, some disappointments, some new realities.

Some place will be the right place. Just have to do some shopping first.

[CptnRn]

Texas needs more good teachers, unfortunately we can't pay for them. The Texas Legislature has cut billions of dollars out of the education budget for the next two years. Most school districts are laying people off and cutting back everywhere they can. The few school districts, if any, that might be hiring in Texas are probably in the poor undesirable places to live along the hot Texas border.

[CelestinoZ]

Originally Posted by k.s.13

Hi,

I grew up in North Dakota, spending 20 years living with the extreme seasons. I have been living in California, in Oceanside for the past 3 years. (Oceanside has a pop of 170,000 - its 30 min north of San Diego).

I am trying to figure out where to move. I love the weather in California, but the high cost of living and bad job outlook (I am a teacher) leave me looking for a better fit.

Here is what is important to me:

1. Climate: I love spring, summer, fall weather. I would like to live somewhere where it never freezes (or freezing is a once or twice a year occurrence).

I would prefer that during the year, it NEVER gets:
-colder than 35 degrees
-hotter than 100 degrees

** And has relatively low to medium humidity

2. Cost of Living & Living Space

I would love to live on 5-10 acres of land and have a hobby farm. I'd like to live within 1 hr drive of a big city with lots of things to do.

I would like to build my home near a small city/town (5,000 - 30,000 residents)

I would love to live in driving distance to a lake, so that I can go boating & fishing.


3. Employment

I would like to be within 1 hrs drive of a big city that offers lots of job opportunities. I am a teacher, so I could also find a job in a smaller town if there are any nice smaller towns in driving distance to a big city.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

You might try looking at Central Texas, around Austin. During the summer months it will be over 100 degrees on many days. But during the winter freezing won't be as bad as DFW.

When looking for a city to live in I would look at Dripping Springs and surrounding areas; in Dripping Springs you are close to Austin, it's a smaller town, but you are about 30 miles from Lake Travis, so that might be a bit far. Some other cities are Leander and Cedar Park, but these cities are closer to Austin and will tend to be more expensive, but they are much closer to Lake Travis than Dripping Springs. One last city you might look at is Bastrop, it's about 6 miles from Lake Bastrop, it's still very close to Austin

In the cities I listed above you'll be able to find 5-10 acres, but it isn't cheap. You might try searching Find Real Estate Listings, School and Neighborhood Information and More - Realtor.com® for houses in the cities I mentioned. The reason I didn't mention other smaller cities is because like others have already posted, many school districts just aren't hiring. Another thing to consider is if you can't find a job in a small city, do you really want to commute 1 hr each way with gas prices the way they are?

[Dr.Mcninja]

I bet you could get close to what you want living outside of Lake Jackson. If you wanted to add a little drive, you could go as far as Matagorda. You'll have to get somewhere coastal to prevent the >100F temps. If you consider CC to be a big city, then you could live within an hour of it and have a farm/lake/beach house.
Lots of the Hill Country would likely suffice as well. You'd be close to Austin/San Antonio, have lakes, and decent temps.