Your insight on eastern Texas (planning to relocate) (Houston, Dallas: how much, houses)

[Mr Rogers]

Hi!

I hope this is the right place to post this question, I apologise in advance should a mod have to move the thread.

Anyway, my wife and I are both self-employed and are moving around almost yearly on purpose as we can work from anywhere and are trying to find our "forever" place to settle down. So far we moved from Minnesota where my wife is from (I'm originally from Germany) to North Carolina to now Florida and I believe Texas should be next. We've done some traveling to all the states were interested in, just to check the general vibe, so I'm pretty confident about Texas in general but only have been to Dallas so far.

Now to the actual question: we are enjoying the affluent area we are in right now but what would be way more important would be finding a very green, lush place with lots of trails while still having all the amenities close-ish by that we are enjoying here: good restaurants, safe area with maybe maintained landscaping etc.pp. But again, the area being green with trails, forests and so on would be most important. I do know that we would probably be looking at the east of Texas for that but what do you guys think, is there a place/city/suburb that checks all the boxes? Moving back to NC is still on the table otherwise.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[C24L]

What is your budget for housing,OP?From what i hear Tyler is the nicest city in East Texas.I dont know how safe Tyler is but you should be fine as long as live in a nice neighborhood and not a part of the drug scene and not going to bars and nightclubs late at night.And also i would stay away from gas stations late at night and just remember nothing good happens after midnite.I think Tyler has a lot of trees nearby and has suburbs but i dont know about whether or not it has trails.

[kemahkami]

Originally Posted by Mr Rogers

Now to the actual question: we are enjoying the affluent area we are in right now but what would be way more important would be finding a very green, lush place with lots of trails while still having all the amenities close-ish by that we are enjoying here: good restaurants, safe area with maybe maintained landscaping etc.pp. But again, the area being green with trails, forests and so on would be most important. I do know that we would probably be looking at the east of Texas for that but what do you guys think, is there a place/city/suburb that checks all the boxes? Moving back to NC is still on the table otherwise.

Eastern Texas is part of the Piney Woods, a component of the vast pine forest belt that stretches all the way to the Atlantic coast. Therefore, you'll find that the vegetative presence in these areas of Texas are, at very least, on par with North Carolina and Florida. There are many interesting sites within the forest belt, but among the standouts are Caddo Lake, Toledo Bend, as well as Big Thicket National Preserve.

The only downside is that the cities built entirely within the Piney Woods aren't the most sizable - these locations include Tyler and Longview in the northern portions of the region, and then places like Nacogdoches, Lufkin, and Beaumont as you go farther south. This may or may not be a problem for you, depending on where exactly in North Carolina or Florida that you lived.

Otherwise, if you are looking for a greater semblance of metropolitan area in conjunction with your ecological needs, then Greater Houston will be the most satisfactory. With well over 50 inches of rainfall annually, it has the wettest climate of all the large metropolitan areas of the state. And the result is lush vegetation abound, with great examples in cultivation all across parks, landscaping, etc throughout the city and metropolitan area. Northerly areas of Greater Houston have the best access to the Piney Woods forest ecoregion - these are places like The Woodlands, TX, as well as Kingwood. They are roughly ~30 minutes away from Sam Houston National Forest, and around ~1hr from the aforementioned Big Thicket National Preserve.

[jackalope48]

Not spent a huge amount of time in East Texas but my in laws have a lake house south east of Dallas.

Tyler is really the only place that has income poverty and educational attainment numbers that compare ok to the state average. Everywhere else your looking at pretty bad numbers.

Very little in the way of good restaurants. Maybe one or two in any given area if you want something other than country diner food(fried chicken chicken fried steak places).

It's a very mixed bag on quality of housing. For example in laws lake house is very nice. Drive to it is through a subdivision of trailers in various states of decay; worst being a couple former meth labs that exploded and no one cleaned up.

I'd visit where you are thinking about for a week and decide. It is very culturally different than the rest of the state.

You might contemplate Houston or Dallas suburbs/exurbs.

[KathrynAragon]

I live in the Tyler metro area and I absolutely love it here.

For the record, I've lived in Japan and Germany and all over the US, so it's not like I don't know what else is out there. But I have lived in Tyler since I was in my thirties (in my fifties now). It's where I decided to raise my kids and to dig in my heels for a sense of permanence and it's given me that and a whole lot more.

I disagree with the poster above on a few points. The first is the information about restaurants. There are TONS of locally owned and operated restaurants of every type in Tyler. Can you GET country deep fried food? Yes. But believe me, there are lots of other (and in my opinion better) choices near by.

Unless you choose to live out in the country, it's very easy to find good neighborhoods here, including but not limited to gated communities. I have never lived near "a subdivision of trailers in various states of decay," etc. I've lived in a historic home, the Azalea district (another historic area in Tyler), out in the country surrounded by nice homes, in several suburban style neighborhoods, and now in a gated community - and I have really loved all of them and would move back to any of them in a heartbeat.

Sounds to me like that poster's parents live out near a lake somewhere near Tyler (who knows which lake - there are tons of lakes and rivers around here) and that he or she occasionally visits them. Maybe they don't know much about the area, or maybe he or she just doesn't get out much when he/she is here, I don't know. But that's nothing like living here.

I would, however, stick with the Tyler metro area if I was going to live in East Texas - which I do and which I have done, by the way. If you choose the Tyler area, I'd stick with south and west (toward Dallas) because that's where the growth is. I am in fact in the process of moving more west (should be done by the end of next week). I'm moving back to an area that I used to live in. I absolutely love it. One of the things I love about it is the close proximity to Dallas (1.5 hours to the DFW airport for instance). I like that I can live NEAR Dallas without having to live IN Dallas if that makes sense. No offense to Dallas (or Houston, or any of the other big Texas cities) but I really don't prefer living in a huge, sprawling, expensive metro area.

The hospital system is excellent here - we are "the" medical hub of NE Texas.

There are lots of amenities in the Tyler area. And yes, we do have lots and lots and lots of trails since you asked about them specifically.

Come check us out!

What's your budget for housing by the way?

[Mr Rogers]

Thank you so much for all the answers! Tyler is also where I find the nicest houses online so far. Our budget is a little more than a million but if there's a great house for cheaper I'd take that as well.

[Watchful]

Definitely look at Kingwood and The Woodlands in the Houston area - as mentioned above - that was my first thought when I read your post!

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I live in the Tyler metro area and I absolutely love it here.

For the record, I've lived in Japan and Germany and all over the US, so it's not like I don't know what else is out there. But I have lived in Tyler since I was in my thirties (in my fifties now). It's where I decided to raise my kids and to dig in my heels for a sense of permanence and it's given me that and a whole lot more.

I disagree with the poster above on a few points. The first is the information about restaurants. There are TONS of locally owned and operated restaurants of every type in Tyler. Can you GET country deep fried food? Yes. But believe me, there are lots of other (and in my opinion better) choices near by.

Unless you choose to live out in the country, it's very easy to find good neighborhoods here, including but not limited to gated communities. I have never lived near "a subdivision of trailers in various states of decay," etc. I've lived in a historic home, the Azalea district (another historic area in Tyler), out in the country surrounded by nice homes, in several suburban style neighborhoods, and now in a gated community - and I have really loved all of them and would move back to any of them in a heartbeat.

Sounds to me like that poster's parents live out near a lake somewhere near Tyler (who knows which lake - there are tons of lakes and rivers around here) and that he or she occasionally visits them. Maybe they don't know much about the area, or maybe he or she just doesn't get out much when he/she is here, I don't know. But that's nothing like living here.

I would, however, stick with the Tyler metro area if I was going to live in East Texas - which I do and which I have done, by the way. If you choose the Tyler area, I'd stick with south and west (toward Dallas) because that's where the growth is. I am in fact in the process of moving more west (should be done by the end of next week). I'm moving back to an area that I used to live in. I absolutely love it. One of the things I love about it is the close proximity to Dallas (1.5 hours to the DFW airport for instance). I like that I can live NEAR Dallas without having to live IN Dallas if that makes sense. No offense to Dallas (or Houston, or any of the other big Texas cities) but I really don't prefer living in a huge, sprawling, expensive metro area.

The hospital system is excellent here - we are "the" medical hub of NE Texas.

There are lots of amenities in the Tyler area. And yes, we do have lots and lots and lots of trails since you asked about them specifically.

Come check us out!

What's your budget for housing by the way?

When I saw the OP, ^^^KathrynAragon was the first person I thought about it.

This is a perfect post.

Welcome to Texas OP!!!

[jcp123]

My caveat would be that there’s not a ton of public land in Texas, so OP’s desire for trails will probably come up short anywhere in the state. Here in Tyler we have Rose Rudman/Southside Park with a nice long trail, but aside from boat ramps, not much space to enjoy our local lakes unless you have a boat.

I think as far as amenities go...Tyler will really, really depend on what perspective you bring with you. Having grown up in a large metro, I’m not that impressed, but other posters such as Kathryn, have rightly pointed out that there’s certainly a lot of stuff here. Tyler has blossomed, especially in the last decade or so, and that continues apace as we speak. I don’t know what amenities are important to you, so I’m not sure how much further I can comment in that regard.

Somewhere around Houston may be worth a look. I don’t want to speak disparagingly of other East Texas metros, but if you want Texas, greenery, and amenities, Tyler and Houston are your best bets. I think the outdoorsy part of your desires will for sure be the deciding factor.

[lsiberian]

Lots of nice spots out there other than Tyler IMO. Personally I'd opt for closer to Houston than Dallas, but that does put you in the hurricane zone.