Nicest weather in Texas? Please advise! (Ladonia, Happy: live in, horses, relocating to)

[JerseyJoy]

of those towns you mentioned above which are the most family friendly? i.e. good schools, things to do ( or close to things to do), safe, friendly neighbors? All in all which would you recommend as nicest place to live?

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

If your into horses and ranching, you should definitely check out the areas around Alpine, Marfa, and Fort Davis, is it the best weather in Texas by far overall. The elevation is at 5,000 feet. Even in July the average high is only 90 and the average low is 59. The winter gets cold at night sometimes (usually 20's to 30's, very occassionally below 20, and very rarely below 10), but this usually only happens after 10pm and before 10am, because of the dry air the sun heats the air up fast and for the same reason the temp falls fast when the sun goes down.

This part of Texas is the closest weather to California you will find, but to be precise the weather would be more like the foothills of LA than LA itself (cooler in Summer, but a bit colder in Winter). Fort Davis gets a little bit more rain than Southern California, especially in the even higher elevations like around the observatory. Basically, the weather in Fort Davis is about the same as the weather is at 4,000 feet in elevation in southern California.

The downside is complete lack of people, only about 30,000 in the county. There is a small county hospital though, but anything serious would have to be done in Midland or El Paso, a couple hundred miles away.

That is the sole reason I chose to go farther west to NM....I love the FD/Alpine area, but the isolation and lack of amenities probably would not cut it for me. That area has the mountains and the best weather in the whole state.

I would not want to live in any smaller place (40K) than I do now.

[lonestar2007]

Speaking of Ladonia, I lived there briefly as a kid. Unless they have changed it, the city water is bad, full of minerals. Taste like you're drinking rusty sulpher water if you could hold your nose and get any down. All the sinks, bathtubs, etc. had rust stains. Only good thing about it was if you had any skin condition, it would clear it up. Bad thing, your house reeked of the odor. Everyone had to have a well or cistern.

Another bad thing, at least I think it's bad, is it is black land. I'm sure there are those who will disagree, but personally I don't like black land. But you might say it's loyal, as the saying goes, stick to it when it's dry and it will stick to you when it's wet. And that, my friends, is a very true statement.

Red River areas is mostly good deep sandy soil, but there are also areas of black land. To me, it's just something to watch out for. Quality of water would be another main concern of mine that I would be careful to research.

[happyhorseranch]

Thanks everyone for all the info!! It is greatly appreciated!
Happy Trails!

[JIMLB]

Originally Posted by happyhorseranch

Hello everyone,

We live on 2 acres in Southern California but it is soooo expensive and the pace is go-go-go. We are interested in relocating to more acreage in Texas. We need facilities for our six horses. We have heard that Northeastern Texas has the nicest weather but we are open to other options too. Does anyone know of pros-cons of Ladonia and Red River county? Preferably an area where tornados aren't too prevalent! Is there a mild area (mild summers and cold-ish winters) that anyone suggests? What about real estate values?

Thanks a million for any advise!

Happy Horse Ranch

happy horse ranch did you find a new home. I have a property in the southeast part of Colorado that sounds like what you are looking for. If interested contact me.
thanks JIMLB

[txstate]

You want nice weather move to the islands you want unpredicable weather come on down to TX and bring your leg warmers.

[BobTex]

Instead of weather you might want to look to areas that would support your horses the best. Lots of moisture and rich soils will grow the best pastures and make your horses happy! Cuts feed costs!

Just a thought.

[CMDallas]

roughly... LA to Dallas won't be similar at all... Texas is not California...you'll probably find 8 of the 12 months comfortable...
I'm not sure what to tell you as the humidity for a Californian in Dallas (much less Houston) would bug you already, but if you move out to west Texas you winters will be harsher and summers hotter (but less humid)... that being said none of Texas has a San Diego/LA/ San Fran summer... we thing 80 degrees is cold for the middle of July or August... 88-100 is about average.
we also call 60-70 degrees warm for winter... we actually have winter here...
Stop trying to find the most Californian weather in Texas... if you find one aspect you like the other ones you won't... try looking for what pleases you best besides weather.
Texas (especially east) is much much MUCH wetter then SoCal...

[StuckInTexas]

Right, LA and Dallas are very very different. Dallas is much more humid, much hotter in summer, and much colder in the winter than LA is.

I might recommend New Mexico, but New Mexico is way colder in Winter. You may try Arizona somewhere between Flagstaff and Phoenix (a happy medium). Flagstaff is too cold, Phoenix is too hot, somewhere in the foothills in between should be about right.

Fort Davis/Alpine, TX is however very similar to LA weather about 7 months out of the year, even if not perfectly the same. Fort Davis is not family friendly however, there is nothing to do for kids.

In Fort Davis the temp from day to night varies more, but excluding 5 months of semi-winterish weather, the other aspects for Fort Davis are similar to LA (rain, average temps, etc...).

LA is also hotter than Fort Davis most of the time, and LA has more extreme record highs. As you go east of LA into the burbs, it is hotter than Fort Davis. Right now it is 67 in Fort Davis, and 85 in LA.

[Mike78613]

I'd shoot for Alpine, TX? Amarillo, TX? Lubbock, TX those can get mild to cold and even snow for the winter. Also cheap to live.