Rural family farm in Texas - choosing is so difficult (Dallas: crime, house) - (TX) - City-Data Forum

drw · 05-28-2007, 03:38 PM

This is a great forum that I didn't know existed until this weekend, although I've used the city-data site many times in the past to lookup city information. All of ya'll in this forum seem very knowledgeable about our state and I'd love to get some opinions from you.

We currently live in Hearne, TX (just a bit north of Bryan) and are seeking to finally build ourselves a house on a large piece of property, somewhere quiet, relatively crime free, and in a nice pretty area.

I grew up in Dallas and since getting married we've lived in Kerrville, San Antonio, and Bryan/College Station.

I loved the people of San Antonio but not the big city and expensive land prices. The crime in Bryan is way above my tolerance level. Kerrville has been my favorite place in the world to live, but my wife is extremely allergic to the pollen out there so that's not an option at all.

We're looking for a place where we can buy a nice, private and pretty 30+ acre piece of land and build a home and raise our family, grow our gardens and keep our animals. It'd be nice to be within 20 miles of a town that contains things like Home Depot, etc, but I don't want to be near the "Big Cities" and I want to avoid the TTC monstrosity.

We've looked at the area from Bastrop down to La Grange, and over to Brenham and even as far east as Navasota. In terms of counties, we're looking at Bastrop, Fayette, Colorado, and Washington.

Do ya'll have any opinions on locations that might work really well for us?

RSTX · 05-29-2007, 07:07 AM

Sounds like Victoria might work for you.

drw · 05-29-2007, 07:58 AM

RSTX, thank you for replying. May I ask what's so great about Victoria?

RSTX · 05-29-2007, 08:35 AM

Well, I took into consideration that you probably want to stay in the southern/coastal region, want a town with some retail outlets and want reasonable land prices. Victoria is not too big, has a Lowes/HD, medical access, more than one choice of school/church/grocery store, and land, while not cheap, is at least obtainable. My wife grew up near there and I have been to Victoria a few times. It seems nice enough. If we had to move from Temple (which I would highly recommend to you as well

)I would not be against living near Victoria.

drw · 05-29-2007, 08:56 AM

Thank you very much for the additional information. Reading about it here I see that it is ethnically very similar to San Antonio which is a big plus. I'll read more about it and take a drive down there and see what it's like. The satellite pictures show it very green which is nice. Maybe the area north of Victoria, around Cuero, might be best. Thanks again!

If there are other areas we should consider (including Temple)

your feedback would be very appreciated.

Country boy · 05-29-2007, 09:09 AM

I grew up 20 miles south of Waco and I always liked the area to the West/ Northwest of Waco. Even though land is cheap East of waco.

Valley Mills, Clifton, Crawford, that kind of Hilly area with tree's and close enough to Waco to have all amenities. I like it.

The other area I like, would be to draw a line thirty miles from Tyler in each direction and see what you could find in that area. Tyler and Waco both have some jobs and reasonable land can be found relatively near them.

I love the Hill Country, but that close to Austin is very pricey for that much land. And cultivation might be an issue on those soils as well.

Country boy · 05-29-2007, 09:11 AM

Gosh sorry, I didn't see the county restrictions there. I guess the area's I highlighted are out anyway. Sorry.

drw · 05-29-2007, 09:28 AM

Country boy, west of Waco is likely out due to cedar, etc (my wife is badly allergic). Tyler is a possibility. I've looked at it and Athens, Palestine, etc. I just didn't "love" the area each time I've been there. Something about that area seems "off" to me. I can't explain it better than that.

BoulderJD · 06-08-2007, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drw

Thank you very much for the additional information. Reading about it here I see that it is ethnically very similar to San Antonio which is a big plus. I'll read more about it and take a drive down there and see what it's like. The satellite pictures show it very green which is nice. Maybe the area north of Victoria, around Cuero, might be best. Thanks again!

If there are other areas we should consider (including Temple)

your feedback would be very appreciated.

I did a search on Bastrop and your post popped up. My mother used to remind me "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything"...completely ignoring that advice I do have one bit of warning about Victoria from my cousins who have lived there most of their lives...they say gang activity has moved into Victoria in a big way. When I used to visit them when we were all kids, of course it was a lot different. Of course you're not talking about living right in the city so that might make a huge difference. Just thought I would pass it along. Good luck in your search.

clawson26 · 06-08-2007, 05:24 PM

and grew up just south of there in the country and LOVED it. Green grass, beautiful trees, really nice people and the cost of living is pretty great! Tyler has everything you need and you can get land cheap out around it. You probably want to stay to the south or southeast because that leads into the nicer parts of Tyler. If I may ask...what are your ethnic concerns?