Possible move to Waco (Houston, San Antonio: neighborhoods, YMCA, school district)

[hancho]

Would love to jump in on this discussion. We are looking to move from Mass to Waco this summer. Kris, how has your experience been so far? We have little ones and hope for more so we are looking for a family friendly neighborhood with quality schools.

[JH6]

Why Waco? Just picking a spot on the map, or is it the HGTV effect?

[safak]

Originally Posted by JH6

Why Waco? Just picking a spot on the map, or is it the HGTV effect?

While I'm not the one you asked, I'll throw my opinion on there as far as HGTV effect goes. We are considering a move (landing saturday for our first scouting trip).


My 8 year old for some reason loves it. I don't know why, shes an odd bird and while the neighborhood kids spend their computer time watching youtube or playing minecraft...this girl goes to zillow and looks at houses. Her dream house is a 3+ million one in San Antonio with a basketball court inside, maybe it was dejuan blairs I don't know lol. (no thats unfortunately not in my budget agents, so no farming me).
She used to watch them all flip or flop, property brothers, love it or list it. Now she usally just rewatches Fixer Upper off dvr..

But no, in no way would I say' thats a cool show I have to move there'. BUT it definately made us take a closer look (more realistically, a first look) at Waco. On paper it fits a lot of criteria.

I won't go into why, where, when's of it all but really we had it narrowed down about 6 months ago to a few places around Houston and San Antonio but after taking a closer look Waco has garnered enough interest to be up there on the list(again, before actually setting foot to sand so we will see)./

[JH6]

Spend a couple weeks in Waco and the surrounding areas and see if it is a good fit for you.

Not to bash the town, it has some charm in the rural areas, but there is not a whole heck of a lot for a 8 year old to do, unless you make your own fun on your million dollar "farm" like the fixer upper folks do.

There are some really neat little areas, but there are some areas that are fairly dangerous and very dumpy.

We travel from Austin area to the Cameron Park Zoo a few times a year, and that is the highlight of Waco in my opinion, very well done zoo.

[safak]

We live in a pretty big city where there are dangerous places I shouldn't even go let alone my kids. That doesn't bother me, I know where they are at and no reason to go there.

But curious what you mean by not a lot for an 8 year old to do. Does Waco not have little league sports, or dance, or gymnastics or girls scouts or summer camps or school activities like band, talent shows, science fairs, book fairs etc? No church festivals or county/town fairs?


I understand there might not be as many 'big ticket' items like amusement parks, childrens museums and stuff like that.
But, thats something you might do once a year. I can drive to Dallas or Austin or even S.A. for those once a year type of things without thinking twice about it.

The fact you have so many hubs that close together is pretty cool. From Waco I could get to Dallas and back, Houston and back, or San Antonio and back in less time than it would take to get just one way from Pittsburgh to Philly. Thats a lot of things to do, Hour and a half -2 hours to Dallas isn't that bad when you figure in a lot of cities, including where I live now, it takes an hour+ drive from the suburbs to get into the city for the science center or a pirate game.

[ChristieP]

No, Waco doesn't have many festivals, a children's museum, or an amusement park. The Girl Scout council that serves Waco doesn't have much close to there. (The Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas that serves Dallas and everything east is one of the best councils in the country; it has some gorgeous camps and an amazing equestrian program.) Yes, it's only an hour and a half to Dallas and Fort Worth, but that adds 3 hours of drive time to every trip you make, and takes away 3 hours of fun.

You really need to go down and spend some time there. Fixer Upper makes it seem like Utopia, but it really is not. Personally, I would much rather live closer to Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, or in East Texas, than in Waco.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

No, Waco doesn't have many festivals, a children's museum, or an amusement park. The Girl Scout council that serves Waco doesn't have much close to there. (The Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas that serves Dallas and everything east is one of the best councils in the country; it has some gorgeous camps and an amazing equestrian program.) Yes, it's only an hour and a half to Dallas and Fort Worth, but that adds 3 hours of drive time to every trip you make, and takes away 3 hours of fun.

You really need to go down and spend some time there. Fixer Upper makes it seem like Utopia, but it really is not. Personally, I would much rather live closer to Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, or in East Texas, than in Waco.

Maybe you should get out of Grapevine more often.

There is an excellent children's museum in Waco called the Mayborn Museum that is on the Baylor Campus: Baylor University || Mayborn Museum Complex

There is a decent water park: Waco Water Park | Hawaiian Falls Water Slides in Waco, Texas

There is one of the best zoos in the state of Texas: Cameron Park Zoo

Waco has lots of little league and girls softball and some of the most successful youth teams in the nation; Dubl-R Fields at Riverbend Ballpark, Parks & Recreation - City of Waco, Texas

The Midway Little League Girls Softball Team from the southern suburbs of Waco has won 11 world series softball titles, more than any other team in the world: Little League Softball World Series - HISTORY

Waco has youth soccer leagues: Heart of Texas Soccer Association

Waco has youth swim teams: https://www.teamunify.com/Home.jsp?team=stheat

Waco has two excellent YMCA facilities: YMCA of Central Texas > YMCA of Central Texas

Waco has an excellent equestrian facility affiliated with the community college that does youth summer camps and youth riding lessons. My daughter learned to ride there: Highlander Ranch | McLennan Community College

Waco has dozens of gymnastics, dance, and sports studios scattered around the city.

Waco has a trampoline park: Trampoline Park Waco, Tx : Urban Air Indoor Trampoline Park

Waco has Cameron Park, the best urban park in Texas with the best urban mountain biking in Texas: Cameron Park, Parks & Recreation - City of Waco, Texas

Waco has ceramic arts studios: Practically Pikasso - Waco - Home and painting studios https://www.paintingwithatwist.com/waco/ that are fun to do with kids

Waco has the Waco Mammoth Site, the newest national monument in the country: Waco Mammoth National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

Waco has a year-round downtown farmers market with music and food venders that is fund for kids: https://wacodowntownfarmersmarket.com/

Waco has Lake Waco with a four very nice campgrounds, a variety of day use parks with beaches, and the Lake Waco Wetlands with a visitors and educational center: Lake Waco Wetlands - City of Waco, Texas

Waco has several arts festivals: http://www.wacoheartoftexas.com/cult...ral-arts-fest/ and a variety of other festivals: http://www.wacoheartoftexas.com/culture/festivals/

Waco has outdoor music venues on the Brazos during the summer: http://www.waco-texas.com/cms-brazos-nights/ and the same thing going on in Woodway at the arboretum http://www.woodway-texas.com/carleen...ights-concert/

If you can't find anything to do with an 8 year old in Waco then you aren't trying very hard.

[ChristieP]

Thanks for the information! I'm going to pass these on to my friends who live in Hewitt and say there is "nothing to do with our kids."

[Davidlewisville]

It's interesting that Waco is the middle of I 35 growth corridor in Texas close to Austin, Dallas, 3 hours from San Antonio and Houston but it remains small and rural in the outskirts it's totally opposite of the other metros in Texas. I wouldn't mind moving there from the metroplex I like more wide open spaces and don't mind a little driving either to get somewhere. My grandfather grew up west of Waco in the Hico area too.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Davidlewisville

It's interesting that Waco is the middle of I 35 growth corridor in Texas close to Austin, Dallas, 3 hours from San Antonio and Houston but it remains small and rural in the outskirts it's totally opposite of the other metros in Texas. I wouldn't mind moving there from the metroplex I like more wide open spaces and don't mind a little driving either to get somewhere. My grandfather grew up west of Waco in the Hico area too.

It's just a smaller city. But the outskirts of Waco, especially on the southern end are developing almost as fast as any of the big cities in Texas. Massive new subdivisions are going up all along the southern end of Hewitt and Woodway. It's all about the school district. The districts along the northern end of Waco and to the east are less highly rated so fewer if any new subdivisions are going up there because they won't attract young families when they have better school options to the south and west. You just don't see that much from I-35 because the real residential growth corridor is further west along US-84 and in Hewitt between US-84 and I-35