Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-09-2014, 07:08 PM
 
Location: new milford connecticut
1 posts, read 1,272 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

hello all

my girlfriend and i are looking to relocate from connecticut sometime in 2016
we are in the early stages of planning, are are trying to do some research, we will be
taking a road trip this january to do some exploring and get a feel for some places.

we are in our 20s, i live on a farm and am good at a variety of jobs, farming, construction, general labor,
operating equipment, driving etc she is in community college and is planning to transfer to a larger school
which will be the decideing factor as to where we go, but we are trying to narrow down the list of
colleges. we plan to rent and finish school, then settle down somewhere in the area.

we would like to be within a half hour of the beach, and are looking for univeristy in a city of about 100k
people (more or less is fine) with a more rural setting surrounding the city so we can live where its quiet, and commute
to school and work if need be. a close by commmunity college or vocational school is a plus.

any suggestions? texas is a huge state, about 48 times the size of connecticut and im having a hard time narrowing down some areas.

our budget is definetly on the lower end of the scale, but id like suggestions from all over so i can get a good idea of whats around.

thanks guys
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-09-2014, 07:19 PM
 
Location: Port Charlotte
3,930 posts, read 6,396,046 times
Reputation: 3457
Beaumont/Port Arthur are smaller cities that are on the coast, but wouldn't want to live there. Unemployment is still higher than normal there. Problem is that many of the colleges are in metro areas, especially along the coast. Now Texas A&M /Corpus Christi is located in...Corpus Christi. Tis would fit your specifications, and there is employment opportunities.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-09-2014, 07:35 PM
 
3,491 posts, read 6,930,475 times
Reputation: 1736
Corpus if u want to be half an hour to a beach
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-09-2014, 07:46 PM
 
Location: Riding the light...
1,635 posts, read 1,804,283 times
Reputation: 1162
Before making that jump, have you considered the cost of college tuition. As a new resident in the state you'll be paying an 'out of state' tuition for a couple of years. Check schools that might be of interest to you to see what those rates might be.

Good luck
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-10-2014, 08:32 AM
 
Location: League City
3,842 posts, read 8,216,800 times
Reputation: 5364
Beaumont is about 120,000 has a university, a tech school, and some 2 year colleges. The beach is about a half hour away. But yeah that is definitely not a desirable place to live. Some of 'True Detective' was filmed to take place in Beaumont. Surprisingly the Keystone Pipeline is bringing a bit of prosperity to that area. A few massive oil/gas type projects have been proposed or even started. However that area was experiencing a slight boom about a decade ago, and the bottom fell out. I'd expect that to happen again in another 10 years. Corpus is a better bet.

If you don't mind being close to Texas, Lake Charles, La (about 80,000) is about 45 minutes to Holly Beach, La, which used to be colloquially known as the 'Cajun Riveria.' McNeese State University and a vo-tech school is located there. I would much rather live in Lake Charles than Beaumont.

Definitely check on the out-of-state tuition thing. That could be a killer.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2014, 05:01 AM
 
Location: East Texas, with the Clan of the Cave Bear
3,243 posts, read 5,579,291 times
Reputation: 4709
Beaumont hasn't experienced the same economic downturn as much of the nation, definitely hasn't had the "bottom fall out" as the energy sector /petro-chem keeps chugging along. That said the beaches north/east of Galveston are definitely affected by the Mississippi River and the westerly Gulf currents making the water muddy looking and the beached less than white sand.

There is still plenty of industrial construction but harder to find decent rentals because of it. The series of coastal LNG plants are yet to be constructed with 3 due from Sabine Pass down to Corpus. Winnie puts you driving distance to Houston or the Beaumont/Port Arthur refineries. It is definitely rural and 30' above sea level (and did not flood during Ike.). South of Houston the need to be bilingual becomes more important proportionately the further south you go.

I'd change my criteria from 30 minutes to a beach to an hour+. Remember in Texas travel distances are further to go everywhere almost. Continue to consider hurricanes and their effects on coastal areas. 30' above sea level is minimum IMHO.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2014, 05:05 AM
 
Location: East Texas, with the Clan of the Cave Bear
3,243 posts, read 5,579,291 times
Reputation: 4709
Quote:
Originally Posted by Restrain View Post
Beaumont/Port Arthur are smaller cities that are on the coast, but wouldn't want to live there. Unemployment is still higher than normal there. Problem is that many of the colleges are in metro areas, especially along the coast. Now Texas A&M /Corpus Christi is located in...Corpus Christi. Tis would fit your specifications, and there is employment opportunities.
Unemployment is high in Port Arthur only. The rural areas around the 2 cities has low unemployment. Lotta folks sucking at the gubmint teats in the cities.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2014, 08:18 AM
 
Location: Greenville, Delaware
4,726 posts, read 11,916,601 times
Reputation: 2650
I don't think you'll find what you're looking for in Texas, and I say this as someone who lived the greater part of my life in the state, particularly during my adult years. Corpus Christi would indeed be the most plausible fit, except that you are not going to have access to a really good university around there as far as I am aware.

If you live in rural Connecticut, I think you are also going to find Texas hugely different at so many levels. If you want to escape Conn. winters and taxes, I would suggest Delaware, which is far milder in terms of winters, has very low tax burden, and where you can be in reasonable proximity to some very nice beaches, though not within a half-hour if you desire to live in a community of around 100,000 with a full-fledged university. However, in Delaware you are never more than 2 hours from the beach at the very most, and you can be minutes away if you are satisfied to live in smaller communities and attend a local branch of one of the universities. Really, though, Newark (we pronounce it New-Ark) - home to the University of Delaware - is probably your best bet.

Alternatively, you might look at parts of North Carolina around the Outer Banks or otherwise close to the Atlantic Coast.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2014, 11:34 AM
 
27 posts, read 39,163 times
Reputation: 19
To the OP, I just moved here from Stratford, CT.

You have to come down and explore. I had spent a week in the Dallas area 10 years ago and my wife and I decided to start looking at this area for real to relocate to over the winter. I came down in March for a few days and spent a lot of time outside of the Houston area. Once you get outside of the cities, Texas is very rural. And it goes pretty quick from city to rural. I don't know where you are in CT, but I don't think TX rural is on the same level as CT rural.

I wound up moving to Columbus, which is a real small town an hour outside of Houston and an hour and a half from Austin, population about 3,500. I've lived in suburbia my entire life, so this is a big adjustment for me. But I got a great opportunity for a job here and my wife was able to find some stay at home stuff to do, so this is working out for us so far in the month we've been here. Many of the people who live in these areas have to commute to the city for work, kinda like what you say you're looking for. The cost of living outside the major cities though is very low. I'm renting a house from my employer right now. I don't have to pay until my sixth month, but when he starts charging me, I'll be paying 1/3 of what I was in CT for the same living space.

Some of the people who have lived here longer would probably know more, but I don't think you're going to really find a rural area with a population of 100,000. I know your desire is to be on the coast near the beach, but I would suggest looking at the Bryan/College Station area. Obviously a great school there, the areas surrounding the city are very rural. I had hoped to land there because of the population and the opportunity, but the money wasn't right for me. I really enjoyed the time I spent there though. Wharton also has a community college and is outside of Houston for your girlfriend's college experience. I would really be looking in and around the Houston areas because the job market and population is going to be explosive in the next few years.

I'm really happy I made the move. People are great down here, very welcoming and the lifestyle change is suiting us very well. Take it from a former neighbor, it'll be a good move for you.

Being closer to the coast also brings with it higher humidity. It's weird feeling sticky in October, especially if you've lived up north your whole life like I have. But, I won't be shoveling this year.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2014, 11:09 PM
 
Location: East Texas, with the Clan of the Cave Bear
3,243 posts, read 5,579,291 times
Reputation: 4709
KPMats,


If we're gonna look inland I'd also like to suggest the Tyler area and pick a large lake ... Or for that matter Lufkin or Nacogdoches and live on Sam Rayburn , it's like an inland sea almost.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top