Best city for homeschooling, conservative family of 6. Currently in Austin. (Dallas: 2013, rent)

[Danimarie]

We have been living in Austin, TX for 3 yrs now. My husband is working at the City of Austin public works as a CAD mananger for Civil 3D software - civil engineering related. It's a decent job. No complaints there. The pay is just OK, but the benefits are good. The problem is that traffic is getting worse by the day, allergies are horrible, things to do like museums, aquarium, zoo etc. are lacking compared to other big cities and rent is going up like crazy. We live just barely in Williamson country, just inside the Austin city limits. - So, we're a part of the more conservative Cedar Park/Round Rock etc. county lines.

I see Fort Worth is considered the most conservative big city, but not sure on jobs and things to do with the family? Also considering Dallas and Arlington - the whole metroplex area depending what you all have to tell me. My husband is a naturalized citizen from Europe. He has 9 yrs experience in his field.

So, traffic compared to here, family friendliness compared to here, allergies compared to here, best job market for my husband? Things will greatly depend if he could find a decent job elsewhere, but just thought to ask.

Thanks!

[texasdiver]

Oklahoma City or Tulsa will be more conservative than any city in Texas if that is what you are looking for.

[Danimarie]

Oklahoma did appeal to me, but I am a bit concerned about tornado frequency there. Conservativeness is one factor, but I also care some about amenities and job opportunities.

[Danimarie]

Also considering San Antonio.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Danimarie

Oklahoma did appeal to me, but I am a bit concerned about tornado frequency there. Conservativeness is one factor, but I also care some about amenities and job opportunities.

Thing is that Dallas County wont do much more for you than Austin in conservativeness.

Fort Worth is a different story, but its not a far right town by any stretch. They have a pretty high score from the Human Rights campaign and its pretty diverse.

The suburbs north of Fort Worth may be more for you. They are very conservative and not diverse at all. I bring up diversity, because a lot of times more diverse can equal more liberal.

[RonnieinDallas]

I second the OKC/Tulsa suggestion

Dallas

Pros: Great amenities, zoo, parks, aquarium, museums, and a large home school network (I've heard). Plus, slightly better traffic, and an abundance of jobs.

Cons: Allergies are terrible here, COL/rent/home prices are on the rise, and it's not very conservative

Fort Worth/Arlington

Pros: Lots of right-winger tea party types, Great amenities, zoo, parks, museums, and a family friendly centric downtown. Really low COL, and traffic isn't too bad.

Cons: Arlington is declining, allergies are bad, Tarrant County really lacks retail/restaurant options IMO

[Danimarie]

Still can't get myself to move to the middle of tornado alley with OK.

I saw that the job market in Fort Worth is also supposed to be healthy, right? How big of a concern are the tornados in and around DFW?

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Danimarie

Still can't get myself to move to the middle of tornado alley with OK.

I saw that the job market in Fort Worth is also supposed to be healthy, right? How big of a concern are the tornados in and around DFW?

DFW lies within Tornado alley.

Lancaster was struck by an F-4 tornado in 1994:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_1...rnado_outbreak

Fort Worth was struck by an F-3 tornado in 2000:

2000 Fort Worth tornado - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

More recently, there was the DFW tornado outbreak in 2012. These caused damage in Lancaster, Forney, and Grand Prarie:

April 3, 2012 tornado outbreak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But the worst to hit the area around DFW in recent memory was the Granbury tornado in 2013:

May 15

I dont want this to freighten you, but DFW is in tornado alley. If its something youre deathly afraid of, you may want to consider having a safe room if you move here. Its nothing too dramatic, but the area does get tornadoes several times a year even if very few of them hit cities or are very strong. The Granbuy tornado was an F4. For reference, Granbury is 35 miles Southwest of Fort Worth.

[ChristieP]

Tornadoes in Oklahoma are FAR worse than any you will find anywhere in Texas! Heck, Central Texas around Jarrell had one of the only F5 tornadoes in Texas' history! (Notice that Lancaster comes up in several of the tornadoes in DFW.)

Fort Worth is the ONLY major metro in Texas that did not vote Democrat in the last presidential election. It's FAR more conservative than Austin, but to say the area is full of "right wing, Tea Party" Pete is an exaggeration.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Tornadoes in Oklahoma are FAR worse than any you will find anywhere in Texas! Heck, Central Texas around Jarrell had one of the only F5 tornadoes in Texas' history! (Notice that Lancaster comes up in several of the tornadoes in DFW.)

Fort Worth is the ONLY major metro in Texas that did not vote Democrat in the last presidential election. It's FAR more conservative than Austin, but to say the area is full of "right wing, Tea Party" Pete is an exaggeration.

You confused me with Ronnie. He made the association with the Tea Party, not me.

The suburbs north of Fort Worth though are some of the most conservative. Collin County has some pretty conservative areas too, but its more diverse than Northern Tarrant County (excluding Fort Worth).