"Best Places to Live in Texas 2015"

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by Midessan

There is no need for gyms. You can do all the exercises you need at home with a few free weights.

There's no NEED for most of the things we have in today's world. Gyms are a convenience.

[Midessan]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

People go to the gym for fun. Gyms are a huge and growing industry, taking up the empty strip mall space in all those best cities.

I agree, it's mostly about fun now, not fitness and I am cool with that.

[bpollen]

Originally Posted by Midessan

I think its a pretty good list. I don't really care about walk score since you can actually walk in pretty much any place. All it really means is that you have trendy hipster places to be seen walking. Other than that pretty good list. Here the top 50 for anyone who is interested.
***

As someone who walks every day, I know what most of the lists mean about walk score, though I don't know about this particular list.

I went to look at several neighborhoods in the Humble/Atascocita/Kingwood/Spring areas, and took a drive through The Woodlands. Most of the neighborhoods I saw were not walk friendly. Narrow streets, no sidewalks, lots of cars parked at the curb making the narrow streets difficult to pass for cars driving down the streets. Grocery stores nearby when driving, far when walking. Having to cross busy streets to walk to a grocery store.

The Woodlands was as bad as the other places I saw. I was shocked at how the houses and hte people are packed into the areas like sardines, with little thought given to enjoyment of the neighborhood, which involves to a great degree the ability to walk and bike it. In my current neighborhood, a lot of the residents walk their dogs, jog, or bike frequently without fear of being hit by a car, or having to be careful walking around parked cars. There are sidewalks on many, but not all, the streets in my current neighborhood.

There were a couple of neighborhoods I saw in Spring that were walkable.

I have yet to go see Missouri City, Jersey Village, and some other areas, to see if they are better. For me, I don't care about a neighborhood pool or club house. I care about the ability to walk my dogs daily around my neighborhood, on streets wide enough for two cars to drive down while people are walking on the sides. I guess the land was too expensive for the developers to provide for that.

OTOH, Houston has a lot of parks. You have to get in your car to go there, but still, a large park is a pretty nice place to walk.

[bpollen]

Originally Posted by Midessan

Gyms are for peacocking and bars won't do your health any favors.

I belonged to gyms for many years. I used them to work out in, as did most of the people who went. The weights, the exercise classes, the wet areas.

You may have visited for the types of gyms that cater to a particular clientele, rather than real gym users. Different gyms have different emphasis.

[bpollen]

Originally Posted by Midessan

There is no need for gyms. You can do all the exercises you need at home with a few free weights.

This is very true. And you can do the workout at any time of the day or night.

There is a point for some where a few free weights won't do the trick, so may have to graduate to a more professional setup....if there is space in the home. That's usually men who are building muscle.

There is the added attraction of a full service gym that gives a punch to a workout, though. The 1-2-3 of the workout machines/weights, the exercise classes, and the wet areas (whirlpool, sauna, pool). All three together gives a rounded experience for the body. It's getting hard to find a gym with full wet areas, though. They're expensive to maintain, I guess.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by Midessan

I think its a pretty good list. I don't really care about walk score since you can actually walk in pretty much any place. All it really means is that you have trendy hipster places to be seen walking. Other than that pretty good list. Here the top 50 for anyone who is interested.

1 The Woodlands
2 Allen
3 Frisco
4 Sugar Land
5 McKinney
6 Pearland
7 Plano
8 League City
9 Missouri City
10 Carrollton
11 Midland
12 Richardson
13 El Paso
14 Atascocita
15 College Station
16 Amarillo
17 McAllen
18 Round Rock
19 Abilene
20 Mission
21 Temple
22 San Angelo
23 Laredo
24 Wichita Falls
25 Lubbock
26 Odessa
27 Longview
28 Brownsville
29 Lewisville
30 Pharr
31 Corpus Christi
32 Irving
33 Denton
34 Tyler
35 Bryan
36 Pasadena
37 Austin
38 Mesquite
39 Grand Prairie
40 Garland
41 Waco
42 Edinburg
43 San Antonio
44 Arlington
45 Fort Worth
46 Dallas
47 Houston
48 Beaumont
49 Baytown
50 Killeen

Yeah... this list is a joke.

[hound 109]

Gosh, I'm new to Texas and had heard good things about the following cities and towns:

- Fredericksburg.
- Huntsville.
- Stephenville.
- La Grange.
- Brenham.
- Nacogdoches.
- Kerrville.
- New Braunfels.
- Granbury
- Marble Falls
- Rockport
- Georgetown

(one could name 50 more cities & towns, these were off the top of my head)

All appear to have wonderful quality of life, nice golf courses, great, vibrant historic downtowns, some have colleges, some are near neat recreational or tourist areas. But none are on the "Best Places to Live in Texas in 2015" list.


But I guess I should instead listen to some internet dude from SF who obviously knows Texas & instead I should consider the following cities and towns:

11 Midland
16 Amarillo
17 McAllen
20 Mission
21 Temple
23 Laredo
24 Wichita Falls
26 Odessa
28 Brownsville
30 Pharr
32 Irving
36 Pasadena
38 Mesquite
40 Garland
42 Edinburg
48 Beaumont
49 Baytown
50 Killeen

Dang...those are some gems. I'm glad I saw this list. I definitely need to consider Killeen or Odessa as "Places to Live" over the 12 towns on my list.

[bluescreen73]

Waco ahead of Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio? That's funny. Someone's been watching too much "Fixer Upper" and has probably never actually been to Waco.

With this list I'm surprised Mexia and Corsicana didn't make the cut.

[TheOverdog]

What do Amarillo, Abilene, or San Angelo have going for them to rate so high? No major universities, the same terrible weather as everywhere else in TX, worse shopping, worse airports to get away, little tourism, and little history, worse everything than any of the major cities.

They are ok small towns if you don't like the city, but in no way would they rate objectively higher than any of the larger cities in the same areas.

[Westerntraveler]

I am surprised that Midland is ranked higher than San Antone