Want to move to Texas, need info on a couple towns (Houston: 2015, apartment complex)

[LumpLump]

I have already posted on the San Antonio forum, but I thought I would get more info on here. My wife and I are considering moving to Texas after I get out of the Army in 2017. The three towns we are looking at is Boerne, San Angelo, and Canyon. We are originally from Mississippi, but currently stationed in Okinawa Japan. We have searched everywhere on Google, YouTube, and different city sites. We have 3 going on 4 children, ages: 4, 3, and 1. My wife and I just want a great family friendly town in Texas. We would like all the info yall have one these three specific towns. What is it like living there? Please give detailed responses. Thanks.

[ChristieP]

What's your housing budget?
Do you like winter weather? Canyon gets a LOT of it!

[freeyoke]

Our family moved to San Angelo in OCT 2015 so this is just a first impression coming from folks who came from Georgia. SA is pretty isolated as there is literally nothing outside the city limits except tiny towns and scrub brush. I don't much about the schools as far as academics go and most of the emphasis is on the local football teams which is main form of local entertainment and pride. Angelo State University is here but it's not a top ranked university in Texas. The tuition is pretty cheap for in-state so your GI Bill money can go a long way.


We lived near Gainesville, GA and there's a big difference with the Hispanic communities there and San Angelo. In Georgia, most of the Hispanic adults don't speak much English but San Angelo seems to have a community that been here for far longer so you really don't see many signs in Spanish.


The home prices are inflated here as people predicted there was going to be a big influx of people working for the oil/gas industry but it didn't materialize and home sellers refuse to lower their prices much. The new apartment complex we live in is mostly empty in the newer section.


Goodfellow AFB is on the east side of town so you'll see airmen in uniform and there's a few soldiers due the Army having a presence there. Like most military towns, you'll find a higher percentage of people who served compared to other places in the country and decided to live there after their ETS.


People are friendly, the streets are freakishly wide, donut shops and storage facilities are everywhere.
I also would have considered Abilene or Lubbock but my job was in San Angelo.

[losttechnician]

Originally Posted by LumpLump

I have already posted on the San Antonio forum, but I thought I would get more info on here. My wife and I are considering moving to Texas after I get out of the Army in 2017. The three towns we are looking at is Boerne, San Angelo, and Canyon. We are originally from Mississippi, but currently stationed in Okinawa Japan. We have searched everywhere on Google, YouTube, and different city sites. We have 3 going on 4 children, ages: 4, 3, and 1. My wife and I just want a great family friendly town in Texas. We would like all the info yall have one these three specific towns. What is it like living there? Please give detailed responses. Thanks.

I live in Canyon, so here goes...

Please understand I have always been a small town person, so my experiences (and biases) will lean towards the relative isolation of Canyon. I also mention Amarillo frequently, because Canyon is almost a bedroom city for Amarillo, it is very easy and quick to commute into Amarillo.

If you have a good job in the Amarillo area, Canyon is an awesome place to live. Amarillo has some semi-pro sporting events, i.e. baseball, arena football, and ice hockey. Canyon has West Texas A&M with all it's sporting events, and all-event family pack tickets are pretty darn cheap.

Canyon has of course Palo Duro Canyon, a great place to visit and explore, and during the summer there is the outdoor play TEXAS that puts on most days of the week. The WT campus is a nice place to walk around, the museum is top notch, and of course WT life is tied closely with the little city life in town.

The school system is excellent, and the community rallies behind all the school system's events. I have children in the local schools as well as my wife teaching in the schools.

Now, the above mentioned isolation.... Many folks find Canyon (and of course Amarillo) to be way too far isolated from the city-centers of Texas. If you are in need of VA services, there is a VA hospital in Amarillo, as well as some great public and private healthcare. If you like box store shopping, there are plenty of majors in Amarillo, and quite a few mom/pop style stores around.

Oklahoma City is several hours away, as is Albuquerque, and the DFW metroplex. Far enough away to make them a rushed weekend trip. If you don't feel the need for metro activities, Canyon is a great place to live.

Caveats: San Angelo is a nice little city, but it is isolated as well. Boerne is NOT isolated, and is a real nice city crammed right next to San Antonio. The family and I visited San Antonio twice this year, and decided if we ever had to move to a larger city, Boerne would be the place.

But we are still staying in Canyon.

[LumpLump]

Lots of good info. Thanks everyone! Keep it coming!

[ChristieP]

My husband and I are both Angelo State grads. We would have loved to stay in San Angelo, but good paying jobs are hard to find unless you are a nurse or a school teacher. Most of the money in Angelo comes from the ranchers and oil/gas industry, and the rest of the town just gets by. If you are looking for somewhere for your family to live while you go to college, and you can survive on service industry jobs, you will be OK in San Angelo.

GAFB is a decent base, but since its mission is mostly training (firefighting, intelligence, language), it doesn't have lots of amenities, such as a good BX or medical facilities. If you need these, you will need to drive 3+ hours to one of the San Antonio bases. Abilene has a bigger BX, but it's not nearly as big as the BX at Fort Sam Houston or Lackland AFB.

If you do decide to live in San Angelo, be sure to live in the Central HS feeder zone. Do NOT live near Lakeview, or in Grape Creek, if you want good schools. If you are wanting to live out in the country, Wall and Christoval are both rural areas with good schools.

[Westerntraveler]

Boerne is nice but pricey.I love San Angelo and have family friends there.I hope to live there someday for the oil and gas industry.Angelo would be my pic.I second ChristieP on the Central high thing.Canyon is way too cold for me.I live in Midland.

[Westerntraveler]

Thanks for your service.You are one of my heroes.You rock man!!!

[CptnRn]

You can learn a lot about those communities by looking up the City-Data data pages for each one here http://www.city-data.com/city/Texas.html

[LumpLump]

Thanks for your support. Appreciate the info.