Tyler, Abilene, San Angelo tornados vs alligators vs good living (San Antonio: fit in, good schools)

[kawgpz550]

Hi everyone,
I am hoping some of you can help me out here. We are looking to relocate to Texas. I don't mind a slight chance of a tornado, but not moving to tornado alley and MUST BE NO ALLIGATORS! I will take my chances with tornados before alligators
Looking for green, prefer trees nice country setting. I know tyler has all of this but I'm not sure if Tyler has crocs and gators.
If anyone can give me some input on these areas as far as the above mentioned as well as having good schools (4 kids) I would really appreciate it. Good weather would be nice, but I am from Arizona/Nevada border of Mohave Dessert and am used to 125+ degrees. Although our weather is dry I can tolerate some humidity as long as temp is below 100 lol
If anyone has any other suggestions in Texas, I am open to suggestions.
Thanks,
Crystal

[kawgpz550]

Does anyone have any thoughts or input as far as Tyler area and alligators and/or tornados? I know there is some tornado activity there, just wondering how bad??? Has anyone ever seen or heard of alligators around the Tyler area?

[ripley]

I suppose there could be some isolated instances at smaller lakes or remote areas, but, other than at Caldwell Zoo ..... I know of no alligator stories in Tyler. Tyler is not swampy like Southeast, TX or South Louisiana.

Tornadoes are sometime spotted at Lake Palestine to the South & West of Tyler, but very rarely directly in Tyler. It could happen, but not a very high probability.

[kawgpz550]

Thank you so much for your input. That was the answer I needed...lol Thanks again and Merry Christmas to you!

[justinlt99]

Originally Posted by kawgpz550

Hi everyone,
I am hoping some of you can help me out here. We are looking to relocate to Texas. I don't mind a slight chance of a tornado, but not moving to tornado alley and MUST BE NO ALLIGATORS! I will take my chances with tornados before alligators
Looking for green, prefer trees nice country setting. I know tyler has all of this but I'm not sure if Tyler has crocs and gators.
If anyone can give me some input on these areas as far as the above mentioned as well as having good schools (4 kids) I would really appreciate it. Good weather would be nice, but I am from Arizona/Nevada border of Mohave Dessert and am used to 125+ degrees. Although our weather is dry I can tolerate some humidity as long as temp is below 100 lol
If anyone has any other suggestions in Texas, I am open to suggestions.
Thanks,
Crystal

I've lived in a lot of places all over the state....including Tyler, which was pretty decent. It's even more decent if you have a lot of money because, for whatever reason, Tyler has a large population of rich bored housewives who live to be superficial LOL....and there are no Gators to speak of...

My favorite area of Texas is definitely Central/Hill Country. East TX has all the trees that you could want, but it is extremely resistant to change. The area around La Grange up to Austin and over towards San Marcos is very nice....it's green, hilly and has a good amount of trees. If you want to see a pine tree in your face no matter which way you turn, live in East Texas. IF you want to have oak trees and be able to see more than 30 feet ahead of you, pick Central

[replantedinsc]

Why are people so resistant to change in these little dinky towns that have so little to offer. Pardon the expression but its like they're shooting themselves in the foot. It's disgusting. I say keep the good parts of the town and welcome change that could prove BENEFICIAL in the long run.

[tehsensei]

Tyler is up and comming, and I see nothing but good things in its future.
Its slowly warming up to the modern day life, but it will resist losing its culture for sure. So i see it as a future metro area with a man to man simple life feel.

[texgal24]

Crocs or gators...in Abilene??? There's got to be enough water for those reptiles to live, and you won't find that in Abilene, but you will find cotton mouths and rattlesnakes if you go poking around in the more wild areas. It is pretty green in spring, but as soon as summer hits, everything is brown and ugly. Rarely do the leaves change color in the fall, and there are quite a few days in the 100s or at least high 90s in the summer, and it's rarely humid. Abilene is great for families. It's safe, family oriented, and has a small town mentality (and very small minded). If you aren't religious (christian) or you're liberal, you won't fit in here. The first question people ask you, after your name, is what church do you go to? The Church of Christ runs everything here, and it seems that they are determine to make the town unprosperous and without fun. Basically the only thing to do here for adults/teenagers is go to church, out to eat (no really fancy restaurants), and shop. If you smoke, you should be aware that they just passed a smoking ban. There are 3 good universities here and the schools are decent (and they are VERY much the sports enthusiasts). East texas is much better from what I've heard. Very green and not too humid (compared to San Antonio). Oh, and if you're afraid of bugs, don't come here. At night, this area has monstrous bugs everywhere.

[texgal24]

Oh, and about tornados. Abilene gets tornado warnings/watches constantly. But I lived there for 13 years (my family still lives there now), and I never saw 1 tornado. They touch down outside of Abilene. But they never got to us. Maybe it's all the praying the people here do.

[Bilbono]

I would take texgal24's posts with a grain of salt. She badmouths Abilene every chance she gets. I've read at least 5 posts where she does so.
I grew up in Abilene, left and worked for the Air Force for 26 years, and just moved back about 9 months ago. Visited often in between to visit family. In regards to texgal24's posts above:
I've never seen a rattlesnake in Abilene, although I know they exist, mostly outside of town. If you live in the city, you'll probably never see one.
Liberals can and do fit in fine here. We're not the majority, but then you won't find a majority anywhere in Texas, except maybe Austin.
No one has asked me what church I attend in the 9 months since I moved back. The last time someone asked me that was in the '70s.
Lots of good restaurants here, mostly family owned. Better than the big franchises, IMO. Also, lots of other things to do for a town this size. Good art scene.
Monstrous bugs? I really don't know what she's talking about. Every now and then you may find one of those giant cockroaches, but those are all over Texas.
The reason Abilene doesn't get tornadoes is because when the Indians settled here, they were looking for a place that didn't have them. They knew something about the lay of the land, and that they would skip over this area. That's the story I've heard, anyway.