east texas (Tyler, Longview, Kilgore: rentals, low crime, homes)

[jpbarlow]

Wanting to relocate to east texas around the Longview area can anyone direct me to nice friendly small town?

[destin04]

Why around Longview? Just curious. What's your interest? Right off the bat I would say Kilgore....Gladewater...Tatum.

[jpbarlow]

Looking for a place half way between our 2 mothers. We have been thru east texas area several times (tyler and henderson) We like the pines. Don't know anything about any of the town though. Can you tell me anything about them. Need good schools, low crime, friendly people, short commute for work.

[texdav]

Without saying where you will work that is hard to say really.

[destin04]

If you need good schools that's a biggie. If one mom lives in Tyler and the other in Henderson....I would look for towns along Hwy 31. Longview may be a little too north.

[GayleTX]

Those schools are all in the Region 07 ESC TX (google it) ....you can go to their website and look at the various districts info to get an idea of their sizes, TAKS scores, graduation rates, populations, teacher turnovers, etc. Look for 'accountability rating.'

Just glancing at them I see that the first one on the list, for instance, Alba-Golden ISD has a 'recognized' rating (that's very good). There are pho. no.'s to the admin. offices at each school , and you can usually find people there until July to answer any questions you may have about a particular district.

[jpbarlow]

Thanks for all the info. Does anyone have anything to say about Harleton?
One mom lives south central the other one lives in AR.

[destin04]

Oh...I thought you mean't one mom lives in Tyler and one in Henderson. In that case there are many possibilties. I would try to stay close to I-20 for ease of travel. Tyler is a city of 100,000 and has all the things any large city has. It's a beautiful city with lots of history. Many suburbs with great schools.

[texdav]

Also check the median income and the poverty rate because that can tell you alot about an area at a glance. I also heard that the goodyear plant closed in Tyler which was a major employer that can make a big difference because many stats are years behind reality.

[ripley]

The people I know from Harleton like their school district a lot. Small school, with very good academic ratings through the years. Some recent new development in Harleton ISD, but not sure about rentals, medium sized homes, etc.

New Diana is just west of Harleton, just a tad bigger, and right on Hwy. 259.