.... "A more attractive setting than most Texas towns" (Houston: fit in, homes)

[dennab]

This is how Cities Ranked and Rated described the College Station-Bryan
Texas area (see subject line). Do you find this to be a true statement? What other smaller,
geographically independent cities have attractive settings? By Geographically independent, I mean I am not interested in living in
a suburb of a big city (Sugarland comes to mind) Nor am I am interested in living in a big city period. I want a medium sized town in East Texas
with an attractive setting. I plan to drive a truck for a living and
I can find truck driving in most cities of medium size, especially in Texas.
I am moving from my current state of Colorado because the winters are too cold. Plus housing is too expensive. I don't think I would be happy
in a place that is unattractive, a place that resembles a dusty cow town.
I like tree lined streets, and nice roads, and an overall attractive setting.
I hope to get some ideas from you about where other places in Texas I might
consider. I read that McAllen is considered a more quiet alternative
to Brownsville or Laredo, but I do not know anything about how the
town looks. I am single and in my 40s, and I have always felt most
comfortable in college town settings, but it being a college town is
optional.

[love roses]

I think I'd agree with that statement. I've lived in Texas just about my entire life (30 yrs) and had never been to Bryan/College Station before. My uncle had just moved to Brenham (another nice town) and had to have surgery there a few months ago. I went to visit and was pleasantly surprised. It's larger than I thought it would be, It seemed very clean and green (lots of green grass and trees). My husband is an Owner-Operator and we lived in Colorado for 6 yrs. before we moved back here. McAllan, my husband tells me, is surprisingly nice. I think it may be dustier there than in B/CS though considering how far south it is.

[TexasHorseLady]

Lots of East Texas is "attractive", but you need to define what that term means to you.

Also, what does "medium-sized" mean to you?

[tstone]

CS has been looking more and more like a suburb of Houston with a giant university next to it. By that I mean generic chain stores & strip malls on every corner. It has changed a lot since I started there in 1996, and not in a positive way IMO. The abundance of the big box retail and the smaller businesses disappering is disheartening. The massive underemployment problem the city has is not going away anytime soon, but I digress.

I wouldn't call B/CS a very attractive setting, geographically speaking. Pretty average as far as Texas goes. Oak country that rolls a little but is mostly flat. It's about where E/SE and Central Texas meet. Towns like Nacogdoches and San Marcos are much prettier IMO. The humidity in Central TX makes for some nice summer nights, while College Station is E TX humid.

[Mark Senior]

You can tell by my title I should respond to this. First, have you entered City-data.com under the state of Texas and next look under cities? A good place to begin. Example, there are pictures of Tyler and about 100 responses on Tyler. Tyler is known for it's trees, hilly terrain, not tall just rolling hills, and most for the roses and azaleas in the spring. Thousands of people attend the Azales Trails in late March and early April they are trails you drive about for about 3 or more miles plus you can park and walk into the gardens of many homes. We even have a designated Azalea Dirstrict like Historic designated areas of many cities. Many areas inside "the loop" in Tyler have huge oak trees that almost cover the streets such as those on Donnybrook and New Copeland Road and many others. For the most part Tyler is a clean city. We do have a sizable number who litter. You did say East Texas so Tyler fits that - population is about 100,000 with most "stuff" that people expect and a top rate medical center with even a Level One Truma center, most places our size do not have that - the med center servers about 300,000 or more people. I could go on we have nice zoo recently voted in the top 50 in the US. Anyway, if you want to know more I'll be happy to help. I think you just might enjoy Tyler. Good Luck

[WillysB]

About McAllen, just remember.... It's a looooonnnnnnggggggg way from anywhere.

You might take a look at the Killeen/Belton/Temple area. There's enormous growth taking place here including massive expansion of highways. And is centrally located between Austin/San Antonio and Dallas/Fort Worth. And between Houston and west Texas. Draw an X between those four points and Temple is at the connection. Nice neighborhoods, nice trees, nice people.

[Alatex]

I'm in my thirties and have always liked the college town vibe and some nice green scenery, too.

I can't speak for College Station-Bryan personally, but I have friends and relatives who either went to school there or have visited a good bit.
Basically, they say that if you like Texas A&M, it's great.
If you aren't an A&M person, some might find it tough to fit in.
However, it does sound like it fits your criteria about as well as anywhere is going to. Tyler might be another place for you to check out.

For me, the Austin-San Antonio corridor works.
San Marcos is almost a suburb of both, yet has its own 29,000-student university, so it also has character and small-town feel of its own. There's an enormous college population in that whole corridor, and while not as rainy as east Texas, it isn't "dusty cow town" territory, either.

[dennab]

Thanks for all you inputs. I had forgotten I had posted this question and then remembered it
just now. I will go through your thoughts and opinions very closely tomorrow as i have to
get to bed.

[dennab]

incidentally, what is A&M? Is it a type of university?

[love roses]

Seriously? Of Course it's a university. UT's biggest rival in state!