Small-Town Living (San Antonio, Austin, Plano: to rent, condo, crime)

[I'mCurious]

I would like to move to a small-town ( 4,000 people or less ), in the Hill Country or Central part of Texas ( West of IH 35. Not looking for a Country Club feeling. Want to enjoy a peaceful small town, and get involved within the community. I am not retired, so will want to find a nice job. Looking for a ranching and farming community. Any suggestions ?

[RSTX]

Johnson City, Lampasas, and Burnet would be my suggestions.

[KewGee]

Bosque County in Central Texas, Kerr or Gillespie Counties in the Hill Country are my suggestions.

[Boerne resident]

I live in Kendall county and am looking to get out!!! Kendall, Kerr, Gillespie and Comal counties used to be exactly what you are looking for, but everyone has sold out and property values are thru the roof. Strip malls, traffic and crime are taking over Boerne, Comfort, Fredericksburg and other surrounding small towns. Population has doubled in Boerne in 7 years, and the quality of homes bing built has gone down, while prices go up.
I have lived in Lubbock, Corpus, McAllen and every place in Texas has good and bad points, as for me, I'm running to east Texas, where prices are still low, crime and cost of living are still low, and I can get a "piece of quiet". I'm into horses, have 2 dogs, a cat, a horse and 2 donkeys. I am a teacher and a nurse, my only son was murdered in Lubbock. I have also lived in Austin, worked briefly in Laredo, Brownwood, Brownsville, Weslaco, Schulenburg, San Antonio, San Marcos, Fredericksburg, Jourdanton, Tahoka, Amarillo. If you need info/opinions on Texas towns, I'll be gald to oblige.
As a travel nurse, with a mom from Connecticut and a dad from Kansas, I can also tell you about small towns in those states as well as Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, Florida and Hawaii.

[NOTAM]

i am an RN too. currently in South Texas (have survived this hell hole for almost a year) and now planning on going back to the parts of Texas that i am comfortable in. (i am from North Texas)....i am looking at jobs in Amarillo and in Hill Country, and cant seem to decide-i am taking a trip to meet and greet both jobs at end of the month.
any feedback on Amarillo?
any feedback on Killeen area? (i would be working at Ft Hood and living hopefully in Lampasas)
oh and drop in some info about Brownwood-just curious, since i have a good friend who keeps trying to talk me into moving there, but my type of nursing job is not available there, or not open there right now, anyway.
thanks!!
p.s. what is your specialty?

Originally Posted by Boerne resident

I live in Kendall county and am looking to get out!!! Kendall, Kerr, Gillespie and Comal counties used to be exactly what you are looking for, but everyone has sold out and property values are thru the roof. Strip malls, traffic and crime are taking over Boerne, Comfort, Fredericksburg and other surrounding small towns. Population has doubled in Boerne in 7 years, and the quality of homes bing built has gone down, while prices go up.
I have lived in Lubbock, Corpus, McAllen and every place in Texas has good and bad points, as for me, I'm running to east Texas, where prices are still low, crime and cost of living are still low, and I can get a "piece of quiet". I'm into horses, have 2 dogs, a cat, a horse and 2 donkeys. I am a teacher and a nurse, my only son was murdered in Lubbock. I have also lived in Austin, worked briefly in Laredo, Brownwood, Brownsville, Weslaco, Schulenburg, San Antonio, San Marcos, Fredericksburg, Jourdanton, Tahoka, Amarillo. If you need info/opinions on Texas towns, I'll be gald to oblige.
As a travel nurse, with a mom from Connecticut and a dad from Kansas, I can also tell you about small towns in those states as well as Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, Florida and Hawaii.

[RGV]

That's horrible about your son BR. My condolences. Your comment hit me because we only have one son as well. If that happened to our family I think I would go mad.

[maggieki]

Hello everyone....been reading this forum with much interest...I too and looking at small town living (under 4000) I was thinking about northern Texas Plano, Celina, Prosper, that area....problem is I don't know how to tell what parts of these towns are good to rent in......any suggestions? Thanks

[NOTAM]

what? Plano is small town living? please do some research. it DEFINITELY aint even close.
if you want North Texas, here are my suggestions:
Graham
Jacksboro
Paradise (real small town, not even a town, really-i used to live there)
Decatur (not really that small but outside the city limits, yes)
Graford
Bryson (my favorite)

Originally Posted by maggieki

Hello everyone....been reading this forum with much interest...I too and looking at small town living (under 4000) I was thinking about northern Texas Plano, Celina, Prosper, that area....problem is I don't know how to tell what parts of these towns are good to rent in......any suggestions? Thanks

[case44]

Originally Posted by maggieki

Hello everyone....been reading this forum with much interest...I too and looking at small town living (under 4000) I was thinking about northern Texas Plano, Celina, Prosper, that area....problem is I don't know how to tell what parts of these towns are good to rent in......any suggestions? Thanks

You'll want to take NOTAM's suggestions at this point. Plano would definitely be too large for you, as would Frisco. Celina, though still small now, is the next place to be gobbled up by the Metroplex. Prosper is on the northern fringes. You may want to do a Google-search to any of those places NOTAM mentioned and see if you can connect with a local who has an idea for you.

[NOTAM]

i want to add Hamilton to my list too