Is Waco Texas an ideal place to relocate to from Louisiana? (Houston: apartment complexes, high crime)

[missnaturalee]

I'm contemplating a move to Waco from Louisiana. I have been offered a position and was wondering if this would be a good place for me to relocate to. I'm in my mid 20's, single and looking for an area that will offer me a variety of outlets for entertainment as well as a place that I can be safe and comfortable in to live and work. Are there a good amount of restaurants, movie theaters, and malls/shopping areas? what are the high crime areas that I should avoid? What are the ideal areas to find apartment housing? Is Waco an area that is culturally diverse? What are some local attractions? What is the night life like? Any information would be very appreciated.

[crisan]

I used to live there for 2 years and while living there I thought I could do better. However, now that I have left there were some things I loved about Waco.

Originally Posted by missnaturalee

Are there a good amount of restaurants, movie theaters, and malls/shopping areas?

Very good Mexican restaurants, or at least when I was there. There is one hidden inside of the Baylor campus and another one going towards the mall. The mall was rather small. There are movie theatres and the college kids make it really fun.

Originally Posted by missnaturalee

what are the high crime areas that I should avoid?

I think you are better off near Baylor and the north and west side. Central I think is the worst.

Originally Posted by missnaturalee

What are the ideal areas to find apartment housing?

Many options here since it is a college town.

Originally Posted by missnaturalee

Is Waco an area that is culturally diverse?

Yes, because of Baylor and the other two colleges.

Originally Posted by missnaturalee

What are some local attractions? What is the night life like?

There is Cameron Zoo, a nice park along the Brazos river, Waco lake with the boat houses. There is the David Koresh compound. As you can see, these things are those types of attractions that you go and see once which was why I was going nuts. Most important, you are between Dallas and Austin.

Okay nightclubs but I wont comment any further because it has been a while.

Originally Posted by missnaturalee

Any information would be very appreciated.

[doctorjef]

Move to Austin. Waco doesn't really sound like what you are looking for if you are interested in entertainment, the arts and cultural diversity.

[texasdiver]

I've lived in Waco for the past 6 years with my wife and kids. But we are not from here (we moved here from the west coast for my wife's job) so I can probably answer your question from the perspective of someone who knows the place but also knows what else is out there. Before moving to Waco I lived in Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Juneau AK.

Waco is a typical metro area of about 200,000. There are all the regular chain stores and restaurants. You'll have your Bed Bath & Beyond type stores and a decent selection of clothing between the two malls. There are a handful of excellent local restaurants (i.e. not chains) but no more than I can count on two hands. The nightlife is pretty much either Baylor-centric or else blue collar local-centric. And frankly not really that interesting. Waco is not the sort of place where you will find a lot of upscale young single professional types. The Hog Creek Ice House which is a roadhouse across the lake from Waco is the most happening night spot I can think of in Waco. If this place looks like your cup of tea then you might like Waco. If you're looking for something a bit more urban and upscale then you'll be driving to DFW or Austin for nightlife.

http://www.hogcreekicehouse.com/

The city of Waco itself is quite diverse. The city population is perhaps 25% black and 25% Hispanic and there is quite a bit of poverty and the social problems that go along with it. But there are sprawling suburbs to the south and also to some extent to the northwest and west that are much more uniformly white and middle class. The dominant culture is really families with kids. If you were married and had a couple young kids (as we are) then this area is quite a decent place to live. Most of the nice attractions around town are really kid-oriented (Cameron Park Zoo, Mayborn Museum, HOT Soccer complex, Waco Water Park, etc. etc.)

I teach at a large public HS in the Waco area and I will tell you this. We do hire lots of young single teachers. Especially young teachers out of Baylor and other nearby schools of education like Tarleton St. And it has been my observation that the young single teachers we hire tend to either eventually get married off to each other, or they eventually flee north to the Dallas/Fort Worth area where the social life is more amenable to young single professionals.

Don't want to discourage you from coming. This is a fairly nice place to live. But don't think it is going to be some sort of young hip college town mecca like Boulder, Madison, Chapel Hill, etc. Baylor is a Baptist University so there is only so much nightlife that is going to spill over.

One nice thing about Waco is that you are 1.5 hours from Fort Worth and 1.5 hours from Austin so it is very easy to get out of town for more cosmopolitan experiences. Dallas is about 2 hours and Houston and San Antonio are about 3 hours away so you have 5 major metro areas within each reach on the weekends. And frankly, it's really not that difficult to drive up to Dallas/Fort Worth or down to Austin on a Friday night if there is something you want to do or see.

If you do come and are a single woman as I am assuming from your screen name, then you might want to consider starting out in one of the new apartment complexes around the Central Texas Marketplace. They are nice new apartments in a safe area with lots of amenities and have lots of shopping and restaurants next door. Here are two of the complexes. Never been in them but they look nice from the outside and have great pools, fitness centers and that sort of thing. So you'll save on the gym membership.

The Residence at Central Texas Marketplace
The Retreat at Central Texas Marketplace - Apartments in Waco

[jluke65780]

Well Downtown Waco is coming up with the Shops Of River Square which can be pretty busy on weekend nights and the developed Waco Town Center; also Wild Wild West, Treff's, and more

However, Austin or Dallas would be better. However, you have lots of singles and Waco is a pretty young city. The best thing about Waco is your centrally located to all the big cities. Austin and Dallas are only about an hour away, while Houston is about 3 hours and San Antonio is about 3-4.

[Wendy Montoya]

From my prospective, Waco is a great place to live, but my 23 year old has a very different opinion. He likes the Austin area quite well, he is a musician and likes things a little different with plenty of things to do. But like others have said, one of the best things about Waco is its location because of how it sits right in the middle of Austin and Dallas. Gives you a lot of variety when you want to get out of town.

There are plenty of places you will probably feel safe in Waco and there are those you probably won't. Ask anyone that lives here and they will probably give you an ear full of where is good or bad.

As far as things to do, we have some great bike trails, frisbee golf courses, zoo, museums, etc. But it all depends on your taste. I know nothing about the nightlife, but think downtown is getting better by the day.

[orbius]

Last time I was in Waco I was surprised at the amount of garbage everywhere. Near gas stations, on the slip roads garbage everywhere. Is it still like that, frankly if a town cant keep garbage off the roads its got to be run terribly badly.

[jluke65780]

Originally Posted by orbius

Last time I was in Waco I was surprised at the amount of garbage everywhere. Near gas stations, on the slip roads garbage everywhere. Is it still like that, frankly if a town cant keep garbage off the roads its got to be run terribly badly.

Living there my whole life; I wasn't aware Waco was dirty.

[orbius]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

Living there my whole life; I wasn't aware Waco was dirty.

Well there are long stretches of highway and businesses on the highway for not a huge city. Maybe they are overstretched a little, but my impression after stopping at several businesses on the highway was that there was trash everywhere.

[jluke65780]

Originally Posted by orbius

Well there are long stretches of highway and businesses on the highway for not a huge city. Maybe they are overstretched a little, but my impression after stopping at several businesses on the highway was that there was trash everywhere.

35 right? Yeah the businesses off 35 aren't too nice and tend to lack cleanliness. Overall, Waco isn't a dirty city and have lots of beautiful spots. Judging what you saw off 35 is nowhere near the experience of actually exploring all of Waco.

Waco is a mix between Dallas and Austin.Large hills around Lake Waco, suburbs, and dry climate reminds you of Austin; However, the architect, people, prairies, and certain neighborhoods remind you of Dallas.