Huntsville or Bryan-College Station (Houston, Dallas: apartments, home, dorm)

[Sandoval]

Can anyone give me some info on Huntsville,Texas ? Is this a good place to live ? How are the schools in Huntsville ? How are the kids ? How are the people? How is the cost of living? How is the shopping? How long does it take to get to Houston or Dallas ?

I am also trying to find out the the same information on the Bryan-College Station area.

What is a better area to live in Huntsville or Bryan-College Station ? Is the cost of living higher in Huntsville or Bryan-College Station. I had a person tell me that the apartments in Bryan-College Station are kind of expensive. Is this true ?

[techguru]

By all means do not live in Huntsville. It has like 8 prisons. College Station would be my first choice and Bryan my second.
You can go here for info on school's.
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/index.html

[lifertexan]

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By all means do not live in Huntsville. It has like 8 prisons.

Yeah,when you hear the phrase "being sent to Huntsville",that means being sent to prison.It was the main place even before the prison building explosion of years ago.

[Spookmeister]

I wouldn't even stop to get gas in Huntsville.

[stargazer]

My mom use to own a shop in downtown Huntsville going down to the University when I was teen and I often spent my weekends as a young teen at the shop usually talking to college students .

Huntsville is 2 towns to me, one is a University Town and the other a prison town. My parent's family is from east texas and we would pass through there twice a month for years. It use to be that the prison was just down town and that was it but over the years they have expanded and expanded and everytime we pass through now, we see fences with barbed wire and guard towers on both sides of 45.


My brother is SHSU alumni and liked it fine, the prison never bothered him and it really didn't us either going through there or staying there when my mom had her shop there.

If you are looking into each school though, I think you need to access which University will meet your needs. My brother has a degree in Criminal Justice. I would think SHSU was good for that! Now my step dad has 3 engineering degrees from A&M and he has led a good life career wise.

Good luck in finding your town!

[texasprairiedog]

Originally Posted by techguru

By all means do not live in Huntsville. It has like 8 prisons. College Station would be my first choice and Bryan my second.
You can go here for info on school's.
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/index.html

I wish people from Huntsville can comment about living in Huntsville. I am interested in a teaching position at Huntsville. How do people from Huntsville think of the prisons in town? Where are the prisons? Can I live in an area in Huntsville far from prisons to avoid the influences of prisons? Would the prisons and inmates set a bad mood for people's lives, especially for children? I would like to hear something good about living in Huntsville, if there are some, such as education, housing, shopping, job opportunity, etc.

[cm729]

I had posted about Bryan Station months ago on another board and was told that the rents can be expensive (typical for a college town). If you have a job lined up (maybe at the college?), it can be really nice but in general salaries can be low. If you have a profession, might work out easier. I'm in another university city now and I know that's also how things are here - which is why we're moving. There are some good jobs, very hard to get them though. I've never been there or Huntsville - this is just what I heard.
I grew up in a city and lived within 2-3 miles of a large prison there - the entrance was actually on one of the main streets in a nice area with lots of families. Never heard of any problems...was a riot once that was quickly squelched. If it hadn't made the news, we wouldn't have even known it.

[texasprairiedog]

Originally Posted by cm729

I had posted about Bryan Station months ago on another board and was told that the rents can be expensive (typical for a college town). If you have a job lined up (maybe at the college?), it can be really nice but in general salaries can be low. If you have a profession, might work out easier. I'm in another university city now and I know that's also how things are here - which is why we're moving. There are some good jobs, very hard to get them though. I've never been there or Huntsville - this is just what I heard.
I grew up in a city and lived within 2-3 miles of a large prison there - the entrance was actually on one of the main streets in a nice area with lots of families. Never heard of any problems...was a riot once that was quickly squelched. If it hadn't made the news, we wouldn't have even known it.

Thanks and that really helps. Yes, the position is with the college there. It's good to know that one prison won't bother people much; but with 8 prisons, things may be different.

[schlager7]

It is not like there are 8 prisons inside the city limits.

I went to SHSU in the 1970s. I lived in a dorm at first and off campus, in town, later. Worked in town, too. The prison system made zero impact on my life while I was there. Do you pass units going in and out of Huntsville on I-45 (either side)... yes.

They do not make much of an impression. I found the campus life to be very vibrant and stimulating. They were good times. It's a good town.

[Trainwreck20]

Huntisville is a very nice place if you like the woods and like to avoid the crowds. The campus is 'medium' sized for a state school, speciallizing in criminal justice (CJ). The prisions have pretty much no impact on the town - yes, they are there, but it is not like the go out in the evening to shop! The 'Walls Unit' is where they execute death row inmates, and some people find that a disturbing neighbor.

The college is quite picturesque, with hills and pine trees. I travelled there often in college to visit friends, and they called it a 'suitcase' college, because most of the students didn't completely unpack each week - they just went home (to Houston, predominantly) every weekend. Of course, not everyone did, but a larger percent than most similar sized colleges.

If I remember, environmnetal science was also one of the up-n-coming majors there. The college itself was (is?) considered a 'Tier II' college (along with others, such as SF Austin and Texas State), but has its strengths and weaknesses. I personally really liked visiting the area, but I always like the piney woods.