Got my list, so how do I make a decision? (Austin: rental, crime)

[awecelot]

I love both New Braunfels and Fredericksburg - New Braunfels is, however, feeling the effects of urban sprawl more and more.

I live in Portland and it's probably not a good option if you do not want to own a car. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but there is NO public transportation whatsoever and if you wanted to get to Corpus, you would need a car.

Portland and Port Lavaca are similar in terms of weather - about 30 inches of rain per year, HOT and HUMID in the summer (and I cannot emphasize that enough) with nice, mild winters. Portland offers you greater access to Corpus Christi as well as the beaches of Port Aransas and North Padre Island while Port Lavaca offers a slower lifestyle. Portland has a more affluent vibe to it than Port Lavaca does.

Austin is very different than any of your other choices on your list. That being said, it's the best for not having a car. It's a very young city, very liberal, and follows the mantra "Keep Austin Weird." The weather there is hot, not as humid as the coastal areas, but there's no wind to take the edge off the heat.

Of the six cities on your list, the only one I do not know about is Denison. For the remaining five, I'd rank them (keep in mind this is my order of preference): 1) Austin, 2) Fredericksburg, 3) New Braunfels, 4) Portland, and 5) Port Lavaca.

A tip for when you visit Portland: Stop by the Whataburger in the mornings or Dairy Queen around lunch time. Those seem to be the places to hear about some of the local politics, so that you can decide whether or not this community is right for you.

Good luck!

[CandyApple]

I'll list some things I like about these towns, maybe that'll help. Let me know if I'm mistaken:

All: No more cold winters. Greyhound bus service is available to town or close by (important since I'll be dropping off the rental car in Austin). Sufficient trees (not just palm trees).

Fredericksburg- Bats. Cactuses AND trees .... Free Saturday painting classes (if what I read from meetups is correct). Wildseed Farms, Enchanted Rock. Very low crime. Peaches, other fresh produce. Touristy- plus or minus depending on how people in town feel about tourists. If they're treated like guests and the town puts on their "Sunday best" for them, then I can look forward to a very well maintained downtown and lovely tourist shops to browse. If the folks hate 'em... well that's just not nice.

Does Fredericksburg have any swimmable lakes/etc.? I'd prefer that to a pool. I'd like swimming to be part of my routine again. I've swum once since my kid was born.

Austin- Bats. Already built up, so don't have to worry about "my small town being overrun". Lived in cities before (Anchorage, Calgary), so shouldn't be too bad. Lots of meetups available. Nude bicycling events (come on, that has to say something about the town ). Has a university to hang out at. Lakes- not sure if they're swimmable, though. Are they? Big city variety.

Portland- Beach. Small enough to walk to most places (only a few miles on each side). Furthest south of cities on list (guessing least problems with SAD, as brightness will be most similar year round). Heated outdoor pool available year round, so when the beach gets too cold I can still swim. Corpus Christi available to visit.

Port Lavaca- Beach- with TWO kinds of sand! Helpful Chamber of Commerce lady told me all about the town. Stable population size. "Big city", 30 miles away, only has 60K people- enough for shopping, but not enough for commuters to overrun Port Lavaca. Could use Victoria as a back up plan if I move to Port Lavaca. Small- not sure how walkable, but should be bikeable. Low crime.

Denison- Beautiful Lake Texoma in biking distance. Art scene. New bike shop and the popularity of bicycling is increasing. Lake in town. Slightly cooler in summer than other towns (how much difference does this make?). Small (only a 3-4 miles east-west by 3-4 miles north-south), so should be easily bikeable. Good price rent, etc. Mommy group in Sherman (bikeable distance), according to meetups.

[CandyApple]

How long is the harbor bridge? A few hundred feet? Several miles? Is there room for a bicycle to make it across without impeding traffic? Would I be able to walk my bike up, or would that be too long/dangerous? I'd be pulling a kiddie trailer. BTW, is there a bus system in Corpus Christi?

I'm not moving for a job. I can go anywhere I want that's not too expensive. As long as there are jobs, there's some variety (ie, half the town won't lose their jobs if the local manufacturing plant closes), and the pay pays the bills... that's fine.

What I want from a town... is the impossible, of course! Let's start with 26 hour days and plants that reproduce without pollen, and work from there. Barring the acquisition of miraculous powers, I'm gonna have to make some choices...

Well, weather is a big one. Didn't know how much colder Fairbanks was than Anchorage until I lived it. I left Fairbanks and came to Anchorage to be someplace warmer (it's a BIG difference), and because I couldn't decide where I wanted to be in the lower 48.

So my question, would the temperature/weather difference be enough to move over? Say, for example, someone lives in Denison, then they go to Austin. Will they end up in Denison again to escape the summer heat the way I moved to Anchorage to escape the winter cold? Or is the difference too small to affect where someone moves to?

I want to live where it's pleasant to walk/bike around town, and around the neighborhood. Parks, playgrounds, lots of greenery, sidewalks, heck a few benches would be nice. It would be great if there's places outside where people just "hang out". Also, places to hike through would be good, like big parks with lush woods or something.

Cost of living is important- otherwise I'd be in Santa Barbara by now. It's not why I'm moving, but since I'm moving, it might as well be to some place cheaper than here in Anchorage. How much does it cost to buy a house? Rent? Other stuff? I'm paying $750/month for a 1 bedroom ~650 sq. ft. condo. I want to pay considerably less, get considerably more for the money, or both (and not a condo- too many dumb rules and the sound proofing's not much/any better than an apartment). Did I mention that I prefer an area where house prices are going down, or at least not rising much? I figure it'll be a while before I buy (probably several years), and don't want the "affordable" town I moved to to be "unattainable" when I'm ready to buy.

Crime- I cut out a lot of places because the numbers were too high. The lower the better, but all the places I've listed have "tolerable" numbers or better, at least for me. Well, Corpus Christi is a bit higher than I'd like, that's why I'm just checking out Portland to live in. I guess one worry is, if Corpus is too crimey for me to live there, and I live next door, and go visiting there a lot... would that be a problem? The other thing is, what if I decide I like Corpus better than Portland, and would rather live there? If the cities were fifty miles apart, it wouldn't be a consideration, I'd just not go to Corpus, but since they're so close together... I don't want to cut myself off from a whole area right nearby, ya' know? Besides hurricanes, that's my main worry about Portland... crime in Corpus.

The crime rate is more than Fairbanks, and I didn't want to go someplace more than Fairbanks crime... Portland has a nice, low crime rate, though, that I'd be thrilled with. That's what makes this so confusing. How did the crime rates get to be so different between Corpus and Portland, anyway? And would the crime from Corpus "bleed into" Portland at some point?

People- I'd like to be around people who are passionate about something that I also have a passion for, or at least like enough to do it, too. Dance, art, and computer programming I'm really into. Yoga, singing, foreign language, photography, making stuff, etc. would be fun. I don't like sports.

I'm gonna need to join a mommy group. I need something where the kids are the thing that everyone's excited about, rather than, "you can bring them", and then hope they don't get in the way too much. When every social situation (and everything else) is harder because of the kid... mommy gets grumpy.

I'm allergic to cow milk, so being able to order goat milk is important. I don't mind if they don't keep it on stock, as long as I can get it somehow. Not online (I don't buy online), but order at the store. Yeah, I can order a case at a time. I'll drink it before it spoils.

I'm worried about the critters in Texas. How do mosquitoes compare in those towns? Snakes? Other nasties? Any wildcats like mountain lions? Bears don't scare me as much as snakes do. A bear you can avoid. A snake... you could be walking along, it'd be hiding in the grass, you step on it, and BAM! It bites you- you're dead.

There were copperheads in the backyard in Virginia. One almost killed the neighbor's dog. I nearly stepped on one once. The bears here? I've seen 'em a few times, out away from town. I just got out of the area, that's all. Of course, I'm a bit more worried about predators now that I have a kid. She's just so small and delicious looking, I think something might try to eat her.

Being able to get around is important. I tell you, it's nice living a block from the grocery store. I just pop down there with the kid and pick up lunch and a few groceries when I'm hungry.

In the summer it's easy to get around Fairbanks by bike, at least the places I went, except for this one bridge with a really narrow sidewalk (I'd walk my bike across it was so narrow). I guess I could've used the road portion, but didn't think to. Not too far to bike to the store. I could get to the other end of town in less than an hour. So yeah, when I say I'm looking for a compact/bikeable town, I think the Fairbanks layout (not counting Mt. UAF) or better. Only problem is, biking only works half the year- the rest of the time it's cold and snowy. There's some ice, but not nearly as bad as Anchorage. There's the main area of town where you can get everything, and then if you want room for your dogs you head north a few miles to the Goldstream Valley. The Goldstream Valley is a bit spread out, and would take a while to get to on bike, but- if you live in town you don't need to go there, so that's not a problem. A lot of places in town with yards, but not real big yards.

[Marlow]

Originally Posted by CandyApple

How long is the harbor bridge? A few hundred feet? Several miles? Is there room for a bicycle to make it across without impeding traffic? Would I be able to walk my bike up, or would that be too long/dangerous? I'd be pulling a kiddie trailer. BTW, is there a bus system in Corpus Christi?.

The Harbor Bridge and causeway that separate Portland and Corpus Chrisit is about 6 to 8 miles long. The bridge itself is steep. There's no way you should be hauling a kiddie trailer behind you on that trip. It's also hot, humid and windy.

CC does have bus service, but it's not great. I don't know if there's a bus from Portland to CC, but you should check.

Really, it's a terrible idea to move down here without a car. Of the cities on your list, Austin is the only one I would consider living in without a car.

[clawson26]

Originally Posted by Marlow

The Harbor Bridge and causeway that separate Portland and Corpus Chrisit is about 6 to 8 miles long. The bridge itself is steep. There's no way you should be hauling a kiddie trailer behind you on that trip. It's also hot, humid and windy.

CC does have bus service, but it's not great. I don't know if there's a bus from Portland to CC, but you should check.

Really, it's a terrible idea to move down here without a car. Of the cities on your list, Austin is the only one I would consider living in without a car.

I can't agree enough with this one!! I lived in Portland and you CAN NOT ride a bike to Corpus across the bridge. I would never suggest you do it alone and if you try it with children you WILL BE ARRESTED. It would be very dangerous. The constant wind makes bike riding difficult even not on the bridge and there is no public transportation there. Also, you would have to go an hour or so (in a car) to a beach clean enough to swim in. I think based on your criteria Portland is definitely off the list!

[awecelot]

On Portland - I would not say the beach is a strong point. Sure, there's a lot of waterfront, but due to the location there is almost no sand. On the one area where there actually is some semblance of a "beach" (the back side of Sunset Lake), it's a very rocky beach. It's also difficult to get to that location (you have to park at the Sunset Lake parking lot and walk through the dry parts of the marsh...you won't get wet or anything but it's just different than any other beach I've been to).

You can bike the harbor bridge by using the shoulder on the causeway then the little walkway thing on the bridge to walk your bike up, but I wouldn't recommend it. The Bridge is over 250 feet tall and the causeway is about 6 miles long.

The reason why Corpus' crime does not bleed into Portland, IMO, is because of the 6 miles of water in between the two. It creates enough of a separation that enables Portland to be relatively independent of Corpus Christi, even though it is a suburban town.

Still, with your criteria, I can't help but thinking that Padre Island, a low-crime area of Corpus Christi somewhat similar to Portland (except that it's going to have more tourists) might be a better choice. Port Aransas is worth looking into as well. I don't know if those areas are within your price range, though.

[littleamen]

Originally Posted by Marlow

Although I wish it weren't true, if you're going to live just about anywhere in Texas, you're going to need a car.

Definitely! Unless you are moving to a major city (Austin, Houston, Dallas) you're going to need a car.

[raymondl1942]

Lived in Texas all my life. Know this: I don't know why anyone would live in Denison. Any where other than Dallas or Austin you will need a car. Dallas has DART and Austin has it's transportation system and is "bike friendly". Two good bets are San Marcos and New Braunfels. Situated between Austin and San Antonio they offer good schools and give access to two of the finest cities in the country. Good luck and welcome to Texas.

[catman]

I wouldn't let Denison's being "slightly cooler in the summer" influence my decision. DART in Dallas is great if it goes where you want to go at the right time and you don't have to carry too much. Fredericksburg and San Marcos are very nice. You will need a car, at least on occasion!

[Lakewooder]

My family has had a place at Lake Texoma since 1961, so I can tell you that the area is seeing tremendous growth. But it's still quite peaceful during the week. Denison does indeed have a budding art scene. And you can get to Dallas with relative ease if you plan the traffic considerations.

I think you would be making a great investment if you were to buy a property there.

Caveat: the Grayson County Commissioners and US Army Corps of Engineers at the lake are notoriously corrupt.