Is this drought a permanent thing? (Houston, Austin: transplants, neighborhood, living)

[janejanejanejanejane]

So...obviously no one has the correct answer, but is this part of some weather pattern that has no end in sight?

[ScoPro]

Who knows?

It just reminds me of the late '50s & early '60s......until the hurricanes showed up.

[TexasHorseLady]

Pick up the current issue of Texas Monthly. It's all about Texas drought and its history. The answer to your question is yes and no.

[Debsi]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Pick up the current issue of Texas Monthly. It's all about Texas drought and its history. The answer to your question is yes and no.

I love a short, straightforward answer.

[FueledByBlueBell]

I would assume yes and plan as if we are not going to receive any rain-- ever, but be pleasantly surprised when we do get it.

[Gingersnap92]

It's a good time for people to start moving east of 35 where the soil retains moisture, the trees will live longer, and will be tall enough to provide shade. Speaking of the drought of the 50's... Has anyone else noticed the lack of trees older than 60 years when you travel west of Mopac? Something to chew on.

[TexasHorseLady]

I live east of I35. My husband was commenting just last night, "Don't drop your keys out here or you won't see them for months, if ever" because of the cracks in the Houston black (black gumbo clay) that covers a good deal of the area east of I35 near Austin. (If you get into some of the pockets of sandy loam, you're in good shape.)

There are trees that are far in excess of 60 years old - some hundreds of years old - west of I35. (Have you been to Treaty Oak, for example?)

It doesn't much matter where people live if there are too many people for the water supply. That's been the case as long as there have been humans on the planet. All that's changed is the numbers and the idea that we can somehow fool Mother Nature.

[Gingersnap92]

Treaty Oak is east of Mopac, and is not on the 1" of topsoil like most areas out west. I live near 35 jsut south of downtown near 71, and the amount of dead trees in our neighborhood is negligible. When I took a trip out to Marble Falls last week, the pct of dead trees out 71 was approaching 30 to 40%. We're only 2 years inot what could be a 10-year drought, and it's pretty clear who the losers are going to be with climate change. Blistering sun, no canopy. It's going to be a rough decade for some people.

[Gingersnap92]

In the nearly 200 year history of Austin, the Hill Country only became a money magnet in the last 20. Any explanation? Did the previous generations know something that the current crop of transplants don't? We should ask those who lived here during the 50's --> Is the Hill Country sustainable, or is it really even a desirable place to live???

[Gingersnap92]

The Hill Country resembles CA, the mass exodus from CA started in the early 90's after the riots. Hill Country property values started to mimic the bubble in CA beginning in the early 90's and continues to this day. The traffic gets worse, the landscape gets littered, and it decreases the QOL for those living there. The false threat of scarcity that fed the 90-00's CA housing bubble is being used for the same purposes in Hill Country 2012.

and by the same people.