Best smaller towns south of Dallas? (Houston, Waco: home, living in, safety)

[TruckersWife]

Hello

My husband and I will soon be relocating to Texas. Neither of us are familiar with the towns, but we need to find a place up to an hour outside (and preferably south-ish) of Dallas due to the requirements of his job. I will be mostly living alone as he will be gone two weeks at a time, so safety is very important. I am a Florida native, so heat and humidity are not an issue for me at all. I am Christian, however I want to avoid towns that are very centered around the church, and we also have a large dog and would like to be in an area with a bigger yard than the ones closer to the city. If anyone can offer some advice I would greatly appreciate it, thank you.

[Metro Matt]

Athens, Texas

Its close enough to Dallas to be there in an hour yet far enough away to be out of the hustle & bustle of the metropolitan area. Its also in a much prettier area of the state known as East Texas, which is kinda like Northern Florida with all the pine trees & dense vegetation.

A town like Corsicana, though just a few miles down the road & also south of Dallas will look entirely different because its right outside the pine curtain of East Texas. Corsicana looks more like Dallas, Waxahachie, or Waco ie: less trees.

[TruckersWife]

Thank you so much Matt for your quick reply. I have been overwhelmed to tears with this move. Lol Athens sounds like the perfect place to start looking )))

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by TruckersWife

Thank you so much Matt for your quick reply. I have been overwhelmed to tears with this move. Lol Athens sounds like the perfect place to start looking )))

If you're from Northern Florida or familiar with it you will find Athens looks very similar minus the palm trees of course, but you could always plant some like myself & many in this part of the state do. You won't find a whole lot of palms in Texas till you get down near Conroe & Houston then it REALLY looks like Florida.

[TruckersWife]

I'm actually currently living in Green Bay WI, but have lived in s Florida most of my life. We were recently given the opportunity to basically live anywhere in the country we like, and I immediately chose Texas as it is the most similar to home (weather) and offers so much more as far as natural areas and outdoor activities than Florida. Also the slower pace and less crowded like northern fl. I'm looking forward to calling Texas home.