Moving to Texas? Where too? (Houston, Dallas: house, to buy, tornadoes)

[Trains1723]

Hi all,
I am thinking about moving to Texas.
I have always liked the small town feeling, but I am curious to what kind of natural disasters there are? and what small towns are nice? (Population doesnt matter much but no city with tons of homes and develpements)

I am looking to buy a large plot of property if possible (50-100 acres? not sure), and build a decent house on it, but I dont want to invest in a nice house if there are frequent tornadoes out that way that might destroy my home.

I first heard about Wyoming in the movie Have you met the morgans or something to that effect, but I like the smalltown feeling they seemed to have. I have been thru texas a few times and I LOVE the accent, as well as the style and hospitality in the more rural towns.

Any advice about moving there? Cool small towns to check out? Natural disasters?

Thank you! I appreciate your Advice a ton.
(PS from Southern Cali Want horses! Very conservitive)

[losttechnician]

Texas is a big place. You have your choice of desert, plains, sandhills, ranchland, farmland, humid, not.... If you have never owned a big piece of land, 50-100 acres is gonna be more than you care to handle most likely. That much land is a whole lotta work.

There are hundreds of small towns all over the state, you just need to pick where you want to live, how close to big city or how remote. And of course what you want to do for a living. if you are going to work a minimum wage job, you aren't gonna find ANY acreage in the state in your price range.

If you need a job, find one, then make the best of what you have. A hardworker in a solid job will fit right into most small towns in Texas I think. A slacker or wannabe won't be able to fool anyone very long, and that person's reputation will be shot. In a small town, reputation is everything. Capitalize that.... EVERYTHING.

If you have money and don't need a job, then spend some months exploring and find a place you like. Check out the scenery, the culture (there is a difference across the state), and availability for what you want.

[Canine*Castle]

Here's a cool link I just found.

Approved, candidate, disqualified USA small towns links by state: Browse Towns

Tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes are probably the most common natural disasters in Texas. I, too, am from southern California and very conservative. Not everyone in that state is a liberal as so many seem to think.

[TY2012]

Some great areas to live in are Arlington, Hurst, Bedford, Euless and North Richland Hills, Keller and Southlake. You should do your research on those areas, they are small towns with lots of great dining, shops and more.

[VonHuffenHausen]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

I, too, am from southern California and very conservative. Not everyone in that state is a liberal as so many seem to think.

And not everyone in Texas is conservative. All of the major cities are liberal. Texas is very diverse.

And you say you love the accent, there are a variety of accents from neutral American to East Texas to Texican to Indian to Ustonian to Pakistani.

[DanielWayne]

Yeah the accent varies a LOT across the state. The majority of people in big cities sound nothing like Storage Wars Texas.

[cp102]

You need to spend a bit of time vacationing to an area you think you might be interested in, to find out whether you would like it or not, 50-100 acres as another poster said is alot to care for. If you just want horses you don't really need that much land.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by VonHuffenHausen

And not everyone in Texas is conservative. All of the major cities are liberal. Texas is very diverse.

And you say you love the accent, there are a variety of accents from neutral American to East Texas to Texican to Indian to Ustonian to Pakistani.

I do not think it is accurate to say the major cities are liberal.

Liberal = San Francisco or Portland.

Not one Texas city is remotely like those, whether actual lifestyle or local politics. No city in Texas will take away toys in Happy Meals nor prevent the US military from recruiting. Nor will they try to take away anyone's guns.

[Rathagos]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I do not think it is accurate to say the major cities are liberal.

Liberal = San Francisco or Portland.

Not one Texas city is remotely like those, whether actual lifestyle or local politics. No city in Texas will take away toys in Happy Meals nor prevent the US military from recruiting. Nor will they try to take away anyone's guns.

The "major" cities are very much liberal compared to the rest of Texas small towns.

I'm originally from San Francisco. I joined the Navy at 17 to get out of that horrible city, and over the 21 years I served, the entire state has gone down the liberal drain so far I never want to return - and it's beautiful in it's nature, but the people that live there now have ensured that people that are moderate/moderate-to-conservative will never return.

I find that same liberal mentality (accepting the fringe behaviors of minority pockets of society) exists in San Antonio, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and to a lesser extent El Paso.

You will find those people and their fringe behaviors in most cities/towns all across America, but there are still traditional (and conservative) values to be held in higher esteem in most of the west Texas towns (I currently live in San Angelo). People are polite, tolerant (but less accepting) of deviant behavior, and downright friendly.

But, to pretend or mislead that the major cities in Texas are not liberally-based (as are most cities in the U.S., in my opinion), is disingenuous at best.

Having lived in 4 countries (other than the U.S.) and 6 states within the U.S., I can say that choosing San Angelo (a town of about 95k people) was a no brainer instead of going back to California for any reason.

[doctorjef]

Originally Posted by TY2012

Some great areas to live in are Arlington, Hurst, Bedford, Euless and North Richland Hills, Keller and Southlake. You should do your research on those areas, they are small towns with lots of great dining, shops and more.

Those are NOT small towns. They're big suburbs amid the urban sprawl of Dallas-Fort Worth!

I think the OP is likely to have in mind something more like Stephenville, Giddings, Woodville, Post, Fort Davis, etc (to name a selection of small towns in various regions of the State).

Also, I wouldn't define San Angelo as a small town by any means, but it is a fairly pleasant small city.

Amongst natural disasters, one should include drought and range fires! And the searing summer temperatures should be taken into account, as well.