Another Possible Transplant (Houston, Dallas, Austin: real estate, low crime, home)

[ORcrocker]

Hi All,
I'm interested in moving to Texas and am trying to learn as much as possible to narrow down some locations to go scout. Move won't be for a couple years as I'm currently in law school. I've spent some time in the SW but not much in TX.

I'm an Oregon native, not the rainy, forever cloudy urban part of Oregon, but from the sunny rural side. We get seasonally strong winds, and our summers/winters are more extreme than the West side of the state. My hometown is around 20,000, strongest industry is agriculture. My dad's family comes from cattle and sheep ranching history, and I have always felt at home in "the country." I love my little corner of the earth, but I feel like the community/region is lacking. I do really like the agricultural ties.


What I'm looking for is a small city, somewhere in the 30,000-100,000 population range. Not interested in a suburb region or the cities that blend into the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolis. Would like to be within 300 mi of D/FW or Austin, though. I've been looking mostly in the Big Bend, Panhandle, Hill, and Prairie/Lakes regions. Not interested in the regions bordering Mexico or the Gulf, probably not the far East, either. Not interested in adventures with hurricanes and tornadoes....


Interested in:

-Low crime rate, relatively small drug/gang problems, and clean (SAFE!)
-Family oriented (with a fair amount of activities/events/organizations to keep youth & adults busy & out of trouble)
-Good education system, with a solid program of sending HS'ers off to college, and a strong athletics program
-Strong sense of community
-Honest, real, down to earth, and sincere people (I know... hard to stereotype but I truly value those qualities)
-Friendly community, minimal racism (I'm half Asian)
-Good food (love BBQ but would appreciate variety)
-Active, open-minded, and ambitious people in the community (Hoping not to be single by then but if I am, would like to have some suitable options)
-Groups of people capable of having fun by means other than getting intoxicated (don't mind alcohol but not interested in dead, desolate towns with excessive under age drinking and dead beat alcoholics)
-Nice amentities but something more than big box/chain stores/restaurants (ie town with a sense of its own culture)

-Community that will accept someone who is not particularly religious but has own good morals and ethics.

Summed up: a nice small city to raise a family and have a career.

Any suggestions? How do you think Abilene, Odessa, San Angelo, or Midland would suit? How about some smaller cities?

I'll be initially looking for a small acreage (2-3) for my horses and dogs that will be moving with me, but I'm interested in acquiring more land later, so someplace with reasonable real estate rates will be ideal.

What's the legal field like in Texas right now? Crappy as the rest of the country or better? Interested in science, medical/veterinary, or teaching hospital based in-house legal, or organizations in similar fields, possible biomedical patent law, etc as my undergrad in is biology. What would be a good location for such a law career? May be interested in alternative legal careers, too, or for non-profits.

What region has the least scorpions, cockroaches, fireants, rattlers, etc? I'm kind of squeemish about bugs... but really am more concerned for my animals' sake when they are out and about.

What region has the coolest summers? (Relatively speaking, I know TX is hot.) What region is the least humid?

What region has the best upland bird hunting?

Any opinions, answers, or suggestions will be much appreciated.


Thanks!

[ORcrocker]

Additional helpful info: how dog friendly is the community? Which region would you recommend for efficient horse keeping? (Ie regional hay farming, pasture/grazing availability) What are the main types of mature trees around the city? Thanks again to anyone who can provide some insight or suggestions.

[ChristieP]

You ask for a small town, but then you want a high-tech teaching hospital. Unfortunately, these things are mutually exclusive. The teaching hospitals are in big cities with the university medical schools. The only veterinary school in the entire state is Texas A&M in College Station. Almost all of the legal activity is also on the big cities, especially the fields you mentioned.

As for horse keeping, it is expensive the further west you go. The grass out west is poorer, and you will have to pay a lot of money to have hay brought in. Also, the soil is more rocky and you will need to know how to do your own farrier work, or pay a fortune for someone else to do it for you. Most horse people live close to Houston, Fort Worth and Dallas because that's where the shows are. The area northwest of Dallas around Pilot Point and Aubrey has lots of really nice horse farms.

As for the types of trees, etc., Google can be your friend. I will say that all of Texas has hot summers, and bugs are everywhere. Sure, Houston has different bugs than El Paso, but they all have bugs.

[ORcrocker]

Hi Christie,
Thanks for your input. FWIW, I'm not limiting myself to high-tech teaching hospitals. To clarify, legal careers I'm interested in would be for science-related corporations or organizations; medical or veterinary corporations, organizations, or hospitals/clinics; teaching hospitals; or non-legal/alternative legal. I also forgot to add agricultural law. I'm sure a lot of those jobs are in the cities, but I'm hoping to find one that isn't.

Thanks for the horse-related info, that will help a lot. I have it easy in Eastern Oregon, where expenses are relatively cheap -reasonable farriers, local hay, and good pasture on our property....

[VonHuffenHausen]

Houston which is very humid is where you might, might be able to find a job especially if you are top of your class at a top ten school. The legal market is bad everywhere. Maybe some places in West Texas for Ag law, but you would have to be in a small city of some sort maybe like Amarillo or Lubbock. Another point to note that Texas is much much more diverse and different from Oregon, except in the small country towns (except for ones closer to Mexico).

You pretty much have to be careful everywhere you go and where you walk because the rattlers with gitch ya.

Just kidding. Rattle snakes tend to be in more western regions, but other areas have plenty of copperheads, cotton mouth vipers and more...... don't forget black widows

You might want to re-think some of the things that you want because it sounds like a fictitious Texas fantasy land. Or maybe you might want to look at a different state like Wyoming.

The facts:
Texas is hot everywhere.
Bugs are everywhere (and how icky depends on the region)
The education system is poor, except for some of the top schools in major metropolitan areas
there are honest people in cities and small towns
there are jerks and liars in cities and small towns
Is an entire state dog friendly? I won't even touch that one
You can have horses in most places, i ride mine on the highway in Dallas to work everyday ;-)
the cities have diversity and different types of shops and restaurants
small towns have nothing or chain restaurants n shops
people in the country tend to be very religious, less educated
the more educated diverse populations (more-so in cities) tend to be more accepting and non-religious
Crime is everywhere
Drugs are funneled through Mexico and also made in Texas
Small towns harbor lots of meth addicts and other problems
Cities have diverse crime
Except for cats, Your animals cannot be out and about unless on a leash or on your property fenced in, well you can let them roam wild, but I would worry about coyotes and the general sense that it is tacky to not maintain them.

[Chosen010]

VonHuffen-clueless...
Your entire post here is full of, not only seemingly biased, but also completely off basis answers regarding any portion of Texas.

Texas is not hot, as in temperate for the region of the hemisphere it lies in.. Humidity ranges across the state which directly affects the "hot" feeling associated with the actual temperature.
Bugs are everywhere within every state in the United States, unless you're aware of some pest free municipality or region most people are not aware of.
The education system ranks among the top in the country with the same exceptions for extremely rural or urban demographic dictated areas that every other state suffers from.
Small towns offer some of the best "hole in the wall" dining to be found, just see Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on The Food Network.
Religious does not equal Less Educated. (Ridiculous comment)
Meth addicts and Meth labs are actually not any higher in population to subject ratio per capita than any other state. Watch an episode of cops Orlando, FL sometime.

ORcrocker, I recommend you look at something like Lubbock, TX (the one thing Von seemed to get right). Texas Tech has a very good law school and depending on the type of law you intend to practice Lubbock has plenty of opportunity. I will say that I have seen a couple of people ride their horses within the city limits on major (relative) thoroughfares...

PS: Texas high school football players are the most sought after football players in the country (in general). I can't say the same for basketball, track, or most other sports, but we have our share here in every sport.

[caspians]

You clearly stay on top of all things law related. I hope you’ve heard of JD Match. If not, you should check them out. I work with them, and they might be the only thing law related that is also easy and free. Home