Moving from VA to (Central) Texas. Advice Please ( (Houston, Dallas: to rent, crime rates)

[MamaMiaof3nJD]

My family is planning a move to Texas late next spring (May/June)
We have live on the east coast for three years and prior to that in the midwest. We want to move to to Texas in order to have a more full life for our family. Texas has so much to offer and there are so many areas to choose from, so I was wondering if I could get some advice. Here is a little info about us.

Family of 5 (4 year old, 12 year old and 14 year old kids), so safe towns and good schools are important as well as decent housing prices (though we plan to rent for a year until we get "settled").

We are a young family and enjoy family activities including things outdoors when its nice out (parks, water activities, etc), but not wanting to live in a tourist type area like we do now.

My husband is a CDL driver and I am planning on taking the Texas Bar Exam to be licensed as an attorney next summer in TX after I graduate. So we will need to find an area with jobs for both of us.

We would prefer hills, trees and as much green as possible. (We eventually want to purchase 10 or more acres to build a modest home and maybe keep some animals, nothing too fancy just big enough with some land to play on).

Would like to live in a small to midsize (population around 50-100K) town possibly nearer a larger city for job reasons (small commute time okay). Would also be interested in living in a smaller town if location is within an hour of larger city.

What I don't like about where we live now (Virginia Beach/Chesapeake):
Too crowded, expensive home/rental price, crime rates, too "touristy", taxes are high, pay is low

Places I sort of like but need more advice about :

San Angelo
San Antonio
etc

[LilyLady]

Originally Posted by MamaMiaof3nJD

.....

Would like to live in a small to midsize (population around 50-100K) town possibly nearer a larger city for job reasons (small commute time okay). Would also be interested in living in a smaller town if location is within an hour of larger city.

What I don't like about where we live now (Virginia Beach/Chesapeake):
Too crowded, expensive home/rental price, crime rates, too "touristy", taxes are high, pay is low

Places I sort of like but need more advice about :

San Angelo
San Antonio
etc

San Angelo's population is just over 95,000.
San Antonio's population is estimated to be around 1.38 million.

Good for you on getting out of this area. Our expenses are indeed quite high here. You'll find that you'll get so much more for your dollar when it comes to buying or renting a home in Texas.

[ChristieP]

Neither San Antonio or San Angelo are green. Both of them are semi-arid climates. If you want green, you need to look near Tyler or Houston in east Texas.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by MamaMiaof3nJD

My family is planning a move to Texas late next spring (May/June)
We have live on the east coast for three years and prior to that in the midwest. We want to move to to Texas in order to have a more full life for our family. Texas has so much to offer and there are so many areas to choose from, so I was wondering if I could get some advice. Here is a little info about us.

Family of 5 (4 year old, 12 year old and 14 year old kids), so safe towns and good schools are important as well as decent housing prices (though we plan to rent for a year until we get "settled").

We are a young family and enjoy family activities including things outdoors when its nice out (parks, water activities, etc), but not wanting to live in a tourist type area like we do now.

My husband is a CDL driver and I am planning on taking the Texas Bar Exam to be licensed as an attorney next summer in TX after I graduate. So we will need to find an area with jobs for both of us.

We would prefer hills, trees and as much green as possible. (We eventually want to purchase 10 or more acres to build a modest home and maybe keep some animals, nothing too fancy just big enough with some land to play on).

Would like to live in a small to midsize (population around 50-100K) town possibly nearer a larger city for job reasons (small commute time okay). Would also be interested in living in a smaller town if location is within an hour of larger city.

What I don't like about where we live now (Virginia Beach/Chesapeake):
Too crowded, expensive home/rental price, crime rates, too "touristy", taxes are high, pay is low

Places I sort of like but need more advice about :

San Angelo
San Antonio
etc

San Angelo is supposed to get a lot more crowded and overall expensive if and when the Cline Shale heats up in that area and the oil is already booming there somewhat.However, I have my doubts if that will ever happen or to the extent they are predicting. Near San Antone would be like maybe New Braunfels.About 50,000 people live there.Also, there's San Marcos closer in to Austin.Both are on 35.The Hill Country is green right now.There are lots of small towns within a hour of San Antone and Austin that might work.However, traffic will only get worse as more of the Hill Country gets built over and developed.

[Mark Senior]

Tyler, Longview, that's what you want, lol Tyler, roses, azaleas, trees, trees, small rolling hills, not the Hill country, Tyler 100,000 pop, not good public schools, with a few exceptions, 6 private schools, lowest CITY, tax rate of any city over 15,000 pop.

Small towns with good schools very near, Lindale, Bullard, Whitehouse, 1/12 hours to DFW Nice zoo, lakes, all around, nice Cowan Performing Arts Center on the UTT Campus, very good East Texas Symphony Orchestra, many different types of home, very good shopping with a huge Town Center being built now, not a mall.

Miles of walking Trails, Rose Rudman Trail, South Tyler Trails now connected, yes, there are parts of town that aren't very nice, working on that, poor areas, Tyler is a complete "stand alone city" not adjacent to Houston as a bedroom community, where all the homes are upscale nice, as in some areas Houston, Austin, San Antonio and DFW which are "mega" population centers.

Again, Six Flags, Jerry Jones World, Texas Rangers about an easy two hour trip.

But, you better have a job before moving to Tyler of course, no booming job growth as in many others parts of Texas. Medical, retail, largest employer, yes, banking business center of East Texas.

You can tell, at 68 years old, Tyler information is one of my hobbies, I try to be somewhat "objective", sort of, lol Also, lived in Houston 25 years, so I do have a little bit of comparisons to other parts of the state except no interest in West Texas Midland,Odessa, most folks move there for oil jobs and other jobs created BECAUSE of all the people coming for oil jobs, just mostly not very scenic.

Also, East Texas is very humid, yeah, that's what creates all the lushness, lol, moisture. Good luck!!

[explorer2014]

I would look at the Hill Country and surrounding areas. Try Kerrville, Fredricksburg, Boerne.

[Westerntraveler]

San Antone and FBurg are big tourist traps.Forget my New Braunfels suggestion as well since it is very touristy as well.Kerrville is touristy too I think but don't quote me.

[SoulMane979]

Don't know if you're looking for more of a southern culture,liberal,western or what.It will all depend on your personal preference,so I'll give a few examples of the different types of Texas.I'm not into politics or exclusivity,so my opinions will not be biased.Austin is very liberal and young spirited will lots of festivities and major annual events.There are very health conscious people who drive mini coopers and drink vanilla chai tea.lol Not much southern culture,but still a decent place to live if you are the active/veggie burger eating type.Austin metroplex also recently hit 1 mil.If you're more conservative and not into "save the salamander" campaigns you might like east Texas(Houston included) a little better.Some parts of central Texas,and all of east Texas are pretty much southern in culture and landscape.Bryan-College Station is what I would call east central Texas and culturally is %100 different from Austin,which is also considered central Texas.Tyler is in east Texas about 1.5 hours from Dallas.Both College Station and Tyler's communities are driven by their universities,Texas A&M in College Station and UT Tyler.San Antonio is a hispanic city with mostly mexican influence.Most of Texas has large hispanic populations,but in SA and south Texas it will be even more magnified.Austin is the only city of it's kind in Texas(could be compared to(Seattle or Denver).Dallas and Houston are more conservative than Austin,but still more liberal than our small towns.In short,east Texas is southern.West Texas and the panhandle are southwestern,while central Texas is a mix of all regions.For the best of all worlds I would say a small town north or east of Austin would be a good choice:Rockdale,Hutto,Belton,etc... Hope this helped.

[TXsurburbanmom]

Originally Posted by Westerntraveler

San Antone and FBurg are big tourist traps.Forget my New Braunfels suggestion as well since it is very touristy as well.Kerrville is touristy too I think but don't quote me.

Now come on, ALL of San Antonio can't be a tourist trap hon. I know you know better than that since it's a city of over 1 million. I rarely even go to the touristy parts

South of San Antonio would be good with a CDL but it's not as green and more flat than north SA. Perhaps La Vernia although I'm not sure the distance to Eagle Ford from there or if it would offer the other things you need. Nice people though and I have family happy with the schools.

San Angelo is where I spent my teen years. Great place to grow up. THe schools seems to have gone down though which is sad as I got a great education there. Wall ISD ranks well though. Prices are up though as it is benefiting from the oil boom. Abilene is supposed to hit it big next but I've never been a big fan despite having family there.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by ddeel

Now come on, ALL of San Antonio can't be a tourist trap hon. I know you know better than that since it's a city of over 1 million. I rarely even go to the touristy parts

South of San Antonio would be good with a CDL but it's not as green and more flat than north SA. Perhaps La Vernia although I'm not sure the distance to Eagle Ford from there or if it would offer the other things you need. Nice people though and I have family happy with the schools.

San Angelo is where I spent my teen years. Great place to grow up. THe schools seems to have gone down though which is sad as I got a great education there. Wall ISD ranks well though. Prices are up though as it is benefiting from the oil boom. Abilene is supposed to hit it big next but I've never been a big fan despite having family there.

San Antone is the number one tourist destination in the entire state of Texas.Granted, you can live your life in your own little bubble away from the tourist areas like u said.San Antone is a very touristy place and thats why I said to avoid it because the OP said she did not want to live in a touristy area.