Plano vs Waco

[tomchard]

Originally Posted by Mark Senior

Don't forget to check out Tyler, (for retiring) if you're considering Waco. Different in many ways, not necessarily better, but different and as much to offer in Tyler, yep, in different ways, lol

... Thank You, Mark Senior! ... That just may become yet-another "side trip" we'll take while in the area. We're already talking about driving up to Hillsboro, so a little "jaunt" to Corsicana, Palestine, and over Tyler-way will give us a chance to see what folks are bragging about!

Y'all have a great weekend!! ...

[lonestar2007]

I second the opinions that texasdiver gave you excellent advice. Kudos to you texasdiver for taking the time and effort to write such an informative and thoughtful post.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by tomchard

... C-D wouldn't allow me to 'rep' you , but I sincerely appreciate the nice "overview" you presented on this thread about Waco and its surrounding area. We're talking about spending a few days there, this Summer, to look around, and see if we like it enough to retire to the area.
The "Fixer Upper"® TV program notwithstanding, that whole area appears to be enjoying some new fame, and is rising to the attention it's receiving.

Thanks for posting! ...
TC ...

I'm not retirement age yet. Our youngest is in 4th grade and we need to get her through college before even thinking about it. But Waco seems to be a reasonably good retirement destination. The Woodway area has a number of subdivisions with nice patio homes that would make good retirement homes if you are looking for minimal yard in a nice single family home. There are two major hospitals and pretty much all the medical specialists you would need outside of the fancy surgery specialties and rare stuff you would need to go to Dallas or Houston for. There is also a VA hospital and a lot of home healthcare type businesses catering to the retired as there are a lot of retired around here. You have Baylor to provide cultural stuff as there is a reasonable amount of arts and music happening there.

And travel in and out of Waco is reasonable. Waco has its own airport but only has a few daily flights to DFW. Ten years ago they also had flights to Houston on Continental but those days are long gone. But you do have 3 major airports that are all a 2 hour drive in DFW, Austin, and Love Field. Well, Love might be 2.5 hours as you have to go through downtown Dallas to get there but DFW and Austin are a reliable 2 hour drive. Both Love Field and Austin give access to Southwest Airlines which is good for cheap flights around the southwest. You have about driving 10 routes to DFW coming from the south so you can avoid major traffic jams that you see on your phone. There is a new loop toll road that lets you avoid all the Austin traffic when driving to the Austin airport from Waco. So either airport is reasonable and reliable. I find from my house the drive time to DFW or Austin airports is an identical 2 hours. We do a lot of cultural stuff in Fort Worth and Austin. Not so much in Dallas for some reason. I find Fort Worth to be more manageable and slightly closer for day trips. A lot of the shopping and cultural stuff in Fort Worth is on the south side whereas most of it is on the North side of Dallas so trips to Fort Worth are always quicker coming from Waco. And I-35W is usually better than I-35E.

As for Tyler as the other poster suggested. It is also a very nice city with similar size and amenities to Waco. If I had to describe the differences between Tyler and Waco I would say that Tyler is more "southern" and Waco is more "western". Tyler is deeper into East Texas so the climate is more green and flowers and lush green foliage will be more evident. It feels more like a southern city to me. I find it similar to Tallahassee in appearance. Waco is closer to the 100th meridian which traditionally divides the eastern forests from the western prairies. As you drive west from Waco the farmland quickly gives way to semi-arid ranch land and it has a more open Western feel. A lot of the area around Waco, especially to the west is horse country and you'll see more rodeo and western type stuff in Waco. But it is by no means Wyoming. People don't walk around in cowboy hats and boots. But the landscape has a more western feel to it. One advantage to Waco is that it is more central so that you can easily get to Austin and San Antonio and down to the Gulf Coast. The only city that Tyler is reasonably close to is Dallas. I guess Waco and Tyler are both about the same distance to Houston.

[txstate]

It takes 2.5 hours to get to Houston on hwy 6 from Waco through Aggieland to 290. Waco is nothing like Tyler Ive been to built they are night and day.

[cattusbabe]

Thanks for all of this great information texasdiver. My husband and I are on a serious mission to relocate to Waco from Philadelphia Pa.
within the next two years. This will be our retirement home and you pretty much gave us all of the information that we could need to clinch our decision to make this move. Our plan is to build new so we are looking for acreage outside of Waco in order to do this. Again thanks.