SA or Houston area??? (San Antonio, Baytown: to rent, schools, university)

[EscapeFromCalif]

Planning to sell out and retire in the next couple years and do as my screenname says.

- Hubby gets his medical care from the VA and needs to be within an hour drive of a VA Hospital.

- We're realizing that though we both love actual seasons, arthritic knees and hips mean cold is no longer our friend. Not sure how we'd do with humidity, no experience to draw from.

- He's an old car nut and is building a nostalgia dragster, so a car community and a fairly local drag strip are biggees.

- We like an involved, active community. I grew up in a smaller town, which is as much a state of mind as a physical characteristic (if that makes sense).

- I like having trees around! No deserts for this gal.

- Our politics are moderate -- Rep on some things, Dem on others, with some Libertarian thoughts thrown in here and there

- I do not do well with tornadoes. I think I could handle living where they occur some miles away. Same on thunder storms, though I could probably adjust to them easier than twisters. We plan to rent a year to see if that's true.

From lurking on these forums, I'm liking Schertz in the SA area, and Huntsville in the Houston area.

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas, yadda yadda yadda? Be gentle!

[EscapeFromCalif]

Deserts meaning chaparral and sagebrush!

[TXsurburbanmom]

Boerne north of SA has a really nice car show and a nice community feel. Even if you’re not living there you could easily enjoy that vibe when you visit the car show. There also used to be a nice group at the Bun and Barrell (old drive-in) but I’m not sure about that one as I only heard of it through my father-in-law who has been gone almost 10 years.

I’m thinking SA area for y’all. Not sure how long your husband served but SA is pretty unique on it’s respect for the military. My dad was retired military and now I am lucky enough to live near Camp Bullis around a lot of active and retire military.

SA runs blue and the surrounding areas red but it’s Texas blue not CA blue. Houston is much the same there. I think Houston is a bit bigger and louder liberally but SA is trying to catch up with a former mayor looking for the Democrat nomination next election - unlikely but there’s always Beto...

SA is fairly humid but Houston is FL humid. I’ve lived in both and there’s no denying the difference even a few hours away from the coast where I was in the Woodlands. Houston is greener, pines in the north in fact like the southeast. I experienced some crazy tropical storms there and a minor hurricane I almost drove through on my way to SA ironically. SA gets thunderstorms for sure but on the NC and NW sides of SA the hills seem to break up the tornados. There have been minor ones recently in other areas but nothing major. Both areas flood but SA has flash floods in low areas while Houston is just wetter overall more like Louisiana which was what made Harvey even worse.

I lived and could live in the Houston suburbs again. We are just from SA and, even though we’ll leave the city proper once our kids are out of school, we plan to stay in the area. It’s a bit more scrubby than Houston but I love the Live Oaks and the proximity to the Hill Country. It’s been wetter than usual the last several years so the springs have been quite lovely. The wet fall should help the bluebonnet crop especially if we can get a nice cold snap before March. No matter where you land I hope you get a chance to experience our beautiful wildflowers.

[SugLandDAd]

Houston has three big drag strips.......There is a drag strip in Baytown, Texas (ROYALPURPLERACEWAY.COM) and one in Sealy (Texas 1/4 Mile Dragstrip | Lonestar Motorsports Park) and one on teh Northeast side, near Lake Houston (http://www.houstonmotorsportspark.com) Thats tough to beat anywhere in Texas.



There is a big VA hospital (Debakey) (https://www.houston.va.gov/ ) on the south side of town.Huntsville has a clinic, but not a hospital, so you have to figure which you will be using.



I would look on the East Side of Houston, as far south as Clear Lake (less trees, more water/beachy) , as far north as Huffman or Kingwood, maybe even Cleveland. (more trees, less beachy) . Since you have no kids....and schools arent a big deal, consider Baytown.

Where ever you go....look into whether the area flooded.

[DanielWayne]

San Antonio and Houston meet all your criteria except the thunderstorms. You won't avoid that. Thunderstorms aren't bad unless you are stuck driving in a heavy storm or you live in a low lying area. In some parts of the Houston area you would be concerned about hurricanes, but not so much in Huntsville.

Deserts are in West Texas. Not Houston or San Antonio so no worries there.

I live near Houston, but I grew up in a small town, so I understand the small town state of mind. Huntsville, at least to me, is a pleasant town with a growing university. I investigated moving there myself a few years ago. It's close enough to the Woodlands if you have a problem that needs big city amenities to resolve. But it still 'feels' like a small town. And most importantly, it has 2 strong economic drivers that won't go away.

I would also say to look into Brenham Tx. That's another place I would consider moving. It's kind of a weekend getaway, too because of the bluebonnets in the spring, a few B&Bs, and the Ice Cream factory.

[EscapeFromCalif]

You guys are fantastic!

Hubby was injured and discharged after 15 months in the USAF almost 40 years ago, eventually got a 40% rating. The hour-ish from a VA hospital is simply the most amount of time we want to spend traveling to appts that can't be handled at a local clinic.

Don't even get me started on California's version of Blue. Ultra- or extreme- anything is dangerous and destructive, and we've got it in spades out here.

T-storms are going to be a part of anyplace other than the Pacific Northwest. Lightning, eh. Big ol' loud thunder claps? That's what I don't like, and neither does our Maine Coon mix cat.

Looks like there's a vacation to the Lone Star state in our near future.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by EscapeFromCalif

Planning to sell out and retire in the next couple years and do as my screenname says.

- Hubby gets his medical care from the VA and needs to be within an hour drive of a VA Hospital.

- We're realizing that though we both love actual seasons, arthritic knees and hips mean cold is no longer our friend. Not sure how we'd do with humidity, no experience to draw from.

- He's an old car nut and is building a nostalgia dragster, so a car community and a fairly local drag strip are biggees.

- We like an involved, active community. I grew up in a smaller town, which is as much a state of mind as a physical characteristic (if that makes sense).

- I like having trees around! No deserts for this gal.

- Our politics are moderate -- Rep on some things, Dem on others, with some Libertarian thoughts thrown in here and there

- I do not do well with tornadoes. I think I could handle living where they occur some miles away. Same on thunder storms, though I could probably adjust to them easier than twisters. We plan to rent a year to see if that's true.

From lurking on these forums, I'm liking Schertz in the SA area, and Huntsville in the Houston area.

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas, yadda yadda yadda? Be gentle!

the only Texas desert is a whole long way away from SA/Houston.It should not worry you in San Antone and Houston.

[MisterShipWreck]

I love Houston. I live not too far from Houston, and I go there all the time. But, truth be told - traffic is a nightmare.

I have a girlfriend who lives in San Antonio. I cannot move because of my job and my son. But, I am there every other weekend. And, the city is really growing on me. If I was forced to pick one or the other to live in, I think I'd pick San Antonio.

It's actually surprising, as I previously never thought I would like San Antonio that much. But, the city is really growing on me.

I would suggest that you visit both - but you need to visit each city MORE than 1 time to get a good feel for each

[gabetx]

I will say, one thing SA has substantially less of than Houston are thunderstorms. Houston averages nearly 20 inches more of rain than SA annually and commonly gets strong summer thunderstorms off of the gulf. SA's thunderstorms usually come in along with cold fronts, or tropical systems during the summer months, and usually have less lightning than those I have experienced in Houston.

[EscapeFromCalif]

Excellent feedback!

First step was to identify the general area that ticks the boxes, which is looking like SA. Next is to identify several areas/towns within that area that are appealing on the surface. After that is to actually go "boots on the ground" to see what they each feel like. After that, follow the news to see what goes on in daily life, community groups, etc. It's absolutely a multi-stage process.

On the list so far: Schertz, Boerne, and Bandera