Relocating from UK to Texas; Where is Best for a Family?? (Dallas: high crime, home)

[FlowerPot0610]

Hey Everyone; I'm new to forums and such but really would love some advice from Genuine Texans.

I'm a 31 yr old woman with a fantastic 32yr old Husband and four amazing sons.
My husband is a qualified and experienced Master Carpenter, so will bring Trade skills to the country

We're dead set on Texas, and are looking at Wichita Falls area at the moment.

We're asking:
Where is best to raise a family, provide some serious avenues for work, has a Balanced and realistic Cost of Living etc.

We've started the Visa paperwork but can't go much further until we've made some solid decisions.

ANY Help would be great


Flower,
Mom from UK

[losttechnician]

Wichita Falls is not the most scenic area of the state. It is relatively close to Oklahoma City, Dallas/Ft Worth, and Amarillo, though. Relatively meaning several hours from all of them, time being the term many of us use to describe the distances between points.

The cost of living is fairly low there, but so are the average incomes. It is home to an Air Force base, so there is a bit of economic stability there. There are some nice areas of town, and some not so nice ones, if you have a chance to visit for several days it will be easy to pick them out.

I am far from a Wichita Falls hater, in fact I drive through twice a month and stop for eats or fuel and invariably the folks are friendly, but I would look at other places too, before you make a final decision.

It appears you are looking for a family friendly place to raise your children, and if you are choosing a place other than a metropolitan area, I would look hard at Lubbock. It is slightly more remote than Wichita Falls, however it is a larger city with many more opportunities than WF. It also offers relative closeness to the mountains of New Mexico, the desert of deep West Texas, without being more than a couple hours further from Dallas Ft.Worth than Wichita Falls is.

Lubbock is very family centered, has a large University (Texas Tech) and the experience of multi national cultures that goes with the university. It is a thriving city with a solid economy, has some nice parks, decent shopping, and a very healthy sports community that surrounds the decent school system.

I used to live in Lubbock, still visit very often, and have a grown daughter and a college aged son attending Texas Tech. I currently live an hour and a half north, outside Amarillo, which runs a very close second to my suggestions for folks to seriously look at living.

I can't help out with suggestions for metro living, but family oriented places in North Texas, the Panhandle, or the South Plains, I can gladly give ideas on.

Best of luck to you!

[supfromthesite]

I recommend Stephenville or Brady area if you can handle smaller towns

[Mark Senior]

A little more about you. Have you visited Texas before? Gone on line to at least look at google street maps of the area. Or go to utube and take a tour from those who visit various parts of Texas. Texas could easily be divided into four or five states, based on culture, liberal or conservative, mostly terrain varies greatly, from desert mountain areas with very little to any population hundreds of miles or many hours from anywhere, the state is almost 700 miles plus north to south and east to west.

Deserts to lush pine forests of East Texas. What size city, do you know the approximate size, unless you know what 10,000 or 100,000 or 500,000 populations Should look like, this would be hard for you too judge.

Why Texas, and particularly Wichita Falls, which not on the hot lists of Texas cities to move too, but heck that might be just the place for you. Thanks this could help us a little more. Good Luck

Yep, politics has gotten to be a big deal here with no end in sight with that situation. lol

[Westerner92]

Wichita Falls is one of the only cities in Texas that’s losing population, and it has among the worst heat indices (combo of heat and humidity) in the state, in a state known for its extreme heat. I’m not sure what exactly you’re looking for in a place to live, but I imagine a carpenter would want to choose a place that’s growing where there’s a good chance to get into the home remodeling/construction market. Just about every place but Wichita Falls would be good for that.

[KathrynAragon]

OP, why Wichita Falls?

[earthisle]

Why are you dead set on Texas and why Wichita Falls? Is your idea of Texas formed by what you see in the media? I can't imagine anyone wanting to live in Wichita Falls, not even Texans.

What is so appealing about a run down poor crime ridden small town?

[ChristieP]

I agree that Wichita Falls would be one of the last places in Texas that I would want to live. In addition to the lack of good job opportunities, relatively high crime, and flat terrain, it also seems to have more severe storms and tornadoes than the rest of north Texas.

But the bigger question: without family or an employer to sponsor your family to come to the USA, how will you be able to immigrate? Being self-employed here is not easy; it takes time to set up a business and develop a clientele. In a small town, that is even more difficult.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Mark Senior

A little more about you. Have you visited Texas before? Gone on line to at least look at google street maps of the area. Or go to utube and take a tour from those who visit various parts of Texas. Texas could easily be divided into four or five states, based on culture, liberal or conservative, mostly terrain varies greatly, from desert mountain areas with very little to any population hundreds of miles or many hours from anywhere, the state is almost 700 miles plus north to south and east to west.

Deserts to lush pine forests of East Texas. What size city, do you know the approximate size, unless you know what 10,000 or 100,000 or 500,000 populations Should look like, this would be hard for you too judge.

Why Texas, and particularly Wichita Falls, which not on the hot lists of Texas cities to move too, but heck that might be just the place for you. Thanks this could help us a little more. Good Luck

Yep, politics has gotten to be a big deal here with no end in sight with that situation. lol

^Pretty much all this.

Are you looking rural, urban, or suburban?

What are you climate 'aversions'? Hate cold? Hate heat? Looking to minimize humidity? Want lots of vegetation or is arid okay? Looking to avoid hurricanes or tornadoes?

Are kids are going to go to public school? If so, quality of school districts can be an issue worth considering.

What is a reasonable cost of living? Rural tends to be cheaper overall, but the cheapest areas you will see will be cheap for a reason.

WF also has some heavy industry (fiberglass?) that does impact the air quality more than you would expect for most areas that size/location.

[C24L]

why do you want to live in Wichita Falls?