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I know it is easy to idealize an area through the research process so I’m hoping for some insight from folks actually on the ground. If one researches humidity, for example (all of Texas is going to be more humid than Cali or Colorado, obviously), Sperlings Best Places ranks the comfort index higher for the Hill Country due to slightly less humidity in that area than say the Tyler area, 6.7 vs 4.3, respectively.
I am in northern CO now, arid and the comfort index is 7.2 I think, but hey, the cold winters are too much for me anymore so I take the rankings with a grain of salt! The terrain in the Hill Country would appear to support the numbers though. Tyler is wet and green (been there numerous times for years), the Hill Country (never been there) looks arid and dry in comparison. I would be miserable if I couldn’t handle being outdoors, any time of the year, besides chores to care for animals I love gardening and landscaping etc. could never be an indoors person and happy.
The top con to the hill country that I see is cost. It does appear to be more spendy-though all of Texas seems to be quite a bit more expensive after the last few years than it once was.
We have a small acreage here in CO with a plethora of animals so, though we are getting older, we are still raising a small tribe of kids, very active in 4H, and we aren’t looking for a small postage stamp with HOAs on it!
We are planning a couple of trips to the Hill Country this spring/summer (spring cause we want to enjoy the temperate weather first, august cause we want to feel the humidity and hope to see fire flies for the kids!) and so the kids especially can feel that humidity. Because we are only visiting, we still won’t have a rock solid impression due to the limited time.
Texas is pretty much where our searches keep ending up, we are not opposed to a property with some sort of combo (will likely have to do a 1031 at some point anyway), that includes hospitality. This is our gifting anyway… we have considered an RV park for years. Don’t know what this industry will do with the current economic times and all but???
Regardless, it would be nice to find the least humid place that doesn’t look and feel like mars… (e.g., Wyoming is an amazing place with amazing people.. but I am not tough enough to live in that climate or terrain-if you’re outside of Yellowstone or the Tetons, it is cold, harsh and looks like mars!). So, we do want some humidity, “some”… and elevation if possible.
I will say, realtors in the hill country area don’t return calls much… maybe we aren’t a sure thing as we explore and they used to working with folks who have a lot of money???? Let’s just say, we aren’t prob considered “well-to-do” retirees. We own multiple businesses and work very hard to barely feel like we are making it!! Lol! But Gods been good to us and we are blessed.
Just need to leave the snow (for Colorado, pretty mild where I am so that tells ya how little I can handle it!) and a little more humidity would be good for health issues now.
SO!!!
Who lives there? Knows other parts of Texas? Knows the business climate and actual climate differences?
Thanks in advance!
What were your cons about Tyler? Was it just the humidity?
The reason I ask is because you mentioned you live gardening.
The Hill country area isn't Mars but I find that area not the best for gardening. It's not because of the lower rainfall but because of pH. Tyler (along with the rest of East Texas) has acidic soil that allows most plants to easily take up nutrients. The central Texas area is more alkaline. Gardening in more basic conditions isn't impossible with soil amendments and the are plants that thrive in basic soils, but for Texas, East Texas soils are more conducive to more conventional gardening.
As far as humidity goes, I have never paid much attention in the hill country. To me Texas its hot all over Texas and I don't feel the difference until I get to far west Texas. I am probably the opposite of you. I feel more comfortable in humid air so I avoid dryer areas, but I never got that feeling in Austin.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mommalot
I know it is easy to idealize an area through the research process xxx ranks the comfort index higher for the Hill Country due to slightly less humidity in that area than say the Tyler area, 6.7 vs 4.3, respectively.
I am in northern CO now, ... I would be miserable if I couldn’t handle being outdoors, any time of the year, besides chores to care for animals I love gardening and landscaping etc. could never be an indoors person and happy.
...still raising a small tribe of kids, very active in 4H, ...
We are planning a couple of trips to the Hill Country this spring/summer (spring cause we want to enjoy the temperate weather first, august cause we want to feel the humidity and hope to see fire flies for the kids!) ...
Texas is pretty much where our searches keep ending up, we are not opposed to a property with some sort of combo (will likely have to do a 1031 at some point anyway), that includes hospitality. This is our gifting anyway… we have considered an RV park for years. ...Wyoming is an amazing place with amazing people.. ...
I will say, realtors in the hill country area don’t return calls much… maybe we aren’t a sure thing as we explore and they used to working with folks who have a lot of money???? Let’s just say, we aren’t prob considered “well-to-do” retirees. We own multiple businesses and work very hard to barely feel like we are making it!! Lol! But Gods been good to us and we are blessed.
Just need to leave the snow (for Colorado, pretty mild where I am so that tells ya how little I can handle it!) and a little more humidity would be good for health issues now.
SO!!!
Who lives there? Knows other parts of Texas? Knows the business climate and actual climate differences?
Thanks in advance!
Look me up.
I grew up in Masonville, CO (population 5) until the Texans chased us out of CO about 40 yrs ago. We ended up in income tax free WA for our high earning yrs, where the gardening is magnificent (100" of drizzle / yr), but I don't like rain too much (really I don't like MUD). So I spend a lot of time in Texas this time of yr. Halloween until the bluebonnets fade (15 April). I dig 4H, and was a member and leader for many yrs (in Colorado). Every elected leader and especially USA Presidents should be required to present and explain their 4H Project books . https://4-h.org/about/what-is-4-h/4-h-pledge/
but... we have (6) rural properties in the Hill Country (which will all be sold by 9 April 2024, the day after the total solar eclipse). I've always been a gardener (Master Gardener trained in 3 states / very different climates and soils) and farmer and have had commercial u-pick fruit farm in WA. There are some really decent gardening spots in TX, but they are few and far between. One of mine is excellent (river bottom soils that was a feedlot for 40 yrs) it is in a basin that would allow tremendous rainwater recovery options + I have plenty of roof space (Shops, barns, driveways, slabs...) + a 300 ft long pond that is 30' deep (now empty due to drought).
I can help direct you to places to look, but of course, I will be the last person to tell you Texas ( WA or CO) is perfect. (I prefer WY). I've been very involved in searching RV campgrounds in the Hill Country, and can discuss many different pro's and con's. I know plenty of realtors who would help you find your spot. (But I'm a very good property hunter / 1031 / distressed property locator). I ride the backroads of the Hill Country everyday (ADV M/C, 12,000 miles of dirt last yr). Of 40 places I've bought, only 2x did I need a realtor, and only because the seller wanted hand holding.
We had planned to build a rural retiree community in the Hill Country and create a MENZ Shed (New Zealand style) for RV retirees. But.. DW axed Texas after a couple too many summers (Scorpions, spiders, and Taratulas and snakes are not her thing. I hate Chiggers!!!) She has NONE of that in the PNW and rain does not phase her one bit. Monsterous gardening and cool summer nights, fresh wildberries, salmon and elk are very tough to beat. I travel a lot in the winter , as in nearly all the time.
I attend a lot of excellent events at our local private college (Prime rib buffet, Texas Music heritage, and an excellent military literature library is a plus) all open to the community. https://schreiner.edu/
San Antonio is great to visit and within an hour. Austin is 1.3 hrs.
Hill Country has far less extreme weather events than N Texas. But a lot less lakes, and no Dallas (We flew up there last week for $29 and had a good time. Like Estes Park, better to visit than to live there. (I spent many yrs in EP, as our 'high ranch' (summer) was near Glen Haven. As was my elementary school age girlfriend
Suggest you stop looking along I-35 or near Fredericksburg, Boerne or Bandera and look west and northwest. The land prices may still be higher than you expect, but are far enough away that they would be considered more reasonable than those close to cities.
I grew up in the Panhandle, so to me, the Hill Country is noticeably more humid than down off the Balcones Escarpment, but not terrible humid (gah, I hate going to Houston or East Texas because of the humidity). As you move west and northwest in the Hill Country, the humidity will go down.
As for gardening, that will take some work. Our place is on a limestone ledge, and we raise rocks mostly... Our vegetable garden is raised beds; had to bring in dirt. Some areas have actual dirt, and the land is priced accordingly. Just don't try to bring in plants that need a lot of water; water is seriously expensive.
The Hill Country has lots of Winter Texans (snowbirds), so we have many RV parks and a need for more. Just a few miles from us, a very nice long-term RV park opened and was full within the week. Reason? Not just Winter Texans -- a lot of folks can only afford to live in an RV nowadays, especially in the high cost areas, where their incomes just can't pay for sticks and bricks homes. Trailers/Fifth Wheels are so much more affordable.
IMO most of the Hill Country has been ruined by sprawl and HOA mentalities. The only good part is along the far western fringe which is almost considered semi-arid. You can see the Milky Way and you can’t hear any traffic noise, but good luck with water- and maybe even open your mind to incinerator toilets.
As far as comparing the Hill Country to other parts of TX… the biggest thing in my mind is aside from Walmart and H‑E‑B, they are fairly anti-big business. There isn’t a very robust economy there and it’s pretty lazy— if the Houston or DFW style big businesses opened up there, working age folks would be in a McJob. I have firsthand knowledge about the small businesses there and that crap they do would never fly in the big cities where it’s all about time & money. 50-50 chance that realtor is checked out to be with Willie, Waylon and the boys.
The Hill Country can be very pretty, and yes the humidity is a little lower than areas east of I-35. BUT, as you're finding, land has become pretty expensive, especially anywhere within a 100 mile buffer of I-35 and areas near I-10 east of Junction. Plus, you can have water availability issues, plus, infrastructure can be quite expensive to install as you're often having to drill through limestone to run pipes and cut roads.
You might consider areas north of the Hill Country, between San Angelo and Stephenville. Not always the greenest, but not Mars.
Location: San Diego CA>Tijuana, BC>San Antonio, TX
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Originally Posted by Arkay66
As for gardening, that will take some work. .
Yup, I've heard this before. The views might be nice from some hills, but for any type of gardening or farming the ground is hard and pretty useless. For this, one needs to go South of San Antonio or East of IH 35.
Yup, I've heard this before. The views might be nice from some hills, but for any type of gardening or farming the ground is hard and pretty useless. For this, one needs to go South of San Antonio or East of IH 35.
For folks who have considered moving to the Hill Country, I say, "It might be nice if you don't mind the price and don't need soil."
For folks who have considered moving to the Hill Country, I say, "It might be nice if you don't mind the price and don't need soil."
You can find good bits of soil out there, scattered here and there - just expect to pay for them.
My folks bought ~25 acres about 15 miles north/northwest of FB in the 90s. The land had been in farming use for 70 years or so at that time, as far as we could tell. It was on a slight hill (with a view of Enchanted Rock in the distance) that was nicely terraced. One of the earlier farmers to work the land actually visited my parents at one time and talked about growing crops out there, as well as hay, back in the 40s. My dad ran sheep on part of the land and hay on the rest. Anyway, they sold it ~2012 for ~$400k, but it is appraised right near $2 million now. Not sure what it would actually sell for.
By and large, the $/acre is directly related to the amount of rock on any land out in that area....
You can find good bits of soil out there, scattered here and there - just expect to pay for them.
My folks bought ~25 acres about 15 miles north/northwest of FB in the 90s. The land had been in farming use for 70 years or so at that time, as far as we could tell. It was on a slight hill (with a view of Enchanted Rock in the distance) that was nicely terraced. One of the earlier farmers to work the land actually visited my parents at one time and talked about growing crops out there, as well as hay, back in the 40s. My dad ran sheep on part of the land and hay on the rest. Anyway, they sold it ~2012 for ~$400k, but it is appraised right near $2 million now. Not sure what it would actually sell for.
By and large, the $/acre is directly related to the amount of rock on any land out in that area....
Yeah, land with soil will definitely bring a premium in the HC. I think you can generally find some in creek and river bottoms (for example along the Guadalupe downstream from Kerrville), but of course you may have flood risk in such cases.
Anyhow, the basic point is that Hill Country, in addition to being expensive due to popularity with affluent people, tends to also be an expensive place to develop and build.
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ranks the comfort index higher for the Hill Country due to slightly less humidity in that area than say the Tyler area, 6.7 vs 4.3, respectively. 
...
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). I've been very involved in searching RV campgrounds in the Hill Country, and can discuss many different pro's and con's. I know plenty of realtors who would help you find your spot. (But I'm a very good property hunter / 1031 / distressed property locator). I ride the backroads of the Hill Country everyday (ADV M/C, 12,000 miles of dirt last yr). Of 40 places I've bought, only 2x did I need a realtor, and only because the seller wanted hand holding
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, as in nearly all the time. 
