by White Dove 38 Replies latest jw friends
I love the heat, humidity, palm trees, and the ocean.
At the same time, I don't want to get flooded out by a hurricane.
Do you think there are places far enough above sea level that don't get flooded in Houston?
Would you recommend Dallas as a good place to relocate?
Do the bugs get smaller the farther north you go?
I went flying in Corpus once: the air charts showed less than 20 feet about that many miles inland. I met a guy that lost an arm working on power lines after the hurricane: they were using boats to go between poles!!! (He got hit by lightning and was knocked out of the pole, snagging a wire on the way down.)
The Hill Country is very nice; it's probably been consumed since I was there.
Mustang
Austin is a beautiful town, by far the best in Texas. The problem is that it's home to one of the country's largest universities. A lot of college graduates love the town as well and want to stick around after they graduate. That makes it hard to find a job. I would definitely recommend Austin if you can find work there.
While Hurricane Ike just devastated much of the Houston area, direct hits by hurricanes are rare. If you move into the west side of Houston, hurricane's do not pose any problem you will have to worry about. Plus, the city was recently named the #1 best city to earn a living by Forbes Magazine http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/18/cities-10-living-forbeslife-cx_mw_0818realestate.html Houston is a very diverse city. There are artsy/progressive parts and there are also conservative/redneck-y parts. You can find a neighborhood to live in to match your personality.
I'm not sure about Dallas. I've never spent much time there.
Austin is the nicest city in Texas. Dallas area is ok; the suburbs north of Dallas while relatively affluent are kinda drab and cookie-cutterish. There's more shopping, eating, multiplexes than you can shake a stick at, not too much touristy stuff, the Fort Worth Zoo is nice though, and there's Six Flags, and all the sports stuff, Stars, Mavericks, Cowboys, Texas Motor Speedway. There's plenty to keep one busy.
San Antonio is pretty nice too, they have that riverwalk thing. Also the Alamo, you could go look for Pee-Wee Herman's missing bike in the basement there.
West Texas? Yeah, um... no. Honestly though I've never been out to west Texas, but I hear it's a whole lot of nothing. In El Paso you might need to dodge the bullets from the drug war going on across the border.
Oh yeah, Houston has NASA!! Other than that it's kinda meh, lots of hospitals though, I guess that's a good city to get sick in.
Flooding in Texas happens and no place is immune. It might not be caused by a hurricane but practically all major cities have some weather drawl backs.
There have been only 16 Hurricanes in 100 years in Texas.
The worst to hit Houston were Catagory 3-4s Carla '61, Alicia '83 and Brent '99. Only those flooded all or most of Houston.
Houston has many surrounding towns that are lovely...I would stick to those northwest and west though. (cuz I am a snob). One exception I would make is Sugarland. It now has one of the top ranking ISDs in the nation. They also have some lovely private schools. Several of my cousins call it home.
Since you like the coast.... why not consider Corpus Christi .... they don't get many Hurricanes. I believe the current average is like one every 20 years.
If you wanna stick to larger cities.....depending on your job....I would say Austin (anything in the Eanes or Lake Travis district) and San Antonio (1604 west is a nice area and higher grounds) (both about 6 hours to the coast) are on the top of my list.
I personally wouldn't recommend Dallas/FTW but I am being a snob again...(well that and tornados make Dallas/FTW kinda dangerous). I will say this though if a woman is in need of social assistance....Tarrent County is known to pay for vocational school & etc to help her out of needing long-term assistance. Otherwise Texas is considered one of the top 10 fiscally responsible states in the union.
Austin does get a few tornados and some areas do flood due to Lake Travis being a regulatory lake
San Antonio also can flood pretty badly.
Ultimately it depends on what type of job field you would be seeking.... each city has a little something.
But of course all the above is just what I have heard .... the Syrian Arab Republic is many thousands of miles east of 'God's Country'
**Wink**
I live/work in San Antonio. I've worked in Austin, visited Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi.
That being said, here are my recommendations...
San Antonio is okay - it's high enough above sea level to not go under water if a hurricane passes this way - although - we do tend to get a tornado or two go through on occassion. Like any city - there are good parts - and bad parts (where you don't want to be caught late at night).
San Antonio has a diverse cultural background... Germans, Mexicans, Spanish, Indians, Polish, etc. due to its' beginnings (Remember the Alamo?), and it shows in the architecture of some of the buildings. It's also spread out across god's half-acre... and can take you a while to get from one corner to the other.
Austin is nice... I like the city and people a lot. It appears to have grown North - to almost envelop Round Rock and Georgetown - and is now growing South - mostly along IH 35.
The Hill Country - I think of as Fredericksburg and Kerrville areas... Kerrville is growing - and is really nice. The winters are cold - the summers are mild.
Dallas/Ft. Worth - too large for my liking. I tend to get lost when having to drive in those cities.
Houston... I spent a week there back in the 70's - I almost sufficated from the humidity. Folks say San Antonio has high humidity (which it does), but it ain't nuttin compared to Houston.
Corpus Christi... sorta has a smell... like a refinery combined with fish. Also high humidity. Nice Gulf breezes though.
I - personally - would recommend either Kerrville - or San Marcos. Huh? San Marcos? Yuppers. It's a college town, but has grown a lot in the last few years. It's about half-way between San Antonio and Austin. It is on the edge of the hill country. Weather is nice... people are nice...
But that's my opinion. That and a buck-fifty can get you a cup of coffee. (But not at Starbucks)
Regards,
Jim TX
West Texas? Yeah, um... no. Honestly though I've never been out to west Texas, but I hear it's a whole lot of nothing. In El Paso you might need to dodge the bullets from the drug war going on across the border.
I've lived in West Texas. If you like wide open spaces, big sky, smaller towns and lots of miles in between towns, it's a good place. I felt like I lived in a compound on the moon there. It grew on me though. Dust storms and wind are a problem at certain times during the year. When people give you directions, they say, "Go out on the Midland highway, for 'bout prett' near ten miles, and when you come to THE tree, make a left and go ten more."
Houston? I had my daughter in Houston, so she is a Texan. Houston, is huge, sunny and I've never seen so much litter in my life. There was a dead horse on the road by a shopping center for a week one time. I did like it there for the subtropical sun and the zoo and The Galleria. I grew up on the coast and really love Palm Trees. We only went to the beach at Galveston one time while we were there. It's a drive from Houston. Do you like flash floods? Houston gets a fair share.
Chorpus Christi is beautiful, or at least it was back in the late 70's.
San Antonio and Austin; I'd love to go to Galveston, but on visits, when the weather's sure to be nice.
I lived in San Antonio back in 1979 and 1980, I was under the impression that they had a dry heat and no humidity, that is what my mom always said about it.
Dallas seemed a little more humid than San Antonio, but Texarkana had steam room humidity.
Amarillo had very low humidity.
