Blue State Refugee moving to TX - Advice?

[xb12s]

Since you mentioned fish and farming, I'll make an off the wall suggestion. Have you ever heard of Aquaponics? It is a hybrid of fish farming and hydroponics. In Hydroponics you use chemicals to control water purity and fertilize. Aquaponics eliminates that by using a stock tank of fish as the fertilizer source, and a grow medium (gravel, expanded clay, etc) as the filter. If you are interested check out backyard aquaponics forum. There are several people in Texas doing it and a lot more throughout the world (heaviest concentration seems to be in Australia). It is more conservative with water since it is a closed system. The water cycles from the fish tank to the grow media, and then back again.

My dad successfully gardens in the hill country (Boerne) the normal way. A lot of parts of Texas can be used for gardening if you are willing to put in raised beds if the soil is poor. This is fine on a small scale, but expensive if you wanted more than a "backyard" garden. My father in law successfully gardens in Houston the normal way.

I have done Aquaponics for a couple of years and then gave it up (I am a lazy gardener unfortunately).

[The Annoyed Man]

I am a web developer too who moved here from California. Welcome to Texas, but don't come a poachin' around my "territory!"

Unless you move to west Texas or the upper panhandle, you're going to be surprised at how green large parts of Texas are. True, it doesn't have the mountains of California or Washington, but it is a very pretty state in many ways. I like it here a lot. The area north of Tyler is pretty nice, and I'm going to be checking that area out myself.

[2farnorth]

mentalarson, I sent you a PM.

[mentalarson]

Thank you all very much for your input.

I spent 10 years of my USAF career in NorCal...and as beautiful as it was, I got home to Texas as soon as I got out of the service.

NorCal folks get lumped in with the higher density of wing-nuts south of Sacramento which isn't fair. In WA we refer to Californians in a general sense as folks that bring liberalism and inflated prices with them, but more often they are typically running away from a crazy state for more favorable conditions in the same way I hope to seek refuge in Texas.

However, I think we're all annoyed by "the new guy" who shows up and tries to remake things in his image of what is correct without first understanding what made his new environment worthwhile. People moving to Texas just for warm weather or a strong economy are missing the nature of Texas in my opinion. There are reasons the economy and spirit of Texas are strong. I'm sure I'm heaping a few "Conservative utopia" hopes and dreams on TX, but the fact is that even people who don't attend church there generally still understand traditional values and principles. (Yes?)

Every place has it's bad eggs, but you know your neighbors. I tried to organize a community picnic around my area and (1)No one came and (2)Nearly everyone I spoke though gave me strange looks.

I'd like to live where I could do a little target shooting on my property without the SWAT team arriving. I hope my neighbors will come join me and press off a few.

I'm wondering if somewhere in the piney hills of East Texas might satisfy more of your needs/desires.

I hear the pine trees calling (but I won't hug them). Thank you for the Ag link. I needed that. I will gladly give up my apple trees for some warm weather stuff.

Too this....Too that....
I don't want to sound like Goldie Locks who wants things "just right" but I might as well swing for the fence and see how it goes.

The drought in the hill country is a big turn-off. In December the Medina reservoir was at 11% while they were at 85% near Athens.
I can do without hills.
Dead-flat plains will be tough for me.
Piney Woods are the most likely target zone, but W/SW of Dallas is still on the table.

I'm a whitewater guide here in WA, and my brother is an avid kayaker. We'd like to be within driving distance of some whitewater like Arkansas.

So...about the humidity?
My in-laws are all about the Gunbarrel City area. They swear the humidity isn't as bad there.

Outdoor-able days
Every place has it's good and bad days, but we are looking to optimize the days where we can be outdoors without being miserable.
Here in WA it sucks about 6 months, is OK for 3-4 and very nice for 2-3. That's not a great return on investment.

[mentalarson]

Have you ever heard of Aquaponics?...My dad successfully gardens in the hill country (Boerne) the normal way.

Yes. I'm all about doing some outside the box food production. I'm not in it for therapy. We want good healthy organic groceries. I grew up gardening with my folks and tried to avoid it...I wish I had paid closer attention.

[mentalarson]

I am a web developer too who moved here from California. Welcome to Texas, but don't come a poachin' around my "territory!"

I think you're safe. I'm scary busy these days.

[Chris]

Move to DFW area and I might be able to do something about that driving job for your family member. Can probably even get something that runs Texas only too.

[baldeagle]

Lots of good answers, but I can't help but think your criteria leads to the conclusion that you need to be east of I-35 and north of Austin. I've driven semis all over the state, and the hills with lakes AND trees are in the northeast quarter of the state. There's a ton of intermodal transport out of Dallas and a huge Santa Fe hub between Dallas and Ft. Worth, so if your brother doesn't mind driving a little to get to work, he can park his tractor at home and backhaul to the rail yards and haul freight all over the state without ever spending a night on the road. I hauled intermodal for three years and almost always slept at home. Hauled peanuts from OK, cotton from west Texas, rail parts from the port in Houston and soap from Louisiana. The only thing I don't know about is internet capability outside the big cities. Maybe somebody local can help you there. But you've got a ton of options; Sherman, Denison, Cooper, Wylie, east of Rockwall, Terrell, Tyler, Edgewood, Mineola, Greenville, shoot, there's too many to mention. All good places with lakes, trees and hills in the area.

When you go west of Dallas to Ft. Worth, you've moving into desert country; sage brush, scrub trees, etc. East is pine trees, tall forests, etc. Down toward Austin, Houston and San Antonio it thins out as well. Load up Google Maps or Mapquest and locate Dallas. Then switch to satellite view and pan out until you can see the whole state. The greenest part is the northeast quarter.

[mentalarson]

Move to DFW area and I might be able to do something about that driving job for your family member. Can probably even get something that runs Texas only too.

Thank you. My brother in law's situation is a bit tricky. He's got 3 kids (13,15,17) and a wife to move. Select baseball ends in July so they are shooting for August...but school starts early so their window is tight. His kids have been raised with a sense of adventure. The 17yr old girl is a big-time softball player and the 13yr old boy is a great pitcher. They want to make sure they get into a community with good sports opportunities (and decent kids in the school).

We'll be making a recon trip in April and/or June with the hope of a May trip to Frontsight for some more handgun training. As we get closer, we'll touch base.

He is squared away. He's 38 and been working since he was a kid.
He currently runs road crews for the county but works "too fast" for their liking which is normal for the rest of us.
He runs just about any sort of equipment from excavators, brush cutters, dump trucks, etc.

It may take us a bit to get adjusted to the lower cost of living. A good wage there may sound pretty low coming from here, but I think he will be ready to roll if he can link up with some good folks.

My first thought is to stay out of Dallas by an hour, but we may have 1-2 years of post house-mess bad credit so no time to be picky.

[Redneck_Buddha]

Move to DFW area and I might be able to do something about that driving job for your family member. Can probably even get something that runs Texas only too.

Thank you. My brother in law's situation is a bit tricky. He's got 3 kids (13,15,17) and a wife to move. Select baseball ends in July so they are shooting for August...but school starts early so their window is tight. His kids have been raised with a sense of adventure. The 17yr old girl is a big-time softball player and the 13yr old boy is a great pitcher. They want to make sure they get into a community with good sports opportunities (and decent kids in the school).

We'll be making a recon trip in April and/or June with the hope of a May trip to Frontsight for some more handgun training. As we get closer, we'll touch base.

He is squared away. He's 38 and been working since he was a kid.
He currently runs road crews for the county but works "too fast" for their liking which is normal for the rest of us.
He runs just about any sort of equipment from excavators, brush cutters, dump trucks, etc.

It may take us a bit to get adjusted to the lower cost of living. A good wage there may sound pretty low coming from here, but I think he will be ready to roll if he can link up with some good folks.

My first thought is to stay out of Dallas by an hour, but we may have 1-2 years of post house-mess bad credit so no time to be picky.

Salaries actually trend pretty high out here. I've worked for two software companies who only paid a 10% COLA differential for living and working on the west coast.

[mentalarson]

When you go west of Dallas to Ft. Worth, you've moving into desert country; sage brush, scrub trees, etc. East is pine trees, tall forests, etc. Down toward Austin, Houston and San Antonio it thins out as well. Load up Google Maps or Mapquest and locate Dallas. Then switch to satellite view and pan out until you can see the whole state. The greenest part is the northeast quarter.

Excellent tips on the trucking. I've sent this forum to Greg (bro-in-law) so he can join and soak this up. That's the sort of solid experience he needs to figure out his plan.

I've been studying Google maps like crazy. Routed my family all over hill country remotely like an eye in the sky. I'm looking forward to tromping all over NE Texas myself in a few months. I hope to meet a few folks from TCHL. It's all I can do to focus on my work and stop dreaming about Texas.

[fickman]

All I can do to focus on my work and stop dreaming about Texas.

"Songs About Texas" by Pat Green
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[fickman]

"What I Like About Texas" by Gary P. Nunn
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[Chris]

Since we're just rubbing it in at this point, I'll add my lump of coal to stoke the fire.

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[mentalarson]

East Texas has a lot to offer. I'm down on the South East coast once you get past the second tier of counties you start finding land with rolling hills and beautiful woodlands. Some specific areas you might want to consider are Jasper, Woodville, Lufkin and as you mentioned Tyler. I tell folks the winters in this part of Texas are rarely severe but summer can be brutal.

MoJo, we are headed to Dallas and East Texas for a week starting 4/17. We have friends to stay with in Dallas for a few days, then want to move East/SE to really scout out the sweet spot you mentioned. We plan to put 1500+ miles on the rental car in our week.

Coming from WA, some of us are very concerned about the heat and humidity, but I try to evaluate based on,
"How many days can I be outside with reasonably comfortable weather?"....or "How many Outdoorable days does it have?"
If you ask my wife, NW Washington is only nice for 2 months, but in reality is pretty decent for 4-5 months with 7-8 months of gray and/or cold.
Every place but Hawaii has a certain amount of time each year where the weather sucks in some way so we're hoping to minimize that in East TX.

FREE Lunch, coffee or beer?
If anyone is in East TX and would like us to buy a cup of coffee for you while you tell us the good and not so good things about your area, please let me know.