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Could You Move to a Small Town

MaybeACoordinator

By MaybeACoordinator
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DanRydell

DanRydell 799

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Madison has over a quarter million residents.
Boulder, Eugene, Columbia have over 100K.  Pretty sure Lawrence and Bloomington are close to that.  
Chapel Hill is about as much of a small town as Grapevine or Sugar Land are.
I don't think you understand what a small town is. 



Fair enough (although comparing Chapel Hill to Grapevine or Sugar Land makes no sense). I wouldn’t move anywhere smaller than those.

I don’t see myself going anywhere due to a combination of career, family, and inertia but Austin is in a shitty place now size wise. I’d rather either be in the 100-300k college town range or be in an urban environment where I can get rid of my car (Chicago, NYC, SF, etc.)
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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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Did it 5 years ago.  Wife complains weekly about some bullshit in regards to shopping or family being a jog, but then we go for a hike or realize our 5 year old can ski and she gets past it.  As long as work allows it I'm not going anywhere.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54207

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1 minute ago, NaTeWHO said:

Does Dripping Springs count? I've been thinking about moving to that area.

You had better get there quickly if you want it to count. 

IIRC, they have approved 5K new homes to be built over the next 5 years.  They have to be planning a new HS.

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4975

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3 minutes ago, chesthair said:

t-5 years from punching out.  moving to a small town in the ozarks.  will be within an hour of high quality medical and food/shopping.  thats about perfect for me.  im not tell where either, dont need any more assholes. 

Wife and I have talked about picking up some cheap land in the Ozarks to build a cabin, but I'm a gringo and she is mexican and a little concerned about how backward some of the people there can be. We've seen it in a cage in Jasper (Arkansas, not Jasper) where a group of old men came in and sat near us and our previously attentive server never returned to our table. We had to walk up to the front of the place and ask for our check so we could pay and leave.

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PhillyD

PhillyD 1257

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I grew up in a small town and pledged never to go back to one.  

However,  I would consider it now because things have changed a lot.  With the internet and being able to get things you need want online, it's a lot different than it used to be.  As long as I had reliable internet, I could do it.

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Post Oak

Post Oak 20208

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I moved from Atx to Waco and absolutely love it minus the rape.  Now waco is 125k so not a small town

CoL is considerably cheaper.  Traffic is non existent. I can take my wife and kids to do things on the weekend and theres not 10k other people there.  

Friday night we can go downtown (i know downtown waco haha) but we go drink some of the best whiskey in the world at Balcones park for free and walk right in.  I enjoy going to a restaurant on the weekend and not having to wait 45 mins for a table.

My wife lived in the metroplex and bay area.  I was concerned about how she liked it.  She loves it.

Now Waco doesnt offer 1/10th of the nightlife, restaurants jobs that Atx does but we dont go out much anyway and when we do we sure as fuck werent going downtown and dealing with that bullshit. Its a poor community in parts but also has a little charm [a little].  There are good schools in and around Waco to send our kids

I miss the radio stations and breakfast tacos.

In a couple years we're buying land and moving out to the country. A farming community of about 1k people and i cant wait.  

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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11029

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Some of y'all are confusing "small town" with "suburb".

Maybe 30 yrs ago Dripping Springs was a small town. Now its a a suburb.

 

I'm not buying the argument that small town automatically means shittier public education.

 

The main difference between a small town and a city is that in a small town you see the same people over and over and you know who they are. You cut off somebody in a small town, they will recognize your car and know who you are. You cut off somebody in the city, its just some random asshole you will probably never see again.

 

The biggest barrier to relocating to a small town is the lack of higher paying job opportunities.

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South Austin

South Austin 52452

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2 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

I moved from Atx to Waco and absolutely love it minus the rape.  Now waco is 125k so not a small town

CoL is considerably cheaper.  Traffic is non existent. I can take my wife and kids to do things on the weekend and theres not 10k other people there.  

Friday night we can go downtown (i know downtown waco haha) but we go drink some of the best whiskey in the world at Balcones park for free and walk right in.  I enjoy going to a restaurant on the weekend and not having to wait 45 mins for a table.

My wife lived in the metroplex and bay area.  I was concerned about how she liked it.  She loves it.

Now Waco doesnt offer 1/10th of the nightlife, restaurants jobs that Atx does but we dont go out much anyway and when we do we sure as fuck werent going downtown and dealing with that bullshit. Its a poor community in parts but also has a little charm [a little].  There are good schools in and around Waco to send our kids

I miss the radio stations and breakfast tacos.

In a couple years we're buying land and moving out to the country. A farming community of about 1k people and i cant wait.  

And you’re getting a Pappadeaux!

54d010ff9ac14-image.jpg?w=1000

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deadshank

deadshank 24652

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3 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

I moved from Atx to Waco and absolutely love it minus the rape.  Now waco is 125k so not a small town

CoL is considerably cheaper.  Traffic is non existent. I can take my wife and kids to do things on the weekend and theres not 10k other people there.  

Friday night we can go downtown (i know downtown waco haha) but we go drink some of the best whiskey in the world at Balcones park for free and walk right in.  I enjoy going to a restaurant on the weekend and not having to wait 45 mins for a table.

My wife lived in the metroplex and bay area.  I was concerned about how she liked it.  She loves it.

Now Waco doesnt offer 1/10th of the nightlife, restaurants jobs that Atx does but we dont go out much anyway and when we do we sure as fuck werent going downtown and dealing with that bullshit. Its a poor community in parts but also has a little charm [a little].  There are good schools in and around Waco to send our kids

I miss the radio stations and breakfast tacos.

In a couple years we're buying land and moving out to the country. A farming community of about 1k people and i cant wait.  

I've read Waco has great Christmas lights tours

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Weezy

Weezy 2

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23 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Wife and I have talked about picking up some cheap land in the Ozarks to build a cabin, but I'm a gringo and she is mexican and a little concerned about how backward some of the people there can be. We've seen it in a cage in Jasper (Arkansas, not Jasper) where a group of old men came in and sat near us and our previously attentive server never returned to our table. We had to walk up to the front of the place and ask for our check so we could pay and leave.

Sounds like Jasper, AR... Huntsville, AR over towards Fayetteville would be a better option.  Not too close to Fayetteville, but close enough to take advantage of the shopping and medical facilities.  But, you'd still be exposed to those asshat Hog fans.

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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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5 minutes ago, Kringelbert Fishtybuns said:

I travel to small towns for work all the time.  There is no fucking way I am ever moving to or willingly living in a small town unless we are talking about 30 minutes w/o traffic from civilization and the scenery is other wordly.

 

So Durango makes the cut?

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Pescado_Rojo

Pescado_Rojo 19413

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My in-laws live outside Llano. When we built our current house in 2012, we sold our old house faster than we thought and were in a little bit of a bind for a place to live for a while. We moved out to the ranch and lived for the summer in the hunters "cabin". The cabin is a 2 br, 1 bath house with a full kitchen, central air, and a big screen TV, so hardly roughing it.

Anywho, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I rented an office downtown right across from the courthouse because I work from home and needed quality internet I couldn't get at the ranch. I think it cost me $150/Mo. There were several little cafes along the square and I enjoyed the vibe down there quite a bit. I even started to get other locals that had offices around there stick their heads in to say hi and see what I was doing for lunch. With the boom and the new hospital in Marble Falls, there's good healthcare, and Llano ISD is pretty good for small town standards. I even joked with my wife we should pull the plug on the new house and just build on the ranch, but like most wives she ain't going to live that far from shopping. Truthfully, as much as I travel, it would be a beating to have to get to ABIA every Tuesday morning as well.

I've got kids in public school for 7 more years. If everything works out, I could see us selling our place in the WilCo burbs and building a smaller house on the ranch, and maybe a fish camp down around Seadrift. Shit, by then Llano might be too big...

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Chingon

Chingon 1

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Lived in Dallas early in life.  Now I commute to the office in Dallas 2 to 3 times a week or as little as possible.   Wont ever live in a city that big again.

Moved to West chasing the small town life but after about a year went back to Waco because the kids had nothing to do.  Nice backyard and pool couldnt overcome the slow internets and mundane life.  Plus you can only eat so many kolaches and bad pizza.         

So Ive determined I want to live in a small city with a lake I can fish,  close and easy enough to drive to a metro, decent schools, OK shopping (Dillards) and HEB (big deal). 

Any city between 1 to 2 hours from a metro would probably work for me: Waco, Belton, Tyler, Conroe etc.   

 

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Leeroy Jenkins

Leeroy Jenkins 2399

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i own a cattle ranch with my FIL thats about an hour or so southeast of Dallas ,in and around the Cedar Creek Lake area. The problem with living small town country are the public schools and limited options of good private education being available. Have to drive back in to Dallas or over to Tyler.  Of course that's if you have kids. Where we are at there are two decent public schools--Mabank and Malakoff with Eustace being drop off third.  From there it can get bad. I own land in Kemp and make hay there but I would never send my daughter to school there.  I will say it a great location to live in from a recreational and offers a lot in getting away from keeping up with the "joneses"  but still very close to big city amenities. Also important in moving to a smaller environment is proximity to good medical care, especially in retirement age. 


I feel you man. We live in the Eustace school district but we send our kid to Mabank. Much better.

My kid would have been eaten alive in one of the big Leander ISD high schools. She is doing pretty darn well at Mabank with their MSI program. Hell, Mabank is really starting to grow.
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Errestaurants

Errestaurants 2570

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6 minutes ago, Leeroy Jenkins said:

 


Cedar Creek Lake. Where the rich and the meths heads come to play.

 

gotta love Seven Points and Gun Barrel. 274 has some interesting characters walking the road. not as methy on the Malakoff side and deeper water. we are on the lake in Eustace.

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Errestaurants

Errestaurants 2570

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3 minutes ago, Leeroy Jenkins said:

 


I feel you man. We live in the Eustace school district but we send our kid to Mabank. Much better.

My kid would have been eaten alive in one of the big Leander ISD high schools. She is doing pretty darn well at Mabank with their MSI program. Hell, Mabank is really starting to grow.

 

my wife graduated from Eustace. how easy was it for your daughter to transfer in to Mabank. My daughter is three and our address is Eustace ISD but we farm in Trinidad and Kemp. Im thinking Mabank or Malakoff is best for her but we don't live in their districts. 

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Leeroy Jenkins

Leeroy Jenkins 2399

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my wife graduated from Eustace. how easy was it for your daughter to transfer in to Mabank. My daughter is three and our address is Eustace ISD but we farm in Trinidad and Kemp. Im thinking Mabank or Malakoff is best for her but we don't live in their districts. 


Getting on a plane. I will PM you later tonight.
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ShaggyBevo RIP

ShaggyBevo RIP 3868

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1 hour ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Talked to a guy who moved to Alpine decades ago a couple of nights ago...He's seen many couples move there, and most of them leave because the woman misses that kind of shit.  

As for Alpine, specifically, I don't know if I could live there, either. The local supermarket is ass. If they got even a small HEB I might consider it. 

I order HEB stuff for delivery here in the Midwest.  https://www.heb.com/explore?exp=sthview

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10957

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47 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

I moved from Atx to Waco and absolutely love it minus the rape.  Now waco is 125k so not a small town

CoL is considerably cheaper.  Traffic is non existent. I can take my wife and kids to do things on the weekend and theres not 10k other people there.  

Friday night we can go downtown (i know downtown waco haha) but we go drink some of the best whiskey in the world at Balcones park for free and walk right in.  I enjoy going to a restaurant on the weekend and not having to wait 45 mins for a table.

My wife lived in the metroplex and bay area.  I was concerned about how she liked it.  She loves it.

Now Waco doesnt offer 1/10th of the nightlife, restaurants jobs that Atx does but we dont go out much anyway and when we do we sure as fuck werent going downtown and dealing with that bullshit. Its a poor community in parts but also has a little charm [a little].  There are good schools in and around Waco to send our kids

I miss the radio stations and breakfast tacos.

In a couple years we're buying land and moving out to the country. A farming community of about 1k people and i cant wait.  

We hit up Lolita's for breakfast tacos once a month or so and Leal's isn't terrible either. We love Waco for two reasons...1.) It's cheap as fuck and 2.) You can be anywhere else in the state (or world) quickly. The Baylor bubble is mostly ignored by locals and the only time I really have to deal with them is for longer waits at places like Moroso or Alpha Omega. At our usual haunts like Valles you wouldn't know that there was a college here. We like to fly out about 6-7 times a year to Mexico, Colorado, East Coast, or whatever and it's nice to price check from DFW, DAL, AUS, SAT, IAH, & HOU all within an easy drive.

 

We're worried about schools when we get kids that are within age. I want to send them to Vanguard, but I have no idea what to do with them from K-6 and certainly don't want them in any of the religious privates. I went to Robinson and it's fine for what it is, but I want better for the kids so we'll see when we get to that point.

 

 

I don't think I could stomach a city smaller than Waco unless it is something like San Luis Obispo. 

Edited by SimonBolivar
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Nolacycling

Nolacycling 893

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Since my divorce and children growing up, I've used my teaching degree to move around a lot, almost yearly for the last decade +. I've lived in towns as small as 5k, 25k, 75k and for me it comes down to whether you can entertain yourself or not. I absolutely cannot; no small towns for me. 

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ShaggyBevo RIP

ShaggyBevo RIP 3868

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2 hours ago, deadshank said:

Given the opportunity to make as much money as I do now (not saying its a lot of money) I would move to a small town in a heart beat.

Hendersonville or Saluda, NC or another part of western North Carolina.

Or I could stay in Texas and live around Uvalde or some other spot in that area.

Hendersonville is an Asheville suburb at this point.  

Wife and I are looking at everything from Travelers Rest to Cashiers to Burnsville and even up toward the three Bs(Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, and Boone).  Trying to keep it within a 60-90 minute drive of Asheville or Greenville. Tourist towns help for restaurants available and meeting new people.

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
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deadshank

deadshank 24652

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5 minutes ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Hendersonville is an Asheville suburb at this point.  

Wife and I are looking at everything from Travelers Rest to Cashiers to Burnsville and even up toward the three Bs(Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, and Boone).  Trying to keep it within a 60-90 minute drive of Asheville or Greenville. Tourist towns help for restaurants available and meeting new people.

Western NC is a nice part of the country.   I hope you find your spot.

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Anton Chigurh

Anton Chigurh 3319

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Drove through the Dixie National Forest a couple years ago and would love to spend more time there. Seems like the kind of area where the dollar store is where you end up buying a lot of groceries, though. I'm not sure I could go that rural with small children.

  

It’s a great place. In the winter you have some skiing opportunities at Brian Head, and in summer/fall you can see all of the quaking aspens and lava flows. You’re near canyon country like Zion, Bryce, GSENM, Vermilion Cliffs NM etc., but still in the mountains.

 

16fc39b1ea1f0228f52615c2c434b37e.jpg

 

 

 

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Post Oak

Post Oak 20208

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1 hour ago, SimonBolivar said:

We hit up Lolita's for breakfast tacos once a month or so and Leal's isn't terrible either. We love Waco for two reasons...1.) It's cheap as fuck and 2.) You can be anywhere else in the state (or world) quickly. The Baylor bubble is mostly ignored by locals and the only time I really have to deal with them is for longer waits at places like Moroso or Alpha Omega. At our usual haunts like Valles you wouldn't know that there was a college here. We like to fly out about 6-7 times a year to Mexico, Colorado, East Coast, or whatever and it's nice to price check from DFW, DAL, AUS, SAT, IAH, & HOU all within an easy drive.

 

We're worried about schools when we get kids that are within age. I want to send them to Vanguard, but I have no idea what to do with them from K-6 and certainly don't want them in any of the religious privates. I went to Robinson and it's fine for what it is, but I want better for the kids so we'll see when we get to that point.

 

 

I don't think I could stomach a city smaller than Waco unless it is something like San Luis Obispo. 

Moroso and Alpha Omega are two of my favorites along with Hecho en Waco.  Moroso stacks up with any pizza ive had in texas.  

We're looking at houses in robinson but i cant bring myself to do it.  Im sure its fine but the roads suck and its a little too out of the way

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Updawg

Updawg 2266

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3 hours ago, deadshank said:

I passed through Boerne on the way from Bergheim to Uvalde on Friday at 5 pm.

HELL NO.  

Nice town but way too many people and too much traffic on the main surface street (Hwy. 46).  It took me 45 minutes to get from one side of Boerne and over I-10 to the other side and on to Bandera. 

Just wait until they get the new Amazon hq.  

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Capn81

Capn81 372

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Grew up in a town of 2,200 people. I have lived in towns of 1 million and 150k since leaving. Would absolutely move back if the opportunity was right. Of course this town is 2 hours away from three metro areas, and has a town of 150k (where I live now) 40 minutes away.

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10957

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Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

Moroso and Alpha Omega are two of my favorites along with Hecho en Waco.  Moroso stacks up with any pizza ive had in texas.  

We're looking at houses in robinson but i cant bring myself to do it.  Im sure its fine but the roads suck and its a little too out of the way

Are y'all looking at the standard China Spring, Lorena, Midway areas? We currently live in the Midway district, but it seems like they are getting more and more WISD transplants every year. The woman went to University and the whole goal is to get away from that type of place.

 

I'd like to get a place on some land in the Oglesby area heading toward Mother Neff State Park. The kids could go to a boarding school for all I care if we end up building out there.

Edited by SimonBolivar
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