Could You Move to a Small Town

[Post Oak 20358]

31 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

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.

We've looked at CS.  Wife works at MCC so it will be closer but its a little too far away from everything. Same with Lorena.  Midway would be fine but its a little more than we want to spend since we are basically down to one income for a while until mine because more consistent

 

[TexasMan 11286]

I lived in Madisonville as a kid and have lived in Houston my whole adult life. Every time I go back to Madisonville to visit family I'm so ready to get back to the big city because I'm bored out of my mind. I don't think I could do it.

[SimonBolivar 10962]

4 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

We've looked at CS.  Wife works at MCC so it will be closer but its a little too far away from everything. Same with Lorena.  Midway would be fine but its a little more than we want to spend since we are basically down to one income for a while until mine because more consistent

 

I work out at TSTC so the drive from Hewitt to there every morning is a bit long, but of course with Waco traffic it stays flowing the whole time. We live in an apartment complex that is filled with children because it's in Midway ISD and a 2BR is only $700/month. Works for us saving for a house in a different district, but I don't want want to buy out here either.

[Shmitty 112]

4 hours ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Ex-wife's parents lived in St. George. I'd rather take a kick to the balls than live there.

St. George is actually kind of nice.  Lots of outdoorsy things to do in that area and the town itself is decent.  

4 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

One day I plan to live in a small hill country town during hunting season and a small mountain town in Colorado or Wyoming the rest of the year.  I have zero desire to live in a big city forever.

I could do the Ft. Collins area.  

3 hours ago, Anton Chigurh said:

 

St. George has like 150k in the metro area.

I mean living in a cabin in the Dixie National Forest, or in a town near Zion like Hurricane, La Verkin, or Toquerville.

I realize most people still wouldn’t want to live there, but I enjoy all the recreation available.

 

St. George is a retirement hotbed.  Lots of people moving there to retire, either from out of state or up in Northern Utah.  

Edited April 9, 2018 by Shmitty

[Post Oak 20358]

Thats not too bad of a drive.  Im interested to see what it looks like once they start on i35 next year.  But even then you can just take the loop

Im honestly fine continuing to rent right now to buy some land once we get on a better footing.

 

We're looking at Axtell 

[Shmitty 112]

I grew up in Quinlan, east of DFW.   After living there, I could never do small town life again.  I'm not much of a city guy either, so I prefer suburbs and college towns.  Ideally though, I prefer the village-like life of Europe and the UK over anything else.  

[Chewbacca 7807]

3 hours ago, South Austin said:

I wish we could all live in the mountains at high altitude. That's where I see myself in five years.

We're full.  Sorry.

[SimonBolivar 10962]

2 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

Thats not too bad of a drive.  Im interested to see what it looks like once they start on i35 next year.  But even then you can just take the loop

Im honestly fine continuing to rent right now to buy some land once we get on a better footing.

 

We're looking at Axtell 

I have a lot of clients that live in Axtell and it's definitely the small town. Good people who would rather be hunting or fishing than hanging out in town and I  don't see it growing all that much either. I'd much rather send my kids to Axtell or Riesel than Connally or La Vega.

[Shmitty 112]

3 hours 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. 

Moving to eastern Mobilehoma? 

[Chewbacca 7807]

Wife and I plan on retiring to our mountain house someday, but I think I'll always want somewhere to go during mud season, so we will always have a place in Denver as well.  Probably downsize our current house when the kids move out (if they move out).

I'm much more at peace in the mountains than I am in Denver.  Just a different pace of life.

[Shmitty 112]

12 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Wife and I plan on retiring to our mountain house someday, but I think I'll always want somewhere to go during mud season, so we will always have a place in Denver as well.  Probably downsize our current house when the kids move out (if they move out).

I'm much more at peace in the mountains than I am in Denver.  Just a different pace of life.

You might like Fair Play (aka, South Park).  It's up in the mountains west of Denver. 

[Chewbacca 7807]

Just now, Shmitty said:

You might like Fair Play (aka, South Park).  It's up in the mountains west of Denver. 

I'm a CO native.  Well aware of Fairplay (one word, not two), but we already have our place in the mountains in Fraser.

[Post Oak 20358]

27 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

I have a lot of clients that live in Axtell and it's definitely the small town. Good people who would rather be hunting or fishing than hanging out in town and I  don't see it growing all that much either. I'd much rather send my kids to Axtell or Riesel than Connally or La Vega.

Agreed.  For some reason growth from waco went west-ish.  Mcgregor Crawford CS etc. Some of the house prices out there are absolutely crazy to me

Riesel is fine too.  Interested to see their future if that coal plant closes down. Definitely not Mart LaVega or Connolly

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Yeah, I could. Would love too. Hill country or trans pecos. Wife wouldn’t go for it though.

[SimonBolivar 10962]

Anyone want to move really out there? My brother lives two hours north of Amarillo and I don't know why anyone would want to live there unless the money was right.

[MaybeACoordinator 8350]

19 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

I'm a CO native.  Well aware of Fairplay (one word, not two), but we already have our place in the mountains in Fraser.

Wife's good friend lives in Boulder and she took us to some public shindig in Louisville. That town was almost disgustingly awesome, at least on that one night. Bear in mind, this is coming from someone who lives in Houston. 

[Chewbacca 7807]

Louisville is a cool town.  Voted best small town in America on more than one occasion.  But it's just in the middle of the Denver/Boulder metro area, so I wouldn't call it a true small town.

[Aqua Buddha 14671]

3 hours ago, Weezy said:

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.

If his wife is Hispanic, he wants nothing to do with anything East of Fayetteville.  The four towns in Northwest Arky are all pretty good, actually, and they fit into this discussion.  They collectively total about 500,000 people so I guess it depends how you define "small town."  Don't kid yourself, though.  That area is nice but it's surrounding by Hillbillies to the East and North and Okie Trailer trash and casinos to the South and West.

I think some of you are confusing what a "small town," is.  Cities of 200,000 aren't "small towns" and suburbs like Boerne aren't "small towns."  I guess my definition is something under 20,000 people that is more than an hour from a metro area.  That means your universe is almost exclusively that town.  If you're 30 minutes away from a metro area, you're going there all of the time and just living in some small town.

Screw living in a small town, though.  What are you doing after 3 months on a daily basis?  

Also, why is small town living the dream of the old white guy?

[Pato del Muerto 52972]

6 hours ago, Leeroy Jenkins said:

I already did. The only thing I really miss is a much larger choice of restaurants.

I don’t miss the traffic at all.

This was to be my answer. 

[Bama Chick 28596]

I do.

Town of ~35,000 people.  30 minutes from Huntsville, one hour north of Birmingham, and one hour south of Nashville.

I grew up in a big city and I love that I've known my kids' friends since they were born.

Everybody knows all your business which can be a pain in the ass but I'm pretty boring so no one is dining out on gossip about me and mine.

[Helobious 9516]

I wouldn’t mind moving back to the valley one day, although it is growing pretty rapidly. It’s a bunch of small towns and small cities right next to each other. Really great food and a VERY laid back lifestyle. Plus the beach is right there. Wish it was more diverse though, I understand why non-hispanics usually aren’t a big fan of it.

[RDCanecutter 26570]

6 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I wouldn’t mind moving back to the valley one day, although it is growing pretty rapidly. It’s a bunch of small towns and small cities right next to each other. Really great food and a VERY laid back lifestyle. Plus the beach is right there. Wish it was more diverse though, I understand why non-hispanics usually aren’t a big fan of it.

I have started loving Laredo. I guess that's not technically Valley, but como sea.

[Hate 20167]

Anyone want to move really out there? My brother lives two hours north of Amarillo and I don't know why anyone would want to live there unless the money was right.

Maybe he likes tornadoes?

[Beau Vine 55027]

1 hour ago, SimonBolivar said:

Anyone want to move really out there? My brother lives two hours north of Amarillo and I don't know why anyone would want to live there unless the money was right.

Two hours north of Amarillo is what... Oklahoma Panhandle?

[SimonBolivar 10962]

1 minute ago, Beau Vine said:

Two hours north of Amarillo is what... Oklahoma Panhandle?

Almost. Still technically in Texas just cold as fuck in the winter 

[RexWilson 1469]

Grew up in Lorena and after I graduated high school I have lived in larger areas 450k+. I miss the country/outdoor part of it. There are times I wish my kids could experience something similiar.

[Beef 128]

I grew up in a town of 700 people. The school was great academically and athletically. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. I can see moving back there one day. If we had kids, no doubt we would move back.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

2 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

If his wife is Hispanic, he wants nothing to do with anything East of Fayetteville.  The four towns in Northwest Arky are all pretty good, actually, and they fit into this discussion.  They collectively total about 500,000 people so I guess it depends how you define "small town."  Don't kid yourself, though.  That area is nice but it's surrounding by Hillbillies to the East and North and Okie Trailer trash and casinos to the South and West.

I think some of you are confusing what a "small town," is.  Cities of 200,000 aren't "small towns" and suburbs like Boerne aren't "small towns."  I guess my definition is something under 20,000 people that is more than an hour from a metro area.  That means your universe is almost exclusively that town.  If you're 30 minutes away from a metro area, you're going there all of the time and just living in some small town.

Screw living in a small town, though.  What are you doing after 3 months on a daily basis?  

Also, why is small town living the dream of the old white guy?

We went camping a few weeks ago at Mount Magazine and liked Danville because of the Mexican population and food available, but if we were to buy some land in Arkansas it would have to be in or near the National Forest and that isn't the best location. We are both into backpacking and rock climbing and stuff, so anything we look at would have to be near a lot of outdoor recreation opportunities for us to consider it.

[CleverNickname 1335]

The la casita is just outside of Mullin, and 10 miles from Goldthwaite. Technically we could move there tomorrow. My plan is to retire and spend Monday through Thursday up there, and then Thursday night through the weekend at a zero outside maintenance condo or townhome in Austin. Our kids are young, but sometimes we do talk about how a small town is an option, and an escape from the pretty intense competition. Out kids could easily play varsity sports (hell, every sport) and probably walk into top 7% stuff. But I grew up in some nerdy burbs, and I think having virtually 100% of my high school peers expecting 4 year college was really good for my own ambition. 

[former alkie 72]

Grew up in Fort Worth.

Moved to what really were the sticks (between FW and Granbury) when my oldest started kindergarten in 2007-  wanted her in a quality school district.

Now, everyone wants their kids in same school district, so they’re starting to develop my area.

5 years until my youngest graduates, then I’ll need to find a new small town.

[RMac5 1551]

We lived in Salado for a little while and absolutely loved it. Think the population is around 2200, not even a red light in town. We could be in Austin in an hour or DFW in a little over 2 hours. 

We lived in the country about 6 miles out of town, had deer in the yard every day. The grocery store wasn’t the best but could go to HEB in Georgetown or Belton in less than 20 minutes.

Worst part is the lack of restaurant choices when you don’t feel like cooking.

 

[Duke Silver 191]

I live in a town of 3500 about 75 miles from Houston, 90 miles from Austin, 120 miles from San Antonio, and 90 miles from the coast.  Love it here and can get to big city atmosphere quickly anytime I need a fix.  I can fish on the river or hunt in my backyard. Good times, good times. 

[Beau Vine 55027]

8 minutes ago, former alkie said:

Grew up in Fort Worth.

Moved to what really were the sticks (between FW and Granbury) when my oldest started kindergarten in 2007-  wanted her in a quality school district.

Now, everyone wants their kids in same school district, so they’re starting to develop my area.

5 years until my youngest graduates, then I’ll need to find a new small town.

Godley?

[former alkie 72]

1 minute ago, Beau Vine said:

Godley?

Aledo ISD, but not in Aledo proper.....unincorporated Tarrant County

 

[Laxtonto 12792]

Went from DFW to small town South Dakotka. Even if this is a "college town" I just can't do small town living anymore. We are moving an hour away for  more/greater population density, just for my wife and I 's sanity.

And no, this is not the city boy not being able to stand the fragrances of nature. 

I grew up in a town of 400, but damn I can't take the nosey bullshit any longer.

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2018 by Laxtonto

[former alkie 72]

I could hit a driver, then 7 iron into Godley ISD boundary

[Robin Masters 122]

8 hours ago, Anton Chigurh said:

I mean living in a cabin in the Dixie National Forest, or in a town near Zion like Hurricane, La Verkin, or Toquerville.

 

The problem with UT is you're either Mormon or you are fucked. Hell I think a bunch of the Warren Jeffs people wound up homeless in Hurricane. I mean like teenage boys that got kicked out so he could have all the teenage girls to himself.

I have friends in Kanab that are not mormon. They have been there a few years and are still total outsiders despite having a business, active in community etc. And yeah those liquor laws are WTF. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

I lived in Pipe Creek thru college. Wiki says population of 66 in 1990 but up to 9500 now. 

I would move to a small town in an instant. I envy the friends of mine that have left Houston for Halletsville, Cuero, and the like. 

My wife would leave me. 

[CHIEF 5104]

There were 10 people in my graduating class, I would move back in a heartbeat if my wife would go. It was all I could do to get her to get the fuck out of Austin, and move to Granbury. I want to sell out and move to somewhere like Benjamin, Knox City, or Paducah. I could pay cash for a couple of hundred acres, build a modest house, and do some menial shit, and sell real estate to pay the bills. I could buy a walk in freezer buy primal cuts from locker plants out of Amarillo, have Catalina Seafood drop ship fish, and it would be there the next day before Noon. Just hunt, look at stars, and listen to the coyotes every night, just like at the deer lease.

 

CHIEF

[Beau Vine 55027]

15 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

There were 10 people in my graduating class, I would move back in a heartbeat if my wife would go. It was all I could do to get her to get the fuck out of Austin, and move to Granbury. I want to sell out and move to somewhere like Benjamin, Knox City, or Paducah. I could pay cash for a couple of hundred acres, build a modest house, and do some menial shit, and sell real estate to pay the bills. I could buy a walk in freezer buy primal cuts from locker plants out of Amarillo, have Catalina Seafood drop ship fish, and it would be there the next day before Noon. Just hunt, look at stars, and listen to the coyotes every night, just like at the deer lease.

 

CHIEF

Kinda dusty in here.

[RPM 26433]

My brother lived just outside of Chico and loved it. His wife made him move to Decatur to get closer to civilization.
I live in Denver but can’t wait for my house to increase in value enough to sell and GTFO. Traffic and people suck. But we’re rednecks.

Chico is alright once you get used to the rock trucks. Grew up there so I know where all the bodies are buried so to speak and get along with most of the people.

Have always hated Decatur. That town could fuck up a wet dream. But since it's the county seat and the crossroads for 2 major highways about 90% of new development goes there. I try to avoid going there if at all possible. I'll drive to Bowie to go shopping just so I don't have to pay sales tax for Decatur.

[bolverk 29847]

7 hours ago, CHIEF said:

There were 10 people in my graduating class, I would move back in a heartbeat if my wife would go. It was all I could do to get her to get the fuck out of Austin, and move to Granbury. I want to sell out and move to somewhere like Benjamin, Knox City, or Paducah. I could pay cash for a couple of hundred acres, build a modest house, and do some menial shit, and sell real estate to pay the bills. I could buy a walk in freezer buy primal cuts from locker plants out of Amarillo, have Catalina Seafood drop ship fish, and it would be there the next day before Noon. Just hunt, look at stars, and listen to the coyotes every night, just like at the deer lease.

 

CHIEF

This man gets it. I think there's something qualitatively different (as others have also said up-thread) between communities in the orbit of a major metro and those that are truly isolated outposts. To me, a town within a reasonable commuting distance (less than an hour) of a big city isn't really a small town - no matter how the locals like to view themselves. Inevitably, their economic, social, entertainment, and shopping opportunities are light-years more varied than in Knox City or Paducah.

Personally, I grew up in Big Spring (25,000) which is on I-20 about 40 minutes east of Midland. With oil coming back the last decade (even in spite of the recent slump), I've seen some friends going back there now that there are actual job opportunities either locally or in the Midland/Odessa "Petroplex". There is some part of me that feels a tug and has the urge to go back and play a role in the redevelopment/revitalization of the town, which would be related to my career. Moreover, I'm divorced and my kid is about to graduate high school in a couple months and go off to college. So now, or soon, would be the time.

That said, I follow a Big Spring Facebook group where people discuss local civic issues and cringe at a lot of the uninformed, conspiratorial, and downright stupid shit I see, and then I ask myself "do you really want to have to go back and live amongst these rubes?" And, gawd, if I actually wanted to start dating again, that pool would be really shallow.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, CHIEF said:

There were 10 people in my graduating class, I would move back in a heartbeat if my wife would go. It was all I could do to get her to get the fuck out of Austin, and move to Granbury. I want to sell out and move to somewhere like Benjamin, Knox City, or Paducah. I could pay cash for a couple of hundred acres, build a modest house, and do some menial shit, and sell real estate to pay the bills. I could buy a walk in freezer buy primal cuts from locker plants out of Amarillo, have Catalina Seafood drop ship fish, and it would be there the next day before Noon. Just hunt, look at stars, and listen to the coyotes every night, just like at the deer lease.

 

CHIEF

sellin real estate where nobody lives sounds like a meager livin...

 

Hope you're a good shot.

[Aqua Buddha 14671]

While you're romanticizing small towns, there's one thing you're forgetting.  They're filled with dipshits and meth heads/pill poppers.  It's mostly the stupid and/or lazy that stayed there and never left.  So, there's your new social circle.  Enjoy.

One more thing.  If you have adult children, they'll never come to see you because you live out in butt fuck nowhere.  (This might be a plus, though.)  Even if you live in the some Hill Country town and they live in Houston, it's a pain in the ass for them to make the trip.  Don't expect Johnny to drive 5 hours on a Friday to spend two days with you in your rural utopia, which basically includes watching sports on TV.

Father in law retired to some rural landscape an hour outside of Little Rock.  The family rarely went to see him because he was an hour outside of Little Rock.  He eventually pulled up stakes and moved to Nashville.  (We told him we didn't care where he lived, just make it close to an airport.)  He also took a bath on the Arky house because no one wants to live an hour outside of Little Rock.  He also got tired of the people in "the country."  They're not some gentleman farmers like you think they are.  They're generally people with social isolationist tendencies.  

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

What's the definition of this small town ?  population ?  geographic location in relation to larger population areas ?

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I was thinking someplace like Kerrville would be nice. Smallish, but has amenities like good grocery stores and movie theater. Not a bad drive to Austin for games, nor that far to an airport in San Antonio. But I am sure a lot of folks that grew up there hate it. Maybe Uvalde?

[Hate 20167]

If you hate growing up in Kerville you would probably hate Uvalde more.  I think I could live in a place like Marble Falls pretty easily.  I could also envision having a couple of places to live once the kid is out of the house.  I would find an apartment in a major city and urban live for a few months a year and then someplace out in the country to escape to for a few months a year.  

[phdhorn 6224]

When I moved to Bee Cave in 1994 it had 128 people.

Now it's got 6,000+.

I guess people moved out to be near me.  That's all I can figure.

[Grippe 313]

I have 3x lots up in the Redoubt, 2x 20ac and 1x 3ac.  I was worried my wife would rebel but after visiting the lots she doesn't want to wait 5 years, she wants to move now.

[Guest]

33 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

What's the definition of this small town ?  population ?  geographic location in relation to larger population areas ?

That definition has varied greatly in this thread.

to me it’s less than 15k or so, where you virtully know everyone in the community.