Best City to Live in Texas?

[OldLincoln]

Okay, not likely to happen, but the kids and us have batted around making the big move from CA. General consensus is Texas, but where? Grandkids need college, kids need jobs, we need medical (me VA, wife bunch of neurology types). Second is security. Supportive Policing is high value. Concealed carry a must. Not prejudiced but prefer a friendly neighborhood. Want it to be a place where our grandkids would want to live and raise their families. A strong American city where the flag is respected and patriotism abounds.

I expect to hear back no place exists but if it does and you would welcome a growing family that believes and exhibits these values let me know.

OldLincoln

[AJBert]

If I HAD to live in Texas (thankfully I don't) I would look at the northeast part of the state, say Tyler or thereabouts. Not sure if it has everything you are looking for, though. Or maybe someplace between DFW and Houston. Nice country. San Antonio maybe. Waco? Forget west Texas and the Panhandle. The Gulf coast can be nice but not during the summers.

Oh, I spent my high school years in a small town in the Panhandle and my in-laws live in south Texas. The state is just not for me, nothing against folks who live there or want to go there. I've crisscrossed that state MANY times over the years and will be heading down to the in-laws for Christmas. Just giving you some ideas on the areas of the state that have nice looking land and decent weather (read as humidity).

I'll never live in another city as long as I have that choice.

[yqtszhj]

Ft. Worth area was nice in the early 80's and close to schools and medical (Dallas is close and has whatever you want but it's too much city for me). I have heard the Tyler area is nice too but sure what's around there.

I have good memories from my year in Texas. Nice people there. Made regular visit to Mansfield to visit friends and it had a small town atmosphere back then.

I had hoped to move to Marshal about 10 years ago but it didn't work out.

[Bobshouse]

Near the Gulf, maybe Galvaston.

[OldLincoln]

Spent much of the afternoon studying up on Texas. Very depressing between crime, schools, weather, etc. I'm going to give this a long rest. Wife says Jesus is on His way so I'll stick around here for a while.

[Armybrat]

The wife & I retired just north of Austin 20 years ago (we're in our early 70s).

Truthfully it can get hotter'n hell during the severe droughts, but the last one was broken two years ago. Still, July-September can be pretty warm a few weeks hovering around 100. Winters are mild.
We live just north of the liberal (for Texas) city of Austin in the Round Rock area which is very conservative. Lots of activities, churches, & decent restaurants all over. The whole Austin metro area has 2 million residents, but with pretty low violent crime rates. Round Rock (population 110,000) even less. Property theft rates are high - if it ain't nailed down, might as well kiss it goodbye. Although my neighborhood of Brushy Creek next to Round Rock has very little.

Very good public schools around us in Williamson County and it is a great, safe place to raise a family - lots of parks, pools, a good hike & bike trail & community center. Nearby lakes provide boating & fishing. Lots of civilian hospitals - a good VA clinic down in Austin and a big VA hospital in Waco, plus one in San Antonio, I think (both about and hour & a half away). We have the LTC for concealed & open carry.

Just north of Round Rock on I-35 is a nice little city, Georgetown. Just west of that is a large Del Webb Sun City development for retired folks.

The job market in the metro is very good, particularly in the tech industry. However, it is very competitive and the pay will be lower than California. There is no state income tax, but the property tax is fairly high depending on where you live. Housing in Austin is the highest in the state, but is reasonable out here in the surrounding 'burbs north & south. Gets expensive west towards the lakes.

This isn't anything like California, especially LA or the Bay area. The traffic sucks in the largest cities, but not as bad as LA (or so we are told).
Best of luck & health to you and yours.

Here is an Austin forum that is chock full of info - particularly the top "sticky" thread:
(a number of nonsensical ones too)

http://www.city-data.com/forum/austin/

[340pd]

Just about anywhere is politically better than California so work from that standpoint.
For the last three years son has been living in Allen, TX (north suburb of Dallas) and it is growing, beautiful and reasonable.

[jeepster09]

Just another option for you.....I looked at moving to Grand Junction Colorado for awhile. It seems to have a lot of what you may be looking for. They have milder winter than rest of state, hospital and many close by National Parks. If you still want snow [yuk] just a short drive east and you reach Aspen/Vail area which gets PLENTY. Annual Snowfall is only 18 inches.

[Armybrat]

Dunno if we cold take that cold.

Yesterday afternoon I was grilling steaks out on the patio in my shorts - it was 80 degrees. This morning the artic cold front blew in from the north and dropped the temp to 25. Froze the bird bath solid.

"What do you mean you didn't bring the vodka?"

[AIRret]

We live in Michigan but we spend a good bit of time in the Southwest. TX is definitely better than CA., it's very patriotic state, but has pockets of liberalism.
Recently, we spent time in Fort Huachuca, AZ and loved it! It's not a big city, but has a good variety of stores and Tuscan is a little more than an hour away.
And the crime stats. looked decent. However, job wise I don't know. AZ gun laws aren't too bad.

[Barth]

Never lived in Texas.

I'm still thinking of returning to Florida when retirement comes.
Low cost of living, no state income tax, semi tropical weather (Tampa) and gun friendly for sure.
Most folks are nice too.

In the Furnace of Phoenix - I miss living on the Gulf.

[IHeartGroceries]

The city of Keller thinks it's the best place to live, not only in Texas, but in the US. Anyway, it's decent. I just moved from Keller to Haslet, into a nice, quant home on an acre lot, little bit in the countryside. The area north of Fort Worth is absolutely booming. Plenty of good schools in the DFW suburbs, just need to be sought out. Keller is ranked the highest. Property tax is pretty high though, offset slightly by lack of state income tax. Housing supply is in extreme shortage and the market has been explosive for over a year. It'll be tough not to overpay in the metro areas.

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[CPTKILLER]

I live in Austin and am a gun toting independent individual. The VA clinic is new near Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The medical facilities are generally in central Austin. The city has about 3.2% unemployment. Places to live are Austin, Williamson County, Hays County, or Bastrop County. New property is less expensive in the surrounding counties.

Areas of interest are lakes and rivers in the area. There are large green belts or almost wilderness hiking trails. The city is very dog friendly and many stores let you bring your pet in with you. The options are wide open. There are universities here plus the mentioned medical facilities for your spouse. For your grandkids the music may appeal to them also.

There are several indoor and outdoor ranges here. We card carrying (LTC) shooters generally do fine in Austin. With a A Texas LTC, you can carry in the state capitol.

[Texas48]

I live in San Antonio. If you are looking for the best VA medicine you have the best here in San Antonio. Fort Sam Houston Bamse is outstanding, Audey Murphy VA hospital is excellent, Good schools, University of Texas San Antonio, Incarnate Word, Texas A&M has a branch here. Plenty of tourist places Downtown, Alamo, Riverwalk, Alamodome,ATT center. Great restaurants and people here are generally very friendly. Its a great Big Little city. No income tax but relatively high property tax, but if you are over 65 or disabled they are lower. Gets warm during the summers but snow has not fallen here since 1983. Winters are cool to comfortable. Left NY sate 20 years ago and never regretted becoming a Texan. LTC laws are favorable, open carry allowed no big issues and concealed carry allowed on state university campuses.

[OldLincoln]

I liked San Antonio when I was there for a few weeks in 1961. I was impressed by the River Walk and a theater that was really fancy inside though I don't remember the name. My last day there was in assembly and the sky was green and you could almost stick your hand in it. Read later there was 6 tornadoes touched down that afternoon. Just up 35 a piece is Round Rock, mentioned above, and it looks pretty good also.

Still think we're stuck here until our son and family decide to move. They seem to want to stay where they are and we're 8 minutes apart.