Possible move to TX

[mamabearCali]

Ok yall. My husband finishes his Bachelors of Science in one year and our time waiting in our house to sell will be up at the same time (first time home buyers tax credit--can't sell for 5 years). If he does not get a decent raise from his work in the months after that (he has been told that all he lacked for certain positions he applied for was his degree) he will be looking to move on. TX is on our list of states that is both homeschooling and gun friendly. I grew up south of San Antonio with the rattlers, and the copperheads, and the scorpions. It is dry dry dry there, and he is from Long Island and has been happy for the most part in VA, but the political climate here has become turbulent, and the pay not forthcoming. "

So are there areas of TX that have trees, are somewhat green, and have less of the nasties. We have snakes and scorpions here in VA, but I have only seen a few. In the two weeks we were in San Antonio Chris almost stepped on two poisonous snakes. There is nothing one can do about the heat, but try to stay out of it from May to Sept. But thank God we now have AC.

[txglock21]

Being raised in Texas you should already know EVERYTHING either sticks, stings or bites here! But, even though the salaries are not as much as you are probably used to, the cost of living is a lot cheaper here than up there. Having served in the Air Force I have lived or been to almost all the states and a few countries, I wouldn't live anywhere else now! I hope things work out for ya'll up there, but if not, come on down.

[SewTexas]

dang, where were you here that you saw two snakes in two weeks. Were y'al out hiking? you've got to go out looking for them, yes, they're around, but you've either got to live in the country , and even there I didn't see poisonous ones, or you've got to go into their territory. Snakes aren't a part of daily life around here. Scorpions....sort of depends on the neighborhood you live in....we don't have any, but I've heard that there are some a few streets over, we have a very well built house and have terminex out several times a year....those we did have in the country, I can't stand them, I fully believe they come straight from h*ll.

I'd love to show you around our area of town!

[RJGold]

Draw a line from Houston to Dallas. Everything east of that line has trees. West of that line trees get scarce quick (unless you count mesquites).

There are pockets of trees south of I-10 from Houston to San Antonio and down to the coast.

If snakes are a deal breaker, better look farther north (like Alberta).

I hope it all works out for you.

[Jaguar]

Rainfall varies from under 14" annually to over 54". Take your pick of climates.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/coun ... precip.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I live in a 30" - 34" annual area, and we have lawns and trees (and YES! Mesquites count.) I recently went to Southern California and was amazed at how dry, rocky, and vegetation free it actually was, way more than my little corner of Texas. I have seen exactly four scorpions (in my house) over the last ten years, and only a few snakes (none in my house) and none of them were venomous. I’m sure Rattlesnakes and Copperheads live around here somewhere, but I don’t go looking for them.

Hope your husband finds what he wants, but if not, welcome to Texas.

[mamabearCali]

We were at my aunt and grandparents house in Atascosa county (south of San Antonio) and it is country there (10 acres surrounded by 100's of acres of cows and live oak trees). As was said before everything bites, sticks, or stings!

I will keep terminex in mind. If we end up there with scorpions hanging about we will definitely look into it.

Thanks for the invite. Right now we are fighting the good fight here politically and financially, but our month keeps getting ahead of our $$. Our taxes and insurance are outpacing any advancement my husband makes at work or in college umpiring. He is trying to fix it by finishing his bachelors, but there is no guarantee. If McAwful gets put in the govenors mansion that is real bad ju ju, but we will see. I am just curious if there are general regions that have more water and have more trees.


Snakes are not a deal breaker, but mounds of scorpions and tarantulas are.


Thanks all!

[J.R.@A&M]

Draw a line from Houston to Dallas. Everything east of that line has trees. West of that line trees get scarce quick (unless you count mesquites).

There are pockets of trees south of I-10 from Houston to San Antonio and down to the coast.

If snakes are a deal breaker, better look farther north (like Alberta).

I hope it all works out for you.

This pretty much says it all. We live amongst the post oaks of east central Texas. Have only seen a few copperheads (in nine years), a few scorpions, and thankfully none of what scare me the most (water moccasins -- aggressive boogers).

I have friends from Canada that live in bear country that take the normal precautions while camping/hiking and don't think much more about it. They are terrified of the prospect of encountering Texas rattlesnakes. It's all about what you're used to.

[SewTexas]

no tarantulas here. as long as you tell the ants who's boss they will obey

we have several really good homeschool groups.

Trees....well, Schertz has an ordinance that every new house has to come with live oaks (gag) . We've actually had a decent amount of rain the last couple of months.

If you end up in the Austin area, look to the north, toward Georgetown and I'll point you toward a homeschool group and some friends up there, but there are more scorpions there, lots more

[The Annoyed Man]

We moved to NE Tarrant County from southern Commiefornia. I would have to say that while the temps/humidity in SoCal are somewhat less onerous than here, there is FAR less air pollution here than there.......by a very considerable amount.

We live in a 34.7" annual rainfall zone (http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.ph ... n=USTX0548), but that hasn't meant much the last couple of years as we are experiencing a mild drought. I say "mild," because we had 26.85" through the end of September, and I am used to <15"/year in greater Los Angeles. L.A. only survives because it sucks all the water out of nicer places.......leaving them deserts. So even when people here in the greater DFW area worry about droughts, it's still nowhere near as bad as the norm for Los Angeles.

[gthaustex]

Austin area...specifically the suburbs, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Round Rock are not bad and have lots of green generally (lawns and trees). If you do decide to move, I hope you and your family find what you are looking for. My kids have several friends in the area who are homeschooled.

[ELB]

I live in south Guadalupe County, south of Seguin, and we seem to have plenty of trees, and a lot of brush. North part of the county is more farmland, south of I-10 is hillier and forested. In green it doesn't compare to where I grew up in southern Indiana, but we do have quite a few oaks, walnuts, and other stuff. Copperheads too, I find them in my yard regularly, but I live in country side. Haven't seen any rattlesnakes since I left the west side of San Antonio several years ago. A few scorpions.

I don't know what kind of job your husband is looking for - -there is a lot of oil stuff going on just south of here. Several manufacturing plants around, the biggest being CMC, Toyota (Tundras and Tacomas), and Caterpiller.

Don't know anything about the homeschooling community. Besides the public schools, there is a private school, Lifegate Christian School, K-12.

Good luck!

[Divided Attention]

I am a native Houstonian, and it is not a bad place to live. We are just north near The Woodland's / Conroe area. I sometimes wish we had seasons. However the schools aren't awful for the most part, the folks are pretty friendly, there are a lot of great homeschool folks around (although my kids do attend public school). There are some great local colleges.

Personally I don't want to be near Austin, not fond of their politics; although the whole political thing is just crazy everywhere.

Pray about it and the best to you and yours.

[tomtexan]

If it's trees you are looking for, East Texas is the place to be. The humidity can be terrible in this region though. I really hate the summers here, but I tolerate it.

[mamabearCali]

My husband works for the power company here. He is a number cruncher. Lets see if I can get his title right "Senior business process analyst". He basically helps companies streamline systems and make them more efficient. You have a process to take a product from start to consumer.....it takes steps A-K to do so. He can take that process and tell you where you can increase efficiency.

The national average for a person doing his job with his qualifications is 120K a year. Which makes sense because what he does saves companies millions each year. Lets just say he makes significantly less than that. Right now we are stuck with that because he worked his way up the company ladder and did not have his college degree. We are now ten classes (or so) out from his being done with that. So when that is done...we are free to do as we please where we please. All that to say he works for the energy company here, but his skill set crosses many if not all business types

We shall see..there is much to consider here. Thank you all for the information.