Central Texas, Hill lCountry Towns

[meierlde]

Note that Kerrville is 61 miles from San Antonio, and Fredricksburg is 69, so its not that much difference. The major medical complex in San Antonio is about 6 to 8 miles NW of downtown, near the intersection of I-410 and I-10. From Fredricksburg you take 89 to Comfort and then I-10 into SA.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb Austin traffic wasn't all that bad when I lived there in '81 - '87 and also while I was living in Bastrop and driving in to Austin everyday...up until I moved away in 1996. It sure is a lot worse now, though!

That's what I say about Atlanta traffic. When I left for the Air Force in 93, you could pretty much get anyway in the city in 30 minutes or less. Now, there are times when you can't get 3 miles in 30 minutes. I sure long for the 'good 'ole days'!

Austin traffic is pretty hateful...again, way too much of a population boom and no infrastructure to support it. Not only to mention the inadequacies of TxDot funding methods!

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

[Alan]

We have lived in The Woodlands since 2004, although we did have 2008 and 2009 back in Baton Rouge while I worked on a project just before retiring.

While away our son, who also lives in The Woodlands, lived through a hurricane which had him without power for weeks. Prior to the hurricane he left for Austin with his company to get their back-up data center operating and stayed working there out of a hotel for about 10 days before returning to The Woodlands but still had a couple of weeks without power.

Now that we are retired we leave for several months each summer to escape the hot humid weather. Rest of the year is pretty good though, and it is very well served with hiking and biking trails.

[Lancelot]

Great thread. I am very interested in exploring the Texas Hill Country

[Looking4Ward]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Looking4Ward Check out the Lago Vista, TX area.

Oh, and the Jonestown/Crystal Falls area on FM1431 as well. About 20 minutes from the I-35 corridor and 30 minutes from Austin but far enough away to maintain small town advantages.

[Rustic23]

Maybe you could explain your concern about Hurricanes a little more. For me, it is water/surge damage that is the key. Wind damage not so much. Loss of power, a minor inconvenience and one that a whole house generator will solve. Also, have you considered the other weather related threats i.e. tornadoes. It seems the further you get away from hurricanes in Texas the more you get into tornado country. For me, I'll take a good hurricane wind storm to a tornado. Personally, neither really worry me that much, because we are not in a water surge zone. If you get too far west, it is real dry, but there are also dust storms to contend with. i.e. Lubbock.

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

New Braunfels of course!! two rivers, Canyon lake for sailing, Gruene, Wurstfest, new Resolute Hospital, the biggest Buccees, equidistance between Austin and San Antonio airports, driving distance to Houston and Galveston for cruises, awfully hot, but not humid, housing in gated community is around 230k for 2200 sq ft, but it is booming

[aja8888]

Little town I have stayed at from time to time, about 1/2 between Ft. Worth and Austin. Small town atmosphere, not too far from Waco.

City of Gatesville*

[iac1003]

Austin traffic - 4th worst in the country.

Austin medical care - really subpar until they get the medical school up and running, which at full blast will take a few years.

If I were to do it again given your parameters I would choose either Waco or closer to San Antonio.

Oh, and I like New Braunfels but it might be too small for you. I have to go down there monthly on a Friday late afternoon/early evening for a meeting and the trip to SA from NB is about an hour on a rush hour Friday night and about 75 minutes from NB to central Austin (north of downtown).

(NYC native living in central Austin with an MD degree)




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[Turn_the_Page]

Wow, lots of good feedback. Here's the plan for now:

- keep Kerrville and F-burg on the list. Continue to explore and discuss.

- plan recon trip to Brenham, Smithville, and Bastrop.

- do research on towns west of I-35 and north of F-burg/Kerrville, ie - Marble Falls, Burnet etc.

- talk more about East Texas (Lufkin, Conroe etc.). I'm not thrilled about being without electricity for 2 weeks after a 'cane so Huntsville/Conroe are probably not options. And I'm really not excited about joining the teeming masses for an evacuation.

- Look at grocery budget for Waco (ha, ha).

Gatesville, hmm. Have to look into it. I thought about Temple last night also.

[Hamster]

We went through almost exactly the same search a few years back and ended up in Bastrop which we loved. While it has grown a lot, it is still a pretty small town. The growth mainly means you don't have to drive a long way for everything you need.

Biggest benefit is being very close to Austin without actually being in a big city. Fifteen miles to Austin airport and less than twenty to downtown. The traffic in Austin can be horrible, but since we weren't commuting to work it was easy to miss that and Austin always has an amazing variety of things going on.

[martyb]

Sounds like a great way to spend time, checking out all those places! If you go to Smithville, you gotta check out the BBQ at Zimmerhanzel's, which I mentioned previously. Keep in mind that they close around 5 pm...yep, seriously! I asked them once about it & they said "we're a family owned business & although we realize we could make more money by staying open, we make enough now to take care of our needs, & value time with family more than more money". I liked that answer! Anyhow, best wishes in your research & travels. Oh, with regards to the weather in east Texas, while I know there has been the occasional hurricane in the Gulf, I never experienced any really bad weather in my 5 years in Lufkin. No doubt when a big storm does track that direction, you'll get some rain & wind, but personally I'd have zero reservations about living there because of that. By the time a storm gets that far inland, I think most of it's teeth are gone. If you lose some roof shingles, that's what insurance is for. Lot's of plusses vs. small possible negatives, IMHO. Happy research!

[martyb]

Hamster, when I was living in Bastrop, my job was at Bergstrom AFB, which as you most likely know, is where the Airport is now. At that time, since I lived in Tahitian Village, it was a 26 mile drive for me to work. When I first moved to Austin & drove out to check out Bastrop, there was ONE stop light on Hwy 71. Seriously! That was in the early 80's. Almost no traffic between the base & Bastrop. Sure has changed, huh? lol The only grocery stores were an IGA near Fisherman's Park and a Star Mart on Chestnut St. Lot's & lot's of changes, as you know. There was almost nothing to look at between Austin & Bastrop. Smithville is still very close to the way it was back then, but has added maybe less than a half-dozen new businesses. Anyhow, nice to hear from somebody who also lived in Bastrop! I have a lot of good memories.

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb Yeah...but do they Rudolph the Red Nosed Christmas Oil Rig every year at Christmas like Lufkin? I think not!! lol Google it!

Oil rig, I have no idea what you are talking about

Must be a Lufkin thing.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turn_the_Page I'm in the class of 2016 and recently relocated from the midwest to Houston. I'm a Waco native. Struggling a bit finding the retirement town that we want.

Since you are a Waco native, I'm sure you (and others here) know so much more than I do about Texas towns.

I just know about one - - College Station, where I lived from 1984-1996. I don't think it is what you want, but I'll describe it anyway from my memories of 18 years ago. If it interests you then you can look for more recent input about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turn_the_Page Low/moderate humidity The humidity did not seem that high to me but the summer heat was the most brutal I have ever experienced (including here in New Orleans). The weather was terrible. No Hurricane worries Hurricane worries were pretty trivial and not a concern IMO. I'd be more worried about tornados, although they aren't excessive either IMO. Close to good health care Health care was good with two good hospitals right there in Bryan/CollegeStation, and more in Houston. Reasonably close to big city for occasional amenity trips and airport. Houston is maybe an hour and a half or two hours away depending on where in Houston you want to go and how fast you drive. Small enough that we'll actually do things without worrying about traffic I wouldn't worry about traffic there except on game days (see below) Nice homes close enough or in town so we'll actually do things without the big 'drive to town'. There are nice homes close to College Station; buy just outside of town to avoid the HUGE College Station school taxes. We didn't because we had a school aged child at the time, and she got a wonderful education. The school taxes were staggering (to us), though. 55+ community is a nice to have, not a must have I don't know of any 55+ communities but there could be some.

The biggest advantage to College Station is also its biggest disadvantage - - it's a college town. When there are home games you might as well just stay home because the town goes nuts. But wow, members of the community can buy passes to its HUGE library and what a wonderland for book lovers that library is. I could spend years in there happily browsing through all those books. Also there are events on campus, speakers, and so on that can be interesting, and that hardly scratches the surface of the many things going on there. My daughter even saw the Bolshoi Ballet in person there when she was in first grade, for example, and Broadway musicals or other types of first class entertainment sometimes make it there too during the off seasons.

[Cobra9777]

We've lived in North Texas for 35 years, and are more-or-less planted here. But DW and I love taking trips to the Hill Country. We've been to almost every town mentioned in this thread. We especially love driving through all the small towns on Highway 16 from Kerrville all the way up to the DFW area. One of our favorites that I didn't see mentioned is the Wimberley/Driftwood area, about 28 miles SW of Austin. Lots of wineries, great restaurants, quirky shops, easy access to Austin or San Antonio, classic Hill Country scenery, not too humid, and reasonable real estate prices. We also love Fredericksburg and Marble Falls.

[Turn_the_Page]

Thanks, but no thanks on College Station. I'm a Longhorn alum, I'm afraid I'd die shortly.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turn_the_Page I'm a Longhorn alum

Hook 'em horns.
.
.

[heeyy_joe]

Check comfort index, compare cities:

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[meierlde]

One other thing to look at after you pick a city is flash flooding risk. Be sure you locate away from streams. The hill country because of its bare limestone rock is the flash flood capital of the US. This might mean a bit further from town in some cases.