Retiring in Texas or Florida

[audreyh1]

Looked up climate for fort davis Texas and even less humid. Much cooler too. At 5000' elevation so that makes sense. Seems rather remote but weather seem pretty mild in summer.

Fort Davis area is lovely. It’s also quite remote and small towns (Marfa, Ft Davis and Alpine), but very scenic. We’ve visited often in the summer, occasionally in the spring and fall. I have no idea what the winter weather is like. It takes us two long driving days to get there, but well worth it for a summer escape. Big Bend Chisos Mountains 100 miles south is also good for a summer escape, even more remote. West Texas weather resembles SE Arizona in the summer, they also get the “summer monsoons”. We really have mountains in West Texas - two different mountain ranges exceed 8000ft.

 

[MuirWannabe]

I might consider Fort Davis as summer home and East of dry line for fall through spring. Prefer good precipitation during fall through spring with lots of greens and warmth and cooler and dry during summer.

You better really like remote if you choose this area. It’s got its own beauty to be sure. But ain’t nothin’ there. And you gotta drive a very long ways to get to a little sumthin’. If you want full fledged evrythin’ you’ve got to practically fly there.

 

[audreyh1]

Well, there is a bunch of amazing scenery, big open spaces, and wildlife out there.

I’ve had a lot of fun with night sky photography and big storm/sunset photography out there.

Flying in is challenging because your choices are Midland 163 miles or El Paso 200 miles. San Antonio is 400 miles to the east.

 

[Pluperfect]

But being right on the bay it can get quite humid, and Rockport is vulnerable to hurricanes.

It's also very windy (world-class windsurfing in the area), and with the humidity, it feels like being slapped with a wet rag. And it's salty, too, which makes everything corrode.

I don’t know if I ever noticed that it was particularly less humid than other parts of north Austin.

I certainly didn't.

 

[audreyh1]

It's also very windy (world-class windsurfing in the area), and with the humidity, it feels like being slapped with a wet rag. And it's salty, too, which makes everything corrode.

There were lots of reasons we chose not to live in Brownsville. It’s a very pretty tropical looking area and lush. But we stayed one place west of Brownsville, about 35 miles inland from the coast, and our car was covered in salt every morning! We were shocked. Not to mention that close to the coast you are more exposed to hurricane force winds.

Up in the Rockport area - great fishing I’m sure. Also very good in the Laguna Madre on our part of the coast.

 

[TheWizard]

You better really like remote if you choose this area. It’s got its own beauty to be sure. But ain’t nothin’ there. And you gotta drive a very long ways to get to a little sumthin’. If you want full fledged evrythin’ you’ve got to practically fly there.

The boonies, checko...

 

[TheWizard]

Well, there is a bunch of amazing scenery, big open spaces, and wildlife out there.

I’ve had a lot of fun with night sky photography and big storm/sunset photography out there.

Flying in is challenging because your choices are Midland 163 miles or El Paso 200 miles. San Antonio is 400 miles to the east.

I'm guessing he meant small private aircraft...

 

[audreyh1]

I'm guessing he meant small private aircraft...

Well that would certainly make things faster. But we don’t mind driving.

 

[jtmax]

I also looked at weather at Lubbock and it is a quite a bit cooler and drier than Austin/DFW/Houston in the summer. Houses are cheap so maybe a good summer home and short drive of 5-5.5 hours to DFW or Austin.

 

[jtmax]

I visited Sugarland Tx and just loved it. Nice area and close to downtown. Heard it's got advanced levee and drainage system and a little elevated up so well planned out. Low crime. Diverse. Of course this was in winter so weather was perfect. Anyone have a take on Sugarland? Houses are slightly more expense than other suburbs but it's understandable. Median income there is pretty high and good access all the jobs.

 

[audreyh1]

I visited Sugarland Tx and just loved it. Nice area and close to downtown. Heard it's got advanced levee and drainage system and a little elevated up so well planned out. Low crime. Diverse. Of course this was in winter so weather was perfect. Anyone have a take on Sugarland? Houses are slightly more expense than other suburbs but it's understandable. Median income there is pretty high and good access all the jobs.

Well you certainly have access to all the greater Houston area has to offer, which is a lot. My impression, since Sugarland has built up so much over the >30 years I’ve been driving through there, occasionally stopping, is that it’s a pretty fancy suburb now. It used to be way out in the boonies, a very rural area. Very nice shopping and restaurants today but a great deal of heavy traffic. It also seems like it would very humid like Houston is in the summer.

FWIW one of our favorite state parks is not far: Brazos Bend State Park - although it’s still a bit of a drive. Huge state park.

 

[TripleLindy]

I visited Sugarland Tx and just loved it. Nice area and close to downtown. Heard it's got advanced levee and drainage system and a little elevated up so well planned out. Low crime. Diverse. Of course this was in winter so weather was perfect. Anyone have a take on Sugarland? Houses are slightly more expense than other suburbs but it's understandable. Median income there is pretty high and good access all the jobs.

While Sugar Land has many modern conveniences, it’s still a suburb of Houston. Very hot and muggy. You’ll find very few of those perfect weather days, with humidity being the primary culprit year-round. It’s very similar to New Orleans and while not quite as exposed to hurricanes as that area, it certainly gets hit more often than you think. Most of the damage is flooding from heavy rain instead of tidal surge.

If gulf coast beaches are your jam, you won’t be too far, but the best beaches are several hours south. Houston’s international airport (Bush) is way to the north, so if you plan to travel internationally, keep that in mind. Hobby is closer, but is mostly domestic, unless heading south, like to Mexico.

Like any other major city, it’s crowded with lots of traffic, but I’m sure there are wonderful neighborhoods in Sugar Land that can insulate you from the city. I’m in a similar area in the DFW metroplex and never feel like I’m in the city.

Edit: If the Houston area has your interest, you might want to check out the Woodlands. It’s on the north side of Houston, while Sugar Land is on the south side.

 

[audreyh1]

I was wondering about The Woodlands too. Up there you are getting more into the piney woods forest and farther away from the Gulf. Is it noticeably less humid? Probably still gets plenty of rain.

ETA: Sounds like it’s essentially the same humid sub-tropical climate as Houston and Sugar Land.

Sounds like the advantages would be - much much closer to IAH, farther away from the coast which is better for hurricanes, tons of parks and hiking, forested buffers, and many preserves. The Woodlands is considered more upscale than Sugar Land, and housing is a bit more expensive.

 

[audreyh1]

I also looked at weather at Lubbock and it is a quite a bit cooler and drier than Austin/DFW/Houston in the summer. Houses are cheap so maybe a good summer home and short drive of 5-5.5 hours to DFW or Austin.

Ha ha, I think there is a reason why Lubbock is cheap. Far nicer in West TX.

 

[MichaelB]

Ha ha, I think there is a reason why Lubbock is cheap. Far nicer in West TX.

I was going to make a snarky comment about that post, but after a week battling rodents and termites in my attic, I recalled the saying “people in glass houses …”

 

[Mark1]

I visited Sugarland Tx and just loved it. Nice area and close to downtown. Heard it's got advanced levee and drainage system and a little elevated up so well planned out. Low crime. Diverse. Of course this was in winter so weather was perfect. Anyone have a take on Sugarland? Houses are slightly more expense than other suburbs but it's understandable. Median income there is pretty high and good access all the jobs.

Sugar Land is great place to live if you want to live in TX. We lived there ~20 years and although we like the area, we are outdoor people and didn't want to retire there. Like much of the area it is a very diverse population, although much of SL is Asian. If you told me that 25-50% of the student at Clements HS went on to become medical doctors/specialist I won't be shocked.

 

[Dtail]

While Sugar Land has many modern conveniences, it’s still a suburb of Houston. Very hot and muggy. You’ll find very few of those perfect weather days, with humidity being the primary culprit year-round. It’s very similar to New Orleans and while not quite as exposed to hurricanes as that area, it certainly gets hit more often than you think. Most of the damage is flooding from heavy rain instead of tidal surge.

If gulf coast beaches are your jam, you won’t be too far, but the best beaches are several hours south. Houston’s international airport (Bush) is way to the north, so if you plan to travel internationally, keep that in mind. Hobby is closer, but is mostly domestic, unless heading south, like to Mexico.

Like any other major city, it’s crowded with lots of traffic, but I’m sure there are wonderful neighborhoods in Sugar Land that can insulate you from the city. I’m in a similar area in the DFW metroplex and never feel like I’m in the city.

Edit: If the Houston area has your interest, you might want to check out the Woodlands. It’s on the north side of Houston, while Sugar Land is on the south side.

Humid year round?
Tons of humidity in FLA, but certainly not year round.

 

[jtmax]

Sugar Land is great place to live if you want to live in TX. We lived there ~20 years and although we like the area, we are outdoor people and didn't want to retire there. Like much of the area it is a very diverse population, although much of SL is Asian. If you told me that 25-50% of the student at Clements HS went on to become medical doctors/specialist I won't be shocked.

Is there not alot of outdoors things to do? Or is it because it's too humid to do things outdoor during summer? Would you have to drive 2.5 hours down to Rockport to get to a nice beach?

 

[jtmax]

I was wondering about The Woodlands too. Up there you are getting more into the piney woods forest and farther away from the Gulf. Is it noticeably less humid? Probably still gets plenty of rain.

ETA: Sounds like it’s essentially the same humid sub-tropical climate as Houston and Sugar Land.

Sounds like the advantages would be - much much closer to IAH, farther away from the coast which is better for hurricanes, tons of parks and hiking, forested buffers, and many preserves. The Woodlands is considered more upscale than Sugar Land, and housing is a bit more expensive.

Been to Woodlands too. Very nice. Wonder though if being in Sugarland is advantageous for healthcare being close to The Medical Center with advanced, state of the art medical treatment and more diverse food choices.

 

[Mark1]

Is there not alot of outdoors things to do? Or is it because it's too humid to do things outdoor during summer? Would you have to drive 2.5 hours down to Rockport to get to a nice beach?

Yup, all are true IMO.

 

[audreyh1]

Mustang Island State Park southwest of Port Aransas has a pretty decent beach. Another 45 mins to an hour from Rockport. Other than that you have to go much farther south to South Padre Island - the south end.

BTW beach driving is allowed along most of the TX coast. The City of South Padre Island doesn’t allow it.

 

[TripleLindy]

Been to Woodlands too. Very nice. Wonder though if being in Sugarland is advantageous for healthcare being close to The Medical Center with advanced, state of the art medical treatment and more diverse food choices.

The Houston Medical Center is certainly a wonderful single spot for some of the world’s most advanced providers. Most have facilities in the Woodlands and while if you have something serious going on, you’d probably want to go to the mothership, but it’s only 45 minutes from the Woodlands.

 

[jtmax]

I'm interested in politically moderate place. How would Sugarland, Spring and Woodlands be when it comes to that I wonder. I like all those areas because the flood risk is not so bad and close enough to everything but yet lack the crime problems of Houston. Spring seems like a bargain being close to airport and close enough to city but more affordable than Sugarland and Woodlands. I heard in Texas the Houston area is the best place to be for access to best healthcare? Also I know that going from Silicon Valley to Houston would probably be quite adjustment to adapt to hot and humid. Has anyone made such a drastic change in climate and how did you adapt? Was it harder than you thought?

 

[Mark1]

I would not recommend moving to the gulf coast area, without visiting in the middle of summer (say July or August) to get a better feel for what it will be like for about 1/3 of the year.

Also, there are very few houses in Houston that are safe from flooding since locally 25-40 inches of rain/event is not that uncommon. Having a house with the highest elevation slab in the neighborhood really lowers your risk, since the street flooding is very common and tolerated. Our house (built in 1998) had zero risk of street flooding as I could see our neighborhood lake from our front door and the lake had a spillway into Oyster Creek, which drained into the Brazos River. Of course, our biggest risk was when the Brazos was in a very high flood stage and would back up into Oyster Creek. Once in 18 years, the creek actually started backing up the spillway with maybe 2 feet of spillway remaining and 4 more feet before reaching my slab. IIRC, you also mentioned and highlighted the levee system that protect SL from the Brazos river. I don't have a lot of faith in the levee system due to how much they have chocked down the river in SL. With no flood plain anymore the river has no choice, but to rise even higher.

P.S. I love how easy it is to ask AI question. I discovered tonight that if our TX house was present during the 1913 flood it would have likely had ~4 ft of water in the first floor as our lake would have risen about 8 feet from the Brazos river backing up into the creek, etc. Really glad I didn't know about the 1913 flood when I was in TX.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm interested in politically moderate place. How would Sugarland, Spring and Woodlands be when it comes to that I wonder. I like all those areas because the flood risk is not so bad and close enough to everything but yet lack the crime problems of Houston. Spring seems like a bargain being close to airport and close enough to city but more affordable than Sugarland and Woodlands. I heard in Texas the Houston area is the best place to be for access to best healthcare? Also I know that going from Silicon Valley to Houston would probably be quite adjustment to adapt to hot and humid. Has anyone made such a drastic change in climate and how did you adapt? Was it harder than you thought?

Some of the downtown large city centers are more liberal, but suburbs are generally conservative, and definitely rural areas.