Best locations in Texas

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manyguns

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Hill country Texas
I am considering relocating to the great state. I am not a city boy. Cities of 100K are getting pretty big for me. I am obviously a shooter & outdoorsman. I will also need to continue to make a living. What suggestions can you offer from your experience of living there?
 
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My son lives in Beeville. Nice town about 1-1 1/2 hours south of San Antonio. Job market varies depending on what you can do. The grandkids go to church schools, so I have no idea what the government schools are like. Gets very hot and sticky in 3 out of 4 seasons. Lots of oil drilling last time I was there (24 months ago), so somebody should have money to stimulate the economy. I have a friend from church that relocated to San Antonio because of the building boom. That town is a little large by your standards but from what I saw you might enjoy the locals. If you go check these areas out, stop and pay your respects at the Alamo. In the mid to late 70's I spent a good amount of time in Brownsville. It was a great place back then, now it sounds like a typical boarder hell hole from people I've talked too. So stay north of the King Ranch!!! Good luck, leaving Colorado seems a wise thing to do these days. Ivan
 
What are you looking for. Remember there are very few public lands in Texas compared to Colorado. We have mountains, deserts, hills, coast lines, plains, thickets, swaps, and a lot of big cities that influence the small towns around them. The half way point between Houston, TX and Los Angeles, CA is basically El Paso, TX.
 
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The economy is booming in West Texas. That's the good news. Unemployment is about 4% and less in some areas.

The bad news is there is a housing shortage with people living in RVs, overpriced apartments and temporary lodging. The traffic is terrible. Overall, it's a great place to make a living, just not a good place to live.
 
What I have done for the last 28 years is own & operate a residential & commercial water treatment company. Softeners, reverse osmosis units, etc. Probably make a good service mngr. or similar water treatment for produced water in the oil patch. Have not looked at the east end of the state yet. Have seen that the hill country looks nice. Hunting will have to take a back seat to occupation for a while. Yes Ivan, Colorado is getting too fruity for my tastes.
 
Well, the city has rationed watering for yards here to twice a week. The water in this area is hard as a rock and a lot of water softeners are sold here so you shouldn't have a problem with your trade. I lived in Fort Stockton many years ago and you could put on a pot of pinto beans and boil them three days. Then you could take a hand full of beans and a slingshot and go rabbit hunting.:D
 
manyguns said:
What I have done for the last 28 years is own & operate a residential & commercial water treatment company. Softeners, reverse osmosis units, etc. Probably make a good service mngr. or similar water treatment for produced water in the oil patch. Have not looked at the east end of the state yet. Have seen that the hill country looks nice. Hunting will have to take a back seat to occupation for a while. Yes Ivan, Colorado is getting too fruity for my tastes.
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The Eagle Ford shale gas play is in South Texas south of San Antonio. One side of my family is from the La Salle and Dimitt County areas, which is now in oil boom mode. It is a very neat area of the state and the water is unique. With the oil and gas boom they do have infrastructure stress and a housing shortage. South Texas has its issues with smuggling that have been around forever. You would be moving in during a boom time and nobody knows when the bust will be. You might think about Kerrville west of San Antonio or if you want to participate in the Eagle Ford, the southern suburbs of San Antonio. The heart of the gas pay will be in Cotulla, my mom's home town.
 
Anywhere in the Hill Country has need of water treatment. The water is so hard that if you drop it, it will break. The Hill country also has some of the best scenery, no large cities, and probably the best overall climate in the state. If you shop around you might be able to pick up a few acres reasonable.
 
Try the Corpus Christi area. CC has about 330,000 people, but many smaller cities and towns around hear and all else you want--meets your requirements.

Stay far away from Brownsville. It aint nothing like it was 20-40 years ago--much much worse. Harlingen is still pretty nice and they had a pop of about 75,000 when I went to College there back in 93.
 
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Don't underestimate the lack of public land on which to hunt, shoot, etc. Texas is something like 6% public land as opposed to say, New Mexicos 40% or so.
 
Nico Testosteros said:
Don't underestimate the lack of public land on which to hunt, shoot, etc. Texas is something like 6% public land as opposed to say, New Mexicos 40% or so.
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But, Texas has oodles of Ranches you can hunt on no prob as well--most for free too.
 
I’m from North Carolina and my fiance is originally from Dallas, TX, which by the way is a nightmare as far as traffic goes. We took a trip over the summer and were able to visit a few areas. Dallas is way too congested for my taste. Her parents moved out to the outskirts of Waco and I found it to be pleasantly nice. Felt like a small town.

I’ll mention this too, I really enjoyed the state. One thing I noticed is that Texans are very supportive toward out Veterans, our military, and our right to bear arms. Every city and town we visit would show that support in different ways, but it was there, and it was refreshing to see so many patriotic Americans in the state. Made me proud. We’ve been saying that it might be a good place for us in the future. Hope you enjoy your time there.
 
I wouldn't mind moving to Texas in the future, but I wish open carry was legal there. In a state like Texas, I'd be afraid of accidentally displaying my holstered firearm and getting cited or arrested. I hate iwb holsters and only carry in an owb with a shirt or jacket covering my firearm. That's the only gripe I have about Texas.
 
I have lived in the Valley (Weslaco), San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Fredericksburg and currently Huntsville. All the people are friendly and 90% supportive of the Military, Veterans and Gun Rights. if I said 100% you'd know I worked for the Chamber of Commerce. You should do your research and look around. your skill set would seem to fit in many parts of the state so why not schedule a visit, look around and sit a spell. Have some great Tex Mex and Bar B Q and Sea food,listen to George Strait go along the River walk drink a Shiner Bock and buy a place. if you get by my way lets hook up and get a beer or sweet tea and visit. remember the root of Texas is Tejas a Native American word for friendly.
 
The Hill Country area around Austin is nice but it is crowded, liberal, and has a high cost of living. Dallas/FW way too crowded, Houston...you could spend your whole life in traffic and West Texas is pretty flat, dry, and dusty. The Eastern part of the state has some hills and trees but don't seem to have many pretty lakes, but DFW and Austin/Georgetown are the only places I have lived in that State. Maybe something near Temple or Waco would be O.K. but I don't know about hunting on ranches for free, everyone was charging a pretty penny to hunt when I lived there.
 
Nico Testosteros said:
Don't underestimate the lack of public land on which to hunt, shoot, etc. Texas is something like 6% public land as opposed to say, New Mexicos 40% or so.
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Texas did NOT allow the Federal government to claim unsettled land in the state when it joined the union. I'm sure there are arguments pro and con about this but the Feds are horrendous to deal with.

If you want to hunt, you'll most likely have to get a deer lease from an owner. Game ranches get real spendy.
 
the ringo kid said:
But, Texas has oodles of Ranches you can hunt on no prob as well--most for free too.
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But you have to make friends who own land to do that.

I don't know anything about water treatment needs. It seems okay in Dallas, but sometimes has a little bit of a chlorine taste.

If you can ID a desired area, the Net will have info on many towns. Then, contact local chambers of commerce for more details and ask about business licensing, etc.

What is your "business"? Is it just you driving a single truck? If so, you should have an easier start-up than if you need to lease a building, get utilities on, hire employees, etc.

The coastal areas are very humid, even nasty in summer. The Hill country is expensive, if what I hear is correct. The West and the Panhandle are mostly dry, often semi-desert. East Texas is more lke the Old South, with much timbered land, inc. the famed (and huge!) Big Thicket ecological area.

Austin has gotten pretty Liberal, but most of the state is gun-friendly.
 
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There are several national forests in the state that have drawings for deer permits. If you get on a private lease it may seem a bit expensive until you realize that on most it its for a year at a time and during that period you may hunt anything that is in season. And Hogs are always in season. But lets see deer, turkey, hogs, dove, quail, hogs, ducks, geese, hogs, coyote, squirrels, did I mention hogs. Just saying. Also the land owners that lease will generally stock their land and practice good conservation rules to insure the game is there for the lessee's. Something that does not always happen on public lands. that's because it is a business to them. And can you Hog hunt from helicopters, we can in Texas. Just sayin.
 
A friend of mine has a treatment company, they set up systems for hotels, hospitals, restaurants and homes. Guess what...they have more work than they can do. They're in San Antone. Elgin is nice, as is La Grange, Round Rock, up to Rockdale. Gonzales and Cuero are good.

Come on down, I'll buy you lunch and give you the tour of Mustang Island.
 
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