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05-25-2008, 08:10 AM
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#1
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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Your opinion on a location in Texas
I want to find a medium to lower humidity area, with mild winters, and moderate summers, we would love to move to Texas and find such a location. I am thinking that Austin and San Antonio will not fit that criteria.
Help!!!
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05-25-2008, 08:34 AM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: _
Posts: 5,238
M.O.C. #6337
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Ozz,
The trouble with these (I love this question by the way) requirements, mild winters, moderate summers, well, every place has summer and every place has winter. By definition, I believe that summer is warmer and winter is colder.
Another part of the equation, is of course, where can you afford to live.
And, what is your personal comfort zone. Do you like really warm weather, or is the colder stuff more your calling.
We love Michigan in the summer, Wisconsin, Minnesota were both wonderful the summer we were there. But, both have snarly winters. Mission where we love to be in Jan, Feb and March, is lovely, except for about 10 to 15 days (most years), when it gets downright miserable from the mist they call rain. YUCK it is nasty. That is their winter, glad in most years it does not last long.
But, all that said, I cannot wait to hear some responses from those REALLY in the know, our TX MOC friends.
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05-25-2008, 08:59 AM
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#3
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Merlin
Posts: 668
M.O.C. #7368
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Ozz, I have not spent much time in Texas, but I had several business meetings in Austin, both summer and winter. It does get hot in Austin in the summer and on one occasion during the meetings in December we had an Ice storm that shut the city down for two days. Here is a link to the averages and records for Austin.
http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USTX0057_f.html
Bob
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05-25-2008, 09:04 AM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location:
Posts: 992
M.O.C. #7128
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Well sir I too am going to be interested in the responses. It's only May here and a mild temp day is going to be 95 degrees, with RH 75%. Go to West Texas, get out of the humidity and into the heat and wind, some times the winters are tough also. East Texas is also hot with fairley high RH. Dallas area gets hot and cold but RH is not too bad, however they have more storms than we do here in central area. Hill country, Kerrville around that area is nice but still subject to hot Tex weather and cold Texas weather. Dont get discouraged however, Texas is a great pleace to call home. Compromise might be in the cards. Good hunting.
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05-25-2008, 09:07 AM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Midlothian
Posts: 956
M.O.C. #40
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Ozz,
Try Hawaii, 80 degrees and breeze year around.
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05-25-2008, 09:08 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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Summers in Central Texas can get fairly hot. Since I lived on the coast for years, humidity is relative, no pun intended. Kerrville and New Braunfels/Boerne areas seem to be desirable to a lot of folks. But the Hill Country can be hot. That's why we begin our "Northern Tour" in late May or June and stay away until September or October.
Humidity in the Hill Country is a lot less than on South Padre, but not as dry as West Texas or Arizona. In the past, I have read articles about Fredricksburg/Kerrville area being one of the healthiest places to live.
I don't think there is any perfect spot to live. We think KC is beautiful this year, but have never been here in the winter.
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05-25-2008, 09:13 AM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wetumpka
Posts: 4,936
M.O.C. #1105
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We considered moving to Texas a few years ago, even bought a lot there. Then we started looking into property taxes and found them to be relatively high. You might want to check out that aspect of living in Texas. Arizona taxes are or can be favorable to seniors. In Alabama, we pay in one year what others pay in one month but it is very humid and hot in the summer. Good luck with your search.
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05-25-2008, 09:29 AM
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#8
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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Thanks everyone, keep the info coming, please. I have done much research already, so far, San Angelo seems to be pretty nice, lower humidity, higher elevation. I am keeping my options open, and will keep in mind the taxes situation when I narrow down the weather.
K.C. is just miserable in the Summers, and cold-miserable in the Winter. Made me a good living in the HVAC business.....
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05-25-2008, 10:11 AM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Kville
Posts: 2,865
M.O.C. #7871
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Having lived a while in Texas, here are somethings I'd consider:
- Wind...in lots of Texas the wind blows hard all year, from the south in the summer and from the north in the winter...the DW hates the wind.
- Tornados...Dallas, and miles (don't remember how many) on each side are in tornado alley.
- Taxes...yes property taxes can be higher, but there is no personal income tax in Texas.
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05-25-2008, 10:37 AM
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#10
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Casa Grande
Posts: 5,369
M.O.C. #6333
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Jim, I lived 15 years in Texas. San Antonio to Marion (a farming community just east and north of San Antonio. I loved the lifestyle there but it was prone to high humidities also. Three things I can't stand are: excess heat, excess humidity and excess wind. Guess I should go back to Alaska, but OH those winters are killers. I tell folks we had two seasons in Alaska, Winter and almost Winter. Seriously, I would consider somewhere north of San Antonio, but not too far north. Being fulltimers, we are looking for a place to settle eventually, it will probably be in the West somewhere as that is where family is, just don't know where yet. Might buy one lot in the north, for summer, and one in the south, for winter. Travel between the two.......
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05-25-2008, 11:02 AM
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#11
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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The traveling in the coming years may be a problem for many of us, I like the central Texas idea, closer to the Tucson area, and the South Padre trek in the Winter. I can stand some cold in the Winter, after spending every winter day on the roof fixing commercial customers heat all my life. But I would rather have a mild winter, if we are unable to travel further south for any reason in the future.
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05-25-2008, 12:01 PM
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#12
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location:
Posts: 992
M.O.C. #7128
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Angelo is a nice part of the state. The town has pretty much all you would find in a much larger city, but still has some of the small town charm. It is also a college town.
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05-25-2008, 01:05 PM
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#13
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: chattanooga
Posts: 1,002
M.O.C. #6363
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I'm with Stiles about Texas. It does get HOT in summer, but the hill country, around Kerrville, and surrounding area I love.
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05-25-2008, 01:59 PM
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#14
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Crown Point
Posts: 382
M.O.C. #4726
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Ozz I know you said Texas but your reasoning is similiar to ours. We are seriously looking into 40 acres in the Blueridge area of VA. Just north of NC. Yes taxes may become an issue but it should then be worth more if taxes run us out. This area has all the seasons just milder than Chicagoland.
I know you like Texas but I would continue to search if possible.
Chuck
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05-25-2008, 03:30 PM
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#15
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Texas City
Posts: 5,736
M.O.C. #7673
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Ozz,
Come on down to Texas City, fourteen miles from Galveston. Hotter than the blazes in the summertime, but my Hanna needs some mods.
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05-25-2008, 04:08 PM
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#16
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: anywhere
Posts: 912
M.O.C. #6260
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Have been born and reared in Texas, lived in most areas of the state, Houston, Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock, Huntsville, Dallas (you get the picture) my opinion is to meet your reqirements you need to be somewhere else. Kerrville is about the only place I would really like to live but it has draw backs in cost, taxes and 110 in the summer. Have you considered New Mexico..
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05-25-2008, 04:31 PM
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#17
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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Compared to KC, I would think winters in central Texas are mild. When it gets really hot in the summer, stay inside and drink iced tea. Remember, you are retired. You don't have to crawl into an attic where it is 140 degrees any more. The hills and the trees break up the winds in the hill country, unlike the straight winds of the plains around San Angelo where there is nothing between you and the north pole but a sage brush.
Once I lived in Joy, Texas, about 35 miles south southeast of Wichita Falls. The wind did not stop for nine months. Fine dust was always on everything. Then one night the wind stopped at 2:00 AM and I bolted up out of bed thinking, "What was that?"
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05-25-2008, 08:40 PM
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#18
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Dillon KOA
Posts: 1,291
M.O.C. #7445
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We're prejudiced. We are native Texans who lived south of Houston all our lives (humidity, world class roaches and snakes, tornados) and then moved in 1996 to the northwest side of Austin, actually past Lago Vista on Texas Highway 1431. When I retire--again--we are moving back to set up a home base somewhere in the same area, home base meaning a nice RV community that we'll call home when we're not on the road. In fact, we already have one picked out: Idyll Glen in Jonestown. I wouldn't want to live on the coast, and I definitely wouldn't live in a metro area like Houston or Dallas. There are many small communities in pleasant places, but then you're not near the conveniences you may need such as entertainment, restaurants, medical care, etc.
Just up the road from Northwest Austin/Cedar Park/Jonestown/Lago Vista (they all run together on Hyw 183 and then north on 1431) is Marble Falls, Texas. It's beautiful there, too, and I think it's a fairly large retirement community. I know there are 2 big RV areas there that cater to retired full-timers. Marble Falls also has one of the best little Texas hometown restaurants we've ever enjoyed, too, the Bluebonnet Cafe. If you don't get there early on Friday or Saturday nights, you will stand in line to be seated, but it's well worth the wait.
You won't escape the heat anywhere in Texas, but you will be in a great place while you're suffering from it. If you are your spouse are disabled (hope not!), you'll get a break on property taxes. So far as wind goes, we never, ever had a problem with that anywhere in the Austin area or out where we lived in our RV. The cost of living was a LOT more reasonable than it is where we are now, in Montana. Even though prices for everything seem to be going up every day now, Texas prices for food, medical care, etc., are a lot more affordable than they are here and other places. Texas has no state income tax, either, which is nice.
I guess the thing we miss the most about Texas, other than more affordable living, is the wealth of things to do year round, 24/7--especially the wealth of FREE things to do. Concerts, festivals, art shows, antique shows, all kinds of free and/or low-cost entertainment at the University of Texas, free classes in everything from computers to yoga to creative writing and more, the rivers, the lakes, the number of things to do as day trips, etc. I miss the wonderful book reviews and chances to meet well-known authors at the Austin bookstores, but that might just be an English-teacher thing. I can't remember ever staying at home (in the RV) on the weekends. We always had more to do than we could accomplish--free things, low-cost things, you name it. (And I will compare our situation here with what we had there--we have to drive a minimum of 2 hours to see any kind of concert, play, art show, festival, etc. Heck, we have to drive that long just to get to our nearest Wal-Mart!)
Austin is also the Music Capital of the World, seriously. Excellent music everywhere you go, usually free--in the parks, restaurants, at the festivals and shows . . . music for everyone.
Don't get me wrong--we love living where we are now. But what people say about Montana is true: You move here for the lifestyle, not to live easily, and if you want to eat, you have to work. That's an exaggeration, of course, but unfortunately it has a lot of truth to it.
Carolyn
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05-26-2008, 01:29 AM
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#19
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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Great feedback from everyone. I love the Austin-Buda area and the San Antonio-Boerne areas, pricy...
but these two general areas, are where we spent a week or two driving all around looking at properties. I don't mind the heat but would like the lower humidity. We just may have to look elsewhere. We will continue to gather information, it's a beautiful country we have here.
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05-26-2008, 02:00 AM
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#20
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: _
Posts: 5,238
M.O.C. #6337
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Ozz,
Many moons ago, Al and I spent about 6 months in San Angelo, our 2nd child was born there.
We were there from about June to December. I was in the last tri-mester of that pregnacy, and all us gals know what that means, you are pretty miserable, specially if it is HOT! and HUMID!
They used swamp boxes in San Angelo. It was HOT, it was NOT humid!
We found the people to be just like they are most places in Texas, FRIENDLY!!
Have no idea bout prices, etc. Have no idea bout winter, but that place has a bit of a fondness in our memory banks.
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