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Old 03-31-2016, 09:32 AM
 
14 posts, read 14,212 times
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Me and my husband both are in IT in NOVA, its beautiful and green here, my kids want a single family home and I want a garden. Average home costs here are 800k for sf homes, instead I was thinking to eventually move to area where I don't spend all my money in paying mortgage, planning to rent for now in NOVA and eventually move and settle down in Austin, since its along term plan I want you to kindly suggest where in Austin should I buy if gardening and safety are my priority, I want to buy either land by myself for buy 10 acres with a group o friends with similar mindset or home and rent it until I go there eventually.


I love to be in a homestead, but I am immigrant and afraid to be all alone safety is my biggest priority.
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Old 03-31-2016, 10:00 AM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,112,383 times
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10 acres? Anywhere near Austin that is going to be crazy expensive or just not exist. Doable to the east I suppose, McDade, Elgin, Giddings area but the school will not be great and it will be a very rural atmosphere.

Gardening anywhere to the west will require that you bring in soil. Also, watering this garden could get quite expensive.
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Old 03-31-2016, 10:12 AM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,563,348 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralaustinite View Post
10 acres? Anywhere near Austin that is going to be crazy expensive or just not exist. Doable to the east I suppose, McDade, Elgin, Giddings area but the school will not be great and it will be a very rural atmosphere.

Gardening anywhere to the west will require that you bring in soil. Also, watering this garden could get quite expensive.
AND...if we have another five year drought like the one that welcomed us starting in Summer '08, you'd likely give up on gardening right zippy. My Darling was a Master Gardener in Georgia and after two years here, she said "Never mind" The past two years have been much better, I'll admit; but it's no walk in the park when it doesn't rain for 5-6 weeks at a stretch(along with temps in the mid-90s )
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Old 03-31-2016, 10:21 AM
 
Location: USA
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I live down in San Antonio which has the same climate and soil conditions as Austin and we have large flower beds all over our front and back yard. (only on a .25 acre though) Like centralaustinite we did have to bring in some soil because of the limestone boulder we live on. A lot of people here do raised garden beds.
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:00 AM
 
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I want to buy a piece of land now and forget about it for 5 years and then build a home... if that's my objective which place or county in Austin do you think is growing?
I visited Dallas last week it was like dessert not like NOVA, and people told me Austin is beautiful and green s I assumed you don't have drought
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,269 posts, read 35,657,499 times
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Quote:
I assumed you don't have drought
What? Not at the moment, but yes, Austin does have droughts. And while Austin may be a bit greener than Dallas area, it is also nothing like NOVA.

From 2011:
http://blog.ucsusa.org/wp-content/up...ht_Monitor.png
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:04 AM
 
Location: central Austin
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If you think Dallas is like a desert, then don't bother with Austin! If anything, Austin is hotter and dryer than Dallas and more prone to drought.

Neither place is green like NOVA.
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:13 AM
 
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But then why is Austin one of the biggest growing cities in United States, I thought its beautiful and next to California so people are migrating as its cheaper and good...after reading the comments looks like grass is greener on the other side is true....but I am from tropical country (India) I want to get away from snow/Longer grow season/affordable place/IT jobs/Saftey...given all this do you have any suggestion for me?
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:31 AM
 
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Austin is green compared to the deserts of west Texas, but it is nothing like NOVA. As others have mentioned, much of Austin, especially the western (more desirable) part, is built on solid limestone with a thin layer of soil. It can be difficult to even install a fence post, much less put in serious garden beds.

Also, this area does have bad droughts. Google images of "lake travis drought." However, the native plants are adapted to dry conditions, so they stay green even in dry spells.

Here's an interesting map showing farmland threatened by development. Austin isn't labeled, but it's the gray blob in Travis county. You can see where the high-quality farmland is in relation to the city.

https://4aa2dc132bb150caf1aa-7bb737f...p_texas300.jpg

Have you looked at Houston? Much better soil and plenty of rain (flooding, even). But green in Texas is never going to match the green in NOVA. The trees will seem small to you, and the plant variety is limited by the heat.
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Old 03-31-2016, 11:39 AM
 
2,132 posts, read 2,228,778 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 143gardening View Post
But then why is Austin one of the biggest growing cities in United States, I thought its beautiful and next to California so people are migrating as its cheaper and good...after reading the comments looks like grass is greener on the other side is true....but I am from tropical country (India) I want to get away from snow/Longer grow season/affordable place/IT jobs/Saftey...given all this do you have any suggestion for me?
A lot of us think that Austin IS beautiful. Google some images of Austin and the hill country. Not everybody wants to live in the tropics or do large-scale home farming. Some of us like the semi-desert.
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