Moving to Texas, Help! (Lubbock, Midland: colleges, things to do, parks)

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by andrew4

Hi ChristieP! This is the other area we are trying to be close too.... Washington, TX 77880. We are looking to rent first. I have jotted down Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock, Grapevine, Fredericksburg, Sugar Land.

Thank you for the college info, I'll put that on the list.

Ask all you want about Grapevine. My husband and I have lived here since 2002. What’s your budget for renting a house?

Fredericksburg is great if you have the $$$. It is a big retirement town, and the economy is based mostly on tourism. Unless you are in healthcare, there are very few professional jobs. There is also no major college anywhere close.

[BobTex]

I'm gonna throw this out there ... somewhere on the outlying areas of FW.

Culinary school: https://www.csftw.edu/

Multiple universities/colleges.

Just got back from there and really like FW

[losttechnician]

Lubbock and Amarillo get snow most years. Understand that snow anywhere in Texas is an EVENT, not a season. As in it snows, things get icy for a couple days, and it melts off. I have lived in the Tx Panhandle/South Plains for over 35 years, in Lubbock, Amarillo, and a small town west called Muleshoe.

There have been times we had to wait to mow the lawn until the snow melted, but it almost always does within a couple of days. It is generally nice Sept-Feb, excepting snow events. Spring time brings wind and around the Lubbock area wind means blowing sand. Summer times are generally nice, with a lot of 100+ degree excursions. With the relatively low humidity those days are easily survivable.

Things to do? Well, if you like big city things to do, you will be out of luck anywhere in the Tx Panhandle. There are simply no large cities. If you enjoy being "close" to mountains, well the mountains of New Mexico are an easy weekend trip. So are cities like Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, and the DFW metroplex, with a 5 or so hour drive each direction, and that means you spend time driving. Otherwise, big city attractions are simply not available.

If you enjoy laid back folks, a wide open feeling the opposite of a crowded city, then this is the area to look at. There are real nice parts of both Amarillo and Lubbock, and there are bad parts in each. Driving through either small city on the interstate will show you some of the ugliest of both.

If you want to visit and explore either city, visit the West and South parts of both cities for the nicer parts. If visiting Amarillo, make sure and take the time to visit Canyon, an easy 10 minute drive south of Amarillo and walk the campus of West Texas A&M, maybe go through the museum at the university as well. Also know WT is literally 10 minutes away from a wonderful state park "Palo Duro Canyon", well worth visiting.

The lifestyle of each small city does not compare to the large cities of Texas, frankly if it did neither would be the cities they are.

Before you commit, please visit, and please know that "nothing to do" in relation to both small cities is from the point-of-view of large city lovers. If that description matches you, be assured you will not find happiness in either of the small cities.

I freely admit most folks are large city lovers, exactly why large cities keep growing at the pace they do, leaving smaller cities like Lubbock and Amarillo to grow at a slower pace.

[andrew4]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Im going to disagree about San Antonio being dirty. I grew up there. If you want to be near Kendalia San Antonio will be your closest metro. I won’t drag this into an argument but do a bit more research before using such strong words. Have you been to any of these places before or have you decided to move to Texas because of the things you’ve heard about it like “it’s conservative, the economy is good, Kendalia is pretty, Brenham has great ice cream...” the only one of those that cannot de disputed is that Brenham has good ice cream.

I’ll also add that you will not escape the Florida heat anywhere in Texas. You’ll need to move north of Oklahoma and towards Colorado to avoid humid heat regularly, and even then I’d say many of the plaines states deal with humid hot summers too.

It wasn't me, using those words. Please reread and understand peoples posts and comments before making assumptions, and accusing them of something. I said I've been reading various posts, and that people have been saying the area is dirty. How can I say the area is dirty if I don't live there. You're actual comment back should have been, don't take others peoples to heart too much, because that's an area that people have tend to disagree on the way things are.

I figured about the heat, I will definitely take that into consideration when looking for an area.

Thank you again for your time and info!

[andrew4]

Originally Posted by losttechnician

Lubbock and Amarillo get snow most years. Understand that snow anywhere in Texas is an EVENT, not a season. As in it snows, things get icy for a couple days, and it melts off. I have lived in the Tx Panhandle/South Plains for over 35 years, in Lubbock, Amarillo, and a small town west called Muleshoe.

There have been times we had to wait to mow the lawn until the snow melted, but it almost always does within a couple of days. It is generally nice Sept-Feb, excepting snow events. Spring time brings wind and around the Lubbock area wind means blowing sand. Summer times are generally nice, with a lot of 100+ degree excursions. With the relatively low humidity those days are easily survivable.

Things to do? Well, if you like big city things to do, you will be out of luck anywhere in the Tx Panhandle. There are simply no large cities. If you enjoy being "close" to mountains, well the mountains of New Mexico are an easy weekend trip. So are cities like Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, and the DFW metroplex, with a 5 or so hour drive each direction, and that means you spend time driving. Otherwise, big city attractions are simply not available.

If you enjoy laid back folks, a wide open feeling the opposite of a crowded city, then this is the area to look at. There are real nice parts of both Amarillo and Lubbock, and there are bad parts in each. Driving through either small city on the interstate will show you some of the ugliest of both.

If you want to visit and explore either city, visit the West and South parts of both cities for the nicer parts. If visiting Amarillo, make sure and take the time to visit Canyon, an easy 10 minute drive south of Amarillo and walk the campus of West Texas A&M, maybe go through the museum at the university as well. Also know WT is literally 10 minutes away from a wonderful state park "Palo Duro Canyon", well worth visiting.

The lifestyle of each small city does not compare to the large cities of Texas, frankly if it did neither would be the cities they are.

Before you commit, please visit, and please know that "nothing to do" in relation to both small cities is from the point-of-view of large city lovers. If that description matches you, be assured you will not find happiness in either of the small cities.

I freely admit most folks are large city lovers, exactly why large cities keep growing at the pace they do, leaving smaller cities like Lubbock and Amarillo to grow at a slower pace.

Thank you so much for you time and input. We don't mind laid back and hanging out with others. Our children are the ones we need to be in an area where they can go out and about. There's not much here where we live, so when we make a move, we want it to be something that will work for the whole family. My husband does painting, epoxy, and other house improvements, the two eldest don't care what job they have, as long as it pays for their college, and their needs. We thought about moving to one of the college towns, than thought that.... may not be a good idea. I've been reading through some of the other posts, from others who are looking into moving to Texas, just to see what people are commenting to them as well.... to get some ideas.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by andrew4

It wasn't me, using those words. Please reread and understand peoples posts and comments before making assumptions, and accusing them of something. I said I've been reading various posts, and that people have been saying the area is dirty. How can I say the area is dirty if I don't live there. You're actual comment back should have been, don't take others peoples to heart too much, because that's an area that people have tend to disagree on the way things are.

I figured about the heat, I will definitely take that into consideration when looking for an area.

Thank you again for your time and info!

It sounded as though you were taking those reviews of the city as truth, which is why I encouraged you to do more research. I hope you find whet you’re looking for, whatever it is.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by andrew4

Hi Ashbeeigh, I discovered that El Paso, Amarillo, and Lubbock get snow, not sure if it's every year. Unfortunately, they are not close to those two areas, I spoke of. So, I'm thinking.... we suck it up, and take the drive. Or look at the other areas I have on my list. Sugar Land, Fredericksburg, Grapevine, Johnson City, Big Spring. I saw that Lubbock didn't have much to do, and that San Antonio wasn't nice, dirty and polluted. I've been trying to read through threads. Thank you for your input!

Hi OP,I use to live in Big Spring.Please cross it off as a possibility.It is a bad town.I would not advise you to move there.Best of luck,Andrew.

[Johnhw2]

OP listening to your wants, Id say west of San Antonio (SA) would be a great fit for you. I like SA and Ft Worth are two of my favorite cities in Texas. So being outside those areas might work well for you guys while the college kids can find what they want in the cities.

When you mention snow, El Paso is an area that comes to mind for me. It higher elevation and a safer city than most assume. It is a desert area not humid like Fla and the Texas Gulf coast. You are closer to snow there though that far south the snow is not going to be in the nearby mountains in NM. Just a thought. El Paso is about half a million population but pretty remote other than Las Cruses in NM which is a nice town but its in NM lol. EL Paso plays bigger than its size as in air connections etc. The total metro area including Juarez is over two million people. There is a huge military presence in El Paso like there is in SA too.

You need to visit after narrowing things down to a couple of areas each sot of unique to see if it works for you.

[Watchful]

If you want access to snow, the Lubbock area might be the best bet because you are a reasonable drive to Ruidoso NM (only 4 hours away) where there is winter skiing.

[Arkay66]

Originally Posted by Watchful

If you want access to snow, the Lubbock area might be the best bet because you are a reasonable drive to Ruidoso NM (only 4 hours away) where there is winter skiing.

Amarillo is 4-5 hours drive to Sipapu, Taos, Angel Fire, Red River, and Ruidoso ski areas in New Mexico, 7 hours to Pagosa Springs, CO, then 9 hours to Purgatory and Telluride. So if fairly easy access to skiing is a must, you'll want to look at Amarillo and Lubbock first.