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Hi, we just looked at several historic houses for sale in Palestine Tx and were impressed with what we saw. How is the crime rate in this area?
We also saw that property taxes were essentially 1% of the purchase price of a house? Is this a good rule of thumb?
Can you all tell us the local supermarkets? How would you characterize them in terms of quality, cleanliness etc? Which ones to frequent, or avoid? Any butchers, fish markets, farmers markets? Any ethnic groceries such as Asian, Italian, etc?
Who is the local cable provider and do they offer high speed internet?
Is there a Lake Palestine which is the same as Palestine?
Private schools?
I didn't know of any forests or abundance of trees in Texas. I read that Palestine has an abundance of pines , dogwoods and other trees? Would you consider the area heavily treed?
How far from the ocean? Closest airport?
No state income tax?
Will citrus trees grow there such as oranges, mangoes, tangerines?
Lots of questions I know. Hope you all will indulge us. We saw several really neat historic homes under 300K which were quite appealing to us. Now to research and see if it's worth a flight over for a look see Thank you in advance for answers, opinions, overviews etc.
Another Texas stereotype....no trees There are trees there (it isn't called the piney woods for nothing ). West Texas would be maybe a little light on the tree end, but most of the state is full of them.
Yes, there is a Lake Palestine (pronounced pal/uh/steen). It's a pretty large lake. I've driven over it many,many times but never been on it in a boat.
I'd think the closest airport would be Tyler, but I could be really wrong about that.
Very nice area......in fact, we are spending all next week at the lake there at our condo. Almost all of East Texas (East of I-35) has lots of woods and trees.....beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn. Go to that area on Google and click on 'satellite" or 'terrain' and you'll see how green it is. It seldom snows but does have 4 seasons.....not the right climate for citrus orchards altho fruit trees like peaches and plums and pears and vegetable gardens grow very well.
Lake Palestine is nearly 30,000 acres!! If you're not familiar with things measured by acres, well....that's big. The fishing is great there, good for boating, but not crowded.....very peaceful, pleasant place...lots of nice homes all around the lake and in nearby areas. Heavily treed, lots of underbrush. Palestine (that's STEEN, not STINE) is a pretty town, lots of flowers, trees, azaleas. Rains a good bit....keeps everything lush and green. Also keeps you behind a lawn mower about half the year, raking leaves the other half.
The nearest major airports are about 90 miles west to Love Field in Dallas and 120 to DFW International between Dallas and Fort Worth.
Nope, no state income tax....do have sales tax and property tax. The property tax varies from one city/county/school district/hospital district to another. For 300K you could probably have the nicest home in Palestine. 200K would get you a very nice one.
The nearest town for dining/shopping/medical is Tyler.....beautiful busy little city that has most everything you'd need.....growing rapidly.
Very nice area! The crime rate is starting to climb here because of an ho hum P.D. ran by a chief with nothing more than campus cop (UT) experience. I have noticed that the greater amount of people have no confidence in them. This town does not have an illegal drug problem, they are every where. I arm myself when in town. I did live inside the city for 3 years and was a victim of a crime (theft). 13 years in the county and not one time have I called the local law. Look in the county and you can't go wrong.
I see that you are looking at old houses. Most are zoned in a historical district and restricts what you can do to them, which drives the cost of repair way up. This puts them way out of reach of the average person. Most are owned by people with money and can afford the upkeep. If you fall in that class, good for you. The fact that the houses are old, places them near the low rent, undesirable parts of town.
Look at about 2% of the purchase price. I do know that there was a big jump in the appraised value of the home here, so that means more if you live in the city.
4 Major supermarkets. Wally World, Krogers, Brookshire's and Harris Food Store.
Wally World....well you know about them. Krogers is like the blue collar of the food markets and Brookshire's has the best quality and higher prices. Harris Food Store just smells like rotten meat.
There is a farmer's market, mostly manned by guys that buy their products in Dallas and really mark the prices up. I think that they do it just to get out of the house. there are no ethnic groceries such as Asian, Italian. Mexican, yes. There is a fast growing hispanic population here.
Don't know about cable, I live in the county I have high speed with embarq phone.
Lake Palestine is the same as Palestine. It's closer to Tyler than Palestine. It is a nice lake and been on it several time in a boat. There are several other lakes that I like better such as Richland Chambers and Houston County Lake.
South Side Baptist Church offer school up to 5th or 6th grade. Then look outside the Palestine School district. It has become nothing more that a Gladiator school for the young ones. I know that cops were called to the middle school 3-4 times a week this year (wink wink).
Yes, there is an abundance of trees here. Pines, Cedars, Oaks, Gumwood, Pecan, Dogwoods and many more. It does rain here alot and keeps everything green and pretty. Got to keep the mower blades sharp, cause you will do a lot of mowing
Don't know about the ocean, never been there. Look at a map.
I have seen banana trees here, with fruit. Don't know about the citrus crop. I guess that they would grow here.
I have lived in many places over the years and, well... this has been my least favorite. I called Palestine home for the past 15+ years and that will end in July, thank God.
No, citrus will not grow in this part of Texas. We do not have a long enough growing season, and too many hard freezes. Bananas will grow only if they are brought indoors for the winter.
Palestine only has basic grocery stores, and no ethnic markets at all. The only grocery store I've been in was not fancy and not really clean, either. (The one on 19 near downtown)
LONG way from the ocean...Galveston is the closest beach and it is 3+ hours' drive. Nearest major airport is DFW, and one with regional service is Tyler.
Yes, Palestine is heavily treed. There is logging in the area, although there is much more further southeast.
Keep in mind that Palestine is a VERY blue-collar town, with the major industry/employer being the Texas Department of Corrections. There are several major maximum-security prisons in the area, especially near Tennessee Colony.
I don't know if you still need help. Palestine is a awesome place.
I know the taxes are high in Palestine. But the roads are in very good condition, A lot of wide Avenues. The Best Supermarket in Palestine IMO is Brookshires. It is a nice place to shop for grocery & the people are friendly. I went to Krogers close to Downtown & was not impressed but Krogers is still nice. Wal-marts is always good.
The City of Palestine has 2 school districts. Westwood & Palestine. Palestine is great if your in to sports, Band, Choir & so on but the school has problems with drugs. The new principle is strict though & the students almost have a full Uniform. Westwood is also good with the sports,band, Choir but it does not have the drug problem. Both schools are competitive. Elkhart school is the best in the county & one of the best in the State, it is 10 miles south of Palestine. Slocom is good too it is the smallest school district. No Private schools that I know of.
Time warner cable is the local cable.
Palestine is 40 miles from Sam Houston National Forest which is the biggest in Texas. Palestine is loaded with trees which is nice & beautiful. I feel like I'm in Oregon sometimes LOL. The Ocean is just like 130 miles away. Palestine has nice parks & nice Golf Course, great historical buildings downtown like the Courthouse. The City takes care of it's landmarks. Palestine is a clean nice city. it is really growing. You also have the Dogwood Park & Community Forest. 2 satelite colleges & they are going to add on to one of them. The Texas state Railroad is very nice & you have the NASA Balloon base. It is just a very nice place to live IMO
Thank you & hope it helps
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I've been to Palestine just once, and from what I've seen, it's a nice town. If you'd like to be part of this town, by all means, go for it. It's three hours from the Gulf, two hours from Houston, and two more from Dallas. Lots of sight-seeing opportunities are all within a 90-minute drive from there (Piney Woods, Rusk train ride, Tyler roses, Lake Livingston, etc).
I don't know if you still need help. Palestine is a awesome place.
I know the taxes are high in Palestine. But the roads are in very good condition, A lot of wide Avenues. The Best Supermarket in Palestine IMO is Brookshires. It is a nice place to shop for grocery & the people are friendly. I went to Krogers close to Downtown & was not impressed but Krogers is still nice. Wal-marts is always good.
The City of Palestine has 2 school districts. Westwood & Palestine. Palestine is great if your in to sports, Band, Choir & so on but the school has problems with drugs. The new principle is strict though & the students almost have a full Uniform. Westwood is also good with the sports,band, Choir but it does not have the drug problem. Both schools are competitive. Elkhart school is the best in the county & one of the best in the State, it is 10 miles south of Palestine. Slocom is good too it is the smallest school district. No Private schools that I know of.
Time warner cable is the local cable.
Palestine is 40 miles from Sam Houston National Forest which is the biggest in Texas. Palestine is loaded with trees which is nice & beautiful. I feel like I'm in Oregon sometimes LOL. The Ocean is just like 130 miles away. Palestine has nice parks & nice Golf Course, great historical buildings downtown like the Courthouse. The City takes care of it's landmarks. Palestine is a clean nice city. it is really growing. You also have the Dogwood Park & Community Forest. 2 satelite colleges & they are going to add on to one of them. The Texas state Railroad is very nice & you have the NASA Balloon base. It is just a very nice place to live IMO
Thank you & hope it helps
Sorry I said Sam Houston but it's Davy Crockett MY BAD
A goos town if you want a Prison Guard job or relative in prison
The old historic homes are in the mostly hispanic rental part of town with high crime rate. I have only heard of one banana tree that had bananas that was taken inside in the winter. I have one that dies every winter and comes back up to 2 to 3 feet in the summer. Brookshires is a clean grocery store with high prices and Kroger is dirty store with slow check out withmany hispanic customers. There are plenty of trees and you can count on mowing grass every day you are not working. There are no fish markets or Asian food stores. Lake Palestine is not close to Palestine, it is close to Tyler 4 or 5 towns away from Palestine. Palestine tax payers paid for it and let Dallas have it for their water and now Palestine gets it's water from the Neches river. If you have children in school put them in private schools. Palestine police are a joke, if you report a crime you will be investigated more than the criminal you reported about. There are 2 places to work, the prison and walmart. Tyler Texas is 60 miles away and a very nice retirement community with good Hospitals and doctors. Palestine hospital is a joke. Palestine is full of professionals that graduated at the very bottom of their class, doctors and lawyers. Palestine is the county seat with 7 prison and many low class doctors. If you need medical care you will have to go to Tyler or flown their. Palestine is a good place to be from, far from. Get your CCW permit to carry a weapon if you decide to move to Palestine and it is best not to live inside of town, it has a bad drug problem and high hispanic population. It is a great place to live if you want to be a prison guard. It has 7 prisons and it is less than 100 miles from the death chamber near Huntsville. Enjoy it if you like a town that advertises a big activity as stick horse races and charges you to look at parades.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTudo
Hi, we just looked at several historic houses for sale in Palestine Tx and were impressed with what we saw. How is the crime rate in this area?
We also saw that property taxes were essentially 1% of the purchase price of a house? Is this a good rule of thumb?
Can you all tell us the local supermarkets? How would you characterize them in terms of quality, cleanliness etc? Which ones to frequent, or avoid? Any butchers, fish markets, farmers markets? Any ethnic groceries such as Asian, Italian, etc?
Who is the local cable provider and do they offer high speed internet?
Is there a Lake Palestine which is the same as Palestine?
Private schools?
I didn't know of any forests or abundance of trees in Texas. I read that Palestine has an abundance of pines , dogwoods and other trees? Would you consider the area heavily treed?
How far from the ocean? Closest airport?
No state income tax?
Will citrus trees grow there such as oranges, mangoes, tangerines?
Lots of questions I know. Hope you all will indulge us. We saw several really neat historic homes under 300K which were quite appealing to us. Now to research and see if it's worth a flight over for a look see Thank you in advance for answers, opinions, overviews etc.
Last edited by PalesteenNative; 12-30-2008 at 12:36 AM..
Reason: A Good town to be a prison guard
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Thank you in advance for answers, opinions, overviews etc.
I have high speed with embarq phone.
MY BAD
A goos town if you want a Prison Guard job or relative in prison
