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Could You Move to a Small Town


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Moved to the Driftwood area 15 years ago with the idea that our youngest could finish school(Dripping Springs ISD) then we could sell the place for a reasonable profit and move after retiring. Austin has been coming to us at a pretty rapid rate and my daughter is 3 years from graduating. It was a great place to live and raise kids, glad we moved here but gotta get out.  FM1826 traffic gets worse by the day and new subdivisions being built all around us. We'll stick it out until she is off to college then looking at maybe Kerrville, Llano or Marble Falls for a primary residence, and a small place to escape the hot months.  As has been mentioned by others in this thread  medical facilities, a decent grocery store and some good restaurants are a must. Considering smaller towns in other states as well.

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Any of these charming small towns on the gulf?  I could do small if I had an ocean view and some version of a tropical paradise.  Cabana bars, toes in the water, ass in the sand, fishing, etc.  As long as I was within 1-2 hours of a major city.  Does such a place exist?

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27 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Any of these charming small towns on the gulf?  I could do small if I had an ocean view and some version of a tropical paradise.  Cabana bars, toes in the water, ass in the sand, fishing, etc.  As long as I was within 1-2 hours of a major city.  Does such a place exist?

Cinnamon Shores maybe.  Port O’Connor has a nice development called the Sanctuary.  Nice club and facilities. But I couldn’t ever convince my wife to move there. She’d die or boredom. Great fishing. I also love Port Mansfield for fishing and waterfowl. But it’s a dump and would get old. And I doubt you’d consider Corpus or Harlingen major cities. 

So one day we will do Hill country in winter and Colorado in summer  

There are plenty of great small Texas towns that aren’t just an interstate exit and McDonalds.  

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Any of these charming small towns on the gulf?  I could do small if I had an ocean view and some version of a tropical paradise.  Cabana bars, toes in the water, ass in the sand, fishing, etc.  As long as I was within 1-2 hours of a major city.  Does such a place exist?


Zihuatanejo
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On 4/9/2018 at 3:09 PM, Nolacycling said:

Since my divorce and children growing up, I've used my teaching degree to move around a lot, almost yearly for the last decade +. I've lived in towns as small as 5k, 25k, 75k and for me it comes down to whether you can entertain yourself or not. I absolutely cannot; no small towns for me. 

 

I'd have to marry a local (a hot female local) to make it work for me + there has to be a golf course close by 

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 4/22/2018 at 2:05 PM, Landomatic said:

Any of these charming small towns on the gulf?  I could do small if I had an ocean view and some version of a tropical paradise.  Cabana bars, toes in the water, ass in the sand, fishing, etc.  As long as I was within 1-2 hours of a major city.  Does such a place exist?

The problem with living on the Gulf is that every single summer brings an existential threat to all that you hold dear. I remember talking to an old redneck who'd lost absolutely everything when a 20 foot wall of water came roaring up Trinity Bay and absolutely demolished the little town of Oak Island. I asked him if he would be moving back. "Probably so, but I ain't livin' here again 'less I got some wheels under my ass." Meaning an RV. Pretty good advice IMO. 

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I could only live in a New England type small town or something In the northeast like Montauk on LI(I know, NY douchebags overun it in the summer) ; it’ll have to be within 2 hrs of a larger city too with some exceptions. Can’t do a small town in the south unless it is close to a coast.


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Grew up in Gainesville, and my parents still live there.  

I'll never ever live in a small town like that again.  There were 150 people in my graduating class, and yes I knew every single person.  Still hated it.  I hated having to drive to Denton or Lewisville just for entertainment.  Years later, I can still walk into certain places and people know me.  Sure, it's nice to hear them say how proud they are of me, but that still doesn't make me want to live in a town like that again.  Even when I want to go visit my parents it makes me want to leave a few days early because it's just absolutely ass boring. 

I almost feel like going to a small high school was limiting.  Because I did public speaking/debate (UT Speech Team, holla!) and was very involved in Student Council, I was able to meet people from large high schools (had friends at Plano Senior, FM Marcus, and Denton Ryan) and I was always envious because they had specialty clubs, classes, and organizations that we just didn't have at my small high school.  

Currently, I'm in Houston and at times I feel it's not large enough.  I have noticed, though, that people tend to stick to their communities.  While I teach at a 2-year in north Houston, I've found most of my students rarely if ever travel to anywhere in the loop. Some of them have never even been to the museums here, and it's just odd. 

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I think one of the biggest drawbacks to living in a small town is the loss of anonymity we can enjoy in big cities. That threat of being "known" can be aggravating as hell with people all up in your bidness or worse yet getting caught up in someone's gossip. It's a whole lot like the paranoia you see in the Next Door thread. The flipside though is it gives you a better chance to "get involved" if you're really civic-minded, and you can really start making an impact - much like what was said up-thread or in another about kids getting involved in a bunch of organizations at smaller high schools.

Ultimately, I think what it boils down to for me would be employment and dating opportunities and if I felt like I could contribute to the community.

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3 hours ago, Stunns38 said:

I could only live in a New England type small town or something In the northeast like Montauk on LI(I know, NY douchebags overun it in the summer) ; it’ll have to be within 2 hrs of a larger city too with some exceptions. Can’t do a small town in the south unless it is close to a coast.


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So the kind of place where you can find some Johnny Cakes.

 

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On 4/9/2018 at 2:24 PM, Mez2 said:

Right now, no. But eventually, we'll probably move to Palacios or somewhere near the bay

Good lord man. I've spent years in Palacios and have no idea why anyone would choose to live there if you aren't in the shrimping business. It's a good fishing base, but it ain't pretty and Bay City/Port Lavaca aren't that close. Palacios Mexican Restaurant is pretty good eating though.

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On 5/22/2018 at 4:20 PM, SimonBolivar said:

Good lord man. I've spent years in Palacios and have no idea why anyone would choose to live there if you aren't in the shrimping business. It's a good fishing base, but it ain't pretty and Bay City/Port Lavaca aren't that close. Palacios Mexican Restaurant is pretty good eating though.

 PMR, holla !

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I moved back to my small hometown 1.5 years ago.  After living in Austin the past 20 years, it was time to go.  Other than missing out on good places to eat, I find myself wondering why I didn't leave Austin much sooner.  I love the small town life.  I am more involved in the community than I ever was in Austin.  As is my wife.  At church, at schools, civic club, etc.  We also got to coach our daughters in soccer and basketball.  I spent too much damn time on Mopac, especially the last five years or so, to even think about be able to be involved in so much stuff.

It doesn't hurt that literally 2.5 months after moving here, we got to vote on whether or not to allow alcohol sales in town.  And it passed!  I never would have thought that was a possibility when I was in High School.  You had to drive 12 miles, in pretty much any direction to get booze back then.

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On 5/22/2018 at 2:40 PM, bolverk said:

I think one of the biggest drawbacks to living in a small town is the loss of anonymity we can enjoy in big cities. That threat of being "known" can be aggravating as hell with people all up in your bidness or worse yet getting caught up in someone's gossip. It's a whole lot like the paranoia you see in the Next Door thread. The flipside though is it gives you a better chance to "get involved" if you're really civic-minded, and you can really start making an impact - much like what was said up-thread or in another about kids getting involved in a bunch of organizations at smaller high schools.

Ultimately, I think what it boils down to for me would be employment and dating opportunities and if I felt like I could contribute to the community.

I live in a small rural town, after living in Austin for 30 years. Its true everybody knows everybody, but I just keep my head down, mind my own business, stay the fuck off facebook. Avoiding the gossip is easy.

You are also correct, if you are relatively young and single (I'm neither), the options are pretty limited.

edit: If I grew up here, I would have gtfo soon as I graduated HS. But moving here after marriage, and raising a family here is awesome.

Edited by High Plains Drifter
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I also want to add regarding the restaurant issue:

I have never had to wait to be seated in the 15 or so years I have lived here. I go back to Austin to visit my family, and you have to wait an hour to get a seat. So, fewer choices, but no waits. I'll take the no wait/less crowds any day.

Edit: But I would kill all you assholes for a HEB.

Edited by High Plains Drifter
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On 4/9/2018 at 10:29 AM, DanRydell said:

Not in Texas but I would move to smaller college town elsewhere (Boulder, Madison, Charlottesville, Chapel Hill, Bloomington, Columbia, Lawrence, Eugene, etc.). 

Eugene sucks ass when compared to other similar sized or smaller PNW cities.   Bellingham or Bend for example.

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On 4/22/2018 at 3:05 PM, Landomatic said:

Any of these charming small towns on the gulf?  I could do small if I had an ocean view and some version of a tropical paradise.  Cabana bars, toes in the water, ass in the sand, fishing, etc.  As long as I was within 1-2 hours of a major city.  Does such a place exist?

Rockport ain’t too far off. 35 minutes into Corpus. 2.5 hours to Houston. 

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On 4/10/2018 at 8:18 AM, Firemans4Horn said:

Lot’s of places in New York that I could see myself retiring to. Cooperstown is an awesome small town, Ithaca is the ideal college town on a beautiful lake, Saratoga Springs is gorgeous. I’d have to live somewhere else during the winter and taxes are a bitch but those towns would be a great place to spend retirement. 

Upstate NY has lots of gems.   It's a shame they are in the same state and have the same mega-city taxes and regulations as NYC.   

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14 hours ago, Sundodger said:

Eugene sucks ass when compared to other similar sized or smaller PNW cities.   Bellingham or Bend for example.

csb; I grew up in Bellingham WA.  Its a beautiful city, but too cold in the winter.  

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Guest Lobo

As stated by many above, could easily do it if it were on the water (and I don't mean 45 minute drive to the water, I mean the furthest house in town from the coastline is 10 minutes) or up in the mountains (and I mean mountains, not the Van Horn kinda shit).  I don't know how people in just regular landlocked, flat small towns do it. 

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I grew up in a town of -6000. It was an hour from Lubbock and forever to anywhere else. I’ll never live in a town that small again if I can help it. And if for some reason I had to, I wouldn’t live in one on the panhandle. It’s need to be some place prettier, and closer to an actual city. 

If I had kids, no fucking way I’d move to a small town. First, there is no room for a kid to be a little different in a small town, and second the schools aren’t very good. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Welp, looks like my 3 year adventure in Wyoming is coming to an end sooner or later. Company is downsizing, so either I get a package to leave or I don’t and I leave on my own before they decide to shut all the way down. New ceo has a different vision for the company. 

Got my eye on a company in Washington state just north of Portland. That would solve the biggest issues we had for not having much choice in schools for the kids,  and lack of restaurants close by, and a lack of trees and green plants in the high desert.  Ft Collins is also on the list. 

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Spent the first 27 years of my life in Houston and Austin.  For work, I moved to a town of 85,000.  Since then, it has grown to over 100,000, at which point, the restaurant and bar population have drastically improved.  The real estate is much cheaper and my commute is fifteen minutes.  It's large enough now that I no longer think about moving.  My original plan was to move to Austin within five years.  I've been here over seventeen years at this point.

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47 minutes ago, GotThatFire said:

Small town?  Maybe, I don’t know, I could try. But what I really want is an awesome piece of land at least 20 acres within 20 minutes of a big city 

20 minutes to downtown or 20 minutes to the city limits?  It matters when you're talking about 20 acres.

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23 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Welp, looks like my 3 year adventure in Wyoming is coming to an end sooner or later. Company is downsizing, so either I get a package to leave or I don’t and I leave on my own before they decide to shut all the way down. New ceo has a different vision for the company. 

Got my eye on a company in Washington state just north of Portland. That would solve the biggest issues we had for not having much choice in schools for the kids,  and lack of restaurants close by, and a lack of trees and green plants in the high desert.  Ft Collins is also on the list. 

Looks like you might be moving on to greener pastures, literally.  I just had a fight with my wife about trying to move to that area, so I envy that you have that option.

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23 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Welp, looks like my 3 year adventure in Wyoming is coming to an end sooner or later. Company is downsizing, so either I get a package to leave or I don’t and I leave on my own before they decide to shut all the way down. New ceo has a different vision for the company. 

Got my eye on a company in Washington state just north of Portland. That would solve the biggest issues we had for not having much choice in schools for the kids,  and lack of restaurants close by, and a lack of trees and green plants in the high desert.  Ft Collins is also on the list. 

Good luck Duck. The wife and I have talked about moving to Wyoming or Montana in a few years.

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