[caitlinsmom]

In my ignorance I think only bad things of Texas.

: I have only been to El Paso once and I have to say it left a bad taste in my mouth. I hated it. Anyway we have been looking for places to live that have land and arent expensive (ie under 100,000) I keep finding TONS of things in Texas-mostly the east side of the state. And to my shock these are gorgouse places!! Not the never ending dessert I pic I have in my mind.

So tell me what it is like...the weather, the growing season, the bugs and wildlife, the people, the economy, the "crunchiness" of it, the open/closed mindedness, the religious make-up....what ever you can think of. What do you like most about it? What do you hate most?

TIA

 

[marisa]

the east side of the state is prettier than the west side, it's more small town though, and in Texas that usually means Republican country folk. I would say that Christian/Catholicism rules the state.
I live in Fort Worth, which is near Dallas, and I've lived here my whole life. What I hate the most about Texas is the hot, muggy, mosquito ridden summers, and the fact that we never get snow. I would love to have a week's worth of snow days here.
The hill country and Austin areas are more liberal. Land is also more expensive there.
As far as the growing season goes, I'm not much of a gardener, but I think it's pretty nice...we don't get too many frosts but the summer heat can fry the more delicate plants.
Since Texas varies so much in it's landscape, the bugs/wildlife question is harder to answer.

 

[marisa]

I was also going to add, in the D/FW area we have a message board for AP and natural moms and it has over 400 members. It's easy to find like minded parents here, even though the area itself isn't too crunchy.

 

[kavamamakava]

I've lived in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. I love San Antonio. Next to Seattle, it's my favorite place to live in the country. And I've lived in a lot of places (New York City, Oakland, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, to name a few). I've also visited many more cities and stayed with friends there to get an idea of what it was like: Chicago, Portland, Eugene, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City...
Dallas is very spread out. People told me that it's full of transplants and not real Texans before I moved there. It was kind of true.
Austin was great but full of traffic with no way around it and no parking when you arrived at your destination.
San Antonio is very affordable. The people there are friendly. I met an MDC mom there and we used to meet up at the park with our kids. I miss her

I also really liked the women at our Central Market LLL meetings. It's called the biggest little small town. It has everything I need and at affordable prices. And it's pretty, too.
I think east Texas is very humid and that's way worse than San Antonio's dry heat. When you live in Texas, you have to get used to air conditioning though. You can't really live without it.

 

[peachymomma]

I lived north of dallas and didnt care for it. I did see the eastern side of the state for a few days. I did like it.
Try looking in Oklahoma! LOL I bet I am bias cause thats where I live now.

 

[tamaralv]

Hello! I have lived in SA for most of my life (left for school and adventure, but always came back here). I enjoy it quite a bit. Personally, I like San Antonio because it does have a fairly affordable cost of living. We have traffic at rush hour, but it isn't gridlock like some other major cities in TX. People here are friendly (though in some cases you may have to go out of your way to get to know them, as anywhere I imagine).

As far as gardening grows: we don't typically have frosts after February or before October (or Nov or Dec, depending on the year). It does get hot and we often have droughts during the summer, so I try to garden with plants that are either native, or that can take the heat

and save water.

SA has a lot of tourist attractions, which makes for fun trips especially when you have folks in from out of town.

Tamara