El Paso definitely isn't the place for you. Very hot here but it's a dry heat. That's the least of the issues with EP.

Healthcare is decent from what I've seen. Lots of vets retire here. Cost of living is low, no threats of natural disasters.

The problem here are the people. They're cheap, live in garages and can't drive worth a shit. That and it's far away from another major city.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
You currently live near a world-class city. A criterion to consider is, how often do you go into San Francisco? How important is it to you to be within reasonable proximity of big city stuff, such as:

a major airport

concerts & professional sporting events

museums, conventions, & festivals

international foods - grocers & restaurants

craft breweries & distilleries, wine venues

a variety of gun stores & ranges

potential for a SF meet-up

Lubbock and Tyler-Longview are good suggestions if you're willing to deal w/ harsher winters, but both rank low on accessibility to big-city stuff. E.g., you won't find a decent Chinatown at either.

I concur w/ a lot of other suggestions thus far. First place I'd look is somewhere outside of San Antonio, such as: New Braunfels, Boerne, Spring Branch, & Seguin.

Next I'd consider Temple-Belton. I agree w/ P250UA5; Bryan-College Station is a worth a look or somewhere between BCS and Houston or between Conroe and Huntsville. You can get 10+ acres for a reasonable price in a semi-rural town off a major highway, yet still be within an hour drive to Houston for big-city stuff. The closer you are to the Gulf Coast though, the more humid it'll be.

Horseshoe Bay would be a nice place to retire. It's practically a resort town. A lot of rich people have vacation homes there. It's a little far from a big city (Austin & San Antonio) if that's important to you.

I grew up in San Francisco but after moving out to buy a house, I went back only for family. Maybe twice in twenty years did we go to see a live theater.

I figure gun stores and ranges are a given in a free state.

I'm starting to see some of the cities mentioned here that I saw in those top ten cities in texas articles i've been compiling. So that's a good sign. The first responses to this thread got me going, "oh, oh. It may be back to Prescott, AZ for us."

Far west Texas, but it will be hot as hell in the summer. But with minimal humidity. Not too many tornados and no hurricanes. Not much snow. Not much going on out there, though. Very low population density.

San Antonio, but still hot in the summer, and more humidity - but not Gulf Coast humid. Tornados possible, but not common. No hurricanes. Little chance of snow. (Austin in similar in climate.) I like San Antonio, and the smaller Hill Country towns between there and Austin are nice.

Panhandle, hot and dry in the summer. Tornados, and one or two minor snows every winter. As someone said, Lubbock is a nice town. Smallish, and quiet, but big enough. There is a big state university there, and that contributes to livabilty.

Dallas area, hot and dry, some cold and snow, tornados possible. It is Dallas, though. Fort Worth is where the cool kids live.

Houston (and all down the coast), hot and very humid. Tornados possible, and hurricanes every so often. The chance of snow is negligible. I live in Houston. It is a great city with all the advantages of a big city without feeling like a giant city. If it weren't for the weather and driving distances, everyone would like Houston.

It will be hot anywhere in Texas for at least three or four months of the year. In some parts, a lot more than that.

The Valley is hot, no snow, fewer tornados, but no decent sized towns or anything interesting. It is poor.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Alpine is spitting distance from the border and Big Bend NP, there's nothing 'Alpine' about Alpine; dry, rocky, desert plateau region it avg high-80s for half the year. Its the 'big town' for that region; Marfa is to the West, the burgenoning artist enclave similar to Carmel, Bolinas and Laguna Beach.

I love Alpine, and wouldn't mind retiring there. Only thing is you either pay a LOT for a little when it comes to finished homes, or you buy land that MIGHT be close to power/water, or you go off the grid. LOL

You can have everything you want, just live in two places.... Many here do just this..

Cabin in TN mountains in the summer and fall, condo on the beach in SW FL for the winter and spring...

Zero Income tax in both states...

Oh wait, Hurricanes in FL, however, we know about them a week or so in advance, so you leave and go up to the cabin until it's gone...

Want to make sure you're looking as property tax and sales and use tax as you make your consideration. I moved from Austin Texas to Cary NC.

My home was a little more expensive in NC. Yet the combination of my property tax and income tax was lower than the property tax in Austin.

When I moved, the sales tax rates were about the same. But Texas tax base was broader. So I saved money on sales tax as well.

I moved for a job, so tax wasn't something in my mix. But you'll want to make sure that you're looking at all tax costs - not just focused on income taxes.

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:

One factor I think doesn't get enough thought - esp for us folks who are getting on in years - is proximity to a Level I Trauma Center. While it probably wouldn't be a 'make or break' factor, before choosing a location, I'd find out how close (or far) it was from a good hospital.

I'm not being snarky because I don't know what a Level I Trauma Center is but I thought it was covered under accessibility to healthcare. I figure a hospital is a hospital other than an animal hospital.

Too many California people have already migrated making property taxes insane and traffic even worse. I'm a native and can't wait until I can get out of TX, that's how bad it is. Just too many people here now. The state will turn blue, it's not if but when.

It's hot and humid as hell here. It floods, rains an awful lot now, and then there is hail and tornadoes.

Yeah we don't have income tax, but we have property tax that more than makes up for it. People from California move here all the time then get that first full year property tax bill and regret it.

You might want to look at Florida. I'm headed for another state as soon as it is possible and damn glad the people from CA don't know about it.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I'm starting to see some of the cities mentioned here that I saw in those top ten cities in texas articles i've been compiling. So that's a good sign. The first responses to this thread got me going, "oh, oh. It may be back to Prescott, AZ for us."

Prescott/Flagstaff-area remain very high on my list of options for retirement areas. I still have parents and family here in N.Ca so, I'm at least 15-20 years from making that move, things may change.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I don't know what a Level I Trauma Center is but I thought it was covered under accessibility to healthcare. I figure a hospital is a hospital other than an animal hospital.

Not quite. All trauma centers are hospitals, but not all hospitals are (high level) trauma centers.

There are 5 levels of Trauma Center, with 1 being the highest/best and 5 being the lowest.

Higher level trauma centers are designed to handle traumatic, life-threatening injuries from stuff like shootings/stabbings/bad car wrecks/falls/major burns/etc. Lower level hospitals may only be equipped to do their best to temporarily stabilize a seriously injured patient and get them transported to a higher level of care.

Most hospitals will hold some level of certification, but it might just be Level 4 or 5, neither of which are able to significantly treat traumatic injuries themselves. They can do more than an ambulance, but less than a Level 1-3 trauma center.

Having a higher level trauma center close by can increase your chances of surviving a serious, life-threatening injury. Being farther away can decrease survivability, even if there's a lower level hospital nearby.

If I could offer a suggestion on scoping out hospitals, for retirement I'd be more concerned with being near a level 1 or 2 stroke center than a higher level trauma center. Unless you are skydiving and drag racing with guns in your backyard.

They'll be better able to help with not just specifically strokes, but also other vascular and (in most cases) cardiac issues depending on their physician coverage.

Two words, Southern Utah. Nice people, warm climate (a bit hot in the summer), good gun laws, and it aint gonna turn blue any time soon. Sorry Texans, I love to to visit your state but I need to leave after a couple of weeks.

I'm a long ago refugee from the northeast and would make this move again if I lived elsewhere.
The northeast GA mountains, about an hour from Atl, offer most of what you describe. Also Tennessee just north or western NC are nice too.
We get a taste of snow, the occasional remnants of a hurricane and the mountains keep it about 5-8 degrees cooler than Atlanta in the summer. The few times it does snow it's usually completely gone in a day or so. Also, that kind of weather isn't a big deal when you are retired and don't have to go to work in the morning.

I would like to recommend Brownwood. Smaller town for sure but has everything a retiree could want. I have family history in that area and still have relatives living there. A pretty nice place worth checking out! Closest larger town is Abilene to the northwest. Not terribly far from Fort Worth. A decent sized lake if that is your thing.


https://www.google.com/search?...imgrc=Q2x4aui88WQj3M

I might add since I have not seen anyone mention it yet. If you are retiring, depending on what type of house you are looking for, look at the 55+ communities. There are some in most states and are usually in decent areas. No shortage of them in Texas.

My parents moved to Waco and were mostly happy with the decision. It meets most of your criteria other than tornadoes. They had a big one hit downtown Waco in 1953. My aunt still lives in Waco.

Disadvantages...

1. Limited ethnic dining options other than Mexican and BBQ.

2. No Costco, though they do have Sam's Club.

Be aware that property taxes in Texas may be a little higher than you are used to.

^^^^^ I didn't know what a Level 1 Trauma Center was, so I googled it. Turns out we have 2 of them in OKC.

Just amazing what you can learn here on SigForum.

The other problem with property taxes and personal property taxes in Texas is something that started a few years.

Forever going back the Developers of new housing areas covered the costs of the utilities being brought in for them to build new homes, or the local government provided it at no charge.. Somehow that got convoluted and the builders got that switched to a thing called Public Improvement Districts.

What that means is that in the cost of a new home the builders now included $20,000 to $30,000 the price of the home, but it was hidden and obfusicated in the paper work, loan documents and contracts.

It was disingenous and the new home buyers were shocked at it when they arrived at closing time eager to complete the purchase of their new home.

Texas has always bragged about no State Income Tax. That's true, there's not.

However, money has to come from somewhere, so you get hosed and screwed by Property Tax, Personal Property Tax, this that and that other.

Ain't nuthin' free, folks, you can slice the pie anyway you want, but the money still has to come from you.

LINK TO PID
.

I've been considering Waco for when I move back.
Fenris - thanks for that info.

And it's just me, easier decisions.

It's close to Austin (the blueberry in the cherry pie) and to DFW.

If the fast train between Austin-DFW, includes Waco as a stop, I would consider that a bonus.

Weather extremes don't bother me.
Hospitals good; there's a VA too, though I won't need that.
Airports - quite a few, varying needs.
Lifestyle good. Hunting, fishing.
Lake Waco. Timber boat. Para might visit.

If I can't drive, Vonlane has a great service to Austin or DFW.

More thoughts, but I'll keep those.

--chris

Hill country is where it's at. There are lots of nice towns with relatively close drives to Austin or San Antonio that could fit the bill.

We love Canyon Lake, Wimberley, Blanco. New Braunfels is nice, but not quite hill country. Bandera, Boerne Fredericksburg and Kerrville have all come highly recommended, but we haven't made it out there yet...

College Station Texas, rolling hills low cost of living, nice people, Top 10% college kids. Great food, an hour and a half from Houston when you need a diverse big city fix.

HK Ag