Spent a lot of time in New Braunfels. Nice area, easy drive to Austin or SA.
Traffic and heat are the major drawbacks for me. It's a dry heat but it's different from Bama because it doesn't really cool down at night in the summer. In Bama it is hot and humid during the day in the summer, then it rains for a half hour and settles into a beautiful evening. In NB it just straight stays hot, like you try to go cookout and it's dark out and still 98 degrees. WTF
Drivers down there are crazy, a commute would stress me out down there, but I guess like anything you get used to it. Lotta traffic in New Braunfels.
There are so many better places to live in the US IMHO. South Carolina area, Northern Cali, Pacific NW, deep south, Colorado area. Depends on what you're looking for but many places higher on my personal list.
It's a lot less humid where I live (Austin area) than Houston.
We love it here, summers are hot, yes... but not unbearable.
I do miss the mountains (there are mountains in west Texas).
Cost of living is great, no state income tax.
New Braunfels would be cool, because you're so close to both San Antone, and Austin.
We love it here, summers are hot, yes... but not unbearable.
I do miss the mountains (there are mountains in west Texas).
Cost of living is great, no state income tax.
New Braunfels would be cool, because you're so close to both San Antone, and Austin.
granted...the area is one of the hottest in the nation, and we have are specifics...but others I know are struggling to get anything as well.
looking in grapevine and flower mound.
lastest example...my budget for all housing is 2200. taxes, insurance, etc. not willing to pay anymore than that. don't want wifey to work if she doesn't have to.
...house on the mkt for $305K....around 128 sq/ft or so. not so terrible, but it needs lots of work to dig out bamboo, and there was questionable foundation stuff...either way, we bid 310...and the selling realtor says its accepted. they later come back and RAISE the offer above our already higher offer to 312K and we can't ask for any repairs, etc....ok...this is a joke, but we go with it anyways.
THEN, they come back and ask if we will pay the difference if the house doesn't appraise for this price. lol. I don't agree to that...so then they later pull the offer.
sucks.
I do have a friend that is moving to ATX next month...newly built home, under 2K sf, but only paying like 250K or something. and like 7 mins from soco. going to find out what that area is.
i may just buy a house there and airbnb it
looking in grapevine and flower mound.
lastest example...my budget for all housing is 2200. taxes, insurance, etc. not willing to pay anymore than that. don't want wifey to work if she doesn't have to.
...house on the mkt for $305K....around 128 sq/ft or so. not so terrible, but it needs lots of work to dig out bamboo, and there was questionable foundation stuff...either way, we bid 310...and the selling realtor says its accepted. they later come back and RAISE the offer above our already higher offer to 312K and we can't ask for any repairs, etc....ok...this is a joke, but we go with it anyways.
THEN, they come back and ask if we will pay the difference if the house doesn't appraise for this price. lol. I don't agree to that...so then they later pull the offer.
sucks.
I do have a friend that is moving to ATX next month...newly built home, under 2K sf, but only paying like 250K or something. and like 7 mins from soco. going to find out what that area is.
i may just buy a house there and airbnb it
full article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelko...opolis-is-taking-shape-in-texas/#5ab50cb81e2f
America's Next Great Metropolis Is Taking Shape In Texas
<section class="contrib-author-container">
Joel Kotkin ,
Contributor
I cover demographic, social and economic trends around the world.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
</section>
If you drive south from Dallas, or west from Houston, a subtle shift takes place. The monotonous, flat prairie that dominates much of Texas gives way to a landscape that rises and ebbs.
The region around Highway 35 is called the Hill Country, and although it does not seem so curvy to a Californian, it is some of the very nicest land in the state of Texas, attracting a growing coterie of wealthy boomers seeking rural retreats. It also turns out to be a growth corridor that is expanding more rapidly than any other in the nation. The area is home to three of the 10 counties with more than 100,000 residents that have logged the fastest population growth in the country since 2010.
In fact, there is no regional economy that has more momentum than the one that straddles the 74 miles between San Antonio and Austin. Between these two fast-growing urban centers lie a series of rapidly expanding counties and several smaller cities, notably San Marcos, that are attracting residents and creating jobs at remarkable rates.
Anchoring one end of the region is Austin, which has been the all-around growth champion among America’s larger cities for the better part of a decade. Texas Monthly has dubbed it the “land of the perpetual boom.”
Austin has been ranked among the top two or three fastest-growing cities for jobs virtually every year since we began compiling our annual jobs rankings. Since 2000, employment in the Austin area has expanded 52.3%, 15 percentage points more than either Dallas-Ft. Worth or Houston.
Comparisons with the other big metro areas are almost pathetic. Austin’s job growth has been roughly three times that of New York, more than four times that of San Francisco, five times Los Angeles’ and 10 times that of Chicago. Simply put, Austin is putting the rest of the big metro areas in the shade.
Nor can Austin be dismissed as a place where low-skilled workers flee, as was said about other former fast-growing stars, notably Las Vegas. Just look at employment in STEM (science-, technology-, engineering- and math-related fields). Since 2001, Austin’s STEM workforce has expanded 35%, compared to 10% for the country as a whole, 26% in San Francisco, a mere 2% in New York and zero in Los Angeles. And contrary to perceptions, the vast majority of this growth has taken place outside the entertainment-oriented core, notes University of Texas professor Ryan Streeter, with nearly half outside the city limits.
America's Next Great Metropolis Is Taking Shape In Texas
<section class="contrib-author-container">
Joel Kotkin ,
Contributor
I cover demographic, social and economic trends around the world.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
</section>
If you drive south from Dallas, or west from Houston, a subtle shift takes place. The monotonous, flat prairie that dominates much of Texas gives way to a landscape that rises and ebbs.
The region around Highway 35 is called the Hill Country, and although it does not seem so curvy to a Californian, it is some of the very nicest land in the state of Texas, attracting a growing coterie of wealthy boomers seeking rural retreats. It also turns out to be a growth corridor that is expanding more rapidly than any other in the nation. The area is home to three of the 10 counties with more than 100,000 residents that have logged the fastest population growth in the country since 2010.
In fact, there is no regional economy that has more momentum than the one that straddles the 74 miles between San Antonio and Austin. Between these two fast-growing urban centers lie a series of rapidly expanding counties and several smaller cities, notably San Marcos, that are attracting residents and creating jobs at remarkable rates.
Anchoring one end of the region is Austin, which has been the all-around growth champion among America’s larger cities for the better part of a decade. Texas Monthly has dubbed it the “land of the perpetual boom.”
Austin has been ranked among the top two or three fastest-growing cities for jobs virtually every year since we began compiling our annual jobs rankings. Since 2000, employment in the Austin area has expanded 52.3%, 15 percentage points more than either Dallas-Ft. Worth or Houston.
Comparisons with the other big metro areas are almost pathetic. Austin’s job growth has been roughly three times that of New York, more than four times that of San Francisco, five times Los Angeles’ and 10 times that of Chicago. Simply put, Austin is putting the rest of the big metro areas in the shade.
Nor can Austin be dismissed as a place where low-skilled workers flee, as was said about other former fast-growing stars, notably Las Vegas. Just look at employment in STEM (science-, technology-, engineering- and math-related fields). Since 2001, Austin’s STEM workforce has expanded 35%, compared to 10% for the country as a whole, 26% in San Francisco, a mere 2% in New York and zero in Los Angeles. And contrary to perceptions, the vast majority of this growth has taken place outside the entertainment-oriented core, notes University of Texas professor Ryan Streeter, with nearly half outside the city limits.
