TX hill country move

[Abjeanx]

Hi, i am looking to relocate my family from Massachusetts to possibly the Texas hill country. We have 3 young children and horses (plus livestock guardian dogs). I’ve never been out of New England and have some questions for anyone that’s been in the hill country.

1. how much would we need to worry about snakes with little kids? Are snakes a constant? I see them frequently here but we don’t have any dangerous ones. (I’m also terrified of any/all snakes).

2. when I look at homes it seems like there is not much grass or it’s usually burnt grass… are there areas that have grass pastures? Or is the hill country highly affected by droughts? I’m Hoping to have large pastures for grazing and haying.

Any and all advice would be appreciated!

[Sdel]

The hill country is scrubland. Not a lot of grass, very rocky ground, and dry, drought prone; which makes sense as it’s the start of the deserts in NM

If you are wanting lush, greenish pastures and the ability to make hay you’ll have to go to the central/east side of the state. The further west you go the drier and more desert like you will get.

[firecracker]

I’ve lived in Kerrville and Fredericksburg, and have spent quite a bit of time over the years in and around the Texas Hill Country.

You can find pastures in less hilly areas, but in the areas that have more hills, you will generally find lots of rocks and smaller scrubby trees like cedar. Even the flatter areas that have more grass will probably have quite a few rocks scattered about, and it can get quite brown and dry during the summer. The hill country is very much affected by droughts, and drought seems to be more and more common as time goes on. Things will green up when we get some rain, but the green is often short-lived.

Snakes are something to be aware of, but not a major concern, in my experience. You will want to teach your kids to watch where they step, and to avoid poking around in things like brush piles, but I would not say that snakes are a constant. I have certainly seen some dangerous snakes over the years (rattlesnakes, cottonmouths in areas with water, and more rarely coral snakes and copperheads), but it’s more of an every once in a while thing.

Hope this helps!

[Texarkana]

The bigger concern is that everything has spikes, thorns, stickers, burrs, etc.

My east coast self didn’t realize normal looking “grass” and weeds could have quite so many sharp pokey things in it.

Definitely not a lot of pasture in hill country proper.

But… you have breakfast tacos.

I can count the snakes I saw when I lived there on one hand with fingers left over. But no worries if you are terrified, there are endless numbers of manly men more terrified of snakes than you who will take great pride in dispatching any around.

Sometimes I miss the hill country a ton. Other times I don’t.

[gradytb]

I live here and everyone is right—LOTS of rock on most places. My place has about 40 acres of good pasture (if it rains) and the other 45 are rock and cedar and brush. Snakes—yes but most are non venomous. I’ve seen coral snakes the most often on my place (4 times in 21 years) but haven’t seen rattlesnakes yet. Keep things mowed, teach everyone to not put their hands anywhere they can’t see (we have back widow and brown recluse spiders too) and just pay attention to what they’re doing. If you are looking for places with pasture though and level ground, I wouldn’t choose here. In fact, I’m planning to sell and move although not for those reasons!

[sami-joe]

@Abjeanx

I’ve never been out of New England

Before you decide anything, make a trip to San Antonio and Kerrville in the hottest part of the summer. Go to ranches. Learn about the feed differences and how horses and stock live. Having been moved as a teenager from California to Maine I can tell you exactly what kind of shock it was, and Texas is drier, hotter and spinier even than California.

Massachusetts to the Southwest must be one of the most dramatic climatic and social contrasts in this fair nation. Get thee out of New England, regardless of the trip’s cost. Leave your children at home unless you want their opinions about the move.

Snakes, regardless of their density, don’t bother people who grow up with them. We can recognize at a glance exactly how dangerous they are. You are from a place likely without any poisonous snakes and will have to learn some simple rules to keep your animals and children safe. I’m with @gradytb, that poisonous spiders are maybe a more frequent concern. Black widows are no joke.

The Southwest is desert. Even the scientists struggle to gauge the trajectory of drought, partly because drought is normal. I taught on the Mexican border in New Mexico for a year in 2015-16. They hadn’t had normal rain, i.e. their usual summer monsoons, for nine years. A rancher friend there had been feeding his cow-calf operation irrigation-grown alfalfa for seven of those years. The nine-year old thoroughbred gelding they gave me had never seen a puddle until the drought broke in the summer of 2016.

What do you know about the water supply in the Hill Country? Is there an aquifer? My mom lived in Kerrville for a decade, so I know the Guadalupe River can rage or be a trickle. Are there other options? Government is verrry different in the SW. Counties have way more power than towns. You won’t be phoning up the local select board member when you have a question about roads, utilities, emergencies, or schools.

One place for information about anywhere in the US is City-Data.com.
Like CotH, the City-Data forums are the best place for advice from actual humans, though.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/san-antonio/

Best of luck. I love both New England and the Southwest. Luckily, I like extremes.

[Texarkana]

Black widows can be found nearly everywhere. There were far more brown recluses in TN than TX.

But the first time I got stung by a scorpion, that was an unpleasant surprise I never encountered back east. Here I thought scorpions were these massive tarantula-sized insects that you couldn’t miss. Then I found one inside that was no bigger than a large ant and so well camouflaged… I was flabbergasted.

[Abjeanx]

Wow - thanks for all of the replies!!

We are trying to get out of the New England winters, but still have some kind of a season change. It seems like everywhere that has warm weather has deadly animals and tornadoes! I’m so used to living where there really is nothing climate or animals wise dangerous… so it’s scary to imagine all of the possibilities elsewhere.

we are hoping to find a more middle of the road place political wise as well. I don’t want to live where it’s dramatically left or right wing. It looked like the Austin suburbs have a mix. We also looked at the Carolina’s but it seems like a lot of deadly hurricanes and tornadoes there as well. And alligators.

We are hoping to leave our kids and travel this summer to a couple different states and try to get a feel for the people and the climate. It’s hard to judge with just a couple visits. I appreciate all of the advice! Our kids are between 1-6 so if we move we want to do it before they’re older. Right now they are game to move anywhere.

[Texarkana]

@Abjeanx

Wow - thanks for all of the replies!!

We are trying to get out of the New England winters, but still have some kind of a season change. It seems like everywhere that has warm weather has deadly animals and tornadoes! I’m so used to living where there really is nothing climate or animals wise dangerous… so it’s scary to imagine all of the possibilities elsewhere.

we are hoping to find a more middle of the road place political wise as well. I don’t want to live where it’s dramatically left or right wing. It looked like the Austin suburbs have a mix. We also looked at the Carolina’s but it seems like a lot of deadly hurricanes and tornadoes there as well. And alligators.

We are hoping to leave our kids and travel this summer to a couple different states and try to get a feel for the people and the climate. It’s hard to judge with just a couple visits. I appreciate all of the advice! Our kids are between 1-6 so if we move we want to do it before they’re older. Right now they are game to move anywhere.

Hmmm. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but this really doesn’t sound like a great fit.

Season change: not really. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the hill country weather. But you have extremes, often in a 24 hour period. Winters are mild, but it might be 80 one day and snowing the next. “Summer” is basically March through November. Then you have 3 months of variable weather from December-February.

Political middle of the road: sorry, this made me LOL. Again, you have mostly extremes. Austin is an extremely progressive island in a state that is overwhelmingly extremely conservative. Granted the urban sprawl has grown considerably since I left Austin, but when I lived there, there wasn’t a lot of mix in the suburbs. It was basically one or the other. Not to mention Texas pride trumps all. Texas politics are a huge CON for me and the main reason I won’t live there anymore.

I also wouldn’t consider the hill country any less prone to severe weather. Hurricanes come up the gulf all the time. Sure, you’re inland, but you still get deadly, destructive flash flooding and damaging winds. Tornadoes happen with enough frequency. Heck, while not a common occurrence, they pulled an 8ft alligator out of the river by my house when I lived outside Austin.

Just to prove I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, there are plenty of pros for me:

-The beauty— I just love the hill country. A lot of TX has “meh” scenery IMO, but the hill country is gorgeous.
-the weather is a pro for me; 100+ in TX is more tolerable to me than 90 in MD with 100% humidity. Even though you get brief cold spells in winter, I love that I used to do things like camp in February and tube the river in early March.
-Austin is so incredibly fun. Most of Texas just has a lot to do. Great parks, outdoor activities, festivals, live music, sports… there is just always feels like there is a lot going on for people of every age.
-Cost of living was probably the best of any state I’ve lived in.
-FOOD. The best food. Hands down. There is not a second in my life I don’t crave a breakfast taco.
-There is something about the people in Texas that I (mostly) enjoy. It’s very easy to make friends.
-I worked in education in Texas… I think the schools are pretty good overall. The state sometimes does weird things with pro-Texas legislation, but all in all I saw a fair number of schools and they didn’t have quite the disparity based on funding that you see in other states.

[Abjeanx]

Thank you that’s great info!! Everywhere has the pros and cons. Just trying to figure out what place that has more pros… lol I’d love to see my horses on grass for most of the year. I don’t mind the heat since we are big pool people… we hate to look at our pool covered 8 months of the year.

I’m open to any other suggestions of places people may think is a good fit! I’d love green, hilly areas, with mild/short winters. Good schools and laid back living. Either close to the coast or if not have lakes without gators.
There may be no place that checks all my boxes haha

I did read about the spiders and scorpions … Seems they are everywhere out of New England?

We are about 40 min north of Boston and live without neighbors on top of us but also close to stores, hospitals and restaurants, which we like. Really just hate the weather from Dec-March, (would love to not need an indoor arena) the politics are getting too crazy liberal and also having a small business in Taxachusetts sucks.

[Tarlo_Farm]

Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, southern Michigan for goodness sakes…If you want year-round grass, the Hill Country isn’t the place. My SO lives on Canyon Lake, a dammed part of the Guadalupe River, and the lake is down 22’ from its high. Twenty two vertical feet. The lowest it’s been since it was filling after being dammed up.

[Texarkana]

I know you ruled this out, but I personally think somewhere like Western NC would be a MUCH better fit with what you are describing. Mountains, green, lots of horse activity, less extreme politics, better seasonal change while still having mild winters compared to MA. Less alligators and tornadoes than TX and far enough inland to avoid the brunt of hurricanes.

[NoSuchPerson]

I spent months researching places to move when I decided I wanted to move closer to family (but not too close, if you know what I mean. ). It’s impossible to find the perfect place. You just have to pick the ways in which you’re willing to suffer in order to get the things you value the most.

I’ve lived in Texas in two different areas. Based on what you’ve posted here, I don’t think you will like it. Rather, I suggest that you look at university towns in the Mid-south or South. The presence of the university tends to moderate the political climate but since you’re in the South, it generally doesn’t get too extreme.

Lexington, KY is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. I’ve lived there and still have family there. Winters are too wintery for me, but coming from Massachusetts you might not think so.

Athens, GA is an area I seriously considered moving to. I have no first-hand experience with the area, though.

I lived near Gainesville, FL for many years. It’s north Florida, which is distinctly different from the south Florida people tend to think of when they think of Florida. They do have seasons and winter is glorious. Summer is hot and steamy but go hang out at the springs (clear, fresh water with no alligators) to cool off.

I have a former coworker who lives in Columbia, SC (home of University of South Carolina) and he thinks it is the finest place in the country to live. Loves it there.

The weather is the biggest problem for me. I hate both hot summers and cold winters and unfortunately, I have not found any place where summer is not too hot or winter is not too cold. Right now I’m in far western North Carolina where winter is too cold and summer is too hot.

As far as climate goes, there’s a great web site called “The Pleasant Places to Live.” It is a fun way to check out the weather all across the US. https://kellegous.com/j/2014/02/03/pleasant-places/

[Cowboy_Girl]

Manor and Roundrock areas are NE outside of Austin. Have more water and pasture than going SW towards San Antonio. And just about everywhere but downtown Austin will be more conservative than you are used to. There will be culture shock.

[clanter]

@Abjeanx

We are trying to get out of the New England winters,

We moved from northern Kentucky to north Texas after repeated winters of heavy snow and deep, deep freezes. It took of our horses about 18 months to fully adjust.

Here our pasture water lines are buried at 10 inches, they never freeze. In Kentucky the water lines were buried at 42 inches, they froze requiring complete replacement, second time was enough for us.

If you are wanting pastures and hay production I would be looking on the East side of Interstate 35 (maybe along US 77) rather than the west side. (As a note the state looses an average of one inch annual rain fall for each 17 miles you move in from the coast)

[Gardenhorse]

If you are away from the coast, the Carolinas aren’t really that impacted by hurricanes. I think upstate SC (around Greenville/Spartanburg) or western NC might be a good fit.

[gradytb]

Yes. To all above.

[sami-joe]

Wow! While you’re clearly right. I had no idea there were black widows in New England. There must be fewer, though.

Purely anecdotal, N=1, research:
I lived in MidCoast Maine for four decades, cared for horses, heated my home with wood, mushroomed, worked as a landscaper, cut brush, burned leaf piles in the fall, trail rode, stacked and unstacked hay, and failed to clean behind my fridge for really long periods of time and never saw one. In the last seven years back in the West, I’ve seen at least three every summer. The first year back, that year in SW NM, I had a HUGE black widow living behind my fridge for months because I was too scared to move it or kill it.
We had a deal. I’d say hello every morning and and evening, and the spider stayed put. I moved before the spider did.

[sami-joe]

@Abjeanx

It’s hard to judge with just a couple visits.

You seem smart and capable of doing all the reading and questioning you need to complement your visits. Going and meeting real people and visiting the schools, even in the summer, will tell you all you need to know and whether getting more information will help. I encourage you to trust your first impressions.

Also, I suggest what you’ll spend moving and setting up shop in a new place would likely pay for 15 or so really lovely March (arguably, the worst New England month) holidays over the next decade and half. Moving is insanely expensive, regardless of tax savings in one place or the other. Editing to add: I got a full decade of relative happiness in Maine by learning how to ski when my son turned five. We went to lower cost local hills, and were at about the same level for long enough for my son to appreciate his independence when he got good enough to shred with his friends.

Politically, regardless of your views, the ease of getting involved with local politics enough to have real sway is one of the bonuses of New England’s governmental structure. Nearly nowhere else, maybe Michigan or Minnesota, has that attitude toward local politics.

This is the best shorthand round up of New England reporter/historian Colin Woodard’s seminal book, “American Nations,” that I could find in a quick search. The book quantifies regional attitudes toward business, government, education, and the environment surprisingly, and interestingly, well, and this blog post boils it down.

The American Nations: The United States is Actually 11 Nations (Part 1)

Part II is good, too, two for compiling actual facts about national regions.

The American Nations: Data Breakdown (Part 2)

[sami-joe]

@gradytb

Yes. To all above.

The only thing I’d add is: all the men in Texas know how to dance. They know how to lead, they know how to learn new dances, they love to dance. Granted, this is aged intel. Still, compared to New England, Texans are dancing fools.