School me up on the New Braunfels, TX area...go!

[tinhorn97062]

Folks,

Moving to Texas has been on the radar for quite some time now, and that radar image seems to be getting more and more clear. With that said- how about schooling a fellow caster up on the New Braunfels area? Information that I'm looking for consists of the below, but is not necessarily limited to such areas:



Average price to rent/own a 3bed/2bth house on a decent sized lot
Schools (high school)?
Churches?
what is the weather ACTUALLY like.
hunting in the area? What do I need to do to hunt a deer and a pig?
What is the general lifestyle like?
What is a Texas beach like? It looks like Corpus Christie area would be the closest to San Antonio.
iPaq- what hoops, if any, do I need to climb through in order to CCW in Texas?
is living in New Braunfels recommended, or is there a better area in that region? "That Region" being the San Antonio area.
I'm a Mechanical Designer - I design things with AutoCAD/3D CAD to simplify the definition. How's the job market in that area?
Recreation within a reasonable distance? (Bars/clubs/various other alcoholic venues don't interest me, fyi)


I know a lot of this can be found online, but I've found that a lot of online resources can be misleading. It seems that nothing beats the information from people who actually live in an area. So, I welcome any and all information regarding Texas in general, and specifically the area around San Antonio.

[Char-Gar]

Most of those questions (weather, schools, churches etc.) can be answered by a Google search, so there is no reason to do that for you.

New Braunfels is one of the German-Texas communities and is located on the I-35 Corridor between San Antonio and Austin. It is one of my favorite places and is the county seat of Comal County. The German flavor is still there, with great German eateries like Oma's Haus. There is a wonderful Schuetzen club there (Schuetzenverein) that has been conducting rifle matches for over 160 years.

There is lots of outdoor recreation will lakes and rivers nearby. There is also a famous water park there. In is a very nice place to live with great people. North of there is San Marcos which is the county seat of Hays County and is another nice place to live.

The entire I-35 Corridor is a high-tech place so your job skills will probably be needed.

There is lots of hunting in Texas, but it is all on private land and the land owners charge money to hunt on their land. It you are looking for free hunting on public land, don't come to Texas.

Texas has lots of Concealed Handgun Licenses which are issues by the Texas Department of Public Safety. You can google up the requirements on line, but they are much like that of every other state.

The Texas Gulf coast does have beaches. There is one in Corpus Christi, but by fare the best is on South Padre Island near where I live. In general Texas beaches are as good as those in Florida.

The general lifestyle is generally Texan. The closer you get to Austin, the more liberal influence there will be from the numbers of Yankee esso bees that have gone there.

Texans in general are a welcoming people, but they are not going to change their ways or culture to suit them. So, if you can't abide Texas and Texans, then just don't bother to come. You and Texas will both be better off.

San Antonio is where South Texas begins. It is a very large city and Hispanic culture dominates. I like it, but many people, including many Texans do not.

Texas in general has hot summers and mild winters, but what is or is not mild depends on ones notions about such things. The more you go north from the Rio Grande Valley, the less mild the winters become.

[tinhorn97062]

Char-Gar:

I love your direct responses. You're correct with the Google search statement, and I've been studying extensively. I was looking for more personal opinion with a lot of those questions, which you delivered. Coming from a very liberal area (Portland, OR), I'd like less in that area. Austin seems like a pretty area, but I don't have any desire to live there. I wasn't aware of the hunting situation there- that's quite different than Oregon. We have lots of public land to hunt, mainly east of the Cascades. I guess I'll adjust. My wife is of German blood, and that strong German influence is very appealing to her.

[Char-Gar]

Char-Gar:

I love your direct responses. You're correct with the Google search statement, and I've been studying extensively. I was looking for more personal opinion with a lot of those questions, which you delivered. Coming from a very liberal area (Portland, OR), I'd like less in that area. Austin seems like a pretty area, but I don't have any desire to live there. I wasn't aware of the hunting situation there- that's quite different than Oregon. We have lots of public land to hunt, mainly east of the Cascades. I guess I'll adjust. My wife is of German blood, and that strong German influence is very appealing to her.

Texas is more culturally and politically diverse than most non-Texans realize. While we do tend to have a conservative Republican bent, there are liberals everywhere, but they don't have a hold on leadership anywhere but Austin and Houston.

I am not one of those folks who find diversity a problem, so I would not have a problem with living in Austin. While the liberals have control of the government, there are many conservative people there as well. I like Austin and would live there without a problem. The thing to do, anywhere you are, is to be nice to everybody, only hang out with folks who your like and don't start arguments with those who irritate you, just for fun. If a fellow is willing to live and let live, and think and let think, he can be happy anywhere in Texas and find people who he likes to hang out with. If he can't do that, he is going to be unhappy everywhere on earth.

[starmac]

Probably more bikinis per square foot than there is in Florida, in the summer in NB.
The folks can seem clannish, but like GharGar mentioned great folks if you try to get along, lots of tourists in the summer, as the rivers are great to cool off in, much better than any beach in my opinion.
Most of the small towns in the hill country are pretty nice.

[Huntsman52]

If you plan on moving to Texas it would not hurt to check out the north Austin area (Cedar Park, Georgetown side). A lot more conservative and a nice place to live as well. These places are just a short drive to Austin. I lived in Lago Vista (just a bit farther north than Cedar Park) for 8 years and in the last year moved to Houston due to work. Hated the move as Lago was a great place on Lake Travis.

FYI...Austin also has a lot of design firms that you may find interesting for mechanical. What mechanical companies are you looking for in San Antonio? I might be able to help you some.

If you are set on San Antonio, I have always been found of the Canyon Lake, Boerne, and Castroville areas.

[Rufus Krile]

Yup... what CharGar said. And even what he said about our beaches here... they're nicer the farther south you go, but still pretty nice here in Corpus Christi. You can still drive on the beaches in Texas. As far as german influence... the local newspaper is "The Daily Zeitung". There's a range west of town (Hwy 46 toward Boerne) called 'Dietzville' that accommodates several different pistol and rifle disciplines out to 500m. There's a Cabela's at Kyle/Buda (just south of Austin) and any number of LGS. Plenty of advertisements for 'day-hunts' as needed and LOTS of exotics from aoudad to african game. All it takes is money. Don't know about New Braunfels but the housing situation in Austin is going nuts. A 3br/2ba house in north Austin is going to cost north of $1600 to rent. The general lifestyle is basically 'lose the tie, Poindexter'. And the prevailing attitude, Austin or elsewhere south, is 'If it doesn't hurt the kids or scare the cattle, we really don't much care what you do...' Welcome to Texas.

[David2011]

Hunting in Texas as was mentioned is usually on leased land. That has its ups and downs. I resisted for a long time. Now that I'm on one I like it. Most give year round access and baiting is both legal and the standard practice. Most any centerfire rifle is adequate; the deer are generally not huge. Pigs of course can be killed with a .223 or.22-250 but I prefer something bigger with a sturdy bullet. A .260/6.5 mm or 7mm-08 will take anything in the state that I can think of. I know East Texas hunters that use a 7mm Mag for the little deer out that direction but it's excessive IMO. I shoot pigs and deer with a 120 gr Nosler BT at 2875 fps and everything is DRT.

That area generally has mild winters but is not immune to ice storms.

David

[rr2241tx]

Char-Gar summarized it pretty well. The New Braunfels Schuetzen Verein just wound up our season which generally runs March through October. The matches are all .22LR and are shot from offhand and stepped rest positions at 100 yards. Texas Single Shot Rifle Association shoots .22LR and centerfire rifles at ASSRA targets just down the road from the Verein on a range they share with the Hill Country Muzzle Loaders who shoot metallic silhouettes. Both those clubs shoot basically the same season as the Verein. Central Texas Silueta Association shoots year round at the end of Range Road. Most of the NRA silhouette disciplines, IHMSA, and F-Class all shoot there with ranges from 25 yards to 500 meters. The cost of membership in all the clubs is very affordable. Not necessarily the case in Austin or San Antonio. There is also a benchrest club at the home range on Range Road but other than that I can't enlighten you on the specifics.

Schlitterbahn Water Park is the major tourist attraction, locals can buy discounted season tickets but the lines are still long for the popular rides. Float trips down the Guadalupe River are popular in the summer. Gruene Hall is a rustic dance hall cum concert venue with an Americana / Country booking policy. Entertainment venues in Austin and San Antonio are within an hour's drive and range from college bars to Formula One and horse racing. Houston is 150 miles down I-10 at 80mph, Dallas/Ft. Worth are 250 miles north on I-35 at everything from 80mph on the 130 Toll Road to sometimes barely crawling through Austin. Gas is cheaper than in Oregon and you pump your own. The average household has 1.75 running pickups, mostly 3/4 or 1 ton and most have never been off the pavement unless they cut a corner too sharp but about half are 4X4 with a 4" lift kit.

All our houses have central air and heat, nobody knows whether their heater works or not, AC goes out just ahead of the first real hot spell of each summer. Most of the year the daytime high is about like Portland high summer, the rest of the year it is actually hot. If it is really hot, it will be hot all night too. It will get cold enough to break your faucets one night every third March. Most of the trees are not quite as tall as a two story house. Taller trees are mostly Texas Pecans. Pecan trees drop large green limbs on hot, still days and sugary aphid poo all the time. Don't park your truck under a pecan tree. We have two spices: chili petin which is a wild, mildly fiery pepper commonly eaten dried like peanuts and serrano chilis which are grown in backyard gardens to space out the tomato plants. Most people just buy their habeneros at the grocery store. If your neighbor grows ghost peppers, your peppers will be tangy.

Hunting season begins in February, that's when you start hunting for a place to hunt. Day Lease is code for We Don't Have Any Deer. When you are hunting for a place to hunt, it helps to have half a dozen buddies lined up so you can lease the whole pasture. Texas Whitetails are about the size of Columbia Blacktail deer. Hill Country deer are plentiful and small, in the rest of the state the deer tend to be larger but much less plentiful. A resident hunting license is $25 and you get 5 whitetail tags and a couple of mule deer tags but there are no mule deer near New Braunfels.

[LynC2]

Char-Gar pretty well summed it up from what I remember. I had a brother in law in New Braunfels and when I last visited him many years ago recall thinking it would be a great place to live. Nice area with lots of family oriented things to do. Years ago I lived in Round Rock, just outside of Austin and it was a nice area. As was mentioned, Georgetown and the surrounding areas are nice also. Austin is a nice city, but pretty liberal compared to most of Texas.

[chsparkman]

I have a cousin in New Braunfels. He shoots in the small bore matches there and hunts locally on what he calls a "lease". Seems like a great place to be, although when we were there, in early September, it was very hot.

[AggieEE]

+1 on what CharGar said. Also in downtown New Braunfels there are still one or two traffic circles. Makes driving fun the first time you hit one. As to the price of real estate. like the old joke location etc. I would say prices about like San Antonio. Rent in the $800 and up range depending on where, how much land with the house, neighborhood etc. If you would be in the far SW close to Bourne there is Smithson Valley school district which seems to be pretty good. If your kids are really smart I would suggest private school if you can swing it, but then I would suggest private almost anywhere in the US. BTW San Antonio had a cool snap this morning, 60* at about 6AM now about 90. Welcomen zu Texas.

[tinhorn97062]

I'm really appreciating all of the comments thus far. There's simply no comparison with the real estate between here and there. I can't touch a decent 3bed/2bath house here for less than about $1800/mo...that may even be a bit low. So, right there it's a positive in the economic section. My line of work seems to pay about the same wherever I go, so a lower cost of living means an automatic pay raise for me. Regarding the weather, I think the humidity will probably be the biggest hurdle to get past. It's pretty humid here in the valley, but likely not as humid as down there.

It seems like the general consensus is "Welcome to Texas"...haha.