What do you like about where you live?

[Tex .416]

For those looking at Texas rural areas, do some serious homework on water availability before buying. Texas west of I-35 has always had limited water. That also is true in many areas of the country west of I-35. Droughts are the norm for most of the state, except for the south east around Houston. The Houston area is subject to flooding and hurricanes on a regular basis. So Houston has too much water and the rest of the state has too little.

Now with the massive influx of people, water resources are over committed and face very real serious shortages. The last time I looked, which was last spring, over 500 municipalities were imposing some level of water restrictions and over 30 had complete failure of the municipal water supply.

Urban areas are buying up water from rural areas. So rural areas are facing major drawdowns of aquifers at unsustainable rates in many areas. Also be cautious of groundwater pollution in areas with lots of oil and gas production.

Water availability is a major issue in many areas of the state and the situation is critical in some.

I’ve lived in Texas my whole life, over 60 years, other than some time in England in college. The land can be harsh, but the people here are wonderful, independent, and self-sufficient. The women are beautiful, the food is good, and hunting is great.

However, our culture is being wiped out with the influx of those from other states. The population has tripled in my lifetime.

These folks from California and the Northeast moving here will flip this state blue in the near future.

My happy place is in the Brush Country of South Texas. We went to Tanzania and felt like we had landed in Cotulla, Texas, except with elephants and no Mexican food. The habitat feel is strikingly similar.

Here is the drought monitor map for the US. Clicking on a state will enlarge it. The map is updated every Thursday.

Current Map | U.S. Drought Monitor

droughtmonitor.unl.edu

 

[Tanks]

7 bedroom 8 baths. 9000 sq ft. Needs some work. You are completely tone death, or just really don’t give a shit. I suspect I know. I have bit my lip so many times on your posts, but you really are a special POS. Tango your happy ass to Virginia.

Ahem, the cost of that home is less than a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2500 sq. ft home on a postage stamp lot in a decent neighborhood in CA, so it is all relative. Heck, my daughter's 3 bedroom co-op in NYC costs more.

And I was being serious. If you look at the pictures, landscaping and entry road is a bit rundown and carpeted areas need to be redone (hardwood most likely). Pool needs a complete update etc., etc.. And that is without even being there.

I don't know what your beef is. Is it the cost of the place or the size? Cost I explained above, size you might have a point, my girlfriend thinks it is too big as well. I pointed out to her that I have two kids, and four grandkids and would want everyone to be able to visit and vacation there at the same time.

I also don't know why you care one way or the other. We have other members here that live on huge ranches or estates. Is Bernie Sanders in you sneaking out?

 

[Tucketed]

Third move back to Florida after numerous East Coast residences. We always enjoyed our past residences, always finding positives of where we lived. We now live in a small beach town with a great community of friends. It has gotten more expensive but where hasn’t it. It does have hurricanes which suck. We love the weather, even in the summer the breeze off the ocean allows us to sit on back porch during the afternoon and read. Even in summer we are outdoor people. Our state kept things open during COVID allowing us personal freedoms. Our state has beliefs in line with mine. Besides watching out for hurricanes I cannot really find a detractor.

 

[Tanks]

Droughts are the norm for most of the state, except for the south east around Houston. The Houston area is subject to flooding and hurricanes on a regular basis. So Houston has too much water and the rest of the state has too little.

Heck, one of the reasons I moved from the Houston area, lived in Friendswood, was the hurricanes and the floods. I had water come to just a few feet from my front door during hurricane Alicia.

Funny story. I had one employee call me saying he would not make it to work that day due to floods in Clear Lake. He said the water was almost to his door. I said that's not bad. That is when he mentioned he was on the second floor of his apartment building!!!

 

[Tex .416]

Tanks,

your post about looking at Spicewood is what prompted my warning about water availability. You really better do some investigation about water in that area before making a final decision.

Here is a link to one of the main GCD’s for that area. It is in emergency drought conditions with 40% curtailments i.e. 40% reduction of a well’s permitted pumping volume. This may be a factor in why it is priced as it is. They are warning that water wells “are failing at an unprecedented rate.”

Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District – Northern Hays County Groundwater Conservation District information.

haysgroundwater.com