I couldn't find any threads on this, so here goes...

New job prospect, this time in College Station, TX. I've never visited Texas at all, and don't know much about Texas A&M. The cost of living seems cheaper there, and the few people I've talked to have all seemed very friendly. Wikipedia said that the population in the area is something around 100k, and places like Houston and Austin only a couple of hours away.

I'd be curious to hear more about the area from those that know. Any insights or suggestions?

5/17/2009 4:09:34 PM

pros: no income tax

cons: it's texas

5/17/2009 4:38:14 PM

I've been living in Houston for the past year and a half.

I haven't been to Collge Station yet, but I've heard that it's pretty awesome - at least the bar scene close to campus. I would think of it as a typical college town.

Austin (6th Street) is alot of fun. I almost accepted a job there. It's a great place to go for a weekend.

Houston is like an hour away from College Station - downtown/midtown Houston is full of young professionals who all re-located to Houston to work in the oil/gas industry. It's been pretty easy to met new people down here - no one seems to be from here so everyone's in the same boat when it comes to not knowing anyone.

5/17/2009 5:47:51 PM

I will give you some information that can help your decision.

Family Experience: My uncle lives north of Houston in the Woodlands but works in Houston. He is a geologist for Devon (oil company). The woodlands is like a huge suburb. There is a lot of residential and commercial stuff there (mainly retail).

Friends: I have two close highschool friends who went to Texas A&M. One graduated and went to NCSU for a year before transferring, the other went there after graduating. They both loved it. If you like football, it's great. A&M isn't great at football but the fans there are awesome. College Station is a college town, but I don't know if it's a big college town or not.

My experience: I've visited Houston twice. Houston is a great big city (avoid rush hour) that would be cool to go to on the weekends. They got a few good museums and other attractions. College Station is a bit of a way from Houston but it would make a good Saturday trip to see stuff. Also, going to San Antonio makes for a good weekend trip. We drove near College Station on our way to SA. San Antonio has great places to visit as well: The Alamo, Sea World, the Riverwalk, and others.
We visited the 1st of August. It was hot, but living here gets you used to it. It stays warmer longer there but the summers will be rough. Get a place with windows that face north or south (if they face west, your power bill in the summer will be much more expensive). Because it's so hot there for longer they have concrete roads instead of asphalt. The speed limit is usually 5-10 mph higher on freeways than it is here. Country roads have 5-10 mph high speed limits too, but the speed limit at night is usually slower. Example: On a country road the day speed limit is 60 mph and the night limit is 55 mph. I like the "Texas move over law" or whatever it's called. It requires that slower traffic pull of onto the shoulder of the road to let faster traffic pass.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions PM me. chembob has been to/lived in Texas too, so check with him as well.

5/17/2009 5:53:41 PM

hoston = heat, sprawl, strip malls, strip clubs, traffic, fatties, noxious smell (oil? swamp?)


Also, if a place is a couple hours away, that means you wont be going to them regularly. I wouldn't base any decision on some nearby place you arent going to go to a lot.

[Edited on May 17, 2009 at 6:32 PM. Reason : .]

5/17/2009 6:30:47 PM

hey, i live in college station. it has it's pros and cons, it's not that big, but it's got everything you need. the only part i don't like is being surrounded by college kids all the time. this weekend was graduation weekend so we didn't even attempt to go to the bars.

they have this "carpool" thing here, i'm sure they have in other cities, but i've never seen it until i moved here. if you're shitty drunk, you call and they come pick you up and take you home for free, no questions asked. then they give you a reciept saying where they picked you up, where they dropped you off and who your driver was. it's pretty awesome.

i found a place to live on craigslist.. you can't find an apartment on a month to month basis anywhere here unless you've already signed a lease. the cost of a nice one bedroom apartment will be around $750-$800... that's for a nice place. you can live in a shitty apartment and pay less of course. the place i found is a 3 bedroom house, i'm paying $350 a month and that includes all the utilities. it's privately owned though, not through a company.

austin is AWESOME and only 2 hours away, houston's about 1.5 hours away, we went for a baseball game and had a blast.

i really enjoy living out here, but a lot of it has to do with my job and the people i have to hang out with.



[Edited on May 18, 2009 at 1:11 PM. Reason : oh yeah, and the speed limit is 70 almost everywhere]

5/18/2009 1:09:18 PM

The best part about living in TX would be the self defense laws my sons.

If somebody steals your penny and runs off (Without endangering you at any time), you can simply put 'em down with a couple of bullets to the back. Don't expect to get arrested either son, not even for a short while my sons. You steal a penny there and you die at the hands of your victim son. Da killa victim gets away clean in TX son, cause dey be killin' da thiefs daily sons.

Plus, if they endanger yo ass then you can REALLY kill 'em sons. You know how it is sons. It's as if the penny thief wasn't gonna be killed enough already son. Gotta REALLY kill 'em son. None of that half ass killin' son.

5/18/2009 1:23:10 PM

i live in houston, its great. i would disagree with the comment that everyone is from somewhere else.. everyone in houston is either a UT or A&M grad. ive met a handful of people from elsewhere.

i LOVE living in texas. i was born here so i favor it more than a normal person off the street but honestly, i love the people and the state pride. its a great place to live and i find that texans are much more down to earth than southerners.

oh and shiner bock. /thread

5/18/2009 3:33:15 PM

Wasn't Houston named the fattest American city a year or two ago?

I met someone originally from Denver that worked at TAMU, and they absolutely hated it b/c they thought it was too small and out in the middle of nowhere. I think it may all be from your perspective. If you are used to a big city you probably won't like living in a smaller town, and vice versa.

^I love Shiner Bock

[Edited on May 18, 2009 at 3:48 PM. Reason : ]

5/18/2009 3:46:34 PM

College Station is a nice little place. Complete college town. I lived in Austin this past year and it is only about 2 hours away if you need to get out of College Station.

But overall nice college town. About 2 to 3 hours away from big cities (Austin, Houston, Dallas). There are both good things and bad things about living in Texas. Very hot place to live, but they did have snow in College Station (even if briefly) this past December. The stereotype of Texas people is pretty accurate most of the time (could be good or bad depending on how you look at it).

Definitely would visit before you decide.

5/18/2009 7:55:12 PM

Quote :

"oh and shiner bock <b>and fireman's #4 ale</b>. /thread"

I've lived in Texas for a year now in a _smaller_ college town. A lot of the stereotypes are generally true: big trucks, everyone at church on Sundays (bible study on Wednesdays), and beef at nearly every meal. But I have few complaints; people here are generally friendly, if somewhat judgmental of folks who don't strictly adhere to the Texas culture.

Some of the cons:

1) It's almost too hot to go outside in the summer.
2) Bugs are large and plentiful.
3) If you're not a Republican, be prepared to bite your tongue on more than a few occasions.

Pros:

1) GREAT Mexican food.
2) A huge sense of state pride that's infectious (eventually).
3) There's probably more culture than will initially meet the eye: a lot of the smaller college towns are pretty good about bringing in arts events to keep the locals happy. And you have to seek them out, but there are hidden gems in the least likely of places: independent wineries tucked into the woods off major highways, regional artisans with shops set up on the outskirts of little podunk towns, music and food festivals in local towns that aren't really much to phone home about but are kind of a hoot to check out.

5/19/2009 12:20:25 AM

Texas A&M:NC State::UT::UNC

5/19/2009 1:10:13 AM

^you did that wrong.

5/19/2009 1:43:39 AM

Quote :

"The best part about living in TX would be the self defense laws my sons."

5/19/2009 9:36:49 AM

So I've been here for several days, visiting the town, learning my way around, etc. To equate it in terms that I could understand, this place is equivalent to a Greenville, NC, in terms of size and stuff to do and places to shop. Further extend the metaphor because the next largest city (Houston), is about 1.5 hrs away, similar to Greenville -> Raleigh.

People that I've talked to have been really friendly. It'd be a massive adjustment to move down here, but it seems like it could be comfortable and even enjoyable.

Cons so far... no Bojangles.

5/24/2009 8:00:36 AM

I just looked online and the nearest Bojangles to Philadelphia is 1 hr 15 mins away in Reading.

5/24/2009 1:03:48 PM

oh yeah, everyone is super religious in texas

5/24/2009 1:31:12 PM

no Bojangles or Cook-out does suck but at least we have Whataburger down here

and Tex-Mex - FTW

5/25/2009 10:45:23 PM

.

[Edited on May 25, 2009 at 11:05 PM. Reason : nvm, re-read]

5/25/2009 11:05:27 PM

Quote :

"oh yeah, everyone is super religious in texas"

this is true but it differs from the south in that people don't push their religion on you. i find texans are much more private about their religion than southerners.

5/26/2009 11:13:06 AM

i bought my first pair of cowboy boots from Cavender's

http://www.cavenders.com/

there's one right by the Post Oak Mall

5/26/2009 12:39:59 PM

haha! pics needed.

5/26/2009 12:46:39 PM

Go get you some Blue Bell icecream to beat the heat...I grew up in Texas and that shits good.

5/28/2009 9:38:21 AM

yes, bluebell is amazing

i havent pulled the trigger on cowboy boots yet, but i think about it a lot

5/28/2009 5:08:18 PM

^^ the new groom cake flavor is chocolicious

5/29/2009 2:25:01 AM

And just to think, what did people do before the internet was around to influence their life altering decisions.

[Edited on May 29, 2009 at 5:54 AM. Reason : ...]

5/29/2009 5:32:53 AM

^ I did a fair amount of research before deciding to move there, and this was just an additional avenue. Hooray for making use of your resources, right?

5/29/2009 12:46:28 PM