david55

I was wondering if anyone can offer advice about a possible relocation to the Austin/ Hill Country area. Looking for a small community or neighborhood of older homes but would like it to be gay-friendly or at least tolerant. We are not in a position to spend more that $200,000 on a house but from the MSL listings I have been perusing there seems to be a good inventory of houses in that price range...especially in communities like Wimberley and San Marcos.... I have also been told to look in Arboretum neighborhood of Austin.

Any advice would be appreicated.

jwatson

The Austin area is noted for being the most tolerant area of the State. I would stay close to Austin. Wimberly would be a good choice. I know a gay couple who have lived there for over 30 years, so it must not be bad. Another area would be Lago Vista on the north shore of Lake Travis. It is about 45 minutes from Austin. Lake Travis has a public park (hippie hollow} which is clothing optional. It has a large section which attracts a large number of gays. A minister tryed to shut it down a number of years ago and got a lot of resistance from the entire Austin community. He moved to another town in Texas. You can still get a nice house with a lake view in this area in your price range.

MrMan

Check out Fredricksburg as well

EWR2AUS

Definitely stay close to Austin. Its a great city - its very rare that someone moves there and doesn't love it.

epi231

I lived in Austin for two years, 2004-2006, while going to grad school at UT, and I've visited San Marcos and Fredericksburg a few times. (I don't know anything about Wimberly.)

I cetainly liked Austin proper, and if I were to return to Texas, I would live in Austin itself, and definitely NOT in one of the Northern suburbs like Round Rock, Georgetown, or Cedar Park. They have a reputation for being somewhat conservative and "stuffy."

Fredericksburg is a very quaint town, somewhat picturesque but also somewhat rural and thus lacking both the conveniences and amenities of a bigger city. (For example, there is no Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, "artsy" movie theater, etc.) For that you would have to drive 2-2.5 hours to Austin.

San Marcos, on the other hand, is larger than Fredericksburg and is full of chain stores and chain restaurants, and not at all pleasant like Fredericksburg. I would avoid it if possible.

As for the tolerance factor, I really don't know what it's like outside of Ausitn, but in Austin I felt quite comfortable.

Good luck in your search!

StSebastian

If I was moving there it would be into Austin itself. I've been twice to visit friends and enjoyed it both times. The downtown bar/nightclub area (6th street) is an assortment of different types of clubs with gay and straight intermingled with everything else down there. Austin has UT, and you could also consider College Station with TAMU though I think Austin would be more interesting and more gay-friendly.

I don't know pricing, but I know Texas is cheaper than a lot of other areas in the US.

stria4

I was considering a relocation to Austin last year, and was told by several locals that you want to be as close to the center of town as possible. The farther out you go, the less comfortable you'll feel. Of course, that didn't stop me from checking out some great houses for well under $200K in some outlying areas anyways!

cptango

I am not gay so I cant speak from personal experience about how well gays are accepted in Austin however I just wanted to give you a quick friendly warning anyways

Its about property taxes in Texas. While real estate may seem to be a real bargian the astronomically high property taxes erode any gains to be made. And while you may be able to pay off your 300k mortgage one day in the future youll never get rid of that 2k a month tax bill on it.

Good luck in your move!

CPTANGO

epi231

From my experience, College Station is not particularly gay-friendly or interesting. It's really incomparable to Austin. (No offense to A&M people of course.)

bpoleary

I know a lesbian couple in Wimberley who have said there are lots of queers around and it's a very tolerant area.

joyfulheart

I agree, Texas is a very tolerant state, Austin especially. You should be "safe" just about anywhere in the area. While I'm sure there are dumb intolerant rednecks here, I have yet to see any, I've been here my whole life.

As a matter of fact, I'm babysitting for my lesbian neighbors now. (kids sleeping right now) They are the best neighbors in the whole subdivision!

oldpenny16

You need to get more information on property taxes in Texas. They are high, but not this high. Also we have no state income tax.

Allergy alert: the area being discussed is very hard on people with allergies. Also as of today (check the local news) there is a great deal of flooding. Verify the flood potential for any property you are considering.

As someone told you about our sky high electric rates?

SEAUAKID

Be warned - Texans pay through the nose for electricity!

tmorse6570

I've noticed that states without a state income tax have much higher property taxes. They have to pay for stuff somehow. Homes comparable to ours (Utah) in states like NH and FL have property taxes about 4-5 times what we pay.

david55

How freaking bizarre. I saw this thread this morning and thought "we did that" and started responding, then realized I was the OP.

We did go down and search out some of these areas.....I thank the Gods we did not move to Texas. We felt like fish out of water and their politics so atrocious that I would be embarrassed to live in that State today.

Not sure what the hell we were thinking 11 years ago when we entertained this idea.