[NLRS] Places to live in Texas

[Dr. Gerald N. Johnson]

In the Dallas McKinney corridor 48 years ago, the distant suburban towns 
were mostly on hill tops. Though even then the town limits were miles 
from the town centers. I lived in Allen between Plano and McKinney a 
couple years, '64 to '66. Based on my description of where I lived (a 
town of 2000 then surrounded by farms and ranches, at least 50,000 today 
without farmland for miles) W5LUA who lives in an eastern part of Allen 
can't find where I lived. I spent some time with the satellite or aerial 
images from Google maps last month and I can find the town center but I 
can't find the road, the duplex, the water tower or the power substation 
that marked where I lived. Its all been bulldozed bare and paved over 
(though it was only 2' to solid limestone in my backyard).

Back to those hill tops. The annual rainfall at Dallas was about 24 
inches a year. The two years I was there each year half that amount came 
from one rain event. One year it was just overnight and all the fanciest 
homes built in the trees along the creeks were underwater up past the 
eaves. The other year that foot took a whole week and flooding wasn't so 
bad.

I remember mornings with a southern breeze (lots of gulf humidity) when 
it was 95 at sun up and foggy. That made for a miserable day outside and 
running the AC the first month cost more than I expected and I didn't 
run it again. I just roasted. I had an allergic reaction to the 
plentiful and inexpensive seafood that I hadn't yet identified so I was 
fairly miserable in Texas too. Those events surely biased my likes and 
dislikes.

Like Bill Smith (was VHF editor of QST long ago) I like Iowa better than 
Texas. Bill would say you need to know the Spanish language there these 
days. He ran businesses in Dallas involving cable TV equipment.

W3XO could be a good resource about living in mid Texas, since he's 
lived there a decade or more.

73, Jerry, K0CQ



On 3/19/2011 7:52 PM, Donn wrote:
>
>
> A couple of times I've driven between Austin and San Antonio... NOT along I-35
> but farther west, along US281.  This is in or at least along the edge of the
> "Hill Country."  I thought it was beautiful country... not too unlike central NY
> although no where near as wet and no lakes.  :-)
>
> Tommy, K5VH, lives in Dripping Springs, west of Austin.  Appears to be a nice
> little town.  I'm guessing its a reasonable commute into Austin, but don't know.
>
> I remember some decent hills along US281 between Marble Falls (NW of Austin) to
> south of Blanco (west of Austin).
>
> Central States In San Antonio in July 2007 was WET, but normally its dry and
> hot.  I was in Austin at the end of April in 2005 and thought I'd suffocate when
> they opened the plane door.  VERY hot and humid.  Later that day, a cool front
> moved through and it was simply beautiful the rest of the long weekend.
>
> 73 Donn
> WA2VOI/0
>
>