Opinions, please: Ocala, FL or Texas Hill Country?

The mosquitos are much bigger in Florida and the BBQ is better in Texas.

 

The Hill Country is great. As far as Tornados go they rarely and I mean rarely ever go much south of Waco. In recent times the closest there's ever been one was Jarrel. The Hill Country is just too broken up with hills for a tornado to be able to really form.

 

If you're retired you don't have to live close to a city. Personally I would consider the area southeast of san antonio, or further west and south of i10. very cheap and also good recreation opportunities. I love the big bend parks.

I have been to OK and it seems nice too. I remember the first time I crossed state line from texas into southeast OK, and saw some redneck outfit with a bunch of 50's cars lined up in front of a very deteriorated mobile home. One of the cars looked like a 55 cadillac stretch limo. I said to my wife, "I could live here."
Have you thought about wyoming? I'd look at some place in the plains and then you can vacation in the northeast towards MT.
Anyway. If you're retired you have time. what I would do is buy an rv and really check out a bunch of these places, stay at an rv park for a few weeks or months to really get a feel for it. Don't rush to a decision.

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We are getting close enough to closing up the shop that we are looking for a 'redder' state to spend our time and money in and the Abilene area is in the pole position.
A fairly central location to allow easy travel...only 8hrs to Branson if you have the urge, or if you want to drag a trailer around during the 'Winter' months you are well located for going East or West.
DFW is a short commuter flight away or a 1½-2 hr drive.

Like Ron White says, "if you come to Texas and kill somebody we'll kill 'ya back". I kinda like that approach.

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Thanks one and all for your thoughts. Ironpile said it right; there's no perfect place. We want year-around warm and lower cost of living than Illinois. There are three cars with no tops in the garage, so drier is better than wet, low taxes and low state debt is better than high taxes and debt. No jailed ex-Governors is better than two in jail, which is what we have here. Nevada, Wyoming and Washington have no state income taxes but get cold. Hilly is better than flat. Put it all together and that's why the hill country and Ocala look good to us. But like you say......none of this matters, my wife will decide!

Thanks again HAMBers.

Steve

 

Yes, we have fire ants. We also have horney toads! Texas hill country is beautiful in the spring, roads are good, hills are fun. Come on down to Texas!

 

"TEXAS IS A STATE OF MIND"..........Nothing else comes close

 

I agree with a lot that has been said here. Another set of criteria for you to look at are taxes. Texas has no income tax, which is not a factor since you are retired, but we can have high property taxes. Florida has an income tax and I don't know how the property taxes relate to us.

In Texas, you establish a homestead with taxes that get set when you turn 65 and then there are rules in place to stop your property taxes from escalating too fast.

I plan on retiring in the Hill Country in 10 years and I currently live in Austin.

 

And, in Texas, if you shoot your neighbor for a good reason, all you gotta do is convince the judge that "he needed killin" and your home free

 

I live In Florida. It is very tourist saturated. Can be annoying. Traffic isn't bad. The people are ok, the locals are pleasant, the transplants can be rude. The humidity is horrible, great if you love patina.. Cost of living is cheaper than California and Colorado. The hurricanes are not so bad living in central Fl. they lose most of their wallop by the time they get here. Tornadoes on occasions, a few a year. I will be leaving myself as soon as my son turns 18 money permitting. I have been to Texas, I loved the climate. I am thinking the Carolinas.

 

Have you considered Micanopy, FL? It's an absolutely beautiful historic small town about 20 minutes north of Ocala. Quaint, friendly...

 

we never put our hot rods away for winter.

 

I vote Florida. Texas is already starting to get crowded.

 

Austin, being home to UofT is definitely geared toward the 18-24 crowd. 50K full and part time students packing the place. Of course half are gorgeous young women. "I want to go home with the Armadillo". Still have my "goat ropers need love to" bumpber sticker.

 

Incorrect.
Florida does NOT have an income tax.
Florida also have Homestead Exemption, which keeps property taxes from killing retired people, etc.

On another note, isn't Austin VERY VERY VERY sorta-extremist liberal?

 

texas, but i'm a native texan.

 

Yes, but that's coming from the viewpoint of the average Texan. It's still a breath of fresh air compared to the neo-nazi style liberalism seen in Illinois, where it sounds like he's coming from.
I would certainly NOT move to williamson or travis county. Bastrop looks nice but has some endangered species which caused regulations on clearing vegetation - and hence it burned to a crisp.
if the hill country looks nice to you I would start looking in Burnet and work your way west from there. The area of Colorado Bend is very nice.

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My parents moved to the Burnett/Tow area on Lake Buchanan back in the mid-80's a while after Dad retired. We used to head down there a couple of times a year so the kids could hang with grandma and grandpa. When it's dry, it's very, very dry (when the lake is 50 yards from the boat dock, you know it's dry!) and when it's wet, it hails like a mo-fo (hail on a steel-roofed mobile home is LOUD). It does get cold and snows on occasion, but it always seemed that it didn't last long and always seemed that it happened when we were visiting ("It was absolutely beautiful here last week!"). They liked it, and the only issue was once they started having health issues (Dad passed in 2008, Mom last year), being 25 minutes away from the nearest hospital (Llano) was a concern to my sisters, who insisted that they move to a home up here in the KC area.

I'm currently "between opportunities" and am looking at positions in Dallas or Tampa. Taxes on homes in Brandon, FL seem to be comparable to where I am now, and Dallas a little higher, so whoever gives me a call first will win a killer Business Analyst.

 

Florida DOES NOT HAVE A STATE INCOME TAX.
But it does have plenty of transplants from New York.

 

I would move to Tennessee, visit Texas and never touch foot in Florida......Florida is "Buy & Die" country.

 

I had friends in Oklahoma that saids Texans where wetbacks that didnt make it

 

All my exes are from Texas.

 

I live on the west coast of Florida and love it but I also spend time in Texas.

Summer time in Texas is hotter then we are in Florida for sure.

Our average temperature on a summer day is some where between 89 and 93 degrees and in Texas I have been there when each day was between 102 and about 106 degrees and I told my friends I was going back to Florida to cool off!!!

Both states have NO STATE INCOME TAX which is a plus for both states.

The part of Texas I like best is north of Dallas out around Allen, Fairview and McKinney.

After living in Florida for the past 22 years my old bones can not take cold weather any more.

Another important thing to remember about Florida is that what ever the temperature is in the the middle of the state in the winter just going one hour north like to Ocala you can see a 15 to 20 temperature change.

In the winter when the temperature might be 40 degrees on a cold morning my son who was in Tallahassee at college which is four hours north would tell me it was 14 degrees outside.

Florida does get cold in the winter time if you are in the northern part of the state.

That's why all the oranges and product farms are located south of Interstate 4!!!

Here in Florida they also have a program called "Save Our Homes" which means once you purchase your home your property taxes can never go up more then 3% a year.
This is a wonderful program for seniors and helps them stay in their home and not be taxed out of it.

Just my opinion. Jimbo

 

Georgia and visit Florida & Texas for a get-away

 

+ one on that !
Been to Ocala & Texas hill country.
Both great places....
I am 12 miles from rsluggoboy and am surrounded by artichokes, strawberries and lettuce farms....
Year round average temp is 67 degrees. Ocean is less than 2 miles from my front door.
It IS great here....but expensive .....
Thinking about retiring to Indy......or close by...they actually have 4 seasons .LOL
Dave

 

Living and working throughout Florida for 49 of my 50 years. Here is my input.

Ocala is a great area, live near The Villages - it is Disney World for those over 55, lived there last summer for work. Has more fun things to do than most city's.

Check your property tax Millage rate, each county, city or town is different. I live in the city of St Augustine and pay 25% more in taxes for the same house 2 miles away.

The big citys have traffic from hell, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville anywhere on the east coast.

People in ocala - sumter county area are nicer than most other parts of the state.

Too many snowbirds makes everybody grumpy, traffic and they are rude as hell.

Ocala area has the some of the best driving / motorcycle riding in the state, hills, horse country, trees and lakes.

Hurricanes are not a whole lot of worry if you live inland, tornadoes from hurricanes will get you. The rain and lightening and micro bursts will wreck trees and power lines.

When you get above Gainesville and St Augustine you are basically in Georgia with state income tax.

I spent a week in San Antonio on business and it was very nice but didn't get to see much past the Riverwalk. So, I can't give you an opinion of the rest of the state. One thing I did notice working for a large company from Texas is that Texans are great people and if you aren't from there they let you know it and you get treated like a alien citizen.

Our governor is one of the best in years, so good he won't get re-elected.

 

Born and raised in California when California was really cool place to be but left in the '70's after Prop 13 was passed. Went north to Oregon for the next 37 years and it was cool. Somewhere in the 80's or 90's, Oregon property was a killer deal to Californians who sold their property and brought big houses and big properties in Oregon and the real estate market went sky high. Then Portland started getting weird and if you've been there you know what I mean. After 37 years in the fire department, it was time to look for somewhere to retire where a flag waving conservative could settle down. I looked real hard at Texas and I love Texas because like I said, most of if not all my friends live there. But I could see the future handwriting on the wall for Texas. I chose Oklahoma because it wasn't like Oregon and Texas where everybody just had to move to, to be happy. I'm close enough to Texas to enjoy all the benefits without the mad rush of liberals moving in not realising that they were the problem of the state they left behind. Oklahoma? Who in the hell wants to move in with a bunch of Okies, right? God bless George Bush, the USA and the 2nd amendment.

 

Texas is your best choice,Florida is overrun with old,non driving snowbirds already,and Ocala is one of the biggest sprawl,nothing to do cities in Florida.Lived in Florida all my life and mickey mouse and the villages have ruined what Florida used to be.

 

Really little to add. Retired from central Illinois to NW Florida in the real boonies 19 years ago. Probably be happy in the hills of Texas---or many other places for that matter. No place is paradise. Ocala is 60 miles away. Beautiful rolling hills and both coasts not far. Besides horse country there are old car events in every direction.
We'd love the Panhandle but are allergic to hurricanes and high winds. Sure, we have mosquitos but not as big or as many as lots of other places. Seen only few snakes in the 19 years. No gators in the boonies unless you move into a swamp.
Nearby Micanopy, Fl still has one of the few totally nude strip clubs for those interested. Some of the best hospitals are in Gainesville and other large cities. And talk about BBQ, Texans come here to eat!
There's a mixture of rednecks, blue hairs, and snowbirds, most all friendly.
I'd rather live along the Blue Ridge Parkway but cold weather makes me shiver.

Yea but Brad, tell em about Webster and Sumpter co flea mkts where you can spend all weekend finding bargains for any old car.