Laura, your assessment of Tyler, and for that matter of of East Texas, is sadly spot on. Your experience has been a common thread for many who come to Tyler imagining that there really is a place like they see in the ads and, simply put, its just a fantasy, a facade. Oh, sure, there is a patina of hospitality, and community, and churchy religiosity but at the end of the day, many of the local denizens are just as self-absorbed as their big city brethren. Yes, traffic is obscenely congested for a city this size. For all the complaining that people here do of traffic in DFW, my experience in Fort Worth traffic was that it was busy but it moved, it flowed and folks behaved like reasonable human beings behind the wheel. There is a dizzying array of contradictory and just plain obtuse street signs, of which essentially no one pays attention to except us reasonable folk from elsewhere who learned that operating a motor vehicle on a city street isn't the same as running a tractor in a pasture. As for the police, well, lets just say that Tyler has been well known as one of the few cities with the unenviable distinction as having one of the highest rates of traffic citations in Texas, almost all of which are for speeding. Now, you can run the reds all day long, right in front of the cops (who often themselves run the reds) and do it flagrantly, for several long seconds after the other traffic has a green light, no problem. But run a couple miles over the posted limited in a city like Whitehouse (just to the south of Tyler) and bam, you've got yourself a big fat ticket. As for the medical infrastructure, ya, ok, it looks good, and there is plenty of good in it but there's also a greedy streak running right down through to its core. The local spine surgeons have wracked up some of the highest rates of spinal fusion surgeries anywhere in the country, and this in a town with only about 100k population. Why? Simple, spinal fusion is the highest paying billing code on the books. The same goes for 'interventionalist' of all stripes. If ever there was a medical apparatus that was bent on doing thing to you instead of for you then Tyler is the center of it. Look, as someone will point out, 'every place has its bad apples' and I am here to tell you that after ten years of this I've found way more bad apples then any town has a right to shove down a person's throat. I'm ready to go and never look back and I'm guessing that an east Texas troll or too will be only too happy to say 'good ridance'. If I were you, and I was once, looking to move to this quaint, charming little southern town, be sure to really do your homework and be confident that this is what you want, a community focused on fakery and keeping up with the jones like I have never seen almost anywhere else in all my travels. If you got a boat load of money and you like spending cash for sport, and you like apathy and indifference and you prefer the spectacle of church to the substance of church then this is just the place for you. Otherwise, don't take the chance.
J | Tyler, TX | Report Abuse

Just an update. I was allowed to renovate my garage.--Finally. Thank God. Still can't sell the Tyler house even though the Tyler appraisal district says home sales are booming, which is why they are raising the property taxes. Wiring, roof and garage are completely updated, but the house still doesn't sell. Mainly wanted to mention that the Tyler police have some crazy rules. There was a junk car parked in the neighborhood down the street that received an abandonment citation. This car was then moved beside my house. I called the police to say the car with a blue tarp over it was an eyesore, had received one citation already, and didn't belong to anyone in the 'hood. Police told me that despite the previous citation the car is allowed to sit beside my house for 2 more weeks because it's a public street. Thus, as long as the car is moved every 2 weeks, the neighborhood must put up with it ad infinitum. In addition, the police dispatcher acted as if I was a pain for requesting that the car be picked up.
Laura | Palestine, TX | Report Abuse