Reviews & Comments
Trinity, TX
Good, bad, ugly -
11/22/2007Trinity is a small community in southern East Texas in the pineywoods region. If you like boating, fishing, hunting and don't thrive on nightlife, cultural events and fine dining, you might like living here. Some famous former residents/frequent visitors include Linda Ellerbee, Congressman Charlie Wilson and novelist William Goyen (who was married to actor Doris Roberts.) There are some smart, cool people who live in Trinity, but there are also citizens who contribute to a throw-back culture that includes racism and narrow-minded thinking. Poverty is prevalent. Drug traffic is active here and the small, underpaid and inexperienced police force can't be expected to clean it up. One safe and pretty neighborhood to consider is Westwood Shores on the Trinity River. Nice (but affordable) homes on large, wooded lots, with neighborhood amenities such as a clubhouse. Westwood Shores also has vacation rentals for those who would like to enjoy the area's recreational opportunities. The local Brookshire Brothers is surprisingly well stocked with items like organic milk and bags of Starbuck's coffee, and the last time I was there there was a great restaurant near the old Bell's Camp Marina. If you plan to move here, you'll have mild winters to enjoy but be ready for long, humid and hot summers.
Huntsville, TX
Prison City -
11/20/2007Huntsville, Texas is the home of Sam Houston State University, a small state-funded university that boasts the likes of Dan Rather and Dana Andrews as alumni. The university is known primarily for its criminal justice program but also has long been recognized for teacher-education programs. Admission is not among the most selective of Texas' public universities and has long been known as a party school. However, SHSU has been able to attract distinguished faculty in several disciplines. Student population has grown to more than 16,000 students.
Census figures for the town may well be misleading, especially for retailers doing market research on Huntsville, since these figures include the inmate population of Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities in the city limits of Huntsville. These include the Huntsville Unit, known locally as the Walls, in downtown Huntsville, a maximum security penitentiary that also includes the death house, the state's lethal execution chamber. The Walls has a storied history from its east wing ghost to deadly attempted prison escapes.
Like SHSU, the prisons are profitable for the town, serving as Huntsville's major employers. Executions have the dubious distinction of boosting the local economy through the sale of goods and services to the sometimes numerous crowds of journalists who cover high profile lethal injections and the protests in favor and against the death penalty.
Despite its status as a prison town, Huntsville can be a wonderful place to raise children. It's a safe, close-knit community with programs for children such as summer activity classes sponsored by the city. Huntsville also has museums, parks, ball fields and community athletic programs for children and adults. Its proximity to the state park, national forest and man-made lakes makes it a good place for recreation. The town added a distinctive feature along Interstate 45, that runs from Houston through Huntsville en route to Dallas, a 75-foot-tall statue of General Sam Houston, the town's most famous early resident.
Huntsville has many prominent citizens whose ancestors were among the founders of the town. Despite the ascendance of a small black middle class, racism and poverty are still an issue in some areas of Huntsville and Walker County.
Austin, TX
If you can take the heat -
9/12/2006Austin is a wonderful place to live, but be warned, summer is long, hot and humid. Mold is also high here and living with allergies is a common problem. It starts getting hot in mid May and stays hot into October. Winters are relatively mild with lows in the 40s and highs in the upper 50s and 60s. There are the occasional winter warm spells that push daytime highs into the low 70s. I have been Christmas shopping bundled up in a coat one week and in short sleeves and flipflops the next. I am a transplant from the northeast and after 25 years I still haven't adjusted. But the city has so many things to offer that if you can take the heat, you'll love it.