Where is the best area to move to?

Main things I'm looking for would be:
- lower property taxes
- less intrusive government

I need good high speed internet in order to be able to work, but I can work remotely.  ?Also would be nice to have more than one decent full sized supermarket (not the little ones like Brookshire Brothers) like H-E-B, Albertson's, Randall's or Kroger within a 30 minute drive.  Also would be nice to be similarly close to at least one of Home Depot or Lowe's and a big box retailer like a WalMart, Sam's Club, etc.  Some of that is less of an issue since so much can be bought online and delivered these days.  I could probably live with some of the smaller hardware/lumber retailers like a Southerland's or McCoy's.  And Dollar General is everywhere and has most of the stuff I would commonly get from Walmart, etc.

My MUD just outside Pflugerville is possibly going to get annexed by the City of Austin, and there is no way I want to be in that libtard laden political mess.  Plus my property taxes have been skyrocketing to stupid levels.  I know they are going up most everywhere, but probably not as much as here.

I'd prefer to stay south of Waco (they get too much winter-y weather north of there) and not too close to the gulf coast (humidity, hurricanes).  Somewhere that is relatively safe without a lot of property crime and not heavily infested with tweakers and meth cooks or overrun by the cartels.

No children, so schools not really a big issue.

My wife and I are in our early 60s.  We are looking to move west (Llano, Mason, Junction).  All three are anywhere from 50 minutes to over an hour to an HEB.  We figure our lifestyle will change after we no longer have to work (either in the office [me] or from home [wife]).  I am ok with the drive to HEB.  My wife is much less enthusiastic.  Hospitals/healthcare become a bigger issue as you get older.  When you are younger, schools and commute are bigger issues.  You don't have children, so no problems there.

You might look in the communities surrounding Waco/Temple or east (Rockdale, Lexington, Giddings).  West to Llano, Mason, Menard, Brady, Junction is much different than north or east.  I wouldn't consider south as anything between San Antonio and Austin will one day be completely urban/suburban.

BTW, I wish we could move today.  Homes in our neighborhood are selling above asking.  One home sold $200k above asking just this week; they are selling $400-$500K above tax appraised values.  We still have a few years left in Austin and I'm not keen on moving from our home as it was everything we ever wanted (large 1 acre, heavily treed lot off of the upper reaches of Bull Creek).  Sadly, when we bought our dream home we didn't anticipate Austin going absolutely crazy (politics, home prices, massive influx of commies).  Soon, we will not be able to afford the property taxes.  So, taking our profits and escaping the hellhole that Austin has become is the only answer.

I've said this in many other posts, but being a fifth-generation Travis Country resident, we are absolutely appalled at what has become of Austin and the surrounding communities.  My German and Swedish relatives were inherently conservative in their farming communities.  They would be horrified at what has become of the land they emigrated to.  [Edit:  Some might find it ironic I complain about commies moving into central Texas when my own forebears did the same some 170 years ago.  The difference is that my forebears assimilated into the existing culture of that time.  They did not attempt to overthrow the customs and ideals of those already residing in the county.  While maintaining their German and Swedish languages within the home for a generation or two, they absolutely became English speaking in public to obtain the respect and favor of the existing community. It was frowned upon to use their native language in public.  Contrast this to today's environment.  It is not uncommon at the local Sam's Club to hear people conversing in Spanish, Mandarin, Farsi and Hindi.  Like I read recently, we are no longer E Pluribus Unum; we have transitioned to Ex Uno Plures].

Thanks MDog26, those are all places I'd consider.  I go through Giddings on a regular basis (family in the Houston area) and have driven through Llano, Mason and Junction before and they seem like decent areas.  I like Burnet, but it seems like that isn't far enough out, it is already getting stupid expensive.  Bertram and Liberty Hill have already been borg'd into the Austin sprawl.

You are correct about Burnet, Bertram and Liberty Hill.  Llano may not even be far enough away as more workers based in Austin look for other areas to live (if they can work remotely).  Once you get out to Menard, you are pretty much on your own

One of my co-workers lives on Inks Lake just below Buchanan Dam.  He commutes to Round Rock (I35) every day and has for the last 10 years.  A long drive that gets longer every day as the traffic picks up.

I'm familiar with Menard.  Not much there.  It has a bit too little infrastructure for me.

You are sadly maybe correct about Llano.  I need somewhere that isn't going to get overrun by commies and the taxes run into the stratosphere at least until I turn 65.  I've got a little over 11 more years to go before that.

Come on out here with us in the piney woods.

Taylor is growing.  Not as affordable as it was a few years ago but it's close enough to the austin if you need anything but has enough infrastructure to support itself.  walmart, heb, mccoys...

salado and jarrell are growing as well but still pretty affordable.

I don't think Taylor is far enough out.  Austin sprawl is already getting it.  Maybe Granger or Bartlett.

Austin is annexing something?  I thought they put a hold on all that sort of thing.


We're playing with the idea too. Looking at homes around Boerne or Wimberly so it's easy access to the north side of Canyon Lake.  We have real estate agents showing up at the gate offering us 300K over what we paid and we live an hour out of Austin.