For a minute there I thought I had to get off my couch, when all the while the fact is we don't have to do anything much but keep things afloat for just a few decades more! In fact, we'd best shut up about PO, because if our offspring finds out we knew about it all along, they'll turn and wring our necks come 2036!
Joined: Sep 02, 2005 Posts: 2874 Location: In a Nigerian compound surrounded by mighty dignataries
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:45 pm Post subject: Re: Everything in Texas is BIG
There are so many Texans that wear very big hats but have no cattle. _________________ In other words, it's a huge sh*t sandwich, and we're all gonna have to take a bite.-from Full Metal Jacket
Joined: Apr 21, 2004 Posts: 508 Location: Republic of Texas
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject: Re: Everything in Texas is BIG
I think Ray Wylie Hubbard said it best.
Now I love the USA
And the other states
Ahh, they're OK
Texas is the place I wanna be
And I don't care if I ever go to Delaware anyway
Cause we got Stubbs, and Gruene Hall and Antone's, and John T's
Country Store
We've got Willie and Jacky Jack, Robert Earl, Pat, Cory, Charlie and me
And so many more.
So screw you, we're from Texas
Screw you, we're from Texas
Screw you, we're from Texas
We're from Texas, screw you _________________ The road goes on forever and the party never ends - REK
Joined: Jun 06, 2005 Posts: 1223 Location: the place where smartasses dwell
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:17 pm Post subject: Re: Everything in Texas is BIG
The redhead on the far-right may be the most beautiful woman ON EARTH!!!!! I want her. Nahh, she's a little large for me , if she dropped about 30 or 40 lbs. though she'd be just right. _________________ It's the height of rudeness for the stretch polyester pants crowd to foist their tard version of Christ on talmudic scholars. But they don't get this, because they are, after all, extremely thick.----Threadbare
Joined: Aug 19, 2004 Posts: 1682 Location: Republic of Texas
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:51 am Post subject: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
In Austin a couple of weeks ago I met a guy who works in downtown Austin, but lives 25 miles north in Leander.
He rides the metro in to work everyday. He only puts a couple thousand miles a year on his car.
I want this. I want the higher wages of working in a downtown Metro area, but I also want the benefits of living rural.
I very much desire to get to work on my rural survivalist compound, but I still need income to pay for my kids' college.
Please help! Where is the best place in Texas to build a rural survival compound, but still be able to commute to a large metro downtown on public transportation?
I'm afraid I'm running out of time. _________________ Conform . Consume . Obey .
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:25 am Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
If the Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail initiative gets enough traction fairly soon, your options for commuting to downtown Austin or San Antonio from the Hill Country will expand dramatically. The route runs along existing R-O-W, so implementing it is merely a function of the cost of rolling stock & operations, plus some route modernization.
Out of those cities along the route, somewhere around San Marcos or Kyle makes some sense, but there is already explosive growth happening around Buda/Kyle. If you don't mind driving to a park-and-ride, land around Lockhart is fairly inexpensive. Other options will be to the north and east of Round Rock & Georgetown, or up around Florence.
As for building the compound, I would rather cherish the increased rainfall & drab views in the east than the "rugged beauty" (and flash floods!) of the Hill Country.
Dallas has a fairly extensive rail system, but it's still wholly contained within the urban/suburban areas, and the terminal stations are quite congested already (from what I hear), with people driving 20-40 miles from Sherman/McKinney to Plano and hopping the rail to Dallas. Extensions are being constructed to the NW and SE, so living out by Kaufman or Terrell might make some sense for a park-and-ride arrangement.
Sorry, I'm not familiar enough with Houston to be confident in giving you advice on where to live around there. _________________ "It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 11996 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:33 am Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
Definitely look east of I 35 for better rainfall and less flooding. I'm to the west myself, and it is not an easy place to try to grow things. Scenic sure, but you can't eat scenery.
To the west is much less crowded of course. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy
Joined: Feb 02, 2006 Posts: 170 Location: Luther, OK
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
Yes, it is. But those of us who know what's happening, and enjoy eating as a hobby, are aware that you can't make much food off a flat in the city. You also aren't going to make your land payments burning charcoal or selling tomatoes either (at least, not yet.) So I still work 28 miles from the acreage. What has changed is my relationship to that acreage, which is more often becoming a weekend plus wednesdays only affair. A century ago, men in my industry (construction) typically were gone "to the job" for days at a time, sometimes months depending on distance. We set up bunkhouses on the sites for them to live in. Those days will probably return, maybe rows of FEMA type trailers or something.
So if you have light rail in Texas, go for it. Here in Oklahoma we're stuck with no public transportation beyond city limits. _________________ Nick J. Allen
Hilton, Oklahoma
"The Chinese have many hells. This one is the hell of valueless currency." -- J. Albertson
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
alecifel wrote:
So if you have light rail in Texas, go for it. Here in Oklahoma we're stuck with no public transportation beyond city limits.
You can thank that asshole, Ernest Istook, for that. He went out of his way to help his brethren in Utah land a fantastic light-rail system in Salt Lake, while shunning any and all attempts to do the same for OKC. _________________ "It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."
Joined: Feb 02, 2006 Posts: 170 Location: Luther, OK
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
Indeed. Unless I want to "hobo it" on the back of a slow moving cement train from Luther to OKC, my only rail choice is the Heartland Flyer, which isn't much good for commuting.
Mistook and all the others... who thought completely rebuilding a new I-40 crosstown was a great idea instead of public transportation. Should open just in time for all the cars to be junked! _________________ Nick J. Allen
Hilton, Oklahoma
"The Chinese have many hells. This one is the hell of valueless currency." -- J. Albertson
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:23 pm Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
alecifel wrote:
Indeed. Unless I want to "hobo it" on the back of a slow moving cement train from Luther to OKC, my only rail choice is the Heartland Flyer, which isn't much good for commuting.
Mistook and all the others... who thought completely rebuilding a new I-40 crosstown was a great idea instead of public transportation. Should open just in time for all the cars to be junked!
Dontcha know? - the Crosstown is so dangerous that ODOT refuses to reroute all the cross-country truck traffic onto I-240 and out of the downtown area completely. Hey, if it's safe enough for 80,000-lb rigs, it's safe enough for me! _________________ "It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."
Joined: Feb 02, 2006 Posts: 170 Location: Luther, OK
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
Two days ago, our afternoon radio reported Classen Blvd and I-40 westbound both down to one lane due to routine repairs.. ANOTHER CHUNK OF CONCRETE had fallen out and you could see through the road to Classen below.
Rail leaves OKC to all its major suburbs, 7 directions. How hard would it be to pull a few old coaches out of mothballs and run them back and forth behind an old roadswitcher? BNSF and UP have plenty lying around. What's missing is the subsidy and tax incentives needed to get them started. _________________ Nick J. Allen
Hilton, Oklahoma
"The Chinese have many hells. This one is the hell of valueless currency." -- J. Albertson
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:36 pm Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
In due time, man - in due time. I suspect that we'll be seeing a lot of ad-hoc transit arrangements in the future, including a trails-to-rails* program, if we're lucky.
* - (how's that for irony?) _________________ "It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 11996 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:38 pm Post subject: Re: Live rural, work metro; Where in Texas?
I think it's unlikely there will be the investment in new infrastructure in a future of expensive energy. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy
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