After living in Austin for 24 years and working at Samsung Austin Semiconductor for a decade, I decided that I wanted to work remotely. I learned new skillsets and started working for smaller startups where remote work was a possibility. This was pre-COVID.
I researched every town and county between Brenham and Junction for about 18 months, studying publicly available data as well as traveling to the towns to see them for myself. I tried to introduce myself to the locals, asking them about the town and their businesses. Sometimes I would call the sheriff's office or school district to ask them questions about the community. I would walk into rural hospitals and start talking to staff about their facility and services they offered.
I moved to San Saba in 2018 and then bought a second house in Lampasas in 2021. These towns are northwest of Austin, at the northern tip of what's known as the Texas Hill Country.
San Saba is more remote, more pristine. The population density is three people per square mile and there are two traffic lights in the entire county. The downtown has been revitalized over the past decade and the local ISP is very forward-thinking, offering gigabit fiber.
Lampasas is closer to Austin (an hour away), has a hospital and definitely has bit more bustle than San Saba, but nothing like the congestion one experiences in Austin.
The people out here are incredibly neighborly and hospitable, with a live-and-let-live ethos. They do not like to be preached at or lectured by outsiders, so respecting their way of doing things is of paramount importance. I've been very successful by attending city council meetings, joining volunteer organizations, teaching classes myself in the library on weekends, things like that. Figuring out how things work and contributing as best I can without being too loud about it. People will appreciate you if you can do that.
It's important that one be fairly self-sufficient when moving to an area like where I live. For example, I had to tear my house apart in San Saba to fix some structural issues caused by water penetration leading to rotten wood in the structure. Working with the contractors was definitely a learning experience and something I never want to do again. But you have to be able to figure out things like that if you live out here.
The peace and quiet, the pristine environment, the quality of life, the low crime and great community, these are all things I wouldn't trade for a spotted hog. It's not for everyone, but after living in Austin for 24 years, I much prefer it here now.
I'm sure you can get better tex-mex food within 3 miles than I could find driving for 3 days. My concern in that region would be drought and aquifer health, and yet my lawn is also dead here in New England.
Great Tex-Mex is something we take for granted here. It's everywhere.
The water situation is important, but that's part of one's research responsibilities. That's why I struck Llano from my list, for example. Their municipal water supply is the Llano River, which did dry up during the 2011 drought.
However, San Saba has the San Saba-Ellenburger aquifer underfoot which will never be stressed at current draw rates from the 6000 people who live in San Saba County. And the Hickory Water Conservation District which covers 55% of the county prevents that water from being removed from the district. San Saba is like the Garden of Eden in Texas due to the abundant and secure water resources. Drought literally doesn't affect us.
These are all things which are discoverable using publicly available data.
