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Texas Homers


Mr. Pennypacker
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There is a job opening in Tyler and I was wondering if anybody here lives there or has visited there. What is the city like? Nightlife? Job market for my wife? Housing market? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

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It is one of my favorite places in the world. Nightlife is limited, restaurants are good.

 

What are your feelings toward rednecks?

 

Well I deal with some rednecks here in Indianapolis from time to time. Are they liberal or conservative rednecks?

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Wife lived in Tyler for a while as a kid and her parents live about 20 minutes outside of town.

 

I will defer 100% to Perch and DMD. That said, if you move there, you will want to eat at Mercado's.

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Well I deal with some rednecks here in Indianapolis from time to time. Are they liberal or conservative rednecks?

 

 

I doubt there is a more conservative area in the US.

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Okay, the Big-T town...

 

I grew up in Tyler from Kindergarten through Tyler Jr. College (affectionately known as "Harvard on the Hill" or "13th grade". However, I personally have not lived there since 1981 though my parents were there until about 6 years ago and I still have some friends that live there now.

 

Not sure what all you want to know, but Tyler is in the Piney Woods of East Texas and has a lot of creeks and lakes nearby. It is about the opposite of "Texas desert" that outsiders may picture about the state. The town was initially around largely from oil money though there are very few oil wells anywhere near Tyler. Kilgore had a major strike to kick everything off as I recall ( about 30 miles east). Tyler is situated about halfway between Dallas and Shreveport, LA in the heart of East Texas.

 

It is noted for being a rose growing area and I was about 16 before I discovered that Tyler's Rose Parade was not the only Rose Parade. When I grew up, I always thought roses were the cheapest flowers you could buy. They sell them on street corners pretty cheap. Tyler has the Rose Garden which is pretty in the spring and summer. Just a huge garden the city owns. I was a groomsman at a wedding held there once.

 

Unless it has changed since I left - and Perch would be better at knowing though I could find out plenty for you from my friends if you have a question - Tyler has two high schools. John Tyler High on the North West side and Robert E. Lee (My highschool) on the south part of town. I believe most growth is towards the south and when I grew up, the "better" part of town was definitely the south. Earl Campbell went to John Tyler. Though the town has undoubtedly blended more since I was there, I am pretty confident that South Tyler is where you would likely want to buy a home.

 

Tyler is now becoming a big center for the medical industry.

 

Tyler is pretty humid in the summer as a downside but that is because it has so many creeks, ponds, lakes and trees. It snows only maybe once every few years and it is a largely freak thing. I think it is very pretty there but I grew up with it all. Tyler is still much more "small town" than a city. There is about 85,000 people in the city limits and plenty of small towns nearby in the rest of Smith County (Tyler is the County seat).

 

Here are the city demographics

 

To my experience, people there are very nice (for the most part) and friendly. The cost of living is lower than near a big city. Not sure where you are from but I would characterize Tyler as more "southern" in nature than "western" which most people think of Texas. Football reigns supreme like most smaller Texas towns and we produced several NFL players with Earl the near diety in Tyler lore. There are lots of places to hunt and fish around Tyler. When I moved back to Texas in 2002, I would have gone back to Tyler except much of my family now lives in and around Dallas so I went to McKinney north of town but I would have no problem living in Tyler myself.

 

If you want more info, let me know and I can ask the people that know.

 

I feel lucky and proud to have grown up there. :D

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I doubt there is a more conservative area in the US.

 

 

When I lived there, it was pretty blended on the political spectrum. Maybe it has changed.

 

It was 60% Bush, 40% Kerry in 2004. That's not all that slanted considering Bush is from Texas. Only about 15 counties of 250 voted for Kerry in the majority in 2004.

 

It was 72% vs. 28% in Collin county where I live now.

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When I lived there, it was pretty blended on the political spectrum. Maybe it has changed.

 

It was 60% Bush, 40% Kerry in 2004. That's not all that slanted considering Bush is from Texas. Only about 15 counties of 250 voted for Kerry in the majority in 2004.

 

It was 72% vs. 28% in Collin county where I live now.

 

 

I meant among the crackers.

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Okay, the Big-T town...

 

I grew up in Tyler from Kindergarten through Tyler Jr. College (affectionately known as "Harvard on the Hill" or "13th grade". However, I personally have not lived there since 1981 though my parents were there until about 6 years ago and I still have some friends that live there now.

 

Not sure what all you want to know, but Tyler is in the Piney Woods of East Texas and has a lot of creeks and lakes nearby. It is about the opposite of "Texas desert" that outsiders may picture about the state. The town was initially around largely from oil money though there are very few oil wells anywhere near Tyler. Kilgore had a major strike to kick everything off as I recall ( about 30 miles east). Tyler is situated about halfway between Dallas and Shreveport, LA in the heart of East Texas.

 

It is noted for being a rose growing area and I was about 16 before I discovered that Tyler's Rose Parade was not the only Rose Parade. When I grew up, I always thought roses were the cheapest flowers you could buy. They sell them on street corners pretty cheap. Tyler has the Rose Garden which is pretty in the spring and summer. Just a huge garden the city owns. I was a groomsman at a wedding held there once.

 

Unless it has changed since I left - and Perch would be better at knowing though I could find out plenty for you from my friends if you have a question - Tyler has two high schools. John Tyler High on the North West side and Robert E. Lee (My highschool) on the south part of town. I believe most growth is towards the south and when I grew up, the "better" part of town was definitely the south. Earl Campbell went to John Tyler. Though the town has undoubtedly blended more since I was there, I am pretty confident that South Tyler is where you would likely want to buy a home.

 

Tyler is now becoming a big center for the medical industry.

 

Tyler is pretty humid in the summer as a downside but that is because it has so many creeks, ponds, lakes and trees. It snows only maybe once every few years and it is a largely freak thing. I think it is very pretty there but I grew up with it all. Tyler is still much more "small town" than a city. There is about 85,000 people in the city limits and plenty of small towns nearby in the rest of Smith County (Tyler is the County seat).

 

Here are the city demographics

 

To my experience, people there are very nice (for the most part) and friendly. The cost of living is lower than near a big city. Not sure where you are from but I would characterize Tyler as more "southern" in nature than "western" which most people think of Texas. Football reigns supreme like most smaller Texas towns and we produced several NFL players with Earl the near diety in Tyler lore. There are lots of places to hunt and fish around Tyler. When I moved back to Texas in 2002, I would have gone back to Tyler except much of my family now lives in and around Dallas so I went to McKinney north of town but I would have no problem living in Tyler myself.

 

If you want more info, let me know and I can ask the people that know.

 

I feel lucky and proud to have grown up there. :D

 

 

Thanks for the info DMD.

 

We are just trying to find out the lifestyle there. We are 25 DINKS and we still have a little bit of the big city in us coming from Chicago for 2 years and now in Indianapolis for the past 1 1/2 years. From everything that I have read here and found on the internet it would be quite the adjustment for the two of us.

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Now there is night life in Tyler! At least if you grew up there and never knew anything else existed. Tyler is in Smith County which is sort of a "dry county" :D That means you can literally drink in clubs and many resturants but you have to have a membership to it. You cannot actually purchase alcohol in grocery stores or convenience marts. On the plus side, Tyler has the lowest percent of liquor store robberies in the country (0%) since there are not actually any liquor stores in the county. But the nice thing is that you always know when you leave the county because there will immediately be liquor stores with jammed parking lots.

 

It would be a definite culture shock from a place like Chicago to be sure. It is quite different to "step back" from a larger city.

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