Why Texas?

There were many things that we considered before choosing where to concentrate our search for a place to settle down. Some of the reasons are based on personal preference & health considerations while others are based on money and our long term plans.

Both Becky and I are convinced of the upcoming energy problems that will be facing us all. While there is much debate on when the problems will start to have a serious impact on future plans, I have reason to believe that it will be within the next 5 years. That does not mean that the average person will not continue to live almost exactly as they do now, just that the expense of trying to do something as extreme as relocate will require more resources than they can afford. Many people are already stuck with the choice of either letting go of whatever equity they have built up or staying put. As energy prices increase, values of energy hungry homes decrease and the cost of moving also increases. The longer they wait, the more trapped they become. Better to bail now and spend the next 5 years setting up a sustainable lifestyle and securing income than to be forced to move at the worst time and arrive with few assets and no job...

That being said, our first consideration was climate. We asked ourselves, "Where could you live naked all year long and not die from exposure to either extreme heat or cold". The number one energy costs in most households are heating & cooling. If you can find an area where (without any shelter) you can still live relatively comfortably year round, you can avoid a large energy expenditure. Less energy means cheaper & greener living. The coastal areas of Texas, while fairly hot in the summer, have a temperature moderated by a constant breeze of the Gulf of Mexico. Having lived here for 2 months now, I know this is true. On the rare occasion that there is no breeze it can be quite uncomfortable, but both mornings and evenings a cool breeze is almost guaranteed. This also makes building our ideal passive solar home much easier. Since there is less variation between Summer and Winter temperatures, we do not need to build our home to handle either extreme cold or heat, but instead can build a solid wall home that will act as a heat sink and keep the temperature a relative constant. There are gorgeous beaches along the Gulf of Mexico where fishing is good and the waters are warm enough to play in. It rains occasionally, but is not overcast as often as most places we have lived. The rains are cool and the thunderstorms are spectacular.

Our second consideration was ability to grow food. We wanted an area that was very green, with good soil and where water would be very easy to collect. Because of the climate here, you can grow food all year round. There is a huge variety of wildlife and the semi-tropical climate supports a very wide variety of plant life too. We have cactus, palm trees and vegetable gardens all within yards of us here. No need for a greenhouse...

Third consideration was cost. There are many beautiful coastal areas along the Pacific Ocean that meet most of our criteria, but without exception they are way over priced for the quality of land and community. Even very remote towns that have little to offer are artificially priced at a premium. With the housing bubble at it's peak still and a reasonable expectation for that bubble to take 3-5 years to subside (barring any outside influences), we just can't afford to sit and wait for prices to fall. In addition, the housing prices will fall fastest in areas that have high energy needs while staying fairly high in more desirable areas. Here in Brownsville we can currently purchase 10-15 acres of land with a home for under $50,000. That is an inflated price of course - just 8 years ago the same sized piece of land with a then newer home was around $28,000. Health care costs are continuing to rise at a ridiculous rate and (for those of us that are uninsured) being close to the border of Mexico puts us within reach of reasonably priced health care that is just as good (or better in some cases) than our US counterparts. Things like routine dental care, vision and medications are at least 1/10th the cost just across the border in Matamoros (a city of almost 1 million people). US health care costs will only increase more as demand continues to increase - you don't have to be an economist to understand that. I have a huge problem with the corruption of our US health care system - from the drug companies all the way to the HMO owned insurance companies. They have built a monopolistic mega business that wipes out or assimilates local family Doctors and small clinics and they get away with murder (literally). That's a huge rant for another post someday...

Texas has little regulation when it comes to home building and land usage. That favors the do-it-yourself type person like me that hates all of the red tape that comes along with trying to do something different. Looking around, I don't believe that any regulations that may be in place are enforced outside city limits. I have seen some downright dangerous looking structures built out of what looks like collected garbage just outside city limits. The funniest thing is seeing a shack home built right next to a 7 bedroom mansion. There doesn't seem to be any community planning. That has both good and bad points that can be argued... As we stay here longer I will research more on this subject. Word of mouth here is that you can form a legal community with just a small group of people willing to fill out the appropriate paperwork. That allows you to control the future development of the area within your "city".

There is no state income tax here. There is 8.25% sales tax and property tax, but there is no sales tax on goods sold in the markets in Mexico - and (with the exclusion of those things we don't buy - like alcohol & cigarettes) you don't have to pay duties or tax on those items when returning to the US. Traveling across the border and back is time consuming, so it is saved for medical needs mostly.

Health and personal preference influenced the rest of our decisions. Becky is allergic to most evergreen trees, grass and some pollens. The coastal breeze keeps the air clear of heavy concentrations of any of these things and there are no cities between here and the coast, so other than the occasional "diesel" like smell from the oil platforms (I am assuming that is where the smell comes from - and they will be going away someday) there is no significant air pollution. Becky has not had to take any allergy medication since we arrived and that is at peak Springtime bloom here.

Becky loves Palm trees and tropical flowers. There are sea turtles, parrots & dolphins that make the kids happy. I really like the sun and constant breeze which lend themselves to solar and wind power opportunities.

There are some pretty major drawbacks to the area too. Most of them are due to the blending of both US (esp. Texan) and Mexican values. It seems that the worst of both worlds have collided here. Some of that is just adjustment from living in a very diverse community with somewhat "green" thinking to living in a "use it or loose it" & "me, me, me" environment. But a lot of it is also because we are a minority here and don't speak the local language. I am learning how to speak Spanish and I think that is the key to overcoming the latter issue. There is no thought to conservation of any kind here. Everything is just thrown in the trash. Even the backs of the garbage trucks have "Good Riddance" painted on them in bold letters. That is the garbage companies trademarked line - and a good representation of the attitude locally. We have found alternatives - places to take the cans, cardboard, paper and plastic. Though it is time consuming and requires quite a bit of travel to many places strategically placed far apart. Perhaps there is money to be made in that problem right there...

Another issue is that of the weather. There is the potential for both tornadoes and hurricanes in this area. We are basically on the edge of the tornado zone, so they are VERY rare here, but a concern none the less. We are also in the hurricane zone - although rarely one that is better than a tropical storm... The storm potential have forced us into planning a structure that will withstand both high winds and heavy rains. At this point we are thinking of a monolithic dome (several of them actually) that are mostly buried. That should give us great protection from the storms and also help keep the temperature inside relatively constant.