Why did I move to Canyon Lake, Texas? Does 20 inches of snow count?
Posted by Mary Sallman on Mon, Dec 05, 2011
Why did I move to Canyon Lake, Texas? Does 20 inches of snow count? Guest blog written by Ellen Bauer
In March of this year we moved to the Canyon Lake area. Our family and friends were taken aback; why in the world would we want to move to Texas; and especially to a semi-rural area? We were from Chicago, we were city people…
I was born in the frozen north of Wisconsin and you’d think that I would be more than used to being cold, but my physiology never seemed to acclimate to where I was born. I would huddle near the heat and wear three layers of clothing while tips of my fingers turned blue for 6 months out of the year.
In 2010, the weather began to conspire against me and we had record cold and large amounts of snow and ice. The roads were ice-covered washboards and my car was almost eaten by a pothole.
If this wasn’t enough, the economy in the Chicago area was in a steep decline. I was in real estate and my husband in construction, both fields that were close to extinction. With all of our children out of the house a pre-retirement move started looking pretty good.
I’m a research freak, and so I spent literally hundreds of hours on websites like www.bestplaces.net, www.realtor.com, and Google maps researching everything from climate to crime and cost of living. We enjoy spending time in our pool, cycling and kayaking; and my husband, a frustrated gardener wanted a climate with more than a 3 month growing season. Also at the top of my wish list was access to city amenities, a good job market, affordable housing and a lower price of living than Chicago. I was so glued to my computer that my poor husband wondered if I was going to leave him for “Mac”.
The following places made our top five:
- Southaven, Mississippi (near Memphis)
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- San Antonio, Texas
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Milwaukee, WI (cold climate but we had family there)
We started visiting some of the top 5. We liked Southaven, Mississippi and the beautiful pine trees but we were looking at working in Memphis and guess which city made #1 city for crime that year? Northern Mississippi was knocked off the list. We came down to San Antonio and fell in love with the River Walk, the hot but not too humid climate, and all of the opportunities for music and arts. San Antonio stayed on the list.
Then in 2011 before we had a chance to check out any of our other options we were hit with a one day snow “event” that buried my car up to the windows. That was the last straw, all the other places on my list had measurable winter snowfall…off the list they went and I began looking at San Antonio in earnest. I would not spend another winter in Chicago!
I started looking on the outskirts of San Antonio and I soon realized that there were a number of large lakes and rivers nearby; great for our new kayaking hobby. Then we found out there were hills in Texas! We had lived for a short time in the foothills of the Ozarks and we had loved the expansive views from our family room windows.
This led me to the Hill Country area north of San Antonio, with sweeping hilltop vistas, the Guadalupe River, and Canyon Lake with it’s beautiful turquoise waters. The geography of the area combined with a low cost of living, very affordable housing, a short drive to San Antonio and Austin for arts, music, theater and a host of festivals and I was sold!
We love our new home! Lazy days spent kayaking or just floating in Canyon Lake. Beautiful greenbelt areas in San Antonio with paved paths to go cycling. Daytime temperatures so warm that my Hibiscus are still blooming at Thanksgiving, but with nights cool enough that we can often enjoy nights reading by the crackling fire. Wonderful friendly Texans and so many festivals and free events that we would need another lifetime to visit them all.
We have the “city amenities” of San Antonio and Austin nearby if we feel the itch, but I like waking up and hearing an occasional rooster instead of the traffic, and smelling the fresh air instead of the car exhaust. Did the 20” of snow play a hand? Yes and I’m glad it did!
If you would like more information about the area, request our Land Kit.