I'm going to be moving to Waco for work in a couple months, having never been to the area any recommendations on good/bad neighborhoods to live? Car stuff in the area? Fun and exciting things to do? Definitely looking forward to more warmth than we see here in Indiana, but beyond that I don't know what I'm getting myself into really.
I can't help with neighborhood specifics, but moving from Indiana to Texas is going to be a real eye opener for a car guy. Now you'll be able to buy and build cars without them ever rusting away on you.
And no state income tax either.
Cars are cheap to register.
Chip and Joanna have really put Waco on the map lately, so it's trending up.
Waco is a bit whacko but otherwise a nice mid-Texas town. Cheap coat of living, good food, and close (2hrs) to all the major Texas metro areas.
I like to use the city data site below for comparisons sake in these discussions. There is also a cost of living calculator site if you google it.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie :
Definitely one of the things I'm looking forward to. I was in GA before Indy and boy is it painful trying to find beaters up here knowing how much better shape they're in down south.
Something happened there in the 90s. That's all I know about it.
I had some really great chicken fried steak in a dive bar in Waco when I was traveling on business. I know nothing else, not even the name of the bar.
WhiteAndGold said:In reply to Cousin_Eddie :
Definitely one of the things I'm looking forward to. I was in GA before Indy and boy is it painful trying to find beaters up here knowing how much better shape they're in down south.
In my experience beaters are hard to come by. I blame the inspections, people just junk an old car if it won't pass inspection and if it does your usually looking at at least 2K if it's not an absolute complete E36 M3box. Cool old cars are very very thin on the ground here in Central Texas. And the roads are terrible. Absolutely the worst roads of any place I've lived.
Other than those two very picky things I love it here. Don't think we'll ever leave as my wife loves it here as well. In fact she told me if I want to move I'm going by myself cause she's staying.
We're about thirty/forty minutes south of Waco. I don't get up there much but like any place it has its nice areas and bad areas.
You probably have to drive to autocross, but if you want to do that you should be able to 30-40 weekends a year. Closest will probably be the A&M guys. Proper tracks to the north and south, and south west. Rallycross stuff in the Austin area depending on how organized everyone gets. Drag racing in Dallas and Houston as well. Cars don't really rust much unless they're from up north. Lots of trucks. That's an understatment. Lots of Mustangs too. There really isn't an off season but lots of clubs sort of hibernate for at least July and most of August. I'm about three hours away and 100% willing to get involved in all sorts of shenanigans and will be bringing something to the Challenge in the fall.
Where are you working? A lot of the areas have changed, but then again, not a lot has.
I grew up there and have, as my wife says, an unhealthy hatred for the place. Hewitt/Woodway area is pretty good all around. Bellmead, Robinson, and generally Waco *inside* can be real hit and miss. One good thing is its still pretty easy to move outside of town and get a little bit of land for not a huge outlay. Stay away from the Magnolia whoever the hell they are and you should still get a cheaper home.
Hit me up on PM or whatnot if you want, I have family still in town and we go through every now and again. As stated, corvette club will do an Autox every so often at TSTC, but you have to go to DFW , Austin, or College Station for Autox. Also, I am more than happy to grab a beer and it may make us stay overnight in the area more if I have a reason to hang out there.
In reply to Nick Comstock :
Dang I wouldn't have expected a "free" southern state like Texas to have inspections, that's too bad.
In reply to Thinkkker :
Working at a Caterpillar parts distribution hub type thing. Not totally sure of specifics yet but I'm there for a year as part of my rotational program I'm in then I'm off to another job somewhere else for one more year.
z31maniac said:Something happened there in the 90s. That's all I know about it.
Something about some tanks and E36 M3.
avoid kool aid.....
In reply to WhiteAndGold :
Yeah shocked me too. My county is only a yearly safety inspection it's not too bad. Some counties, and I'm not sure about Waco but I don't think they do, also have an emissions check.
But compared to southern Ohio and East Tennessee the cars I used to play around with are just non existent. And when something fun or cool does pop up it's twice as expensive as I'm used to. I don't know what else to attribute that to other than inspections as I've never had that in those other states.
Emissions testing is required only in the following areas/counties:
I understand that shiplap is popular there.
I do have to agree, we are weak on cool cars here in Texas, unless you like typical V8 American stuff. You can't lay hands on Datsuns, old Toyotas, Subarus, Fiats or things of that nature.
The best thing about Waco (other than Baylor) is the fact you can go north or south a short distance and have some good fun. North is Fort Worth, forget Dallas, and south is Austin, San Antonio) forget Houston.
Waco is kinda sparse on fun things to do mostly because Waco isn't all that big. There's enough to keep you interested during the week and on the weekend you can head to the bigger cities or just drive around the Hill Country.
There are a bunch of us from Texas so you shouldn't have any problem finding a 2nd
People have been taking cool old cars from central Texas for so long they are mostly gone. Inspection is pretty straight forward. It's not hard at all to pass. The weirdest TX inspection law is a windshield is not required but windshield wipers are.
As others have said, there is not much there in Waco. It's an ok town with a gaines problem. Downtown is overrun with women going to the silos. Most of the good stuff is 90 miles away either north or south though.
Cameron park is cool if you like to hit the trails either on foot or bike.
Don't get pulled over in Riesel!
Apart from that, it's cheap, it's near a river, and there are two dealerships specializing in Corvettes in TX.
In reply to carguy123 :
Best thing about Waco is Big Red & Dr. Pepper. Baylor does not factor in at all.
In reply to WhiteAndGold :
I would look at Hewitt/Woodway area. Its around the corner from the Cat place. Lorena is not too far off either if you want more Rural. Learn the back roads as 35 generally sucks to drive on through Waco. I am not sure if they finished all the road work there either.
In reply to Thinkkker :
Downtown Waco is finished. It's still in progress between Waco and Temple though.
In reply to Nick Comstock :
That would make anything living south SUCK *Lorena, Bruceville-Eddy, Etc.* if you had to run 35. My dad lived in Eddy and worked in Waco so he ran that route till he retired about 3 years ago and moved out of the area.
hey Whiteandgold, what's the good word?
Nothing to add about Tejas.
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