Living in College Station (as an adult)

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KidDoc
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In reply to Stupe • 10:23a, 2/13/18
AG
Stupe said:
If you're referring to the jokes about Longmire and Rock Prairie, they did a whole lot more than that.

And, considering the amount of people that are on on bikes in this town, I have no problem with them adding bike lanes to road.
Better there than slowing traffic like that moron that always seems to decide that 8:30 on weekday is a good time to get on his super biker, glow-in-the-dark leotard suit and ride on Wellborn Road.
The problems with bike lanes are the fact that they are not contiguous. You have little sections of roads with bike lanes that suddenly vanish for no discernible reason. The example I see daily is William D Fitch & Pebble Creek have bike lanes but it doesn't cross over Rock Prairie or Hwy 6, they just vanish. Similar problems on Longmire. If they want bike lanes that is fine but make them usable not just brief stretches of roads. The new addition of Lakeview that will run to Rock Prairie will hopefully make the Fitch bike lane somewhat serviceable as far as commuters go.

I've thought about biking to work as I have in the past but distracted driving is such an issue I would worry about some teen driver bumping into me despite the bike lanes on Fitch!
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Science Denier
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In reply to Geop84 • 10:29a, 2/13/18
AG
Geop84 said:
jblaschke said:
Good thread. I live in Houston, but am looking at a place to retire. We've had season tickets forever, so being "fairly close" to CS is a must.

Every time I come to CS, I hate the traffic. And, yes, I live in Houston (Katy) and also come to CS many times that are not FB games. Getting around is much more difficult for me in CS than in Katy.

My thought is that with A&M growing and CS not doing really much to improve traffic, it's just going to get worse. That's what has kept me from considering retiring there.
If you are only coming up on gamedays, I can see your complaint. Pretty much every other day but gamedays traffic is no problem. I live in South College Station, 10 miles from Kyle Field. I work at Bright (Kyle Field essentially) and it takes me 16 minutes to arrive at 8 am and that is if I hit the lights wrong. I don't consider that bad traffic after living in Houston for 30 years.
No, not talking about gamedays. I come to CS quite often, as I have two boys at A&M right now. I'd say we make on average the following number of trips to CS in a given year

7 trips on gamedays
10 on weekends
3-5 random "emergency" trips during the week.

Even my boys, who live there, complain about the traffic.
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Oogway
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10:39a, 2/13/18
Quote:
I've thought about biking to work as I have in the past but distracted driving is such an issue I would worry about some teen driver bumping into me despite the bike lanes on Fitch!


Completely understand your sentiment, but it isn't the teen drivers that I am worried about- - some of the worst offenders I've witnessed are the moms and dads who are in such a hurry that they can't be bothered to:
1. Hang up the phone
2. Stop eating their breakfast taco
3. Yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk (w/the okay to walk signal of course)
4. Stop before the stop sign, or at least look before stopping further past the white line
5. Look right when turning right.
6. Come to a complete stop.

I witness plenty of poor biker/pedestrian behavior, but there are way too many careless drivers aound town. So, yes, I appreciate well maintained and wide sidewalks!
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The Anchor
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In reply to Science Denier • 1:39p, 2/13/18
AG
jblaschke said:
Geop84 said:
jblaschke said:
Good thread. I live in Houston, but am looking at a place to retire. We've had season tickets forever, so being "fairly close" to CS is a must.

Every time I come to CS, I hate the traffic. And, yes, I live in Houston (Katy) and also come to CS many times that are not FB games. Getting around is much more difficult for me in CS than in Katy.

My thought is that with A&M growing and CS not doing really much to improve traffic, it's just going to get worse. That's what has kept me from considering retiring there.
If you are only coming up on gamedays, I can see your complaint. Pretty much every other day but gamedays traffic is no problem. I live in South College Station, 10 miles from Kyle Field. I work at Bright (Kyle Field essentially) and it takes me 16 minutes to arrive at 8 am and that is if I hit the lights wrong. I don't consider that bad traffic after living in Houston for 30 years.
No, not talking about gamedays. I come to CS quite often, as I have two boys at A&M right now. I'd say we make on average the following number of trips to CS in a given year

7 trips on gamedays
10 on weekends
3-5 random "emergency" trips during the week.

Even my boys, who live there, complain about the traffic.
Purely speculating here, but I'm guessing the majority of their travels and yours are confined to the University Dr./Texas Ave./George Bush/Harvey/Wellborn areas. It will definitely be thicker traffic there.

I have lived here 17 years and have watched:
College Station grow by about 40,000 (to 110,000ish)
Bryan grow by about 15,000 (to 80,000ish)
TAMU grow by about 25,000 (to 62,000ish)
Blinn grown by about 5,000 (to 11,000ish)

This town has done a good job of growing with the population (despite the people who whine to the contrary). I can get from SCS and drive on Texas Ave and get to north Bryan in 15-20 minutes. And that's with hitting traffic. Traffic here isn't much different than other places. But, people like to think it is way worse here for some reason. Again, unless there is heavy construction, it is very easy to navigate and get around BCS.

ETA - I just now drove from downtown Bryan to my home in SCS. I took Texas ave. It took me 18 minutes and 1 second.
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techno-ag
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In reply to The Anchor • 1:46p, 2/13/18
AG
The Anchor said:
jblaschke said:
Geop84 said:
jblaschke said:
Good thread. I live in Houston, but am looking at a place to retire. We've had season tickets forever, so being "fairly close" to CS is a must.

Every time I come to CS, I hate the traffic. And, yes, I live in Houston (Katy) and also come to CS many times that are not FB games. Getting around is much more difficult for me in CS than in Katy.

My thought is that with A&M growing and CS not doing really much to improve traffic, it's just going to get worse. That's what has kept me from considering retiring there.
If you are only coming up on gamedays, I can see your complaint. Pretty much every other day but gamedays traffic is no problem. I live in South College Station, 10 miles from Kyle Field. I work at Bright (Kyle Field essentially) and it takes me 16 minutes to arrive at 8 am and that is if I hit the lights wrong. I don't consider that bad traffic after living in Houston for 30 years.
No, not talking about gamedays. I come to CS quite often, as I have two boys at A&M right now. I'd say we make on average the following number of trips to CS in a given year

7 trips on gamedays
10 on weekends
3-5 random "emergency" trips during the week.

Even my boys, who live there, complain about the traffic.
Purely speculating here, but I'm guessing the majority of their travels and yours are confined to the University Dr./Texas Ave./George Bush/Harvey/Wellborn areas. It will definitely be thicker traffic there.

I have lived here 17 years and have watched:
College Station grow by about 40,000 (to 110,000ish)
Bryan grow by about 15,000 (to 80,000ish)
TAMU grow by about 25,000 (to 62,000ish)
Blinn grown by about 5,000 (to 11,000ish)

This town has done a good job of growing with the population (despite the people who whine to the contrary). I can get from SCS and drive on Texas Ave and get to north Bryan in 15-20 minutes. And that's with hitting traffic. Traffic here isn't much different than other places. But, people like to think it is way worse here for some reason. Again, unless there is heavy construction, it is very easy to navigate and get around BCS.
I still remember when the bypass was opened. In the old days Texas Ave. was Hwy. 6. Now you can zip past everything.

Traffic here is hands down better than Austin, Houston, & DFW.
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MiMi
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2:08p, 2/13/18
S
Quote:
Purely speculating here, but I'm guessing the majority of their travels and yours are confined to the University Dr./Texas Ave./George Bush/Harvey/Wellborn areas. It will definitely be thicker traffic there.
When I first moved to BCS in 1990, I stayed to these main roads. Now, I plan my routes in and around town that do not include these roads. I love driving on the roads less traveled. It may only save me a few minutes (if any), but we have some really nice neighborhoods worth exploring.
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australopithecus robustus
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7:40p, 2/13/18
The only problem with BCS, and it's a big one, is that it's like a ghost town during Christmas and June/July, which is horrible for commerce and the local economy.
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mrg0901
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7:45p, 2/13/18
We live on a few acres outside of Navasota and love the convenience of College Station. Those darn college kids do cause a lot of traffic and my wife hates Target due to the college kids that are always there (doesn't stop her from spending $$ there, but that's a different thread). Honestly, the traffic and college kids are not that bad. Heck, in South College Station, you hardly ever see them.

Also, you mentioned commuting to work around the country. I travel for work too and Easterwood has its pros and cons. Pro: No security lines ever, you show up about 30-45 min before your flight and breeze thru security. Parking is cheap and always available. There is no shuttle bus like at the fancy big airports, but its a 3 min walk from the back of the parking lot to the terminal so probably not all that necessary. The cons: limited flight availability and you always have to fly to either IAH or DFW. I think the ease of Easterwood makes up for having to drive to IAH to catch a flight, but that's a personal opinion. Also, no link with Southwest, unless you want to take that City Shuttle. Also, for some reason it takes about 30 min to get my luggage when I land, which is odd considering I can see them unloading it from the plane, but it is what it is.

That's just my two cents.
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PS3D
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In reply to techno-ag • 10:33p, 2/13/18
techno-ag said:
If you're looking for an acre or so you might consider one of the rural subdivisions. I like King Oaks, but there's lots of choices. Some of the nicer rural school districts include Iola, Franklin, and Mumford.
What about a teardown in Quail Run Estates?

Stupe said:


There are always family friendly activities going on here.

I don't know, every thread that asks something like that usually gets the same tired responses (local museums and parks) wheeled out.

KidDoc said:

The problems with bike lanes are the fact that they are not contiguous. You have little sections of roads with bike lanes that suddenly vanish for no discernible reason.

But the construction on Longmire/Rock Prairie did make the bike lanes contiguous. The only place on Longmire where they aren't is a small section of townhomes just north of Deacon past Pepper Tree Apartments.
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Science Denier
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In reply to The Anchor • 7:10a, 2/14/18
AG
Quote:
Purely speculating here, but I'm guessing the majority of their travels and yours are confined to the University Dr./Texas Ave./George Bush/Harvey/Wellborn areas. It will definitely be thicker traffic there.
That is 100% accurate. I do go to Austin frequently and I will say Austin is much worse than BCS.
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75AG
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In reply to Science Denier • 8:07a, 2/14/18
AG
jblaschke said:
Quote:
Purely speculating here, but I'm guessing the majority of their travels and yours are confined to the University Dr./Texas Ave./George Bush/Harvey/Wellborn areas. It will definitely be thicker traffic there.
That is 100% accurate. I do go to Austin frequently and I will say Austin is much worse than BCS.
That's like comparing apples and atomic bombs. Austin has some of the most horrific traffic in America.
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The Anchor
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In reply to Science Denier • 8:50a, 2/14/18
AG
jblaschke said:
Quote:
Purely speculating here, but I'm guessing the majority of their travels and yours are confined to the University Dr./Texas Ave./George Bush/Harvey/Wellborn areas. It will definitely be thicker traffic there.
That is 100% accurate. I do go to Austin frequently and I will say Austin is much worse than BCS.


Obviously, those areas aren't a representative of traffic in BCS. Between students and employees, I'm guessing there are 50-60,000 drivers on those streets daily.
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Mumbo Jimbo
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9:50a, 2/14/18
Living here is a blessing and I hope you can join us.

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Ric Clark
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In reply to australopithecus robustus • 6:58p, 2/14/18
australopithecus robustus said:
The only problem with BCS, and it's a big one, is that it's like a ghost town during Christmas and June/July, which is horrible for commerce and the local economy.

This is the best time to be in BCS....

Fortune Favors Valor
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TexasTransplant13
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8:57a, 2/15/18
As my name will reveal, I'm a transplant to Texas and now that I'm here I can't see myself leaving! I love living in this community specifically.

I'm not attempting to start a "Bryan v. College Station" debate of any sorts, but I'm a proponent for living in Bryan (lower utility rates, less traffic in most of the areas I travel, interesting new development on the west side, downtown Bryan) and just driving into College Station for the things I can't get in Bryan.

If I'm not mistaken, housing is a little cheaper in Bryan too (could be wrong on that though).

That's just my 2 cents! You can't go wrong either way--BCS is a great place to live!
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australopithecus robustus
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In reply to Ric Clark • 4:16p, 2/15/18
Not if you make your living owning your own business
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Stupe
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6:29a, 2/16/18
S
Successful business owners take that into account when budgeting for the year.
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australopithecus robustus
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6:56a, 2/16/18
There's 52 weeks of rent here but only 35 weeks of sales. I've been in business for 19 years and have annual forecasting, and would consider myself pretty successful. Doesn't change the fact of the disconnect between rents and sales.
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Stupe
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7:21a, 2/16/18
S
If you've been around for 19 years, then you have obviously been responsible with your money during cash flow periods.
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australopithecus robustus
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10:53a, 2/16/18
Yes I have. But that doesn't change how the down times suck.
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Its Not Rocket Surgery
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7:35p, 2/20/18
AG
My wife and I moved back about 3 years ago (for her job) after many, many years in Houston. We love the small town feel and sense of community in CS, but our once sleepy little college town is definitely undergoing some serious growth and all the good and bad that comes with it. Houston is a short drive away and has pretty much world class everything, so it's relatively easy to go enjoy "big city" activities and come home to a slower pace of life. There really is plenty to see, do, and eat at home now, so we don't find we get the itch to make the drive nearly as often as we used to.

The greatest drawback (which doesn't sound like much of an issue for the OP) is the disparity between housing costs and earnings potential. I still commute to the south side of Houston twice a week for work because the job prospects for a mid-career professional are so poor in CS . The cost of a nice 4 bedroom 2,000'ish sq ft home in CS is roughly $30-60K higher than the same home in a comparable neighborhood in Clear Lake, Pearland, Friendswood, or League City. That said, when push comes to shove we'd rather raise our family in a less chaotic environment with great schools and fresh air, and the decision has proved to be a good one so far.
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momkat
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2:44p, 2/22/18
BCS is great if you are married and or have a family. It stinks if you are in your 40's or over and single! Just saying...
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Captn_Ag05
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In reply to momkat • 2:58p, 2/22/18
AG
Not for a cougar.
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jammer262
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10:27a, 2/26/18
I moved from Denver to BCS in August of 07 for work and lived there till 2014. I was 30 when I moved there and single. It was not the best place to live for a single guy in his 30's. I travel a lot for work and ended up driving to Austin or Houston for flights. The flights out of Easterwood never synced up well with my travel needs, plus I was spoiled with the easy access I had to the Denver airport. Getting around during the school year was tough, and forget going out to eat on the weekends. The summer was much better, once I got used to the heat and humidity, getting around was easy and you could go out to eat with ease. I have been back a few times since leaving 5 years ago and the growth on the southside has been amazing. Even now with a family of 4, because of work travel, I don't think we would move back. Having a direct connect airport is too big of a convenience.
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