Relocating to Aggieland

9,456 Views | 61 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by bushytailed
4Jersey
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Howdy. I posted this elsewhere recently, and the folks who commented told me I should try posting on TexAgs,

I'll be moving to the area in a few weeks because my significant other got a job at A&M. I'm feeling pretty excited to start a new adventure, but I know very little about this place we'll be calling home. I'd be interested to hear some local perspectives on what life in College Station is like, or any helpful information you might have for new people in town. Is there anything you wish you knew before you arrived?

As far as more specific questions related to pursuing my personal hobbies and interests, what's the beer scene like? Are there any cool bars or breweries I should check out? Is there any opportunity to play some casual slow-pitch softball? What's live music like in town?

I've read a bit and found a lot of information about the customs, traditions, and culture of A&M. Does that bleed into the town at large very much? Am I expected as a non-A&M guy around town to say "howdy" to everybody I pass on the street, or is that just a university custom?

I appreciate any wisdom you have to offer.

Thanks and gig 'em!
techno-ag
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AG
There is a department at A&M devoted to finding jobs for spouses of employees. I'd hit them up first when searching for employment. They have numerous inside contacts to quickly help you find a job.

Welcome to Aggieland.
histag10
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People around town wont expect you to say howdy, but definitely a lot of university pride around town.

Downtown Bryan may be a bit better for avoiding the college crowds when going out.

Where will yall be living?
TXCityGirl
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Welcome! You don't need to say Howdy to everyone, but it's also not discouraged. It's very much a campus tradition. The university is the heart of the city and knowing the university calendar is important to your success around town. For example, this weekend is both Parent's Weekend and Ring Day (look that one up) which means you should not go out to dinner or drive near campus at all this weekend. And forget about booking hotel rooms during weekends like this or football home games.
There are a couple of breweries - New Republic and Blackwater Draw come to mind.
The city has recreational leagues for adults, not sure on those details check cstx.gov.
I moved here from a big city and College Station is definitely small in my eyes. But, the people are very friendly and you can drive anywhere you want to get in a short time.
trouble
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You are going to love Downtown Bryan for live music. The beer scene is small but good. There's a couple breweries and Harvey Washbangers always has a nice selection.

No one is going to expect you to say howdy except maybe on campus.

Where are you moving from?
AgySkeet06
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techno-ag said:

There is a department at A&M devoted to finding jobs for spouses of employees. I'd hit them up first when searching for employment. They have numerous inside contacts to quickly help you find a job.

Welcome to Aggieland.
Never heard of this...
4Jersey
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Quote:

Quote:

There is a department at A&M devoted to finding jobs for spouses of employees. I'd hit them up first when searching for employment. They have numerous inside contacts to quickly help you find a job.

Welcome to Aggieland

This is good to know, thanks!

Quote:

Where will yall be living?

Google maps calls the area either Harvey Hillsides or Park Hudson, out past the highway a bit. Also, how do people refer to highways in Texas? Would this be "highway 6", "the 6", just "6", or something else?

Quote:

Where are you moving from?
We're moving from Michigan. She's from here originally and I'm from Massachusetts. Because of baseball reasons, please don't call me a Yankee, haha.
techno-ag
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AgySkeet06 said:

techno-ag said:

There is a department at A&M devoted to finding jobs for spouses of employees. I'd hit them up first when searching for employment. They have numerous inside contacts to quickly help you find a job.

Welcome to Aggieland.
Never heard of this...
Might be limited to faculty spouses. Take a look here:

https://dof.tamu.edu/Faculty-Resources/DUAL-CAREER-PARTNER-PLACEMENT
dallasiteinsa02
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4Jersey said:

Quote:

Quote:

Where will yall be living?


Google maps calls the area either Harvey Hillsides or Park Hudson, out past the highway a bit. Also, how do people refer to highways in Texas? Would this be "highway 6", "the 6", just "6", or something else?


Highway 6 or 6 is pretty common place, but "The 6" has a nice ring to it.
trouble
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You'll hear it called "6" "highway 6" and "the bypass". Business 6 is Texas Ave.

Plenty of Yankee dislike around here too. There's good baseball locally as well. Olsen is unique and fun and there's a team in Bryan. http://mobile.bvbombers.com/

Abbyag06
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I am from Michigan as well! Transplanted to Texas 30 years ago. We moved here from Houston almost 11 years ago to raise our daughter in a smaller town. We live close to Park Hudson. You will love the area. It is peaceful and less crowded on this side of the freeway!

No need to say Howdy to everyone unless you want to. We didn't go to A&M, my husband works there now, so we aren't fluent in A&M customs. People are very friendly!

We avoid the college hangout area as we aren't as young as we used to be. Downtown Bryan has some good places to hang out. There are wineries in the area as well you can visit!

Welcome to the area, I'm sure you will enjoy it!
TxSquarebody
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I feel that any highway referred to with "the" sounds way too Californian and therefore strongly discourage its usage.
LOYAL AG
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You're moving at a good time as it's wildflower season. Hopefully you get here before they die off for the year. I'm not a native but I've lived in Texas well over half of my 48 years. I grew up Navy with 10 grade schools from coast to coast but IMO there's nothing anywhere I've been that quite matches the wildflowers along the highways in Texas. Truly special.

I'll echo what others have said, you'll like downtown Bryan. Make a point of doing First Friday down there after you get settled. It's a good scene that's pretty student free.

Lots of roads in Texas have more than one name. So Highway 6 is also Earl Rudder Freeway. FM 2818 is also Harvey Mitchell Parkway. There's other but those are the main roads that, if you don't know the names, can get confusing.

Park Hudson is a nice part of town, again not a ton of students out there. Close to Target, movie theater and 6 without being too close to the highway.

The area revolves around A&M with both school districts following the university for things like Spring Break. It's VERY slow and quiet during the summer and winter breaks. Those times we simply have 60K fewer people and the pace slows way down.

Don't know if you've been here or what time of year but it's about to get hot. Then about a month after that it'll be summer. The extended winter weather (winter for us) will help but we'll still end up with a run of 100+ days in July and August. You've been warned.

Traffic here is a curious mix of farm kids, city kids and people that learned to drive in countries that don't have traffic laws. It can be interesting particularly the closer you are to campus.

My wife is from a very small town near Corpus and I mostly lived in large cities like Philadelphia and DC. CS is a perfect mix for us. You're close enough to Houston to do a show or ballgame even during the week if you wanted to. It would be a late night but it's tolerable.

Last thing...took my then 9 yo son to one of the last games and old Yankee Stadium then Fenway the following night. Yankee Stadium was cool but we LOVED Fenway! He came back a huge Red Sox fan!

Welcome!
Captn_Ag05
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Welcome to College Station-Bryan!

A few thoughts:

- As mentioned Downtown Bryan has quite a few restaurants and bars, many with live music. It is a much different environment than Northgate, which is across from the university. Northgate still has some good spots though. First Fridays in downtown Bryan are a lot of fun. Also, keep up with the schedule of the Queen Theater. Built in the 1800s and recently restored it has an interesting selection of showings (https://www.queenbryantx.com/schedule)
-Aggie sports are great - even outside of the big three (football, basketball, and baseball). Softball, soccer, tennis, track/field, all have great stadiums and followings and are a lot of fun
-As mentioned before Brazos Valley Bombers (baseball), BV Calvery FC (Soccer), and Spirit (hockey) games can be fun
-In addition to the breweries mentioned above, there are a few wineries - Messina Hof and Peach Creek being the best, imo
-Lake Walk is a great, pretty new area with several shops and a great coffee shop and hotel and awesome lake. They do a lot of events out there, including weekly farmer's markets and outdoor concerts (https://www.lakewalktx.com/concerts)
-Century Square is a cool area with a lot of shops, restaurants, a movie theater, hotels, and bars. They have a green space where they do a lot of events, movie screenings, and concerts (https://www.century-square.com/). Some of the restaurants and hotels there often have music as well.
-Wolf Pen Creek is a nice park with an outdoor amphitheater, quite a few events and concerts there (http://cstx.gov/index.aspx?page=635). I like the disc golf course there, as well
-Several great golf courses if you are a golfer
-If theater is at all of interest, get season tickets for MSC Opas (http://opas.tamu.edu/), they bring in some great shows.
-Lots of great parks and community events throughout the year
-Many different organizations to get involved with and help make the community an even better place
-Weekend getaways to Houston, Galveston, Fredricksburg, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, all within three hours, especially on football weekends if you don't want to deal with the craziness

ratfacemcdougal
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Welcome (and Howdy!)

For a fee, you can hunt on Chuck Norris' ranch
Builder93
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It gets really hot and humid in the summer. We all love it and wish it would go on forever. You should never complain about the heat unless you want to be ostracized. In fact, you should only say good things about the heat while occasionally expressing how pleasantly surprised you are at the abundance of mosquitoes.

Los Nortenos is everyone's favorite place for tacos. If it looks closed you should ask the nearest person what the secret knock is.

4Jersey
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Quote:

Don't know if you've been here or what time of year but it's about to get hot. Then about a month after that it'll be summer. The extended winter weather (winter for us) will help but we'll still end up with a run of 100+ days in July and August. You've been warned.

Traffic here is a curious mix of farm kids, city kids and people that learned to drive in countries that don't have traffic laws. It can be interesting particularly the closer you are to campus.

My wife is from a very small town near Corpus and I mostly lived in large cities like Philadelphia and DC. CS is a perfect mix for us. You're close enough to Houston to do a show or ballgame even during the week if you wanted to. It would be a late night but it's tolerable.

Last thing...took my then 9 yo son to one of the last games and old Yankee Stadium then Fenway the following night. Yankee Stadium was cool but we LOVED Fenway! He came back a huge Red Sox fan!

1. My experience with time in Texas involves changing planes at DFW once when I was 5 years old. This is an entirely new adventure! I think I'm prepared for the heat though. How's the humidity? I'd imagine it's not as humid as I hear Houston is, but I have no idea of what it actually is like.


2. Driving in Michigan is similar, and we've got some truly shambolic road conditions here to boot!

3. I'm most certainly a "city kid", but I think as long as I have opportunities to explore and try new things, I can get on just fine anywhere.

4. Good kid. Go Sox!


trouble
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Sooooooo not nice
happyinBCS
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I have lived here 41 years and it is God's country, very thankful I raised my family here. Welcome and I will buy you a beer when you get settled in.
bushytailed
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Welcome to Texas.

- Summer started today. (It's 89 right now)
- "Second summer" begins in mid-September. Get used to 90 degree temps into mid-November
- "Autumn" occurs the week of Thanksgiving.
- "Not summer" runs December through mid-March.
- Spring begins in mid-March and continues through yesterday.
histag10
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bushytailed said:

Welcome to Texas.

- Summer started today. (It's 89 right now)
- "Second summer" begins in mid-September. Get used to 90 degree temps into mid-November
- "Autumn" occurs the week of Thanksgiving.
- "Not summer" runs December through mid-March.
- Spring begins in mid-March and continues through yesterday.


False spring hits early March. Just enough to trick you into tshirts.

Lots of churches in the area (if thats your thing- someone can give you recommendations based on religion)

Not as humid as Houston, but pretty much. If you are from an arid area, breathing may be difficult (moving from MT to BCS was hell despite only being away for 5 years)

Are you looking foe a job in the area? If so, the job network board on here is extremely useful.

Summers are filled with sweet sweet joy of few students and less traffic

Avoid Texas between 2818 and 6 for the next few years (when has texas construction ever taken less than a few years)

I suspect university will be under construction for at least a few more years, because when is construction ever quick here

Dont ask students for recs on food in town- this board has excellent recommendations depending on what you want that are better than a college kids bar food.
4Jersey
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Quote:

Are you looking foe a job in the area? If so, the job network board on here is extremely useful.

This could be hugely helpful. I've got some applications out, but I can't imagine the "not in Texas quite yet" factor is helping me any.
histag10
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What type of job are you looking for?
4Jersey
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histag10 said:

What type of job are you looking for?
Most likely some kind of administrative position. I've been cooking and tending bar for several years, but I'm in need of a career change. Girlfriend and I have been on opposite schedules for our entire relationship and that's been tricky enough, but there's just no way either of us would be able to handle that in a new place where we don't know anybody. I like the service industry, but for both of our sake, I'm ready to get back into the 9-5 world.
histag10
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Spherion is a good agency for job placement.

Look at TAMU, several departments h in rjng right now.

Biggest thing to keep in mind is that the cost of living is likely much lower than what you are used to, and salaries and wages may seem low (they work fine here though)
bushytailed
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histag10 said:


Look at TAMU, several departments h in rjng right now.


Stay away from anything in the financial aid office unless you're truly desperate.
histag10
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bushytailed said:

histag10 said:


Look at TAMU, several departments h in rjng right now.


Stay away from anything in the financial aid office unless you're truly desperate.


Awww cmon now. We arent that bad.... (and my phone sucks at typing) also, i dont think we are really hiring right now

But yeah, look at colleges and departments. Agrilife is good, as is TEES and tge forestry service (basically other parts of system that house on campus)
4Jersey
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Quote:

Biggest thing to keep in mind is that the cost of living is likely much lower than what you are used to, and salaries and wages may seem low (they work fine here though)

I've actually noticed that a lot of the jobs I'm seeing posted online are slightly more lucrative with more generous benefits compared to similar jobs where I am now. I'm just hoping I can do well enough in the search process to land one.

Quote:

But yeah, look at colleges and departments. Agrilife is good, as is TEES and tge forestry service (basically other parts of system that house on campus)

I've heard that it's really quite difficult to get hired at the university without being hired from within or being a former student. I know it's obviously not impossible, given that the entire reason I'm doing any of this is that they hired somebody with absolutely no connection. Is there actually any truth to the idea that my chances are hurt by my not being an Aggie?



This is more of a general question about this site, but when does the five posts per 24hr restriction for new members get removed?
Sweet Kitten Feet
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S
Quote:

I've heard that it's really quite difficult to get hired at the university without being hired from within or being a former student. I know it's obviously not impossible, given that the entire reason I'm doing any of this is that they hired somebody with absolutely no connection. Is there actually any truth to the idea that my chances are hurt by my not being an Aggie?
Depends on the dept, but I'd say this is becoming less and less of a problem. I work in a support dept, not an academic dept. It's a good split. I am not an Aggie, neither are most of my direct reports. My boss, but his boss isn't. I'm a hiring manager and I'll say where a person graduated from doesn't factor much into my decision. Being an Aggie might lead some to believe they'll be more dedicated to working for A&M, but I've experienced great employees who graduated from here and crappy ones. But like I said, it used to be a real good ol boy network, and I don't think it is any more in the entry to mid-level management levels on the administration side. Academic side of the house might be different.
bushytailed
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4Jersey said:

Quote:

This is more of a general question about this site, but when does the five posts per 24hr restriction for new members get removed?

Once you've made over 30 posts/replies you'll move up to the pro level.
https://texags.com/helpcenter/stories/3/26709
4Jersey
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bushytailed said:

4Jersey said:

Quote:

This is more of a general question about this site, but when does the five posts per 24hr restriction for new members get removed?

Once you've made over 30 posts/replies you'll move up to the pro level.
https://texags.com/helpcenter/stories/3/26709
Thanks!
BCStalk
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Listing your experience and what general type of work you are looking for isn't a bad idea. Texas is a huge manufacturing state, so there are many opportunities around.
4Jersey
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BCStalk said:

Listing your experience and what general type of work you are looking for isn't a bad idea. Texas is a huge manufacturing state, so there are many opportunities around.

Well, I've been cooking and/or tending bar for a few years now, and before that I did data entry and administrative type work. I'm thinking that upon moving, it'll be important for me to work during the day like my girlfriend does so we won't be on opposite schedules. It's been difficult enough barely seeing each other in a place where we've got friends and family to keep us company, but in a new place where we don't know anyone but each other, it would be devastating for both of us- as individuals and as a couple. With that in mind, staying behind the bar is probably out, so I'd be looking to get back into administrative work. I've got the requisite computer skills, I can take direction, and my time in food and beverage service has really given a boost to my interpersonal skills, multitasking ability, ability to stay calm and collected under pressure, and ability to think on my feet and deftly adapt to the unexpected. I spent a lot of time thinking that working in that industry was just a holding pattern until a "real" job came along, but I've recently realized that so much of it translates well to other jobs, so I feel a lot less discouraged going into this job hunt than I've felt on past job hunts.
LoudestAndProudest
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I can't tell how old you are but there is a Young Professionals of Aggieland, there are people who get together and play kickball/softball/other sports and it's a good way to network
T's and G's
4Jersey
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LoudestAndProudest said:

I can't tell how old you are but there is a Young Professionals of Aggieland, there are people who get together and play kickball/softball/other sports and it's a good way to network
I'm 27, and that sounds like a great time. Thanks for the tip!
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