Job opportunity and am considering a move to Lufkin. Any Ags living there now, tell me what you think please!

I lived there for about a year back in 2006. I grew up in a small town outside Dallas, but I was used to everything Dallas had to offer. I was extremely homesick and went to Houston many times. It didn't help that I worked a night shift so meeting people was rare. There are enough things to get by, but I would say you may not like it if you have grown up in a big city or near one.

I agree that if you're a big city guy, it could be real tough. Here would be my advantages to Lufkin:

You can get a real nice house for a good price.....or even get out of town on some good size property. Lots of beautiful areas to explore around Lufkin if you're an outside guy (hiking, camping, canoeing, hunting, etc.) Decent restaurants. Very good healthcare.....thank the Temple family. Decent shopping and grocery stores. The worst traffic day beats Houston or Dallas on a great day. Still close to Houston and IAH if needed.

lived in Diboll (10 miles south of Lufkin)for my last 3 years of highschool

Ray's Drive In and Lufkin BBQ are about the only real positives I can remember about that whole town

mostly though, it's because I don't like pine trees

if you can get past that, it ain't that bad a place

Lived here all of my life, great people, good environment to raise a family, and have never had anyone raise their eye brows when I told them where I was from. If big city life is what you want then Lufkin is not for you. We have lakes, one community college, SFA is 11 miles up the road and first class public education in the surrounding area.
The negatives, 100 miles from Houston and 220 miles from Dallas. We only have 2 movie theaters with 21 screens and way too many fast food restaurants.

Do you play golf?

Crown Colony is a great course and you can meet a lot of nice people out there.

I'm equi-distant from Lufkin, Longview, and Shreveport. We shop in Lufkin if that tells you anything.

The early bird may get the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Tom Hooper '82, '84, '86.
Gary, Texas and Lot 67 NFR Tailgaters Group
nfrtailgaters.com

Agdoc,

Did you decide?

My wife grew up here. We moved back to Texas in 1993 after 4.5 years in the Army and to Lufkin in 1995.

I've had ample opportunities to take promotions and leave and we choose to stay. It is a great place to raise a family with good people, good churches, good education, decent shopping.

The schools here are great. My oldest just graduated and was more prepared to go to A&M after 8th grade than I was when I graduated high school. Some might say the smaller outlier schools(Hudson, Huntington) are better, but if your kids want the challenge, the AP program in Lufkin is the best college prep in the area.(I am biased, of course)

The medical community is first class for a town this size. How many 35-40K sized towns have 2 top-notch hospitals, a VA clinic, and every specialty you need?

When we got married 20+ years ago, my wife had no intention of EVER living in Lufkin again. After moving away, having kids, and seeing other parts of the country, we have no intention of living anywhere else.

Good luck in your decision.

If you fish and don't mind an East Texas twang, then you'll like it. There are tons of Ags all over East Texas.

Personally, I think if you get through the first year and just slow down, you will like it. I am sort of envying you.

If you are from Houston and go out to restaurants constantly well, good luck with that. But if you don't mind frying fish and having people over, then that is a completely different story.

I miss having my kids in a place like that. I grew up where there were all sorts of snakes and other reptiles, deer, fishing, and other sundry wildlife. I very much miss those walks in the woods as a kid. What a great place

one other thing since I have a few years on you is that sometimes you have to go where the work is and that is perfectly ok. There are great people everywhere and we always hook into a church and come out smelling like a rose.

What may be more important is what are your partners going to be like or will you be a hospital employee? Those are things you'll have to evaluate yourself, but man I can smell those blacktop roads and piney woods right now..

I grew up here and moved back to raise a family. Have lots of family and friends here though so different story for me.

We like it though or we wouldn't have come back. Of course, I'm a inbred hillbilly with mental disabilities. Can't wait till they legalize noodling...

[This message has been edited by Trick (edited 6/22/2011 4:35p).]

Huge thanks for all the replies and honest opinions. This is for a position at a local clinic (not hospital) which I would essentially be running on my own. I haven't made a decision yet, but will likely be headed down in the next couple of months to look at the practice and get a feel for the town. Coming from Chicago, I knew Lufkin would be a big change, but then again, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Just remember this: you're an outsider, and you will always be an outsider. Even if you donate money to local projects...you're not from Lufkin.

You'll learn what I mean.

Gig 'em!




Soli Deo Gloria

it smells bad and the water taste bad

good football and baseball though