KnowYard Community

Early morning on weekdays is the cheat code for popular parks. I go at 7am on a Tuesday and have the whole trail to myself. Same trail on a Saturday at 10am has 200 people.

How genuinely friendly people are. I was suspicious at first. Turns out people just wave and hold doors open here. It's not weird, it's normal.

Rec sports league. Volleyball, kickball, softball. You see the same people every week, you grab beers after games, friendships happen naturally. That's how I built my entire friend group here.

Hill Country in the spring is unbeatable. Fredericksburg for wineries, Enchanted Rock for hiking, and the wildflowers on the roadside are insane in April.

Made the switch 6 months ago. Home charging overnight is a game changer. I wake up to a full "tank" every morning. Never going to a gas station again.

Marfa is one of the weirdest towns in America in the best way. Art installations in the middle of nowhere, the Marfa lights, Prada Marfa. Combine it with Big Bend for a full trip.

It takes like a year. I know that's not what you want to hear but real friendships take time. Keep showing up to the same places consistently. The people who keep showing up too become your people.

Port Aransas for a cheap beach trip. Not the prettiest beach in the world but the vibe is chill, the fishing is good, and hotels are way cheaper than Galveston.

I bought a whole-house generator after 2021. $8K installed. I shouldn't have to do that but I have elderly parents living with me and I'm not risking it again.

The joke is that Texas has two seasons: summer and construction. And somehow they overlap perfectly to make everything worse.

Brazilian jiu jitsu gym. I know it sounds random but hear me out — you train with the same people 3-4 times a week, you suffer together, and the community is insanely tight. Changed my social life.

Local independent gyms are where it's at. Not the chain ones. Find the gym owned by one person that's been open 15 years with equipment that's older than you. Those gyms have the best equipment and the best culture.

If you're lucky enough to have a Gold's Gym nearby, that's still the gold standard for serious lifting. Some locations are better than others though.

TxDOT project timelines are suggestions at best. I've lived near a highway expansion that was supposed to take 2 years. It took 6. When it finished they immediately started a new project on the connecting highway.

The deregulated market is the problem. Nobody wants to invest in reserve capacity because there's no profit in power plants that only run during emergencies. So we have zero buffer.

Big Bend is 100% worth it but you need at least 3-4 days. The drive is brutal but once you're there it feels like another planet. Camp at the Chisos Basin if you can get a spot.

How big everything is. Nothing is close. Even the grocery store is a 15 minute drive. Coming from a walkable city this took serious adjustment.

I will say this: Texas drivers are aggressive but they commit. It's the hesitant drivers from other states merging at 40mph who cause the real accidents.

Army Corps of Engineers parks around the lakes are always less crowded than city parks. Free or cheap, good trails, water access. Google the nearest lake to you and look for Army Corps sites.

Pool membership was the best $200 I ever spent. June through September I'm there 4 days a week after work.

State parks. Texas state parks system is incredible and massively underused. A year pass is $70 and gets you into every park in the state. Weekend camping is $15-25/night.

Allergies. Cedar fever in winter is not a joke. I never had allergies anywhere else. Moved here and now I want to die every December through February.

Hot take: Texas drivers are aggressive but predictable. They're going fast and they expect you to keep up. Northeast drivers are passive-aggressive which is somehow worse.

Check on your elderly neighbors during heat waves. Seriously. Heat stroke can kill and not everyone has working AC or the ability to get to a cooling center.

The 2021 storm should have been a wake-up call. 200+ people died. And here we are still running the same grid on hope and prayers every summer.