My Texas Land Blog » Texas Hill Country News

The 80mph Texas Speed Limit..Soon to be 85mph?

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:04:05 +0000

80mph texas speed limit on Interstate 10

Texas recently increased her speed limit on some rural roads to 80mph–the fastest speed limit in the nation (Montana and Nevada used to have no limit on certain roads, but it was recently reduced). For approximately thirteen years (1974–1987), no speed limit in the United States exceeded 55mph. According to Wikipedia, the 80mph limit puts it just 1 kilometer less than the recommended speed on the Autobahn.

Have you seen these new signs yet? The one I am familiar with is just outside Comfort on I-10 as you head West. Apparently, Texas is now considering increasing that to 85mph, effectively putting it in Autobahn territory. Since most people tend to drive 5-10mph faster than the speed limit, will we soon be able to drive nearly 100mph on the rural highways? That would put us at the same cruise speed as some small aircraft.

Recently, I began to think of ways to move out and live full time on the property I just purchased in the Texas Hill Country. I have a great job in a bad location–Lackland Air Force Base, the South side of San Antonio. I did some tests and it currently takes me about 1.2 – 1.3hrs to drive from Lackland AFB to the property. My boss is pretty flexible and will eventually allow me to telework some days as well as do the 4 day work week (10hr days), but these new speed limits do make the move more feasible as it would save me around 10+mins of commute time.

I guess I won’t be driving my old Jeep on those 80mph roads–it shakes pretty bad once you hit 75mph….

Texas is Cheap for Foreign Investors

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:28:15 +0000

We’ve heard that Texas land is still a bargain compared to the rest of the country. However, I recently listened to a talk given by Manfred Chemek, CEO of an international real estate investment firm, at the 2008 Realtors Land Institute that was held in San Antonio. Mr. Chemek stated that due to the weak American dollar, many foreign investors from Europe and the Middle East have begun to buy large tracts of raw land in Texas.

Interestingly, quite a bit of this land was purchased on the basis of a “romantic atmosphere” seen only in old cowboy films and serials. A German investor came over to West Texas and fell in love with the desert because there was “nothing like that back at home (in Germany)”. A German author that made a living selling fictional books about the old West and cowboys had never set foot in America! Fortunately, due to the decline of the dollar, this German author was able to buy country property and live the lifestyle he made a living off of.

Are We Running Out of Country Land for Sale?

admin — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 02:54:06 +0000

Have you ever had the feeling that by the time you get around to finally purchasing your own piece of country land, there might not be any left? The last time I checked, they weren’t making any more land. I wonder if I am alone in that thought.

Well, I saw a cool topic the other day at thelandjournal.com which ran some interesting statistics…

United States Population
July 1, 1900 = 76,094,000
July 1, 2006 = 298,444,215

United States Land Statistics
Developed: 66 million acres
Rural Residential: 73 million acres
Crop Land: 349 million acres
Range and Pasture Land: 788 million acres
Forestland: 747 million
-USDA Economic Research Service

Crop land alone is enough to handle the United State’s population. Nonetheless, I think part of the worrying comes from thinking about states like Florida. You always seem to hear land being developed and spiraling out of control, but in reality, according to those stats above, there’s still plenty of land to buy and enjoy. I guess the real question is, how much beautiful land is left? :)