re: Longview Tx - good place to live?

Grandparents lived in Longview for 25 years. Went there 2 times a year from age 5-20. Not a lot to Do there but it is safe and beautiful for what it is. East texas woods.

Bodacious BBQ

Actually that’s about it.

I grew up in Longview (went to Spring Hill K-12)…parents still live there and I still own a business there. While I live in BTR now, I’m in Longview multiple times per year

I miss these restaurants so much:
-Jucy’s
-Pizza King
-Casa Ole
-Shogun
-Bodacious
-Papacitas
-Posados

It’s definitely not a “sexy” city if you’re looking to party and nightlife, but it has basically no crime and certainly has everything commercially any family would need. I haven’t checked the numbers recently, but I’d guess 200k+ population in metro Longview. Spring Hill is the area everyone is moving now. Longview is basically the “city” in the middle of a large collection of smaller towns (Kilgore, Hallsville, Marshall, White Oak, Gilmer, Sabine, Gladewater, etc). Longview is probably 75% white, which I’d guess is true for greater East Texas as well. There are 3 school systems in Longview .. Longview ISD, PineTree ISD, and SpringHill ISD. Longview ISD is the largest. There are a TON of other considerably smaller schools/towns that surround Longview. Spring Hill is the preferred school if you live in Longview (and in the school district), but all 3 are good. Compared to Louisiana schools, all 3 would would probably be considered exceptional….And free, aside from the property taxes, lol. You wouldn’t send your kids to private school in East Texas, it would be a waste of money and considered weird/strange/unnecessary. Private school wouldn’t even be considered by normal parents in East Texas unless if your child had special needs.

Longview is a big small city, with easy quick access to both Shreveport and DFW. My childhood was mainly centered around going to SixFlags and Texas Rangers games multiple times per year in Arlington with an annual trip to Destin.

I could drive Longview/BTR with my eyes closed I’ve done it so many times…I’ve made the round trip drive at least 100 times since I went to college at LSU (and recommend stopping at FrenchMarketExpress in Natchitoches for gas/food stop)

Longview and Tyler are effectively sister cities… very very very similar to one another (and only 45min apart). That said, there’s really no reason to go from Tyler to Longview or vice versa because both cities have everything you would need…they’re extremely similar. If you live in Tyler, you don’t need to go to Longview….If you live in Longview, you don’t need to go to Tyler.

Fun fact: Matthew McConaughey went to Longview HS

Fun fact #2: my first ever job at 16yo was a McDonalds in Longview that my uncle owned

ETA: just looked it up… Longview metro population was up to 290k in 2021 LINK: Longview, TX Is One of America’s Fastest Growing Big Cities


I’m happy to attempt to answer any other questions you may have

Seriously? In Longview or Tyler?

I love Longview. We visit there frequently, it has all you need. Someone said earlier, if you have kids Hallsville schools are the ticket. Longview has good medical, plenty of restaurants, and a winery close by.

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Actually there’s not enough pussy there. Only 80,000 people total

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Not enough ladies? Then you should love it being an aggie.

“Only” 80K is a good thing. Sorry we don’t all love traffic and lines everywhere we go. It’s nice to have a conversation on your back porch and not have your neighbors hear every word you’re saying.

Are there many illegals in Tyler or Longview?

It’s part of my work territory so I’ve been doing trips there and Tyler for 15 years.

I always like the slower pace and beauty of the east TX pines. Great golf in that area and plenty to do. DfW 2 hours away if you want to do a night for a game or concert.

You can do much worse. Also a ton of trim.

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Are there many illegals in Tyler or Longview?

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Definitely no where near as many as Houston San Antonio Austin and DFW. Once you get outside the “Texas triangle” it gets rural and conservative real quick. My type of places.

East Texas seems like a cleaner nicer version of North LA with competent government at local and state levels. When I say East Texas I’m referring to the north central part of the region (Tyler, Longview, Marshall) Not Deep East Tx (Lufkin, Nac, Livingston etc).


I always thought the vibe in all of ETX was like if Louisiana or Mississippi had a baby with West Texas or Oklahoma. It’s sort of southeastern, sort of southwestern. A buffer zone. “Where the south begins”

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I grew up in Tyler and prefer it to Longview as it’s a little nicer and more white collar. Longview is a good town but has a more industrial, blue collar feel to it

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So Tyler is soft hands and Longview is hard hands?

You got soft hands brother