Moving to Austin! (Houston, Tyler, Howe: fit in, unemployment, neighborhoods)

[TylerDurden79]

I'm originally from Denver and am currently in Florida. I absolutely hate it here. I posted before about neighborhoods, etc and think I know the area I'm looking to move to. I am actually trying to decide between going back to Denver and starting fresh in Austin. I've been to Austin once before but was not there long enough to really gauge what living there would be like. I had a blast when I was there though. I'm going to be living close to downtown and just wanted to get a feel for how welcoming and open people are there. I have have the worst luck trying to make friends in Florida because everyone here has their own little cliques and and are very very rude to anyone not in their circle. I'm definitely more cut out for living in a medium sized city than the Florida panhandle. I'm just concerned that I'll run into the same problem in Austin because i find that I definitely do not fit in in the south.

[Melissa78703]

Not knowing anything about you (age, marital status, profession), it's really difficult to say if you'd like Austin. This is just MHO, but most of my friends live in Austin because I've lived here ever since my formative age. My family is also nearby in Houston. However, if I lived somewhere else, I'm not sure that Austin would be my first choice if I were 30+ and single unless I wanted to remain single. I'd probably choose a city that's a little smaller with less bars, live music venues and other types of entertainment.

Austin is a very young town--a big university town--and that is reflected in the types of entertainment you might expect that caters to that age group. During the day, the college kids are out and about when they're not in class, so it sometimes appears as though Austin is comprised of mostly late teens and early twentysomethings.

Whatever you do, make sure you have a job before you move here. This can take a lot of time. It can get really expensive here really quickly. Although we might be doing slightly better than the rest of the nation, by no means is the rate of unemployment in Austin "low." It's very high. Just not as high as it is in other parts of the country.

[TylerDurden79]

I have a job lined up (I'm a custom car stereo installer) and I'm in with the 20 something crowd. My fiance recently graduated from college in Denver with a business degree but she works as a bartender. I am never one to believe an area is all that is promised in magazines. We only came to Florida because my fiance was born here but found out quickly we hate it here. We need a city but don't really want to go back to Denver, as far as expensive goes Denver is quite a bit pricier than Austin. We're both huge live music fans and both absolutely love SXSW

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by TylerDurden79

I have a job lined up (I'm a custom car stereo installer) and I'm in with the 20 something crowd. My fiance recently graduated from college in Denver with a business degree but she works as a bartender. I am never one to believe an area is all that is promised in magazines. We only came to Florida because my fiance was born here but found out quickly we hate it here. We need a city but don't really want to go back to Denver, as far as expensive goes Denver is quite a bit pricier than Austin. We're both huge live music fans and both absolutely love SXSW

If you've got a job lined up, judging from your other statements I think you'd like it down here. It's definitely much more friendly than Florida, IMO. Florida kind of gets the worst as far as unfriendly people... the east coast is full of the gruff and impolite Northeasterners, the west/gulf is old (provincial) southerners. Polite, but very territorial and cliquish. You always feel like they are having some kind of secret meetings you aren't invited to...

However, if you come to Austin, be sure to stay central neighborhoods. That's going to be the Austin which comes closest to what you read in magazines/experienced on your visit. The suburbs can wait until you have kids.