Anyone move to Austin....and hate it?

[sinking]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Why would you buy a house if you are not sure you are going to be here for several years?

Good question. In my house search I kept in mind that I might be wanting to sell in two years. In doing to math on the house I have found my payments (PITI) will be the same as my rent now. I also found a house that was taken exceptional care of in an excellent neighborhood. With some of my own sweat equity put into updates if I do decide to sell it the higher value should cover realtor fees and closing costs. If I don't decide to sell and decide I like it here then I will already have my house with some good equity in it.

[sajae90]

Originally Posted by lfint

I know this is 3 years too late, but: yes, I hate Austin. No, it's not the fact that it's too big of a city or the location... I moved from Austin to San Antonio last year and love it! It's the people... the mentality that they are the only person on this planet (whether it be driving or visiting a local business) is very tiring. I can't believe how many of my coworkers would come to work drunk (and I worked in a hospital). I'm sick of beggars on every street corner... get a job! and maybe you should rethink eating at the Japanese steak house for dinner if you want people to think that you are poor enough to beg. And the music... omg... everyone and their brother thinks they are a musician in Austin... i'm embarrassed for them! Austin brags about what great outdoor activities they have... I have news for you... there is squat there compared to pretty much anywhere else in the world (sans New York City). I could go on and on, but I'm getting a little stressed right now. Let's just say that I've traveled the world and lived in 15 different cities/towns in the past 5 years... Austin is ranked the second worst on my list.

I have to say that I kind of agree with you. Its the culture that kind of turns me off from Austin. Its a beautiful city/town with a lot of nature (especially the "rich" part, West side of town) and I love the outdoors and the heat as long as I am by the water like by riverside. There is no crime, however.....the PEOPLE are another story. I find Austin's people to be polite, but not really personal. Its almost impossible to make a connection with them..I find that this also has a lot to do with racial background and what culture you are use to, since I am a northerner, it is SO hard for me to get with the Southern, Austin's culture. SMH..


Another thing I noticed is that the media tries to make it seem like Austin is such as "liberal" city and they are hip and cool. Okay, for the most part, Austin is still consertative as heck...especially the hispanic community. Just because you see 1 or 2 people walking downtown with ti-dye shirts on don't make Austin liberal. I find that the city is racially divided...like i said, Austinities are polite, but not really inviting or personal. Everyone sticks to their own 'clan' or type... I find the hispanics to be very 'clicky'...and its not just them, its all races...they only 'click' with their own kind..up North, there is still racial tension and the need to be friends with others that look and soung like them, but usually when one person reaches out to the other, the other will accept them, no matter what the race is...up North its about Class..down here its a whole other story...

[mikey1984]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I'm glad to hear lfint found his/her way to San Antonio. It's a nice city.

More people need to move there, IMO.

Isn't San Antonio growing faster than Austin in raw numbers?

[mikey1984]

Originally Posted by inthecut

It all comes down to education...Austin has a far higher % of college graduates, and that has a huge impact on local culture....elevates it, so to say...keeps it funky/bohemain, as well as trending more upscale....

San Antonio's higher education attainment is right about the national average but yes lower than Austin's.
Education is a good indicator, but not the sole indicator of a overall higher culture.
Just by Comparing my friends that have college degrees with the ones that don't. The ones without degrees seem to be pretty much equal or a bit more well off. Matter of fact the ones with the degrees are less trendy and upscale.

I wouldn't say Austin is more upscale than S.A.
S.A. has more upscale shopping and dining compared to Austin plus San Antonio has several Domain style developments with several under construction. There is a lot of old money in San Antonio. I read there are 8 billionaires in S.A. and Austin has 1 or 2. Another thing to look at is the poverty level. Dallas and Houston have the higest poverty levels in the state followed by San Antonio and Austin.
I don't know why people think San Antonio is all lower class? It's far from it.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by mikey1984

I don't know why people think San Antonio is all lower class? It's far from it.

Because people like to generalize based on small samplings. The larger the city the more likely that that small sampling will not truly represent reality. Hence all the "Austin is too liberal/too conservative, diverse/not diverse, has horrible traffic/has reasonable traffic, too expensive/cheap, etc, etc" comments.

[homeinatx]

Originally Posted by flipinT

I hated the heat and posers in Austin that's why I moved to Houston, ppl r a lot nicer...I think the video below shows some laid back, fun stuff Houston has and I actually went to some of the places shown in d video below with a few of my co-workers


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKlHRFa5yko

You hated the heat in Austin and then moved to Houston. Smart move. Not quite out of the frying pan into the fire. More like out of the tumble dryer into the dishwasher.