Austin, as another post mentioned, is falling off those best of lists... (Nash: best cities, real estate)

[inthecut]

..and Texas is falling off the state lists.....and thats a very good thing...
because its all just bull and hype when it all comes down to it....

Here are those two lists...

First the Texas one..

Texas falls on list of desired home states | Austin Business Journal

And then the Austin one..

Austin ousted from top-desired cities list | Austin Business Journal


These lists are all Bull from the get-go..they have not created the dynamic that brought so much growth to Texas AND Austin...a very long effort by many many concerned, and a dogged effort to attract business for years has created what you see here, not top 10 lists...

The top 10 lists can go to hell..we dont need em , and never did..

[verybadgnome]

I can relate to your disdain for these lists. Most of them are highly subjective and are put together by media outlets wanting to gain subscribers. If Austin falls off many lists that is fine with me.....Wow Las Vegas as the third most popular city. I'd rather sell my car and move to Prague than move to that waste of a desert.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

I can relate to your disdain for these lists. Most of them are highly subjective and are put together by media outlets wanting to gain subscribers. If Austin falls off many lists that is fine with me.....Wow Las Vegas as the third most popular city. I'd rather sell my car and move to Prague than move to that waste of a desert.

I know three people who moved there(Vegas), one w/family, that all lasted no more than a year, coming back home with open arms...and all described it as a sh*thole......one that, BTW, is as hot as a blast furnace 3-4 months of the year....great for making people age fast too....

Yep, what bull...and now evidentally Nashville is the cool place..they can have it..

[sliverbox]

Yep, what bull...and now evidentally Nashville is the cool place..they can have it..

I sort of figured. Nashville in comparison to Austin is cheap. I've got my own theory and that is if you trace where all the "best cities" are, they're also in places where major homebuilders also own vast chunks of land. Its easy really- buy up a bunch of undeveloped land in such and such Southern city- Like Austin, Raleigh Durham, Nashville, etc etc and then proceed to get stories published talking about how wonderful those places are, then people flood in, buy up the houses, prices jump,and once the word is out on just how awesome such and such a place is... move along to the next city.

[jazznblues]

Californians are proud that their state is #1 on the state list.

But the funny thing is that by and large, Americans are NOT moving to California. California's population growth is slowing, and the growth it has is from births and INTERNATIONAL immigrants. Domestic residents are moving out of the state.

US Census data:

California Population and Components of Change

Look at the column titled Net Domestic Migration. It has been negative for 19 years.

I am perfectly happy that Austin and Texas might drop off some of these lists.

But polls like the one featured in this thread are not necessarily indicative of what people actually do.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

I sort of figured. Nashville in comparison to Austin is cheap. I've got my own theory and that is if you trace where all the "best cities" are, they're also in places where major homebuilders also own vast chunks of land. Its easy really- buy up a bunch of undeveloped land in such and such Southern city- Like Austin, Raleigh Durham, Nashville, etc etc and then proceed to get stories published talking about how wonderful those places are, then people flood in, buy up the houses, prices jump,and once the word is out on just how awesome such and such a place is... move along to the next city.

Silverbox, I rarely give compliments on here, but your statement is about the wisest I've ever seen...do you realize you just explained not only Austin's recent hype and growth, but the general patternn of such in the sunbelt(you could include Florida as well, till THEIR recent deluge)...you said in all in a paragraph..touche...

[Melissa78703]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

I sort of figured. Nashville in comparison to Austin is cheap. I've got my own theory and that is if you trace where all the "best cities" are, they're also in places where major homebuilders also own vast chunks of land. Its easy really- buy up a bunch of undeveloped land in such and such Southern city- Like Austin, Raleigh Durham, Nashville, etc etc and then proceed to get stories published talking about how wonderful those places are, then people flood in, buy up the houses, prices jump,and once the word is out on just how awesome such and such a place is... move along to the next city.

I'm sure that's an apt assessment. I'm not crying too much about Austin dropping off of the "Top" lists. Not that I'm unhappy here, or I don't think Austin has anything to offer -- but there are far less expensive places to live. I also find it odd that the media never touches on small to small-mid-sized cities. You know, those with populations under 100,000. When they do write about a place, it's always a big city or metropolis. I'm sure a lot of people would love to live in Manhattan, San Francisco, L.A., etc. Whether they actually have the means to do so is another story entirely.

I can't imagine anyone in his/her right mind moving to Vegas right now. Wasn't Vegas listed on all of the "Worst" places (economically speaking) not too long ago -- especially with the big real estate crash it experienced? Since jobs aren't exactly abundant in Vegas, what about that has changed in the past six months?

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by inthecut

..and Texas is falling off the state lists.....and thats a very good thing...
because its all just bull and hype when it all comes down to it....

Here are those two lists...

First the Texas one..

Texas falls on list of desired home states | Austin Business Journal

And then the Austin one..

Austin ousted from top-desired cities list | Austin Business Journal


These lists are all Bull from the get-go..they have not created the dynamic that brought so much growth to Texas AND Austin...a very long effort by many many concerned, and a dogged effort to attract business for years has created what you see here, not top 10 lists...

The top 10 lists can go to hell..we dont need em , and never did..

The two lists you mentioned include places where people would LIKE to live, not places where they're ACTUALLY moving. So, I'd take these lists and Austin's and Texas' absence from them with a huge grain of salt.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by passionatearts

The two lists you mentioned include places where people would LIKE to live, not places where they're ACTUALLY moving. So, I'd take these lists and Austin's and Texas' absence from them with a huge grain of salt.

I would take these AND all the others with a grain of salt...in themselves, they are worth nothing, and say nothing...

The only ones that count are the ones that take account of the inflow of new residents, and Austin has been near the top of those for quite some time...and that is related to jobs and housing values being affordable/while being a desirable place to live....

If the housing values skew up or down, and/or if the job market slackens and/or there are too many people coming here per the jobs available, that will change for the same reasons...

At this point, there are few places left to go that have jobs and are desireable. Austin is one of those, but has a very small job market to handle so many new residents, and is no Vegas of old(which had plenty of well-paying jobs for years)....many of Austin's jobs are not well paying...

I think it is just a matter of time anyway per Austin slowing down and leveling off per a hot spot to move regardless of top 10 lists of any stripe..

[Bo]

It's not true that these lists are meaningless, since they do make a real-world impact. High rankings in prominent lists attract people with portable careers (and retirees) who can live anywhere to the cities that appear on them. I saw this myself when I lived in the city that appeared at the top of Money Magazine's best mid-sized cities list in the mid 90s.

People moved there... and that's not just speculation, I actually knew a family who moved there because of the list. As a result of people flocking to the city, home prices shot up dramatically. The next time Money published its list, the city I lived in was moved down to #10 on the list because... housing was too expensive!

There are pros AND cons to having your city appear on these lists. Focusing on only pros or cons will cause you to miss the big picture.