Moving from Boston to Austin TX (Dallas, Round Rock: rent, crime rates, to buy)

[FueledByBlueBell]

I personally would recommend Bee Cave/ Lakeway vs. north if your budget will allow it. We can from NYC and love it for a 'burb (and work from home). Good public schools if that is of interest.

[kbchitown]

And so it goes....Austinites show their true colors when their town is criticized...just continues to prove my point. Done.

[rickc007]

Originally Posted by kbchitown

And so it goes....Austinites show their true colors when their town is criticized...just continues to prove my point. Done.

Not sure "true colors"
Your post was very inaccurate

If you are referring to my reply, don't go by me
I'm a transplant, still trying to convert to Austins friendly way of life

Didn't mean to be rude though either

[mark311]

Originally Posted by kbchitown

And so it goes....Austinites show their true colors when their town is criticized...just continues to prove my point. Done.

I think this thread just shows that there isn't any place that is perfect for everyone. I personally don't care about pasta at all, but I'd be pretty upset if I couldn't find a place with good tacos and queso/salsa. I'm originally from San Diego, so Austin food suits me just fine. I am beginning to agree that people from the NorthEast/MidWest might have a harder time adjusting to the Austin area compared to those of us from places like Southern California if these forums are any indication.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by kbchitown

And so it goes....Austinites show their true colors when their town is criticized...just continues to prove my point. Done.

Your criticism is no less ridiculous than the defense people put up here. Your reading comprehension appears to be affected by some tinted glasses. Your bias is as apparent as your willingness to avoid facts when talking about taxes and deficits.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by mark311

I think this thread just shows that there isn't any place that is perfect for everyone. I personally don't care about pasta at all, but I'd be pretty upset if I couldn't find a place with good tacos and queso/salsa. I'm originally from San Diego, so Austin food suits me just fine. I am beginning to agree that people from the NorthEast/MidWest might have a harder time adjusting to the Austin area compared to those of us from places like Southern California if these forums are any indication.

I agree. I could care less about getting a bowl of pasta. However, I could not live without Mexican/TexMex food.

[soontobetexan]

Having moved here from Boston last summer, allow me to weigh in.

1) Is Austin, TX the right place for us?

Dunno. Only you can answer that one.

2) We have been Google-ing and have found Round Rock, TX and surrounding areas favorable to start a family and buy a first home.

Possibly. But in Boston, you have the city, then you have surrounding little towns, most with town squares, rolling hills, rivers, steeples, trees. Round Rock, and a lot of the burbs here are just a big, flat sprawl. You have your major highways, flanked by access roads containing chain restaurants, big box stores, oil change places, strip clubs and strip malls. Again and again. This is the hardest thing to get accustomed to coming from New England, to me. We chose Georgetown, just north of Round Rock, because at least it's on the edge of the hill country, and where we live, we have some nice views and rolling hills. I once lived in Wichita, KS, and in Florida for many years, and I am all done with flat. As far as I can tell, Round Rock's just a big sprawl; Georgetown has a small downtown area that's fairly charming, although it's not exactly packed with great restaurants, galleries and cafes.

3) We are pretty much sold on the weather, but is there something we aren't informed about (humidity, rain, etc.)?

It's hot as hell here, no mistake, but it's drier heat. Anyone who has lived in a miserable, humid location chuckles when people complain about the humidity here. If it's 100 during the day, it's a tolerable 100 if you're out of the sun and if you're inside (and things are well air conditioned). At night, it cools down, there's a breeze and it's very comfortable most of the time. If it gets a little humid, it's nothing compared to August in Florida. Or August in NYC, for that matter.

The winter is a joke. It's amusing for us to see people all bundled up when it's 50 outside. It got seriously cold for all of two weeks here this year. It was bedlam when there was an inch of snow ... people skidding all over the place, hundred of accidents, rollovers ... man. Some folks think because they have a 4X4 they can blast down the road at 80 mph and they learn a hard lesson. They had sleet last week in the morning and business all over town shut down. That was pretty astounding to us.

Spring and fall here are like summer in Boston ... I miss those beautiful 70 degree July and August days. And there's no fall to speak of, compared to a New England fall. That was the hardest thing to miss for us.

4) Is there a lot of cosmopolitan crowd in Austin, TX (specifically north of Austin)?

North is conservative and pretty white bread. If you're looking for cosmopolitan, this isn't it. Be aware that the police in Williamson County do not mess around. Crime is low, but God forbid if you stray or do certain things the great state of Texas frowns upon and get caught at it in Wilco. It's common to see someone pulled over on the side of the road with a deputy's legs hanging out the back of the trunk as they search the car. Behave yourselves.

Not even Austin itself is particularly cosmopolitan compared to larger cities, despite the hipsters and areas like SoCo. The guy from Chicago who was ranting is speaking a grain of truth about the culture here ... it's not going to compare to a big city in terms of restaurants, the arts, museums. Live music is fairly strong, as most of the touring bands come to town. The restaurants ... well, if you like bbq brisket and Tex Mex, you're set. The other offerings ... they don't really compare to what you can find in a large metro area. But it's not that big a city, after all. Haven't found any Italian worth speaking about, Asian is limp (you know you're in trouble when P.F. Chang's is among the strongest Chinese offerings), French not so great, seafood ... in Texas? But you will probably find a few places you like. Austin has a lot of chain restaurants, but some of those are decent ... Carrabba's is passable Italian. But it's not the North End in Boston, nor is it Little Italy in NYC.

5) Water, water, water - we love it, any of that here?

Get a pool

6) I am sure that there will be a lot of differences between Austin and Boston, however how much of a difference should we expect (if any)?

Here's a big one ... the bugs. When you see your first 9-inch biting centipede, you'll s--- yourself. Or when you pull on your jeans in the morning and find a nice venomous scorpion lurking inside. You might have to swerve around a tarantula in your driveway, and watch out for those rattlesnakes when you pull into your garage. Man, Boston has nothing compared to things here.

Property taxes are way higher; this is offset by the lack of a state income tax, but it depends on your income level and how expensive a house you buy. Utilities are higher. Sales tax is higher.

We've lived in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Memphis and Wichita. Austin falls somewhere toward the bottom as far as favorite places, but it has its charms. It's a slower pace of life, people are largely friendly, you have to be careful driving outside the city because there's could be someone in a huge pickup barreling down the road and about to drive up your tailpipe if you're not paying attention. Lots of guns around, too. Different way of life.

Hope that's helpful. Not trying to be negative, just point out things that struck us after we lived in Boston for eight years and wound up here. The positives for us are we have a remarkable house compared to what we had in Boston, the winter is incredibly mild compared to the Northeast, people are largely friendly, and while we're not looking to settle here permanently, it's fine for now.

[hoffdano]

Soontebetexan - I think your post is fair.

What exactly is a cosmopolitan crowd?

If it means I need slacks to enjoy a good meal, no thank you. If it means you would rather go to an opera than The Backyard, no thank you. I doubt Austin will ever have much of that - and that's perfectly OK with me.

We don't have good museums. But Houston and Dallas have some pretty good ones - and they aren't far away.

I'll certainly accept that the Italian and Chinese food in Austin is not the quality of big Northeast cities with a large Italian or Chinese population.

Good to great seafood is available in Texas, though it may be different than east coast seafood. Seafood is better in Houston than Austin - perhaps because the Cajun influence is so strong. We don't have many places that let you choose one of ten kinds of raw oysters. And I have never eaten mussels here.

[cBach]

I wanted to point out about utilities. My utility bill here in the summer is nowhere near as high as it was in the winter up north, and I have a bigger house down here. I had gas bills of $450 up north, whereas my utilities have never exceeded $250 here during the height of the 2009 summer when it was 105 everyday in the month.

Of course, it matters what temp you set it at. Up north you learn to live in a cooler house to save money. Down here you learn to live in a warmer house to save money. I have some friends from Canada and I swear I'm entering the Rockies everytime I enter their house in the summer. They say you adjust to the heat better if the temp in the house is warmer too as the temp difference is less. Just some advice for some yankee transplants!

[cBach]

I prefer gulf shrimp and oysters over clams and mussels but that's a personal preference. Redfish is far better than cod, again a personal preference. We have good seafood, but our fish/shellfish come from the Gulf of Mexico not the Atlantic Ocean...