Never been to Austin, TX: Please describe it (San Antonio, Atlanta: city hall, schools)

[passionatearts]

1. What is a typical Texan like?

I don't know if there's a such thing as a "typical" Texan. The people in Austin do tend to be more easy-going and friendly than people I've seen in northeastern cities (especially Boston).

2. How has Austin changed (good/bad) since people starting relocating there in the past 5 years or so?

Good: the restaurant scene has improved. For example, it's now possible to get decent pizza in Austin (as judging by New York standards) when 10 years ago that wasn't possible.

Bad: Traffic has gotten a lot worse. Cost of living is going up dramatically in central neighborhoods.

3. How's traffic?

It's horrible for a city our size. If you relocate, make sure you live close to your job unless you want to spend a lot of time in traffic.

4. Do you foresee Austin turning into the nightmare that metro Atlanta currently is with its growing population and lack of infrastructure to support such growth?

I don't see Austin becoming as large as Atlanta any time soon, but Austin definitely has infrastructure (particularly the roadways) that is woefully unprepared for the population growth.

5. Is Austin a family-friendly environment?

I don't know what "family-friendly" is supposed to mean.

6. I will conduct my own research on schools, but rate the educational system.

I don't know anything about it. I don't have kids.

7. Compare Austin to San Antonio.

What kind of comparison are you looking for?

8. What's the weather like?

Very mild and pleasant from November - April and unpleasantly hot the rest of the year.

9. If you are a transplant, how are you treated by Austin natives?

I've lived here most of my life, though I also lived 1/3 of my life in the Northeast (Boston and New York, among other places). Transplants are treated nicely as long as they don't whine about how Austin is so different from their hometown.

10. If you are a native, how do you feel about all of these transplants invading your city?

"Invading" is kind of a negative word, don't you think? Like I said above, I don't have a problem with transplants as long as they don't complain about how Austin's not like their hometown.

11. Is there a substantial number of military retirees living in the Austin area?

I don't know anything about this area.

12. Is the Texan culture (whatever it is) adaptable?

Adaptable as far as what goes?

13. Do North-easterners adapt well to living in Austin?

Most people I've met who chose to move to Austin do fine here.

14. Is Austin a diversity-friendly environment?

Austin isn't that ethnically diverse, but most people I've met seem to be open to other cultures. Beware: diversity is a very hot-button issue on this forum.

15. What's the number one reason people leave the area?

I have no idea.

16. What are the hot jobs/ career fields?

Austin is a center for hi-tech, government, and education. Those continue to be the biggest job sectors here.

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

[centralaustinite]

Northeasterns tend to have a harder time adjusting here. There is so much that they take for granted as "generic American" that is actually regional and specific to the NE. Examples: centuries old buildings, cultural institutions that were built from19th century robber baron wealth, Italian food, exceptional pizza and bagels that require NYC water to produce, I could go on. We are friendlier, slower, love to talk to strangers, more polite and more patient.

Texas is a different physical and cultural environment with a distinct history that leaves its traces, even today.

[atxcio]

I agree with centralaustinite. People from the Northeast have the hardest time adapting to Texas.

The best advice I can give (being from the NE initially) is to treat it as though you were moving to a different country. You would typically expect everything to be different if you moved to another country, right? Culture, demographics, speech, social patterns, architecture, flora & fauna, weather, etc... just expect for all that to be different, like in another country, and you'll be fine.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by drshdw

I see the majority of the green dots WEST of I-35. Yellow is mostly south/north/east..

True, pockets of minorities still thrive west of 35 (except for central Austin). This would confirm your statement above?
When you get west of Mopac, the neighborhoods pretty much vanish altogether with few exceptions.

When I said the demographics were rotating, what I was referring to was that the historic demographics of East Austin seem to be moving north/northeast, the historic demographics of South Austin are moving eastwards toward SE Austin, the historic demographics of SW Austin are moving to South Austin, the historic demographics of west austin are moving SW, north Austin moving to NW, and so on. The historic anglo demographics of SE Austin from the 80's-90's have dissappeared, as east austin becomes more anglo. The only population not moving seems to be the hispanic pop. of SE Austin. They have nowhere to move, and are becoming compacted. I suspect they will slowly begin to move to Del Valle or Manor, as there is nowhere to go.

Not trying to demean any specific group here, or tell them "where their place is" I'm just speaking from observation.

[taphest]

This is certainly more info than I started out with, so I thank you all for sharing your opinions about Austin. Please tell me more...

[cBach]

I agree with most of the responses. I will add though:

2. How has Austin changed (good/bad) since people starting relocating there in the past 5 years or so?

The downtown skyline has grown tremendously. There are now probably 10 new high rise buildings downtown that didn't exist 5 years ago. This has translated into a much more pedestrian oriented downtown.

[cBach]

5. Is Austin a family-friendly environment?

Yes it is very family friendly. Many of the restaurants have outdoor seating with adjacent playgrounds for the kiddos to plan on while the parents drink beer and eat barbeque or tacos! No other place have I seen that.

6. I will conduct my own research on schools, but rate the educational system.

Leander ISD is exceptional. Austin ISD is still good if you compare to many parts of the country, but it varies by school.

7. Compare Austin to San Antonio.

These cities are vastly different. San Antonio is a city rooted in its historic past, with some of the best Mexican food in the country and a very Mexican flare throughout. It is a fairly conservative city. The roads are much better and it has more tourist attractions.
Austin is a city geared towards the future. It is a progressive city rooted in tomorrow, with great Mexican food, but awesome Barbeque is always in the mix as well. It is a very scenic city with lots of outdoor activities.

8. What's the weather like?

Spectacular from March to May and October through November. Very hot from June to September. Widely variable from December to February, with some very cold days as well as some mild days thrown in, with mixed precipitation, mostly rain but some sleet or snow now and then. In reality, we do have four seasons, you do have to use the heater in winter and the A/C in summer but spring and fall are very mild.

9. If you are a transplant, how are you treated by Austin natives?

I'd have to say it's been a mixed bag for myself. I had a girlfriend that was an Austin native and she was always concerned about whether I was being a "hip Austinite". She always would say things like "A real Austinite would do such and such".

10. If you are a native, how do you feel about all of these transplants invading your city?

Not a native.

11. Is there a substantial number of military retirees living in the Austin area?

Well Ft. Hood is up north and I've met quite a few retirees from the military (2 neighbors from the military on my street and one is retired) so I'd have to say I think so but don't know for sure.

12. Is the Texan culture (whatever it is) adaptable?

If you mean will it evolve over time, I guess that is possible, but if you expect to change it while you're here, expect to be disappointed.

13. Do North-easterners adapt well to living in Austin?

Bottom line, no they don't. There's something about Northeasterners where they have a difficult time here. My ex gf was from CT and she still has problems to this day. The problem is she never fully let go of her northeast upbringing. The key to success if you are from the Northeast is you must go through a change, a metamorphisis of sorts, where you develop a new paradigm for living.

I went through the opposite of that when I lived in the Northeast and also the Midwest. It challenged my assumptions to the core, and that is what Austin will do to you if you hail from the Northeast.

Californians on the other hand, seem to mesh here quickly and easily. An ex CA girlfriend of mine (yes I have a lot of ex's) fit in here like she had lived here her whole life. She had a speedboat and would spend most of the summer on the lake. It's like she "got Austin".

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by taphest

1. What is a typical Texan like?
2. How has Austin changed (good/bad) since people starting relocating there in the past 5 years or so?
3. How's traffic?
4. Do you foresee Austin turning into the nightmare that metro Atlanta currently is with its growing population and lack of infrastructure to support such growth?
5. Is Austin a family-friendly environment?
6. I will conduct my own research on schools, but rate the educational system.
7. Compare Austin to San Antonio.
8. What's the weather like?
9. If you are a transplant, how are you treated by Austin natives?
10. If you are a native, how do you feel about all of these transplants invading your city?
11. Is there a substantial number of military retirees living in the Austin area?
12. Is the Texan culture (whatever it is) adaptable?
13. Do North-easterners adapt well to living in Austin?
14. Is Austin a diversity-friendly environment?
15. What's the number one reason people leave the area?
16. What are the hot jobs/ career fields?

A lot there, I'll try to answer the main ones:
- Austin's gotten more crowded and more overhyped the last few years.
- Traffic is terrible for a city of this size. But, it could be worse.
- Yes, I could see the infrastructure (or lack of it compared to growth) becoming a very major issue.
- Yes, mostly family friendly, but still very geared toward college students (not as much with the suburbs)
- San Antonio is less of a college town, larger, however it's more families and I don't find it very dynamic. It's very much a tourist city. For larger Texas cities to live, I think Houston is best followed by Dallas.
- Weather is hot as heck in the summer, sporadic the rest of the year.
- Tech jobs are big, but also legal careers with all the law firms downtown. State government too.

[Dianajoy]

I moved from NYC to SA less than 2 years ago, and the only way I've survived is by "escaping" to Austin at least once a month. It is very hard to fit in if you are liberal, educated, physically fit and non-Hispanic. All the Mexican food here is made with lard, and is disgusting. There is all of one vegetarian restaurant, which is actually quite good, but 1 in a city of 1.2 million is pretty pathetic. I can't wait to move to Austin this summer!!

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Dianajoy

I moved from NYC to SA less than 2 years ago, and the only way I've survived is by "escaping" to Austin at least once a month. It is very hard to fit in if you are liberal, educated, physically fit and non-Hispanic. All the Mexican food here is made with lard, and is disgusting. There is all of one vegetarian restaurant, which is actually quite good, but 1 in a city of 1.2 million is pretty pathetic. I can't wait to move to Austin this summer!!

Austin is closer to San Antonio than NYC in not just distance. We have many similarities so moving here may not solve your problems.

And you think the Italian food up in NYC is any less fattening? I was surprised when I was up there and was checking the calories in things like calzones. High fat content too. Also, bagels are highly calorific. When I point these things out to NYers they usually say "Oh, I didn't think about that."

Also, the perineal favorite of NYers, take out Chinese food, is quite calorific and fatty. The fact is most of us could use some healthy cooking.

Sure enchiladas have fat but fajitas are usually made with lean steak meat and onions/peppers/tomatoes are always good antioxidants. Tortillas are less fatty than pizza dough.

Like I said before, it's about reorganizing your thought process.