Never been to Austin, TX: Please describe it (San Antonio, San Marcos: rental car, extended stay)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by sunshinemarie

I lived in austin for a year ! whomever said austin weather is awesome..is crazy. There are 2 seasons...hot and hotter. It is very humid there and constantly things blooming...its common for people to take inhalers and allergy medicine daily . Also it is super buggy. Make sure you get on the spray list. Also, anyone born or raised in texas speaks english..so dont let that no hablo english fool you ! People are laid back. Texans do not tolerate honking of car horns or road rage....they are courteous drivers and will allow you into traffic but than you are to resume the fast pace.... I35..everything is off of this huge highway...you will be doing a lot of turnarounds there until you get comfortable with everything. down town area there are a lot of one ways-people-traffic and stop light at every corner it seems... overall people are friendly....to me there seemed to be a lot of homeless people there. Best BBQ is Rudy's. san antonio is a short distance away and worth the trip. if your a drinker- you'll love it there..tons of pubs and garage bands.

I think I could have dealt with hot and hotter seasons last week when it was 20 degrees. But oh well, it was 75 degrees and sunny. Another beautiful day at the Ranch.

[i35vagabond]

Originally Posted by drshdw

14. Is Austin a diversity-friendly environment? It's mostly white west of I-35.

Austin seems to be pretty integrated throughout most of the city. Blacks make up about 10% of the population but there doesn't seem to be any exclusive black neighborhoods. Anywhere you go in Austin you will see blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians in nearly every part of town. It's not unusual to have blacks, whites, Hispanics and Asians living in the same neighborhood. I have never been to the NE but I would venture to guess Austin is much more integrated than the towns up there.

[JuneOf48]

Originally Posted by Dianajoy

If you don't eat pork (which I don't) and don't love beef at every meal (which I don't), the only option in SA would be a few chains--like Macaroni Grill, which really has gotten old! Austin has much better restaurants for semi-vegetarians or pescatarians, like me. I have actually had wonderful sushi somewhere in downtown Austin--can't remember the name but they had sushi happy hour specials and it was wonderful. Also in SA I have found one single chinese restaurant that isn't absolutely vile. There's nothing worse than vile chinese, imo! Compared to Sa, Austin is like a true metropolis! The only thing I can say about SA is it's been good for me professionally, but I've only made a few close friends here and there really isn't much that I'll miss! The food has really been a problem for me, as you can tell!

I just hate to see this BS spouted over and over and over again on these threads. I spend a lot of time in Austin--and I may move up there sometime soon for personal reasons--but for a vegetarian (such as myself), San Antonio has some really good options. The Mexican food is much better in SA, and plenty of places have lard-free beans and broth-free rice: Taco Taco, Cascabel's, La Fonda, Las Salsas, Guajillos, etc. Green is better than any veggie restaurant in Austin (and I've tried them all). Il Sogno is better than ANY restaurant in Austin--and plenty of food available there for a vegetarian like me. Other veggie-friendly restaurants are everywhere in SA: Liberty Bar, The Cove, Twin Sisters, La Tuna, Bunsen Burgers, The Monterey, Mad Dogs (believe it or not), Luther's, Pho Sure, Frankfurter Express, etc. And I'd put SA's Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern, and Sushi restaurants against Austin's any day. And yes--I've eaten at plenty in both cities. (I tend to go to Sushi Zushi in both Austin and SA.) My girlfriend, who has lived in central Austin for years, always talks about how good the food is when she comes down to visit. Austin promises so much--and a lot is pretty damned good--but it's not as good as it SHOULD be. Plus, you have to wait in horrible lines at many places for mediocre food.

And please, can anyone tell me of any Mexican restaurant in Austin that has a flour tortilla that's even half as good as what you can find at Taco Taco, Taco Haven, or Taco Garage in SA? We've been searching for about a month now--on the south side, east side, and north side--and nothing comes close. Potato and egg breakfast tacos keep me alive!

PS--I'm a native Chicagoan, and I've traveled extensively to New York, San Francisco, and many other cities, so I'm not some "San Antonio local" speaking from an irrational sense of pride. Things may be a bit harder to find in SA, but they're there.

[10scoachrick]

OK, I give! UNCLE!!! What's for LUNCH!?!??!

[sinking]

Originally Posted by taphest

1. What is a typical Texan like?

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?

8. What's the weather like?
9. If you are a transplant, how are you treated by Austin natives?


12. Is the Texan culture (whatever it is) adaptable?
13. Do North-easterners adapt well to living in Austin?

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

1. Mostly ordinary with little personality.
3. When I needed to commute on I35 I would often fantasize about intentionally accelerating into a wall just to reach speeds above 2 MPH.
4. No.
8. There are 8-10 weeks of nice weather. The rest is either oppressively hot or windy and cold, but not cold enough to bundle up.
9. I don't meet many natives. If you do, do not mention that anything could be less than perfect in Austin.
12. It depends on you and what you are coming from.
13. I haven't and likely won't. I hear many other people for history rich areas do not adapt well to the infinite strip mall here either.

15. I will hopefully be returning to New England in a couple years for a multitude of reasons. I would like to have energy in the summer again. I would like to not pay out the butt for property taxes. I would like a house that is built to last.

[eepstein]

Best desciption for Austin--A horrendously overrated, overhyped, corrupt city that is nothing more than BARELY average in most catagories.
Dallas, Houston, or even far north and northwest parts of San Antonio are FAR better choices for families and those of us who aren't interested in getting drunk along 6th street every night!

Originally Posted by taphest

I have been reading other Austin, TX threads trying to get a feel for what life is like in your city. I understand Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in Texas, the people are friendly, etc. However, I need to know more. If you have lived in Texas and other states, please chime in with your comparison. We are from the Northeast; however, we are a military family so we've lived all over. Please touch on as many of these areas as possible when you respond:

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?

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by JuneOf48

I just hate to see this BS spouted over and over and over again on these threads. I spend a lot of time in Austin--and I may move up there sometime soon for personal reasons--but for a vegetarian (such as myself), San Antonio has some really good options. The Mexican food is much better in SA, and plenty of places have lard-free beans and broth-free rice: Taco Taco, Cascabel's, La Fonda, Las Salsas, Guajillos, etc. Green is better than any veggie restaurant in Austin (and I've tried them all). Il Sogno is better than ANY restaurant in Austin--and plenty of food available there for a vegetarian like me. Other veggie-friendly restaurants are everywhere in SA: Liberty Bar, The Cove, Twin Sisters, La Tuna, Bunsen Burgers, The Monterey, Mad Dogs (believe it or not), Luther's, Pho Sure, Frankfurter Express, etc. And I'd put SA's Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern, and Sushi restaurants against Austin's any day. And yes--I've eaten at plenty in both cities. (I tend to go to Sushi Zushi in both Austin and SA.) My girlfriend, who has lived in central Austin for years, always talks about how good the food is when she comes down to visit. Austin promises so much--and a lot is pretty damned good--but it's not as good as it SHOULD be. Plus, you have to wait in horrible lines at many places for mediocre food.

And please, can anyone tell me of any Mexican restaurant in Austin that has a flour tortilla that's even half as good as what you can find at Taco Taco, Taco Haven, or Taco Garage in SA? We've been searching for about a month now--on the south side, east side, and north side--and nothing comes close. Potato and egg breakfast tacos keep me alive!

PS--I'm a native Chicagoan, and I've traveled extensively to New York, San Francisco, and many other cities, so I'm not some "San Antonio local" speaking from an irrational sense of pride. Things may be a bit harder to find in SA, but they're there.

A vegetarian that eats sushi, huh? Isn't that an oxymoron? For some reason I find my vegetarian friends have no problem eating raw fish. Never could figure it out.

[sinking]

Originally Posted by cBach

A vegetarian that eats sushi, huh? Isn't that an oxymoron? For some reason I find my vegetarian friends have no problem eating raw fish. Never could figure it out.

It's called a pescetarian.

[JuneOf48]

Originally Posted by cBach

A vegetarian that eats sushi, huh? Isn't that an oxymoron? For some reason I find my vegetarian friends have no problem eating raw fish. Never could figure it out.

No fish for me! I prefer avocado rolls, spicy tempura rolls, inari, tofu yakimeshi, miso soup, etc. (The origin of the word "sushi" has nothing to do with fish--raw or otherwise: "Sushi (鮨 or 鮓 or 寿司) is a Japanese dish consisting of vinegared rice combined with other ingredients such as raw fish, raw or cooked shellfish, or vegetables. Sushi is sometimes confused with sashimi, which is the seafood sometimes served with sushi. Also, the word Sushi is often misinterpreted as "raw fish". Sushi refers to the vinegared rice as opposed to the ingredients that are added to it.)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by sinking

It's called a pescetarian.

So fish don't have feelings too?