Liberal family moving to Austin, where to live? (Sunset Valley, Sunset: extended stay, fit in)

[love roses]

you're probably right. In all my years in Texas, I've never been asked about my church affiliations.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

But I have reservations. The first is that Austin seems to be undergoing the same kind of growth as Raleigh, NC. Lots of people seemingly moving there based on knee-jerk reaction: They've heard its "the" place to go. That usually leads to the kind of sprawly, sporadic growth you see throughout the South and Austin looked the part when we visited.

That is a lot of what is happening. You are correct on that.

Austin is not immune from this in the least. It won't be anything close to something like Portland, which can limit sprawl in its metro. There are virtually no restrictions on development in Texas outside of city limits. Cities can made restrictions, but counties cannot. Until Texas allows counties to have more power to regulate development, sprawl will continue around every metro in the state.

[rebelwithcause]

Wow! Amazing how a sincere question turned out in a debate. Seriously, I was not looking for this, but loved it. Really enjoyed all the comments and appreciate those who made recommendations. See you in Austin!!!

[cBach]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

That is a lot of what is happening. You are correct on that.

Austin is not immune from this in the least. It won't be anything close to something like Portland, which can limit sprawl in its metro. There are virtually no restrictions on development in Texas outside of city limits. Cities can made restrictions, but counties cannot. Until Texas allows counties to have more power to regulate development, sprawl will continue around every metro in the state.

Or Austin can annex all of Travis County...

[LittleCityATX]

If it weren't for the economic issues in CA, it would be top on my list to return to. The housing is actually surprisingly cheap in really beautiful areas like Northern Cal. (north of Napa) and even the Sierra foothills but the problem is getting good work in those areas. The higher paying jobs in NorCal are in the bay area and commuting from northern Napa to someplace like Palo Also can be really painful. In terms of weather and scenery it's hard to beat CA.

I'm not trying to turn you off to Austin, but if you like to do outdoorsy things, the summers can be a real bummer. A lot of people will say "but everything is air conditioned" which is fine if you don't mind spending most of your time indoors.

[rhino5]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I still think, having lived in this state for over 60 years now and not getting that question ever, that there's something about the people who do get it all the time and are annoyed by it that calls it. The closest analogy I've been able to come up with is people who hate cats, and so cats swarm to them, want to climb in their laps, rub up against them, etc.

Only explanation that I can come up with.

This cracks me up! You may be on to something. I must also attract drivers that pass on the right. Perhaps one and the same group?

I think it's generational too. When I was growing up in the 70s, everyone went to church but no one talked about it. I grew up in a small town with quite a few Catholic churches, one Methodist, one Episcopal, one Baptist, and a small Jewish temple. After college I moved away and on trips home I'd notice these evangelical churches popping up everywhere, side of the highway, giant parking lots. When I moved back to the U.S., I heard a lot more discussions about religion or 'moral issues.' Even the Catholics (die-hard party people, for the most part) were evangelizing. So now there's a pretty large percentage of people who consider themselves religious, more I think for my age group than, say, people in their 30s and 40s during the 1970s and 80s (like my parents and their friends).

I haven't moved to Austin yet, so maybe I won't have the same experience there. Time will tell. Do people pass on the right down there?

[rhino5]

I'm liberal yet I think trying to live somewhere because you think you can act like yourself is kind of a non-issue with me. I've always said and done exactly what I want. if people don't like it- too bad. Even liberals get into arguments as do conservatives with each other. Besides- personally after living in Berkeley and a few other Bay Area cities, living around a bunch of people that think almost entirely alike is utterly boring. I mean- what's the use in carrying around protest signs when everyone around the area already agrees?[/quote]

I agree with you about the Bay Area; I've also lived there and found it nice, beautiful, lots to do, but maybe a little over the top sometimes. I do feel though that I can be more myself in a liberal area. I'm definitely not so 'in your face' as I was when I was younger, not so confrontational. Who has the energy? I like the diversity of liberal areas, the creative types that choose to live there, the local businesses that thrive. I'd like to be able to walk or bike to a yoga class or juice bar instead of driving 5 miles just to get out of my neighborhood. It's personal preference. I just hate to see people being vilified because they dare to ask where the 'liberal' areas of Austin are.

[eepstein]

My comments below:

Originally Posted by sliverbox

Trust me- other cities and locations are on my list. I visited Austin 2 years ago and liked it. But I have reservations. The first is that Austin seems to be undergoing the same kind of growth as Raleigh, NC. Lots of people seemingly moving there based on knee-jerk reaction: They've heard its "the" place to go. That usually leads to the kind of sprawly, sporadic growth you see throughout the South and Austin looked the part when we visited. So I've got a few alternatives.

1: Dallas. Reason being is that when I was looking for jobs, I seemed to have gotten way more responses from there. I've never been to Dallas though. A lot of people say it isn't great.

A lot of people in Austin say that Dallas isn't great. That stems mainly from Jealousy of the extreme whealth and power in North Dallas. Dallas is an international business capital but little Austin is still weird.

2: Memphis. Its one of those cities nobody talks about. Its got a lot of problems. But I have relatives there and believe it or not, its actually a fun city and has a lot of the artsy funkiness Austin likes to brag about. One of my relatives lives in a really nice old neighborhood full of large Craftsman homes. These are in a safe area and can be had for $150,000 or so. I gather that's not remotely possible in Austin anymore.

I would agree. No one talks about Memphis, unless we are talking about most dangerous cities. Memphis is among the most violent, dangerous cities in the country. The city government is corrupt (much like Austin's) and the city can't compete in most areas of business. I guess one good thing. Fedex retains it's world headquarters there.

3: Nashville. Its sort of like Austin's less hip cousin. Its smaller and the creative music scene there is more heavily commercialized. I like it because since it is small, you can drive maybe 15 minutes out of the city and be in the sticks. You can buy a house on acres of land for nothin'.

Nashville is LESS HIP? How is that?? Most of metro Nashville and very pretty with dense forests everywhere, tons of hills and close proximity to the beautiful east Tennessee mountains. Nashville has a far superior transportation network, lower cost of living, and isn't the capital of the most made fun of state in the nation But, the city of Austin's media campaign WILL TELL YOU, that Nashville isn't as hip as Austin.

4: Johnson City, TN. Its on the other side of the state. Across the mountain from Asheville. Its sort of like a less gentrified version of Asheville yet its also in the mountains and close to the Appalachian trail. Really cool little downtown. Again- since its off people's radar as being "cool", its pretty cheap and inexpensive. Not a lot of jobs though.

Cant really compare this city to Austin. But it's in beautiful county!

Austin is still on the list. But as of now we have really good jobs in Cali, have dirt-cheap rent, rent a really nice 3 bedroom house that has a big yard, and are able to save up quite a bit of money. Financially it would probably be stupid to move anytime soon. I don't see real estate really moving much in the next 5 to possibly 10 years thus there's no rush anyway.

If you have all that, why would you throw it all away and move to a mediocre place like Austin??

[sliverbox]

If it weren't for the economic issues in CA, it would be top on my list to return to. The housing is actually surprisingly cheap in really beautiful areas like Northern Cal. (north of Napa) and even the Sierra foothills but the problem is getting good work in those areas. The higher paying jobs in NorCal are in the bay area and commuting from northern Napa to someplace like Palo Also can be really painful. In terms of weather and scenery it's hard to beat CA

Its not "that" cheap. Cheap meaning you could probably buy a decent house out in the sticks past Napa for maybe $250,000. Then again- as you mentioned there are no jobs there. The problem with California right now is that all of the major metro areas- especially those on the coasts where most of the good jobs are- are still grossly overpriced. The absolute cheapest houses I've seen are either in the worst neighborhoods or in almost knock-down condition. There was one up the street from us for sale at around $400,000. The house needed at least $100,000 worth of work if not more since everything you do is closely scrutinized. Realistically a halfway decent home here that is in a decent area is going to cost you $500,000. Its really aggravating because prior to the boom houses in my neighborhood were $250,000-$300,000. They doubled in price in 3 years and now 5 years into the bust have been stuck at the half million mark.

Its not that we can't afford those prices but that to me seems like a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a mortgage. That and for some reason rent remains to be fairly cheap in comparison. Just for example, the Taxes on a $500,000 house here would almost be equal to what I pay for my part of the rent each year.

If you have all that, why would you throw it all away and move to a mediocre place like Austin??

2 reasons.
1: Family. They all live in the South
2: Lack of affordability where we live now.

[rhino5]

Originally Posted by eepstein

My comments below:



If you have all that, why would you throw it all away and move to a mediocre place like Austin??

I'm sure someone has asked you this question before but, Why don't you move to Dallas? Or at least to the Dallas forum?? Seems downright mad to spend so much time dogging Austin.