Liberal family moving to Austin, where to live? (Houston, Dallas: neighborhoods, college)

[ammonman]

Once again, I need to suggest the East Side as an option. It's close to downtown, the commute is easy (not North-South) and houses are still pretty inexpensive. I live in a 3 bedroom house where the rent is just under $1500.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

I'd say that phenomena isn't exclusive to Austin. The Bay Area is pocked with all kinds of liberal rich hovels. In fact- something I've noticed in living in various cities is that of the major US cities like SF, NYC, Boston, and so on, almost all of these are extremely expensive and coincidentally labeled as liberal bastions. Its strange. A lot of the more hoity-toity towns in the Bay Area have a ton of anti-development rules and regulations. Anything new that gets suggested such as putting in bus stops, new homes, or anything of the like is shut down right away. As a result, nobody can afford to buy there unless you're phenomenally rich.

The effect of this is that parts of a city that perhaps at one time had truly unique character and perhaps not-so-perfect neighborhoods gets "cleaned" and gentrified and even though there are no physical walls, this gentrification makes these areas exclusive and places them off limits. Its hard to explain. But I've seen enough overly gentrified, liberal neighborhoods in my lifetime and I find them to be somewhat obnoxious and counter-intuitive to what it means to be liberal.

No, you explained it perfectly. Right on the mark for those that read the above and understand it.

[eepstein]

People who hate the cold generally don't move to Austin. Shouldn't you consider Arizona or South Florida?

And you aren't considering Dallas for WHAT REASON???

Originally Posted by rebelwithcause

Hi,
We are a young family with two young babies, my husband and I are both professionals and we are moving to Austin next May. I have never visited Austin, but I REALLY can't wait to move there. Right now we live in Washington DC Metro area and I don't like it. Not a fan of the weather, the people and the cost of living. I'm from the Caribbean and my husband is from Europe but he hates the cold (we lived in the Caribbean for 5 years and loved it). I don't think I will have the time to go to Austin and visit before I move there, so I would like to know the best place for us to live. Our profile is: young family, liberal, diverse (ethnically) and we love to be outdoors. My husband is going to work in downtown, so we don’t want his commute to be horrible, but also I don't want to live in a small apartment in downtown, after all I'm moving to Texas to find a bigger house, finally! Any suggestions on where to live??

[kbchitown]

Originally Posted by cBach

I think Hyde Park would be a good area, perhaps SoCo.


And if you want warm weather, we're the place to be. We were around 72 degrees today, light breeze, perfect weather really. We probably had better weather today than the rest of the country except for Florida. Even CA has been having some rainy conditions as of late. This is the time of the year that I love being here. While other parts of the country are suffering, I ran in shorts a t-shirt today and was in the park enjoying the beautiful weather! This is what Austin is all about!!!!

Cept for the last few weeks when it got in the teens overnight. Over 800 claims (mostly flooding from burst pipes cuz they don't believe in insulation down here - they seem to think that insulation is for cold weather climes only!...) and deemed a "mini-catastrophe" by the insurance companies...the temps fluctuate big time in the winter. The current 70s (and btw kinda humid) are above average for this time of year.

[eepstein]

Sacramento doesn't even come CLOSE to the heat of Austin. Average July highs in Sac are in the low 90's and avg. lows are in the high 50's to low 60's. Austin's avg highs are mid to upper 90's and factor in the high index from the humidity as well. Lows stay between 75-80 most nights.

Any spell in Sac over 100 degrees is almost always short lived as the delta breeze kicks in and knocks highs back into the upper 80's. Sac is also MUCH sunnier (especially in the winter months) than Austin is.

Sac has arguably one of the best overall climates in the nation. (outside the bay area)

Originally Posted by sliverbox

There's a difference between "warm" and "hot". Honestly, after having spent a week in sacramento in 100+ degree heat, I'm not sure how some of you people in Austin could remotely find that kind of heat even slightly enjoyable. It was seriously like walking around in a bread oven. That alone is probably my single biggest reservation about possibly moving there. I grew up in TN so I can deal with hot and humid weather. But once we're talking 90+ degree heat then that's a whole different situation. I like being outside and at that temp it becomes almost unbearable. Here in the Bay Area we don't even think about it. Its usually 70 degrees. In other words- not too hot and not too cold. Its just right. Moving somewhere that gets HOT is going to be a huge change.

There are a lot of other Southern cities that have warmer weather but not blast furnace hot either. Its just that Austin has more jobs in my field. Other then that the major draw for me is the housing prices. Otherwise I'd probably move somewhere like Asheville, NC or maybe even Nashville TN.

[sliverbox]

Sac has arguably one of the best overall climates in the nation. (outside the bay area)

No freakin' way. I go to Sac almost every other week in the summer and once you get past May, the weather is hideous. That and its an utterly flat, boring city.

[sinking]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

No freakin' way. I go to Sac almost every other week in the summer and once you get past May, the weather is hideous. That and its an utterly flat, boring city.

And you want to move to Austin?

[sliverbox]

And you want to move to Austin?

I have reservations to be honest. The heat would be a pretty big thing to get used to. The only reasons I'm considering Austin is that it has more jobs in my field and its more affordable. But the more I read it sounds like the affordable stuff is mostly cookie-cutter and the nicer areas are all expensive. We will see...

[sinking]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

I have reservations to be honest. The heat would be a pretty big thing to get used to. The only reasons I'm considering Austin is that it has more jobs in my field and its more affordable. But the more I read it sounds like the affordable stuff is mostly cookie-cutter and the nicer areas are all expensive. We will see...

In reading your posts it sounds like you are considering several areas. Just don't make the same mistake I did and diminish your reservations. Every single reservation I had before moving here has turned into a big gripe. I suppose it is like when older guys tell me the things your girlfriend does now that annoy you will only get worse after marriage.

[sliverbox]

The way I look at it is that I've lived in numerous extreme areas. I grew up in the South and endured the classic hot, humid summers along with the thunderstorms, occasional tornadoes and gigantic bugs. I also lived in MA and dealt with god-awful winters. I've survived California and it nice weather but obscene cost of living. I guess I'd do ok in Austin. I'd definitely have to fix the AC in my truck that quit working 5 years ago. That and look at houses with HIGH ceilings, shade trees, and probably a halfway decent AC system.

Cali has softened me up for sure. Spending time in Sacramento last year when it was 100 degrees made me think I was walking around in hell. If Austin is like that for months... I dunno. That's pretty bad.