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I moved here from Cali last year. I've traveled extensively and internationally.. which gave me plenty of reference. Austin seemed like a great place for me; a single musician that does tech stuff for a living.
I had no pre-conceived notion that Austin is being inundated with Californians. Perhaps this would have changed my path. Regardless, a year later, I realized that this wonderful city is being transformed rapidly. And sadly I feel like I may have got here late.
I think the best thing in Austin is the people.. and by that, I mean generally the Austin Natives and Central Texans. I love the lush green landscape, beautiful red and blue birds, downtown events, great food, and job opportunities. Spring and Fall are unequivocally beautiful here. Once I made some friends, I was downtown and starting getting some dates, meeting some really fun girls. Which was a great change. (ever heard of 'man-diego?') I have a nice apartment now, which took about 6 months to find. Alas, Austin has welcomed me with open arms.
My beef is that, in the short time since my arrival, I've watched construction downtown... $3000/mo apartments and people with $75,000 cars that have out of state plates, etc. I have heard over and over again that:
A) the old Austin is on its way out. The local government people, collaborating with developers, are going to make this place into their own vision of a 'hip' town, which is basically a marketing vehicle to attract more rich people. I also heard that many people moved here from Louisiana and the gulf area after Katrina, and more recently, the oil spill. Summary: more people, new yuppie playground downtown.
B) the city doesn't have the infrastructure to support the current level of growth (2011 census put Austin at 20% population growth in the last 10 years) Sprawl will continue in all directions.
C) no musicians are thrilled about the situation here, as far as I can tell. I have dozens of musician friends. The slogan "The live music capital of the world" has become dark satire. Don't get me wrong - I love blues and cover bands as much as the next guy. But go the Austin craigslist musican section... lots of frustration and negative energy. SXSW isn't what it was. Everything has a time horizon.
D) apartments and jobs are tight. My rent went up 15% in the first year. I spent 3 months of daily job searching to find something worth calling a job.. and it ended up being pretty crappy because of a poor business model and deceptive CEO. But I've got my foot in the door and have 2 interviews this week And as someone posted on this board, real estate is most likely going to experience growth when compared to the market nationally.
I grew up in Orange County and lived in both LA and San Diego. I love the beach and the burritos... San Diego wasn't easy to leave... (OC blows)
I loathe the plastic Socal culture of selfishness and greed. Pretentiousness of the rich OC elitists was something I grew up with and learned to adapt to. (I took to punk and metal music, started smoking and being a bad kid at like 12 years old) The urban sprawl, over development, traffic, competition for everything. Where is the love? It like a commercial culture, where everyone is caught in some idea - some picture - that was sold in a magazine. After the recession, liveable wage jobs were few and far between. The state of California doesn't do much to attract business like other states do.
Anyway, long story short, I've made my way here.. and now I'm thinking about the future. My Mom always told me "you have to live where you can work". She's so smart. People keep moving here for whatever reason, but from what I observe, the city was never built to scale. And much of this new Austin looks like home in the OC. The same thing happened to San Francisco. Things Change. Everything has a time horizon.
I'm pretty good at forecasting.... I see Downtown Austin turning into something like Santa Monica in the next 5 years or so... a culture that features material wealth, where you are judged on your physical appearance more than anything. If you want to see it first hand, go to whole foods on 6th and Lamar on Sunday afternoon. That, in my opinion, is the epicenter, and the focal point of my argument.
Materialistic is a very good word for is happening or has been happening.
I think the live music scene is slowly dying out in favor of development and high tech and the city council is surely doing their part to encourage that death via ordinances.
Austin was a unique place once and it will live in the memory of many who came and left.
It's not a bad city but it's not unique anymore..it's "Anytown, USA" now.
Sadly, the situation is not to Austin. All around the country, towns and cities are losing their uniqueness as governments cater to the higher tax bracket. Walmarts are everywhere, mom and pop shops are gone.
Once I made some friends, I was downtown and starting getting some dates, meeting some really fun girls. Which was a great change. (ever heard of 'man-diego?') I have a nice apartment now, which took about 6 months to find. Alas, Austin has welcomed me with open arms.
I had never heard that said, and it caught my eye, so I thought I'd compare.
I moved here from Cali last year. I've traveled extensively and internationally.. which gave me plenty of reference. Austin seemed like a great place for me; a single musician that does tech stuff for a living.
I had no pre-conceived notion that Austin is being inundated with Californians. Perhaps this would have changed my path. Regardless, a year later, I realized that this wonderful city is being transformed rapidly. And sadly I feel like I may have got here late.
I think the best thing in Austin is the people.. and by that, I mean generally the Austin Natives and Central Texans. I love the lush green landscape, beautiful red and blue birds, downtown events, great food, and job opportunities. Spring and Fall are unequivocally beautiful here. Once I made some friends, I was downtown and starting getting some dates, meeting some really fun girls. Which was a great change. (ever heard of 'man-diego?') I have a nice apartment now, which took about 6 months to find. Alas, Austin has welcomed me with open arms.
My beef is that, in the short time since my arrival, I've watched construction downtown... $3000/mo apartments and people with $75,000 cars that have out of state plates, etc. I have heard over and over again that:
A) the old Austin is on its way out. The local government people, collaborating with developers, are going to make this place into their own vision of a 'hip' town, which is basically a marketing vehicle to attract more rich people. I also heard that many people moved here from Louisiana and the gulf area after Katrina, and more recently, the oil spill. Summary: more people, new yuppie playground downtown.
B) the city doesn't have the infrastructure to support the current level of growth (2011 census put Austin at 20% population growth in the last 10 years) Sprawl will continue in all directions.
C) no musicians are thrilled about the situation here, as far as I can tell. I have dozens of musician friends. The slogan "The live music capital of the world" has become dark satire. Don't get me wrong - I love blues and cover bands as much as the next guy. But go the Austin craigslist musican section... lots of frustration and negative energy. SXSW isn't what it was. Everything has a time horizon.
D) apartments and jobs are tight. My rent went up 15% in the first year. I spent 3 months of daily job searching to find something worth calling a job.. and it ended up being pretty crappy because of a poor business model and deceptive CEO. But I've got my foot in the door and have 2 interviews this week And as someone posted on this board, real estate is most likely going to experience growth when compared to the market nationally.
I grew up in Orange County and lived in both LA and San Diego. I love the beach and the burritos... San Diego wasn't easy to leave... (OC blows)
I loathe the plastic Socal culture of selfishness and greed. Pretentiousness of the rich OC elitists was something I grew up with and learned to adapt to. (I took to punk and metal music, started smoking and being a bad kid at like 12 years old) The urban sprawl, over development, traffic, competition for everything. Where is the love? It like a commercial culture, where everyone is caught in some idea - some picture - that was sold in a magazine. After the recession, liveable wage jobs were few and far between. The state of California doesn't do much to attract business like other states do.
Anyway, long story short, I've made my way here.. and now I'm thinking about the future. My Mom always told me "you have to live where you can work". She's so smart. People keep moving here for whatever reason, but from what I observe, the city was never built to scale. And much of this new Austin looks like home in the OC. The same thing happened to San Francisco. Things Change. Everything has a time horizon.
I'm pretty good at forecasting.... I see Downtown Austin turning into something like Santa Monica in the next 5 years or so... a culture that features material wealth, where you are judged on your physical appearance more than anything. If you want to see it first hand, go to whole foods on 6th and Lamar on Sunday afternoon. That, in my opinion, is the epicenter, and the focal point of my argument.
where do we go now, sweet child of mine?
I hate to say it, but I agree with everything you said. I'm afraid that all the magazine publications have placed us so high on a pedestal that the masses are just overwhelming this one peaceful city. When I moved here, the downtown was a sleepy southern skyscape. Now it looks like a mix of Miami and New York downtown.
That being said, I still love it here and I'm highly adaptable. I also believe this place has everything that I want in life, whether it has 1 million or 7 million people, like it's forecast to have by 2020.
What they need to do here is buy out massive tracts of land and convert to forest preserves. We will need the parkland with all the people moving here.
To answer the original question, if I had to move anywhere, it would be right on the beach, probably on the FL Panhandle or something, where I could get a beachfront home for a reasonable price. Since I work from home, it wouldn't be an issue. But I like it here.
My beef is that, in the short time since my arrival, I've watched construction downtown... $3000/mo apartments and people with $75,000 cars that have out of state plates, etc. I have heard over and over again that:
A) the old Austin is on its way out. The local government people, collaborating with developers, are going to make this place into their own vision of a 'hip' town, which is basically a marketing vehicle to attract more rich people. I also heard that many people moved here from Louisiana and the gulf area after Katrina, and more recently, the oil spill. Summary: more people, new yuppie playground downtown.
B) the city doesn't have the infrastructure to support the current level of growth (2011 census put Austin at 20% population growth in the last 10 years) Sprawl will continue in all directions.
C) no musicians are thrilled about the situation here, as far as I can tell. I have dozens of musician friends. The slogan "The live music capital of the world" has become dark satire. Don't get me wrong - I love blues and cover bands as much as the next guy. But go the Austin craigslist musican section... lots of frustration and negative energy. SXSW isn't what it was. Everything has a time horizon.
D) apartments and jobs are tight. My rent went up 15% in the first year. I spent 3 months of daily job searching to find something worth calling a job.. and it ended up being pretty crappy because of a poor business model and deceptive CEO. But I've got my foot in the door and have 2 interviews this week And as someone posted on this board, real estate is most likely going to experience growth when compared to the market nationally.
where do we go now, sweet child of mine?
Back to California - with all due respect, what really do you know? You just got here!
_ _ _ _ _ Hello California dreamland, meet Texas common-sense: Time to wake up!!
Last edited by ImOnFiya; 05-25-2011 at 04:41 PM..
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And as someone posted on this board, real estate is most likely going to experience growth when compared to the market nationally.
