Austin vs. Burlington? (Willis, Howe, Amherst: best cities, apartments, rentals)
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My partner and I are sick of living where we have been living and ready for a change. My job is easy to do anywhere, and his job here isn't that great to begin with. We're done with our lease at the end of the month, so we're really trying to figure things out quickly.
Anyway I have been very into the idea of moving up to Burlington. I love the wild, natural beauty. Not to mention the whole hippy, artsy, crunchy life-style. However, we have been having an INSANE time trying to find a place to live. We have two dogs. One is about 35lbs the other 50. It seems that everyone we call, says ABSOLUTELY NO PETS! Originally we thought it would be easy to find housing in Burlington because there are so many college kids, and young people there, not to mention all of the dogs we saw around! However, we can't seem to find a landlord that is remotely ok with our pets. We're half way through August at this point. So we have broadened our search outside of Burlington. I am not sure a cabin is the right choice for our first VT winter, but at this point we're willing to consider almost anything. Surprisingly people with rural homes here also do not want pets in their rentals!
I mean one of the main reason we want to move to VT is because we want to live somewhere where we can hike, swim, and generally hang out with our dogs! So these reactions have been kinda discouraging to us.
On the other hand when we looked at housing in Austin, it is extremely affordable, and tons of places are pet friendly! That is really exciting. But I don't know how I feel about moving to Texas.
QUESTION:
Any people on here from Burlington who have lived or spent a significant amount of time in Austin, I am talking to you, especially! What are the pros and cons of each city? How do they compare? Which would you personally recommend? Why?
I live in Austin, moved here from western MA. I have been to Burlington but am not that familiar with it's intricacies. I would recommend staying there, nay...strongly recommend it. Try moving further down 91 towards Northampton and Amherst. Maybe try the Berkshires.
My partner and I are sick of living where we have been living and ready for a change. My job is easy to do anywhere, and his job here isn't that great to begin with. We're done with our lease at the end of the month, so we're really trying to figure things out quickly.
Anyway I have been very into the idea of moving up to Burlington. I love the wild, natural beauty. Not to mention the whole hippy, artsy, crunchy life-style. However, we have been having an INSANE time trying to find a place to live. We have two dogs. One is about 35lbs the other 50. It seems that everyone we call, says ABSOLUTELY NO PETS! Originally we thought it would be easy to find housing in Burlington because there are so many college kids, and young people there, not to mention all of the dogs we saw around! However, we can't seem to find a landlord that is remotely ok with our pets. We're half way through August at this point. So we have broadened our search outside of Burlington. I am not sure a cabin is the right choice for our first VT winter, but at this point we're willing to consider almost anything. Surprisingly people with rural homes here also do not want pets in their rentals!
I mean one of the main reason we want to move to VT is because we want to live somewhere where we can hike, swim, and generally hang out with our dogs! So these reactions have been kinda discouraging to us.
On the other hand when we looked at housing in Austin, it is extremely affordable, and tons of places are pet friendly! That is really exciting. But I don't know how I feel about moving to Texas.
QUESTION:
Any people on here from Burlington who have lived or spent a significant amount of time in Austin, I am talking to you, especially! What are the pros and cons of each city? How do they compare? Which would you personally recommend? Why?
Where are you living now, and what made you decide to choose between Austin and Burlington? The two places have absolutely nothing in common.
Do you have job opportunities lined up in either Austin or Burlington? Austin will have a lot more job opportunities because it's much larger than Burlington and because Austin's economy is doing much better than anywhere in the Northeast.
Your choices seem entirely different to me. After this brutally hot summer with no end in sight a cabin in the woods during a snowstorm sounds like a dream. If you want somewhere outdoorsy to hike, swim, and hang out with dogs I would think of TN or NC before Austin.
On the other hand when we looked at housing in Austin, it is extremely affordable, and tons of places are pet friendly! That is really exciting. But I don't know how I feel about moving to Texas.
May I ask where are you from? Austin may be 'affordable' for white-collar professionals, but increasingly blue-collar workers, middle-to-lower class students, and traditional Texas working families have been having an increasingly, hard time paying the ever-escalating rents in the Austin market.
It appears the nature of some of Austin's job migrants from traditionally high-priced metros (LA, SF, NYC, Chicago, Seattle) may be contributing to that escalation (along with occupancy rates now around 96% percent).
Have you actually tried finding an apartment that will allow multiple dogs in Austin? It's not nearly as easy as you think and "pet friendly" in an ad designed to lure you in often translates to "will allow one cat" or "will allow one dog under 15 pounds." I've found it very difficult if you have multiple dogs or large dogs (and one friend had a similar experience very recently), especially if you have multiple conditions, such as, "A place that will allow multiple dogs AND under x amount of money." Or "A place that will allow multiple dogs AND in a safe neighborhood." My friend searched for months and finally ended up finding one place that did not meet her initial list of requirements. She settled for the only place she could find after months of looking.
Austin is dog-friendly IF you own your own home. Austin apartments are somewhat dog-tolerant if you have one dog within certain breed restrictions (and often a dog under a certain weight--I found 15 pounds was often the limit specified when I called.) Don't make the mistake of assuming "pet-friendly" means what it says unless you actually have a landlord who will agree after hearing your specific situation.
Other than that, keep in mind that "natural beauty" is a very different thing when talking about the northeast versus the southwest.
I'm pretty sure it was early June '79 when I went to Williston(S. Burlington) to tour the Rossignol facility there. Absolutely GORGEOUS view across the lake when we left the airport; BUT, the slushy, muddy snow piled up on the side of the road was NOT my idea of "wild, natural beauty" . Just sayin'...June...snow.
Im from NH and I love Burlington, definitely one of the best cities in New England. Awesome outdoors stuff, lots of good looking people that are friendly, and good bars and clubs. Unfortunately the rent is pretty high there, higher than Austin I would say. The main drawback is the weather, It gets ridiculously cold there for a good portion of the year, and is rainy for most of the warmer months. The quality of life in Austin is just better. When your locked up in your little cabin during a blizzard, people in Austin are outside bar hopping enjoying there life in the 60 degree weather. Annnnd thats why I chose Austin. If your skinny like me the 100+ degree heat in the summer is awesome and sometimes I wish it was hotter.
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. Just sayin'...June...snow.
