Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think very few people here on C-D say Austin is amazing. Austin isn't as good as the media portrays it. But almost nothing is as good or as bad as the media portrays it.
For lots of people though, Austin has a very good combination of qualities that depending on one's prioirities - make it a very good place to live.
Some here seem to have a visceral distaste for Austin, and they focus more on whether Austin lives up to the media rep rather than whether on its own merits it is a good place to live and play.
Very few "facts" about Austin end up discussed here. About the only facts that generally get agreement:
- our weather is very warm/hot in the summer.
- we don't have any major league sports
- we don't have any major traditional cultural assets like museums
- violent crime rates are low
- lots of people are moving here from all over
- we are in a terrible drought
Just about everything else is opinion.
Sure, I'll agree with you on that. It does depend on what you're looking for in a city. I've lived all over the world and there really isn't such a thing as the perfect place. At least I haven't found it yet.
I'm all about the facts as well, and to be honest, Austin does offer a lot for what I like in a city. Outdoor activities, live music and is entrepreneurial, but I think it fair as well to point out how the people are. Some people, especially from up North might be put off by our Red state. In the OP's original post, she was concerned about such things and unless you've been on the outside looking in, you may not realize it.
Texas is very pro gun (I happen to be as well BTW,but maybe not for the same reasons most people are here), football is a religion,and church is a big part of a lot of people's lives down here. Oh, and because of our Confederate past, some people feel comfortable they have the liberty to throw around inappropriate racial comments towards Blacks, Asians and Hispanics. Even in a public setting.
Now, in Austin proper, it's a very young town, a college town and lots of musicians live there, so what you'll see are people who are more eccentric. Hipsters if I may. The city's motto is "Keep Austin Weird".
However, since you'll most likely be living in west Austin somewhere away from central Austin, most of the people there have more of the Texas core values. At least, the native Austinites do.
If you could manage to find a house close to Lake Travis, I'd say you would be doing well. Quality of life is pretty good.
Houston went blue in the last presidential cycle and is a much larger area than Austin is. pretty impressive for a die hard conservative area no? We also have the first openly lesbian mayor, the largest gay pride parade in the region, more ethnically and religiously diverse, and the largest atheist organization in the state
Austin is far from a "liberal mecca" but because of that don't paint the larger metro areas as some right wing neofacist (I know many do that is why I added that)
Agreed. Austin is about as culturally backwards as it gets in this state. I do admit that parts of central Austin have a liberal population (by Texas standards), but the vast majority of metro Austin is extremely conservative. Of the many parts of the country i've lived over the past 15 years, only Colorado Springs is more conservative overall.
Dallas and Houston are extremely diverse cities (with Houston leading the pack) with all sorts of places for all members of society. Different neighborhoods, unique restaurants, and vast amounts of culture all over the place. Houston, for example, has nearly 80 languages spoken within it's borders and is among the top 10 most diverse cities in the nation.
Austin is the whitest major city in the state (and likely among the whitest in the country), with a nice freeway built in the 60's to keep the "colored folk" on the east side. A good amount of the population (with the city leaders being tops) are biggoted toward other races and only have tolerance for people of "higher classes".
Houston has the largest atheist organization in the state? This I did not know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by testmo
Houston went blue in the last presidential cycle and is a much larger area than Austin is. pretty impressive for a die hard conservative area no? We also have the first openly lesbian mayor, the largest gay pride parade in the region, more ethnically and religiously diverse, and the largest atheist organization in the state
Austin is far from a "liberal mecca" but because of that don't paint the larger metro areas as some right wing neofacist (I know many do that is why I added that)
Hmmm, lets break this down shall we? Austin, a horibly overgrown college town superior in WHAT to Dallas??
Crime--Dallas is a much larger city, so off course it's going to have more crime than Austin. Especially since it doesn't build a freeway specically to keep the blacks and hispanics on one side!
Obesity--Obviously those that feel this way have never left Austin. There are TONS of fat people walking around Austin, far more than Dallas. Houston is probably about the same in my opinion.
Sprawl--Again, dallas and Houston are far bigger cities, so of course they are going to sprawl more. Austin sprawls like CRAZY for a smaller city of it's size.
Plainness of city--Are we talking about the hillbilly country again? Yes Austin does have some hills west of it, but other than that, Austin is a flat, extremely boring city. Many SUBURBS of Dallas and Houston offer more than Austin.
Pollution--Once again, Dallas and Houston are much larger metro areas so the pollution will be worse. Austin does a TON of polluting (of course, all hidden by the media campaigns) Nothing pollutes more than giant SUV's sitting and traffic and no city in this state does it better than Austin.
Lack of Education--Dallas and Houston for many universities and colleges throughout the metro area. Austin has ONE of any significance. University of Texas.
Traffic- Austin has the worst congestion of any medium size metro area in the country. Neither Dallas NOR Houston ranks at the top of large metro areas with regards to traffic congestion.
Climate- That really depends upon what you consider to be nice. Houston is FAR milder in the winter than Austin or Dallas, but also more Humid in the summer. All three cities have among the most miserable climates in the country without a doubt.
Educated population? Most North Dallas suburbs have and over 40% college graduate percentage. (greater than austins 35%) Both Houston and Dallas have significantly more wealthy residents than Austin does (mainy west Houston, and north dallas)
Austin is more scenic? How? Because of the hillbilly country and some hills to the west?? Oh man, the amount of mileage people in this area get off of the "hillbilly" country.
Once again, this is the "Austinude" talking again. The arrogance and denial of the people in this area never ceases to amaze me!! Thats ok, just keep wearing your orange shirts and your #4 = #1 shirts!!
I agree with this poster about the pollution, it's gotten a lot worse over the past ten years. I could even see it in the air in central Austin, especially close to I- 35 when I was there a couple of weeks ago.
Also the whole educated thing, I'm pretty sure Houston and Dallas beat out Austin because there are more higher paying jobs in abundance there, and of course, you have to be educated to get those jobs, right? Austin might win out when it comes to "best place to start a small business"
I can't speak about Dallas cause I haven't spent enough time there, but Houston is quite a sophisticated town and people there are educated and very nice as well. Personally, I think Houston has a lot more to offer than Austin.
Moderator cut: non-english words you miss the point entirely! I don't care if you do not speak Spanish at all. It's just sad - no, funny! - when you seem completely entitled to speak for the entire Hispanic community and say that Hispanics are not welcome in Austin, when you can't even speak Spanish. I'm not trying to belittle you for it, but I am trying to make you question your own reasoning.
You're a chicano, and that's all. San Antonio is more suitable for chicanos. I feel Austin better caters to a wide range of latinos, as I have met more people from Monterrey, DF and Spain than I have in San Antonio. Maybe what you meant was that Austin caters more to the upper classes in all walks of society. But when you say that Austin is racist??? Come on... learn to speak Spanish first and then feel free to consider yourself the proudest Latino, or at least enough to know what cities are best for Mexicans.
This is the kind of annoying attitude I get from my fellow latinos. They think they've been discriminated but its probably just the white folks questioning their authenticity. There are some real white folks who question nonsense and just because they're white and have their own communities it doesn't mean they're racist. Everyone is free to join on the fun, but Austin is pretentious in the sense that if you're just talking the talk you'll be devastatingly ridiculed. That's what's true about Austin!
And no I don't care about what magazines say, but it is pretty funny that after you make such claims, some magazine called of all things "Hispanic Magazine" makes Austin a top city for hispanics, even over San Antonio.
I wouldn't call myself suffering from "Austitude" maybe its Mexican Realism, I dunno, but at some point you have to wake up and smell the coffee. If you are American as you say you are, then don't come with the Mexican Inferior Mentality when you can't even speak Spanish making everyone feel sorry for you because you were discriminated. No one is buying that. Not even me, who is also a fellow Hispanic. You simply couldn't fit in Austin, because you simply couldn't fit in. I don't fit in San Antonio, does that mean people in San Antonio are racist against Mexicans too? Get real dude.
This behavior of yours is like what my friend in Austin said some time ago. Now this guy was born AND raised in San Antonio and this friend of mine said that whenever he hears San Antonioans talking about Austin thinking their this or that and that they think they're better than San Antonio, he asks them, "you know what Austin thinks about San Antonio?? Nothing."
Or its more like the situation that happened with SXSW trying to be moved by some lame San Antonio official to San Antonio. Then after people in Austin rightfully responded in anger, some guy wrote an article and said, "oh, see? See? They're arrogant like we always said they were." I mean, its like any hand gesture Austin makes, its called "Austintude". Or any slight remark anyone makes in Austin, they're being "arrogant." How convenient!
Go do something valuable with your time instead.... like learning to speak Spanish. You are a proud mexican after all, right?
Dude, you seem to know a lot about me from just two posts!
I was just trying to present the facts and corroborating information with the gentleman I quoted in my first post.
The poster before me just said that "most of the population is bigoted". How many people is that now?
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,841,754 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn
But then you have to live in Houston!!!!
^I think this is a good example of Austintude. As opposed to some of the other "examples" brought up or more balanced posters like migol, atxcio, and loveroses.
Hmmm, lets break this down shall we? ...
Crime--
Obesity--
Sprawl--
Plainness of city--
Pollution--
Lack of Education--
Traffic-
Climate-
Educated population?
Austin is more scenic?
I guess this represents your list of the most important measures one should use to quantify the quality of a city.
Crime 1 (low) to 10 (high)
Austin = 5
Philadelphia = 9
Austin Wins (data from Sperling's Best Places)
Philadelphia = #4
Austin = Not in top 25
Alternatively, Austin ranks #13 on America's Fittest Cities.
Austin Wins.
Sprawl
Hard to compare this in a fair measurement. Ph is more dense but higher (than Nat avg) commute times. Austin is more spread out but lower (below national avg) commute times. Austin is too congested for a small city, but commute times are in fact the measure most people care about, so Austin would be an improvement over Ph.
Plainness of city
Subjective. It's hard to call Austin "plain" in the core. Outside the core, it's Anywhere USA. Philadelphia in many ways is a "plain" large city but with many historic and iconic anchors (and blight). Neither are "too plain" in my estimation. They are different though. Too subjective to call.
Lack of Education
Austin has a high population of college educated residents. Stats on this are easy to find. On this list, Austin ranks #25 and Philadelphia #98.
Traffic
On the National Traffic Scorecard, the rankings are as follows:
Philadelphia #9 (http://scorecard.inrix.com/scorecard/MetropolitanDetails.asp?ID=9 - broken link)
Austin #26 (http://scorecard.inrix.com/scorecard/MetropolitanDetails.asp?ID=26 - broken link)
Again, Austin is congested for it's size, I grant.
Climate
Weather stats are easy to find on both cities. If you like cold weather, the NE is where to live. If you can handle heat and like a lot of sunny days, the Sun Belt is where to be. Migration patterns since the 50's prove that Sun Belt weather is more desirable to Americans than the North East, thus it's hard to say Pennsylvania weather is "better" than Austin.
And what Hoffdano said about rates. You seem willing to ignore "per capita".
Thanks for finally offering up your list of criteria though.
I practically have for the last 3 years, being there about 6-8 weeks out of the year. I stay in the TC Jester area just north of 610.
Within, the 610, Houston is great! I don't know too much about the suburbs. The food scene there is great a well and plenty of live music as well as tons of museums and culture. Nice parks, bike paths and the beach is just an hour away.
The only drawback to me would be the traffic, but all major metros have that problem.
I practically have for the last 3 years, being there about 6-8 weeks out of the year. I stay in the TC Jester area just north of 610.
Within, the 610, Houston is great! I don't know too much about the suburbs. The food scene there is great a well and plenty of live music as well as tons of museums and culture. Nice parks, bike paths and the beach is just an hour away.
The only drawback to me would be the traffic, but all major metros have that problem.
Oh yeah, and no "Houstitude". Another plus!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
