Has anyone moved to Austin and regretted it? If so, why? (Dallas: rent, townhome)

[eepstein]

My comments in red.

Originally Posted by squidget

I have lived in Austin for just over 2 years and I do have some regrets. Background first: I moved here from Omaha, NE though I was a transplant there too. My "home" is Northern Virgina (just outside DC).

I spent a good deal of time in the Omaha area (have friends out in Millard), and it's a great town. Friendly people, great downtown scene (old market), and a new arena (can't remember the name) Century Link perhaps??

Traffic. The DC metro area is known for their terrible, terrible traffic and I hated it but I also understood it (to a degree anyway). There are 13 mil commuting in/out everyday. The traffic situation in Austin makes no sense to me. There's only just over a million people here, why is it so congested? Why is major interstate cutting thru the middle of a city? Why does it split (at UT) for no reason just to merge back together again? It almost seems like the planning of some of the hiways and biways were made with the intent to make traffic jams.

The infastructure in Austin is probably the worst of any major city i've been to. The interesting thing here is there are ZERO plans to do anything about it. Most of the new tollroads built over the past 5-10 years, haven't done anything to address the issues which are worst further into the central city.

Music scene. I hate to say but the music that I listen to, I had more options in Omaha and way more in DC. (bands I like Tool, Chevelle, Breaking Benjamin, etc.) There is a lot of singer/songwriter folk music that is just not my bag.

There is very little to do in Austin, therefore this city likes to "cling" onto things that most other cities take for granted. The "live music" claim is really no different than any other major city. Austin does have a large number of NO NAME bands that will never amount to anything.

Hot weather. The long hot summer months are brutal. I just can't handle being outside for more than 5 minutes. I'm told I will get use to it but it's been 2 summers and it's still intolerable.

Yes, the summer is miserable. But as the locals will tell you with pride "it's not as bad as Houston". This is mainly because Houston is the only city they can think of with a worse summertime climate than Austin. I would say Phoenix or Tuscon, but that's just me.

Cultural diversity. At first, Austin was the bees knees in this area (I was moving from Omaha afterall) and I work for a Silicon Valley based tech company so in the hallways at work, there is quite a bit of it. However, as I started to adjust and spend more time outside of work - I noticed that its pretty weak sauce. As a black female over 30 I'm definitely struggling to find my place in the city.

Austin is whitebred west of I-35, with the "colored folk" east of I-35. A racist city indeed. The COA, likes to pretend that nothing exists east of I-35 since their main focus is no the high income people. Few hispanics, or blacks live anywhere east of I-35 (of course, there are always exceptions to that)

[scm53]

Originally Posted by eepstein

Austin is whitebred west of I-35, with the "colored folk" east of I-35.

Few hispanics, or blacks live anywhere east of I-35 (of course, there are always exceptions to that)

????

[DMZ3]

Austinite here.

I don't regret moving here, but I know people who did. The thing to remember is that your experience will be relative compared to your own experiences. It may be a big improvement, or it may be underwhelming.

There's a lot I like about the city, but since we're talking about criticisms, here's a few:

1. Traffic. Austin has severe traffic problems due to a combination of poor planning, restricted geography and rapid population growth. Public transit is better than other cities in Texas and the South, but it doesn't make up for the inherent problems the city has -- because it's built largely for cars.

2. Weather. Austin is very hot and dry. If you're from Texas, Mexico or other hot climates, then you should adjust easily to Austin. But if you're from a milder climate, then Austin can take some getting used to.

3. Isolation. Austin is relatively isolated. The nearest big city is San Antonio, and other large cities like Dallas and Houston are several hours away. Other than that: try Monterrey, Mexico, or New Orleans, which will take you an entire day at least. If you're used to living along the Atlantic seaboard, this can be a big shift.

4. Diversity. Good if you're Mexican-American! But bad if you're black. The city has a relatively small African-American community and it's quite below the national average. There's not a lot of stuff for black people to do on their own terms. There's not many black-oriented businesses or nightlife. Though politically liberal and tolerant of diversity, it's overall a very white city with a substantial Latino population, and the city's culture reflects it. It's much less diverse than the metropoles of Dallas and Houston.

Following up on that, Austin also has a pretty sedated gay nightlife. I'm gay and do miss the city I moved from for this reason. There's only a few gay bars and not a whole lot else. Though a lot of gay people live in Austin, and the city is more accepting than most, it's largely pretty dull.

5. Snobbery. Yes, I said it. While again this can be relative to other cities (New York City, I'm sure, is much less friendly than Austin), Austinities have an undeserved chip on their shoulder.

6. Finally, guys like this:

[rickc007]

Originally Posted by eepstein

My comments in red.



Austin is whitebred west of I-35, with the "colored folk" east of I-35. A racist city indeed. The COA, likes to pretend that nothing exists east of I-35 since their main focus is no the high income people. Few hispanics, or blacks live anywhere east of I-35 (of course, there are always exceptions to that)

How on EARTH is this guys posts not moderated, or his account locked

Consistantly, under the guise of offering an opinion, just spewing hatred
toward Austin, or making racist remarks

Wow

[TerryDactyls]

Originally Posted by rickc007

How on EARTH is this guys posts not moderated, or his account locked

Consistantly, under the guise of offering an opinion, just spewing hatred
toward Austin, or making racist remarks

Wow

While I agree that eepstein's comments are usually off center, in this case I have to side with him. When I first moved to Austin, a realtor told me that white people shouldn't be looking at housing east of I-35. I would opine that this is a fairly white bread view of the world.

[senormatt]

Originally Posted by eepstein

One thing you must realize, that the city of Austin isn't concerned with anyone except the high middle class and well to do citizens. Nearly ALL of the money spent in this town over the past 10 years has been to improve the life of rich people. Numerous high rise condos downtown, the creation of the 2nd street district, the Domain (in north Austin)

The city of Austin paid for all the new condos downtown, the businesses on 2nd st, and paid to build the Domain? So maybe they gave some tax subsidies to help make it happen, but they should get recoup the money long term in sales and property taxes. Most cities do this kind of thing.

Originally Posted by eepstein

Meanwhile, ZERO has been done for the lower and middle income in this city.

What would you like the city do that isn't already being done?

Originally Posted by eepstein

Austin is whitebred west of I-35, with the "colored folk" east of I-35. A racist city indeed. The COA, likes to pretend that nothing exists east of I-35 since their main focus is no the high income people. Few hispanics, or blacks live anywhere west of I-35 (of course, there are always exceptions to that)[/color]

If you said "whitebred west of Mopac" that may be more believable, but there is a good number of black and hispanic families west of I-35 - no conspiracy about that. Just look at the ratio of kids in the different AISD schools. As far as the money spending - you realize the amount of money the middle/upper class & the wealthy pay in taxes here? If you compare who the money comes in from, to who it goes out to, you'll see an unevenly higher ratio of attention/concern/money going back out to the poorer communities, not the other way around as you believe.

[senormatt]

Originally Posted by eepstein

Austin is whitebred west of I-35, with the "colored folk" east of I-35. A racist city indeed. The COA, likes to pretend that nothing exists east of I-35 since their main focus is on the high income people.

To be fair the city can't "pretend nothing exists over there" for one because East Austin consumes a lot of money via police patrol.
I've seen a number of city programs over the years to improve east Austin neighborhoods though. There's also some nice relatively new roads that come to mind as well.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by rickc007

How on EARTH is this guys posts not moderated, or his account locked

Consistantly, under the guise of offering an opinion, just spewing hatred
toward Austin, or making racist remarks

That's untrue, because some of what he says is indeed valid, though his delivery of it needs improvement.

More dangerous would be censoring any negative comments about Austin here, which a few would be all too happy to do.

You always go after him here; if you don't like his opinions, use the "ignore" feature.

[rickc007]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

That's untrue, because some of what he says is indeed valid, though his delivery of it needs improvement.

More dangerous would be censoring any negative comments about Austin here, which a few would be all too happy to do.

You always go after him here; if you don't like his opinions, use the "ignore" feature.

While his posts do pose a morbid sense of entertainment,
he's gone WAY beyond normal input

Now, he moved to Austin and regretted because ...
"Austin is whitebred west of I-35, with the "colored folk" east of I-35. A racist city indeed." ????

"AUSTIN" is racist ? The whole city ?
Or just the person that posted the above

[cBach]

Originally Posted by rickc007

How on EARTH is this guys posts not moderated, or his account locked

Consistantly, under the guise of offering an opinion, just spewing hatred
toward Austin, or making racist remarks

Wow

I've asked the same question ...