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Old 12-10-2011, 06:23 PM
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Location: Ohio
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More than a dozen posts were deleted above. This is a relocation thread, not a contest to determine which poster can provide the most correct answers. The most important thing in a relocation thread is to be HELPFUL. If the focus of your post was to discredit another post, that is not helpful to the person relocating. Let the person doing the relocating ask the questions. You focus on providing the best information you can.

Discuss the topic and NOT each other.
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Old 12-10-2011, 06:30 PM
 
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
1,299 posts, read 2,762,107 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eepstein View Post
What lies? I never said that everything I said was a true fact. I simply state my opinion which is truly WAY more accurate than the idiotic "Austin is utopia" comments that plague this board. Much of the rediculous hype generated by the media marketing campaigns over the past 10 years, simply are lies. I can admit, that I fell for some of these "mistruths" back in 2003 when I decided to move here, but it didn't take long to realize how truly unremarkable Austin is as a whole.
I don't think I've seen an "Austin is Utopia" comment on this board in, well....ever. When we were using this forum to help figure out our move to Austin, the most outspoken posters were hardcore negative. Sure, the Forbes + Travel/Leisure articles are puff pieces that might say it's perfect, and I saw those too, but no one on City Data ever told us Austin was utopia. Even the so-called "mindless boosters" mentioned potential negatives, many of which we were prepared for upon moving.
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Old 12-11-2011, 08:48 PM
 
Location: Westbury
3,283 posts, read 6,018,560 times
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Have a weekend house/family home in Austin. My homestead is here in Houston. Immediately after grad school I went to live in Austin than changed my mind and moved back to Houston. Here is why:

Traffic - all major cities have bad traffic, but Austin's just seems intolerable to me. Austin is a much smaller city than what I am used to. It seemed the only way to get to work and the city to my house was through the worst of it. not a lot of alternative routes if you don't want to take a toll road twice a day

Size - Austin is a small city and has smallish city amenities. It is also growing a lot, but not in the best ways. It is developing like the rest of the sunbelt - suburbs and strip malls. though it is behind some of the larger sunbelt cities in trying to work away from this

Lack of a cultural center - Outside of UT or football. The museums in Austin are good for quick trip to do something but not really what I'd call impressive. There is an art scene, just not one i am a fan of (my opinion). I am not into country western or folk music. A lot of the local music scene/art scene centers on that.

Lack of diversity (ethnic and religious) - People hate on the other Texas cities because there is a lot more diversity. somehow in texas that means the other cities are dangerous or ghetto. i think that is a bad way to think. Outside of UT students there really isn't a lot of different kinds of people to get to know. The majority of new austin appears conservative. I think this comes from all the transplants from outside of the state.

Austin also tries very hard to be "the coolest place in America". I don't think that is something a city should have to purposefully strive for. I also think Austin would do better without this

As for as costs - basically the same for any major city in Texas. Property taxes are high in Texas in general

The above is just my opinion. There are also pros. I think austin has quite a few things to do outdoors. being in the city you definitely see people taking advantage of this. the local music scene is eh, but major/indie bands/musicians will always have a show in Austin when on tour

UT is a major powerhouse in Austin. lots of young educated people. Also a lot of college idiots but that goes for any college town

i could live in Austin and not regret it, but I'd be visiting other cities to go out to do stuff. I live in houston and go to Austin pretty regularly. now that water is not in the foreseeable future i may sell my home there and just visit when i want a break from the city
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Old 12-11-2011, 09:22 PM
 
Location: United State of Texas
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^^^ Excellent response.
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Old 12-12-2011, 08:42 AM
 
Location: The Lone Star State
8,030 posts, read 9,010,396 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by testmo View Post
Immediately after grad school I went to live in Austin than changed my mind and moved back to Houston. Here is why:

Traffic - all major cities have bad traffic, but Austin's just seems intolerable to me. Austin is a much smaller city than what I am used to. It seemed the only way to get to work and the city to my house was through the worst of it. not a lot of alternative routes if you don't want to take a toll road twice a day

Size - Austin is a small city and has smallish city amenities. It is also growing a lot, but not in the best ways. It is developing like the rest of the sunbelt - suburbs and strip malls. though it is behind some of the larger sunbelt cities in trying to work away from this

Lack of a cultural center - Outside of UT or football. The museums in Austin are good for quick trip to do something but not really what I'd call impressive. There is an art scene, just not one i am a fan of (my opinion). I am not into country western or folk music. A lot of the local music scene/art scene centers on that.

Lack of diversity (ethnic and religious) - People hate on the other Texas cities because there is a lot more diversity. somehow in texas that means the other cities are dangerous or ghetto. i think that is a bad way to think. Outside of UT students there really isn't a lot of different kinds of people to get to know. The majority of new austin appears conservative. I think this comes from all the transplants from outside of the state.

Austin also tries very hard to be "the coolest place in America". I don't think that is something a city should have to purposefully strive for. I also think Austin would do better without this

UT is a major powerhouse in Austin. lots of young educated people. Also a lot of college idiots but that goes for any college town

....now that water is not in the foreseeable future....
Yep, these are many of the gripes I probably hear most often from people from larger cities.

Can you elaborate on the water comment though?
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Old 12-12-2011, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Back home in California
589 posts, read 1,806,387 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sxrckr View Post
Can you elaborate on the water comment though?
After the droughts in 2 of the last 3 years, and the fact that the population of Texas is growing by leaps and bounds, do you really need to ask this question?
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Old 12-12-2011, 09:27 AM
 
Location: Broomfield, CO
1,445 posts, read 3,254,571 times
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My comments in red.


Quote:
Originally Posted by testmo View Post
Have a weekend house/family home in Austin. My homestead is here in Houston. Immediately after grad school I went to live in Austin than changed my mind and moved back to Houston. Here is why:

Traffic - all major cities have bad traffic, but Austin's just seems intolerable to me. Austin is a much smaller city than what I am used to. It seemed the only way to get to work and the city to my house was through the worst of it. not a lot of alternative routes if you don't want to take a toll road twice a day

There is a lot the city of Austin could do to help it's debuious destinction of the worst congested medium size city in the country. However, the COA chooses to bury it's head in the sand and do nothing. Most of the major streets/freeways in the Austin area are in desperate need of upgrading, but their are no plans to do anything to help with congestion.

Size - Austin is a small city and has smallish city amenities. It is also growing a lot, but not in the best ways. It is developing like the rest of the sunbelt - suburbs and strip malls. though it is behind some of the larger sunbelt cities in trying to work away from this

Austin is a VERY SMALL town "thinking" city. Of course, the metro area is now at 1.5 million people, but it's pretty amazing how "small town" Austin is when it comes to real "big city" matters like controlling population growth, preparing for the future, and segregation.

Lack of a cultural center - Outside of UT or football. The museums in Austin are good for quick trip to do something but not really what I'd call impressive. There is an art scene, just not one i am a fan of (my opinion). I am not into country western or folk music. A lot of the local music scene/art scene centers on that.

Austin's cultural scene is abysmal at best. Many smaller college cities offer more. Madison is a city that comes to mind. I do disagree. Most of the Austin museums aren't even worth a quick trip! Want culture, head to Houston or Dallas.

Lack of diversity (ethnic and religious) - People hate on the other Texas cities because there is a lot more diversity. somehow in texas that means the other cities are dangerous or ghetto. i think that is a bad way to think. Outside of UT students there really isn't a lot of different kinds of people to get to know. The majority of new austin appears conservative. I think this comes from all the transplants from outside of the state.

Austin is the whitest major city in Texas. Basically most of the parts the COA is most concerned with (central Austin) contain mostly white people. There is some diversity in pockets, but overall, Houston or Dallas are far more diverse.

Austin also tries very hard to be "the coolest place in America". I don't think that is something a city should have to purposefully strive for. I also think Austin would do better without this

In reality, Austin is probably one of the "uncoolest" places in America. The idea that Austin is in anyway "cool" comes 100% from the media marketing campaigns that have flooded the magazines, airwaves, and other forms of communications over the past 1-2 decades. There is nothing to back up a claim that Austin is any better than any other city in Texas (or the country for that matter).

As for as costs - basically the same for any major city in Texas. Property taxes are high in Texas in general

Incorrect. Austin has the highest home prices of any major city in Texas. The suburbs are cheaper and more affordable, but there is a reason for that. Travis country is among the top 20 highest property tax counties in the country (outside New Jersey & New Hampshire).

The above is just my opinion. There are also pros. I think austin has quite a few things to do outdoors. being in the city you definitely see people taking advantage of this. the local music scene is eh, but major/indie bands/musicians will always have a show in Austin when on tour

Yes, it is your opinion which many don't like to hear. Austin has quite a few things to do outdoors? Name ONE thing that can't be done in Dallas assuming you actually have a "nice weather day". Which is a rarity in these parts.

UT is a major powerhouse in Austin. lots of young educated people. Also a lot of college idiots but that goes for any college town

UT is a good school no doubt about it. But that is where it ends. The endless orange shirts all over the city are nothing more than a reminder of how little people in this town have to get excited about. (outside of their beloved pretend non professional football team) Never seen anything like it even in smaller college towns.

i could live in Austin and not regret it, but I'd be visiting other cities to go out to do stuff. I live in houston and go to Austin pretty regularly. now that water is not in the foreseeable future i may sell my home there and just visit when i want a break from the city
What do you mean by the water? Do you mean that Austin is rapidly running out of the wet stuff??
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Old 12-12-2011, 10:33 AM
 
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IMO a move to Austin would be fine if you come from a smallish town, are young, single with a stellar resume (in the healthcare or tech fields)....give Austin a try for a while.

However, if you plan on selling the house, packing up the family, simply because you heard that Austin is great-great-great with jobs falling out of the sky...DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Much of the hype surrounding Austin (and TX) is the result of PR campaigns trying to lure business to TX. The job market is NOT as advertised.

That being said. What don't I like here? Heat, high property taxes....and I'll add high utility costs (pay very careful attention to your utility provider if you intend to buy). The heat. The drought. The heat. Insurance costs are high here. High COL (I'm from Chicago, and I was surprised that in certain respects Austin is just as, if not more expensive). Many services only available 9-5, M-F. Lack of good restaurants. Local TV news...poor. No all-news radio station. City council tendency to dissolve into "group think". As soon as the contract is up, we will be relocating.
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Old 12-12-2011, 10:47 AM
 
Location: Denver
4,716 posts, read 8,530,738 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eepstein View Post
My comments in red.




What do you mean by the water? Do you mean that Austin is rapidly running out of the wet stuff??
Like you have said yourself in the past, Austin is in the desert like Tucson, so it only makes since that it would have water troubles.
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Old 12-12-2011, 10:50 AM
 
1,534 posts, read 2,754,388 times
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To the OP.

Long answer. I moved here from Chicago in 2001, and before that NYC. I regretted it for the first few years, but then 2 things happened. First, I started to focus on the things that were here, rather than the things that weren't and then some of things I missed started to come to Austin.

1.
Things that induced regret:
a). Lack of world-class high culture amenities. Fortunately the Blanton opened - not consistently fantastic, but their visiting exhibits are always interesting and they have one of the best collections of Latin American art in the U.S. So I could not see European old masters, I learned about a whole other aesthetic tradition. I discovered the Harry Ransom Center. While primarily a research center, so not all its treasures are open to the public all the time - it is truly one of the greatest cultural repositories in the world: all sorts of fascinating stuff from Scarlett O'Hara's dresses from Gone with the Wind to a Gutenberg Bible to the first landscape photograph ever taken to the papers of more major twentieth century writers than anywhere else: from Radclyffe Hall to Norman Mailer and David Foster-Wallace. Get on their mailing list. I also remembered that when I lived in NYC and Chicago, I actually only went to the Met or MOMA or the Frick or the Art Institute a couple of times a year. I am lucky enough to still be able to do that, even though I no longer live there. Between the Bass Concert Hall, the Long Center and the Paramount, if you pay attention, you can see a staggering range of top international music and dance at least once a week.

b. A generally mediocre dining scene. This is no longer true with some exceptions. Paradoxically the recession has been good to eaters in Austin. There is now one of the best food truck/trailer/cart scenes in the U.S., I would say we now have street food second only to L.A. Dozens of cheap, innovative food venues - too many to mention from Senegalese to Korean BBQ to superb locavore places, in addition to taco trucks selling a huge variety of regional Mexican and Latin American food. Some of the more successful ones have gone brick and mortar (Franklin, Odd Duck Farm to Trailer - which mercifully still exists - to Barley Swine) In 2001, there were a few excellent fine dining establishments, Jeffreys, Fonda San Miguel, the Driskill (I don't count Wink), maybe Green Pastures. There are now over twenty: again too many to list. Austin is now home to a slew of award-winning and nationally recognized chefs. Austin is becoming, if it is not already, a destination dining city. It will never be NYC or Chicago, where you can go out for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 5 years and never go to the same place twice, but if eating out is your thing, you can have a very respectable restaurant rotation in Austin. There has been a boom in farmer's markets, which are open nearly year round. Between Central Market, Whole Foods, Wheatsville, Fresh Plus, even HEB, produce was always excellent. Pizza now runs the gamut from tragic to mediocre, whereas before it was just tragic. There are many more excellent coffee shops. An Italian friend currently living in New York told me last week that Medici on the Drag served him the best coffee he has had in America and I almost believed him. (Its good but it is not even the best coffee-shop in Austin) My only continuing gripes are Italian food and bread, which still suck, with the exception of some Mexican bakeries on the south and east sides of town, and the bahn-mi at a few Vietnamese restaurants. There is much better Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese food to be eaten than there was a decade ago. You can now eat very deliciously at every price point, without making a herculean effort. Austin is also in the midst of a cocktail Renaissance, but that is a whole other post.

c. No real urban neighborhoods. Also no longer true. ten years ago, downtown was basically just a bacchanalian entertainment district. It is still that, but is now so much more. While the 2am last call ensures that no city in Texas will ever be a 24 hour city, with a growing residential population, amenities for everyday living like grocery stores etc, you can now live an urban life in downtown Austin, and not just downtown. The South Congress and east 6th/7th/11th east of 35 corridors are delightfully hopping, vibrant city, no longer suburban, neighborhoods. North Loop and South Lamar are headed that way.

d. Summer extreme heat - the same but worse.

e. Sprawl - the same but worse, but I now know how to avoid it.

f. The live music scene is deservedly heralded, but it is limited in genre: almost non-existent jazz or cabaret, little blues and tons of indie/alt country rock, which fortunately I like. Mediocre classical and opera, but they are here.

These were my grounds for regret. There are a hundred other reasons to like Austin, particularly the startling prevalence of natural wilderness in the heart of the city - the Barton creek greenbelt and Barton Springs still blow me away, but you asked for reasons for regret. One other thing, the rental market is increasingly tight, even historically cheaper areas in East Austin are getting expensive. While the historic small towns and surrounding countryside in all directions are charming, the intervening suburbs between Austin and them are not. If I had landed in that sprawlville, I would have left.
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