Austin / Denver comparison? (San Antonio, Spring, West: transplants, crime rate, new home)

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by CameraGirl

Biscuits:

How about we just agree to disagree! I am going to stand by my original post. Forums like this is suppose to allow for a freedom of personal opinion. The OP asked for opinions regarding a comparison of Austin and Denver. I gave my personal take on the subject. I don't think that you are anymore qualified with an opinion of my own personal experience then I am. Again, if you are more interested in "helping" the OP- then why don't you tell her some advantages to moving to Austin over Denver. I'd love to hear them too. Right now I am trying to maintain my own interest in moving there. So play nice Bisquits- your hurting your cause.

How long have you lived in Austin?

[CameraGirl]

After reading Denver/Austin, "A Tale of Two Cities", as posted by Cameragirl, I found it to be well thought out and helpful. I don't take offense to the claim that she feels Denver is cleaner than Austin and I certainly didn't think she overstated it. I frequently travel to Denver on business and I have also marveled at what a nice and clean city it is.

Cameragirl and urbantraveler, ignore biscuits (the heat may have gotten to him - he sounds grouchy). You're both welcome to Austin anytime and we're not a grouchy place, as a whole. Austin is fun, friendly with a ton to offer for anyone considering moving here. Urbantraveler, Denver is also a nice city and worth your consideration.

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by tailwind

After reading Denver/Austin, "A Tale of Two Cities", as posted by Cameragirl, I found it to be well thought out and helpful. I don't take offense to the claim that she feels Denver is cleaner than Austin and I certainly didn't think she overstated it. I frequently travel to Denver on business and I have also marveled at what a nice and clean city it is.

Cameragirl and urbantraveler, ignore biscuits (the heat may have gotten to him - he sounds grouchy). You're both welcome to Austin anytime and we're not a grouchy place, as a whole. Austin is fun, friendly with a ton to offer for anyone considering moving here. Urbantraveler, Denver is also a nice city and worth your consideration.

Very nice first post...I too look for such a vague entry-point when joining a discussion board.

Since you have visited Denver, and CameraGirl has "researched" Austin, I will retract my opinion based on actually living in both cities for more than 48-hours. Denver is "more clean" than Austin.

Tailwind - can you please describe exactly how Denver is more clean than Austin?

[CameraGirl]

Biscuits,
I had just stumbled upon this site while searching for a completely different site for TX. real estate. I clicked on the first posting to see if it was the one that I was looking for and got sucked into the ongoing debate that you & cameragirl were locked in. I felt like you were doing Austin a huge disservice with what I took as your bullying ways. You came out wrangling for nothing more than a fight. Here these two woman were trying to find out more about Austin and you were just bent on showing your *@*. I'm a Native Texan and I don't take kindly to a newbie like you making the rest of us look like jerks. So knock it off. Be kind. Cameragirl tried "several" times to get you to quit being a baby and start giving some constructive & tangible reasons for them to move here and you just wanted to proof that Austin was not a good choice for them. Yes, this was my first and last time on this site. I hope the rest of the folks on this website have better manners and personalities than you Biscuit. Man-up why don't you.

[twange]

I'm not sure how this situation degraded so quickly. Forums are for opinions. If you don't agree, better just to not respond.
Anyone else out there have any comparisons between the two cities? I'm interested in hearing more info...

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by tailwind

Biscuits,
I had just stumbled upon this site while searching for a completely different site for TX. real estate. I clicked on the first posting to see if it was the one that I was looking for and got sucked into the ongoing debate that you & cameragirl were locked in. I felt like you were doing Austin a huge disservice with what I took as your bullying ways. You came out wrangling for nothing more than a fight. Here these two woman were trying to find out more about Austin and you were just bent on showing your *@*. I'm a Native Texan and I don't take kindly to a newbie like you making the rest of us look like jerks. So knock it off. Be kind. Cameragirl tried "several" times to get you to quit being a baby and start giving some constructive & tangible reasons for them to move here and you just wanted to proof that Austin was not a good choice for them. Yes, this was my first and last time on this site. I hope the rest of the folks on this website have better manners and personalities than you Biscuit. Man-up why don't you.

This is your explanation of how clean Denver is relative to Austin?

Let me help you out. Denver has areas like Commerce City that, as well as being home to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (think large toxic landfill), is also home to industrial smokestacks. These smokestacks emit industrial pollution the likes of which Austin has never experienced. This pollution, coupled with the emissions from automobiles and firewood, joins together to create a brown haze that the Rocky Mountains help keep firmly above the city of Denver.

In this sense, IMHO, Denver is less clean than Austin.

In any other sense, I don't see a distinction. Both cities have street-cleaning trucks and both cities do a good job of collecting refuse.

If anyone can point out specific areas where Austin is less clean than Denver, I would love to hear it. The simple problem is that none of you can offer one specific comparison. Why is that?

Biscuits
-5th generation Texan
-4th generation Austinite
-13 years physically living in Denver
-22 years physically living in Austin

[StuckInTexas]

I live in Austin, but have also lived briefly in Colo Springs and in Denver (more of a long-term vacation really). I have lived all over Texas as well, Dallas, Houston, etc...

Wages and Cost of Living
Denver may have higher wages from base pay, but when you factor in cost of living, Austin has one of the highest wages to cost-of-living ratios in the US. There is still plenty of REAL cheap housing near Austin if you don't mind going 10 - 20 miles out of the city, depending where you want to live. There are only certain parts of Austin that are expensive, but on average Denver real-estate is more expensive across-the-board. Austin is still one of the fastest growing cities in the US, and this is both good and bad. I would say the job market in Austin is as good as anywhere in the US, but not quite as diverse as Denver (but still diverse enough). Austin is near three large cities, both Houston and Dallas are only a 3.5 hour drive away from Austin. San Antonio is only a 1.5 hour drive. This creates a sort of centralized megatropolis economy, where you get over-spill from the other cities. This is also one reason Austin has grown so fast. What people sometimes forget is that when you draw a square out around from Austin, there are almost 15 million people living in this spread out "corner of Texas" (Dallas + Houston + San Antonio + metropolitan areas + other cities + Austin = nearly 15 million)

Traffic
Both Denver and Austin have comparable traffic issues, it depends where you live. Austin has major traffic problems right now because the city grew too fast, but they've added some new freeways. On average, I would say Austin has "less consistent" traffic but it flows terribly during rush hour. Overall, I'd say it's too close to call. Some parts of Austin you can easily expect a 45 to one hour commute just to go 20 miles during rush hour, same with Denver.

Cleanliness
I think both cities have dirty parts and both cities have clean parts. Austin does have cleaner air for certain. Austin is one of the cleaner air cities for it's size. Denver has improved their air quality, but the mountains still trap a lot of smog. There are places on the outskirts of Denver that have clean air. Downtown Austin definitely has much cleaner air than Downtown Denver, partly just due to less density. The outskirts of Austin have more construction than Denver, because it is growing faster.
People often get "dirty" confused with "old looking". Both Austin and Denver have old and new parts of town. There are areas of Denver that have cleaner air than other areas. If you want to live in a downtown area, then Austin blows away Denver in air quality.

Austin has more allergies than Denver, becuase of Cedar and ragweed, as well as more humid.

Climate
Austin is in the middle of a climate dividing line in Texas, as you go East you start to slowly get more rain and the weather is more tropical like. To the west of Austin it gets drier and eventually more like a desert (especially if you go far enough west say 100+ miles where you get on the western border of the hill country). However, it's plenty green here and we get plenty of rain. Some years you'll have droughts, and some years constant flooding (like this year). Austin weather is ok, the storms are kind of neat sometimes (really heavy downpours), but if you like colder weather then this isn't the place for you (Stay in Denver ) Austin basically has 4 months of very nice weather, 4 months of semi-nice weather, and 4 months of really hot and crappy weather.

Outdoors
Austin is one of the better places in Texas for outdoor stuff, but it still does not compare to Colorado. It's hard to beat Colorado's scenery and dry climate. Although the good thing about Austin is it is much more comfortable in the fall, winter, spring at night. Denver is pretty nice weather during the day even in the non-summer months, but let's face it, Denver is pretty damn cold sometimes, especially at night. I'd say you can be more comfortable in Austin much of the year outside than in Denver, but this depends on your own preference as well.... Austin is usually pretty nice weather at night, whereas in Denver the temp. tends to drop like a rock once that sun goes down.

If I had to choose between the 2 cities, I'd probably rather be in Denver, just because I enjoy snow, drier air, and the scenery. However, if I lived in Denver for a few years, I might get tired of it and want to come back to Austin

[pilotskid27]

Stuck In Texas:

What a nice, rational, informative post--kudos! My husband and I have enjoyed watching this exchange over the past couple of days as we live in Austin, but he has worked in Denver for almost 3 years. (He was actually in Boulder for the first year (which also would make for an interesting comparison to Austin.)

Anyway, he agrees with your assessment of both locations, but would add the following:

The dry air that feels so good on your skin in Denver plays havoc with your sinuses. He and many of his co-workers find it necessary to use one of those nasal irrigation things every day to keep from getting nosebleeds.

Fitness is a more prevalent lifestyle in Denver than Austin. It is commonplace to see people change into fitness gear at the end of the work day, and go for a quick hike or climb on the way home. Biking to work is much more common in Denver than here, and more accomodations/ respect is given to cyclists there. (At least, that is his experience in his workplace....granted, he works for a company that makes health food.)

That's not to say that there are not fitness enthusiasts in Austin (there are), they are just more prevalent in Denver.

He has changed his driving habits a bit as pedestrians and cyclists are given strict right-of-way on the public roadways in Denver/ Boulder. If there is a pedestrian in the cross walk, you DO NOT even think about driving across an intersection in Denver/ Boulder, lest you get an emphatic flat-hand slap to the hood of your car as a reminder.

This almost got us killed a couple of years ago as we were driving on 5th street past the El Arroyo when a group of people dashed across the street from where they had parked by the Mean-Eyed Cat. As soon as the pedestrians stepped into the road ahead of us, my DH screeched to a halt--right in the middle of 5th!!---much to the shock of the pedestrians, me, and the drivers behind us! Fortunately, disaster was avoided, but I can attest that Denver has definitely changed how he drives.

Just out of curiosity, I asked him about the cleanliness issue. He said that he can't put his finger on it, but, outside of the smog, Denver does "seem" cleaner than Austin. He acknowledges that it may be that in Denver he spends his time in modern office buildings and "business-oriented" restaurants and hotels, while in Austin, I drag him to funky south Austin restaurants and and antique shops.

Hope that helps....

[Mike78613]

All I know is this. I live in Austin now for nine years.

Before that, I was in Colorado springs from 1987-1995.

Austin had given me more $$ and opportunity job wise for sure!!

I would of never left Colorado, but the darn Californians then were raiding Springs like it was a lotto ticket. The crime got much worse, home prices were on the rise and that being said, thanks to the Real-Estate and the Californians driving the price up. Job pay were no where as good as Austin was then.

The way I see it now, been here 9-years. I own an house, truly been really affordable, but since the Californians are flocking South and the housing market is starting to rise, I to plan to triple the profit of my home when I decide to sale it!! Yes this time I am not going empty handed!!

When I sale my home, I will be moving to Denver area. Love the weather, miss the snow & mountains; oh and mountain biking kicks-butt in CO!

When I came to Austin in 1996 no-one knew what a turn signal is and they still don't!! I hate the way people drive here.

As for Austinite's they are wonderful people and very nice. Lots to do, but I really want to be back in Colorado. Just miss the 4-season. Now I just hope job opportunity is there since I gained much experience that was added to my resume.

Oh yea, the whole motto of KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD is going to be gone. Go look downtown and look around, I see corporate America coming!! Bulldozer are starting to be popular here (I work downtown)


Note: I do not mean rude by saying darn Californians. I welcome you all here. Please all come here!!

[jdkamcc1]

I have lived in both Colorado Springs and Austin. I can probably only really speak to the weather comparisons, as Denver and Colorado Springs are almost identical. If you are an outdoor person and enjoy the warm weather, Denver is not for you. The winters are not overly harsh, just very long. Yes, there are 4 discernable seasons, but you can just as easily get snow over Memorial weekend as you can sunshine. Winter lasts 6-8 months and the other three seasons split the remaining 4-6 months. It can and does snow here about eight months out of the year. However, that does not mean it is sustained cold weather those eight months. I have literally seen it drop 60 degrees and start snowing within a few hours. Only yesterday, it was 85 degrees and started raining, which dropped the temp to the 60's. Rain and temps in the 60's during August is completely normal. Long periods of snow are rare. Usually, it snows and the sun comes out and melts it within a few days.

I would not have put so much stock in how the weather can affect a person's emotions until I moved back to Colorado 10 years ago. I NEED the warmth! I find anything below about 40 degrees absolutely miserable, which it is more days than not in Colorado. Give me hot and sunny anyday, which is why we are returning to Austin by the end of the year!!!!!!!!!