Not feeling A-town (Houston, Dallas, Austin: big home, live, gangs)
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I think most of your problem stems from high expectations. You idealized the city that
one week as a kid. Most big cities suck because they are big, not because they don't
live up to an ideal. There are places that come close to ideal, but not over 100,000.
You get close to a million, like Austin, you get problems.
Here is the main problem......big cities are too large to make everyone happy. Too
much crime, traffic, noise, fourustration et.al. I think people see Austin as a Boulder,
Colo. type-place. It isn't. Its just another big city, with big city prejudices and
problems. They all have the same stores, franchises, and such. If you've seen one,
you've seen them all. Same maddening commutes and all. The problem with Austin
is that people from other big cities think it is a singular situation per place and attitude.
It's all the same. While Austin might be an entrepreneurial and creative mecca, and
the live music capital, it has the same prejudices you see everywhere else.
Also, people bring their problems and attitudes with them from Cali the midwest,
the south, and the rest of Texas, and tend to replicate them when they come here.
That being said, Austin is a pretty damn good place considering its size, don't you think?
'
It's attitudes like this that the original poster was talking about. It's OK to not want to live around African-Americans or Latinos or any other "minority", I don't think there's a problem wanting to be around people of your own background, even if you define that by color. The problem is when you move to a large city and promote a climate that is against diversity and multi-culturalism which is what the large amount of people moving to a city create by default! Austin has grown by leaps and bounds particularly by the technology sector, with education and art also attracting migration. People who want to preserve a "white" Austin or at the least want others to assimilate into some kind of antebellum cowboy culture need to understand how this negatively affects growth.
Hate to break it to you, but Europeans didn't build or grow America by themselves. It was how they used other cultures and forced and attracted them to mix with each others that made our country grow by leaps and bounds. Non-whites contribute far more than food and music.
I think most of your problem stems from high expectations. You idealized the city that
one week as a kid. Most big cities suck because they are big, not because they don't
live up to an ideal. There are places that come close to ideal, but not over 100,000.
You get close to a million, like Austin, you get problems.
Here is the main problem......big cities are too large to make everyone happy. Too
much crime, traffic, noise, fourustration et.al. I think people see Austin as a Boulder,
Colo. type-place. It isn't. Its just another big city, with big city prejudices and
problems. They all have the same stores, franchises, and such. If you've seen one,
you've seen them all. Same maddening commutes and all. The problem with Austin
is that people from other big cities think it is a singular situation per place and attitude.
It's all the same. While Austin might be an entrepreneurial and creative mecca, and
the live music capital, it has the same prejudices you see everywhere else.
Also, people bring their problems and attitudes with them from Cali the midwest,
the south, and the rest of Texas, and tend to replicate them when they come here.
That being said, Austin is a pretty damn good place considering its size, don't you think?
'
Austin is really overhyped and it just does not live up to it. Its no different than any other city.
Hi I currently have called Austin home for the past seven months and really don't see what the hype is about. Rather than complain about a specific type of person or persons. I'm african-american(BLACK) which really has nothing to do with life aside from being darker than others. My experience here thus far has been rather odd. I hear a lot about diversity but rarely have I seen much of it. Yeah I could easily spout news stories but, I'd rather tell you my personal experience.
My wife and I have lived here together less than one year but personally find a few things dissappointing.
1. There are multiple churches but it seems to me that as diverse as Austin claims to be we've only found a few truly mixed churches.
2. The events that really are directed at our ethnicity "seem" to be poorly promoted and lousing when they are.
3. As realisitic as we can be it's amazing to us the cost of living in this city. Granted the average income in Travis vs. Williamson has a decent gap.
I personally never realized how much of a college town austin really has become(having lived all my life next to TX A&M(glad to be gone) . In the spring of 95 I'd visited for my spring break as a high school student and it was much more friendlier and fun. My family and I boated,went to eateries, the capital(etc). I'll be real and say 1 week doesn't form a true opinion. Yet it made an impression on me at the time.
Living here off and on before I moved sometimes for several weeks before it became offical I really feel dissappointed with such a liberally and what seemed progressive city.
I need on one to validate me and that isn't the point. I will however ask that if people out there(people of all ethnicities) no more about the area please share. My Wife and would love to find out what we may be missing.
We don't drink/smoke/do drugs but we would like to see the better things the city has to offer. We've been to the capital,u.t.(even saw lion king in feb-07),downtown etc. If there are people out there with positive,insightful tips please let us know.
Thanks,
Kingreezy
I agree with you; Austin isn't actually all that diverse, it's mainly white and Hispanic. To me "diversity" means lots of all kinds of people and if you want real diversity, go to the DFW metroplex. It's far more diverse. I find it's also more tolerant and progressive than Austin, and there's lots more to do.
Some Austinites seem to think that the only criteria for "progressiveness" are a love for the environment and a Democrat voter registration. To me that's pretty narrow-minded. I lived in Austin for six years and grew tired of not having much to do because my fellow Austinites were too busy patting themselves on the back for being so cool and laid-back.
No offense, but I think Austin's more hype than substance. YMMV.
I found your paragraph about drinking/smoking/drugs interesting. We have noticed that Austin is a drinking town.
I think these two comments are very significant. I don't drink either...and I'm very bored in Austin. Most people I know, when they want to hang out, go to a bar. Austin is very much a bar scene, and if you're not into it, your entertainment options take a significant hit. And while I like live music okay, I'm not REALLY into it...so then what? That's 90% of Austin's nighttime offerings. I find that I go to the Alamo Drafthouse a lot, and every now and then I go to some reading or lecture that the University sponsors, and I take part in SXSW and the Austin Film Festival. But the occasional event just isn't doing it for me.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the parks and people are very nice. But when my wife finishes her graduate degree in May, we're moving. I've met a lot of people who are really into Austin and big Austin boosters, but I've met a surprising number of people who are like, "Where's all the hype coming from?"
I think these two comments are very significant. I don't drink either...and I'm very bored in Austin. Most people I know, when they want to hang out, go to a bar. Austin is very much a bar scene, and if you're not into it, your entertainment options take a significant hit. And while I like live music okay, I'm not REALLY into it...so then what? That's 90% of Austin's nighttime offerings. I find that I go to the Alamo Drafthouse a lot, and every now and then I go to some reading or lecture that the University sponsors, and I take part in SXSW and the Austin Film Festival. But the occasional event just isn't doing it for me.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the parks and people are very nice. But when my wife finishes her graduate degree in May, we're moving. I've met a lot of people who are really into Austin and big Austin boosters, but I've met a surprising number of people who are like, "Where's all the hype coming from?"
Exactly! I don't drink at all...I don't have anything against people who do, I just choose not to. (I have other vices that are unacceptable in Austin.) This means that there's basically nothing for me to do there except watch other people drink while *I* can't smoke, or walk around in a park after battling for an hour to find a place to park. I'm not very outdoorsy; I like to garden and spend time in my own backyard but I'm not into hiking, biking, boating, swimming, etc. I'd rather exercise indoors where I won't faint from the heat or freeze from the cold.
Basically my lifestyle doesn't match what Austin has to offer and to be honest, there's a lot more people who are like me than who are not. People like us often find Austin boring as hell!
Also...while I'm as interested in saving the planet we all share, I hate...HATE...being preached to. I can't stand it. I recycle and save energy because I choose to, not because somebody is forcing me to or guilt-tripping me into doing it. The constant barrage of "green guilt" is just insufferable. It reminds me of Europe, and that's not a compliment! Austin thinks it's the country's leader in green initiatives, and it may be...RIGHT NOW...but Dallas and Fort Worth and various suburbs are catching up fast, and I wouldn't be surprised if we the tortoise passed Austin the hare in a few years, as the city has a tendency to rest on its laurels.
I cannot believe I read all 4-pages of this ca-ca!! (no offense)
My wife and I are both of minority races. We fit in fine w/ everyone. Yes now and then you may get some stuck up people, but those are the one's you find are very conservative!
If you like to meet people, MAJORITY of ATX residents is out going and loves to shoot the BS w/ you.
You just have to be outgoing yourself. Don't expect to sit there and think just b/c you see more whites that they hate you b/c of color. That is one thing I see since I been here in ATX that is not true.
I honestly say that I get a long way better with Hispanics and blacks heck even gays (lol) but that is b/c they are just laid back.
Being a father and avid coach for my son’s youth football team. I do see that some parents/majority Caucasian seem to be bit more conservative and not really talk to us unless I have to go up and approach them. By all means they are not racist or I know you maybe feel this way, but its just they are like you, not sure what to expect.
All I say if you want friends and wanting to meet people just get out there and talk to the world. I will guarantee ATX residents will talk back / at least 99.7% of the time.
Basically my lifestyle doesn't match what Austin has to offer and to be honest, there's a lot more people who are like me than who are not. People like us often find Austin boring as hell!
That describes me for sure. Be careful about moving to Austin just because you've heard it's "hip". Make sure your lifestyle matches Austin's or you'll be very bored.
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