Bay Area (CA) to Austin questions (Dallas, San Antonio: homes, find a job, school district)

[pjoseph2]

We have lived in both San Jose (7 years) and San Diego (5 years). Austin is comparatively smaller (15th biggest city in the country) and so has less bustle. Much more of a government & university town. It is growing fast, with good opportunities in the tech industry and a tight housing inventory.

And oh, the summers are long (5 months) and hot. This would likely be the biggest change from the coastal California cities. We visited San Diego over the holidays and enjoyed the high energy there. But Austin is home now and the kids will likely grow up better here.

[texastrigirl]

tacticool, I am curious why you are choosing Austin? Are you in tech?

We loved living there, and as my sister and cousin moved there when we did, I had a support system in place when my kids were babies. Which was HUGE. But I also had wonderful neighbors and friends, which also made a difference. Austin is generally a very friendly place, esp. somewhere like Steiner Ranch or Circle C, which are chock full of families with young kids. Our neighbors became our family and that would be a real possibility for you. In my experience attitude is everything when you move. We now live in WA and it's not a place I even thought I'd live. And now that I'm here, almost 5 years on, I feel like I could never leave. I felt that way about Austin too at one time. The one thing that I told myself was that if it was really, really that bad, we could always move back to Austin. And then the opportunity came up about 18 months into our time here and we decided not to. Had it come at about 9months, I might have taken it (LOL). My point being...if you do it, commit to it for a good 2 years. It does take the time to grow roots and you have to have the willingess to start over, do that, and not compare Austin to the Bay Area. Appreciate Austin for what it has and vice versa.

Good luck!

[supernaut112]

I'm an Austin native who moved to Berkeley — then back to Austin again. My primary reason at the time was cost. The Bay Area was shockingly expensive at the time, far more so than Austin was. From what I've heard from CA people who've moved here, they're about on par now.

Austin itself has a tinge of Bay Area in it — and yes, it's far more family friendly. The incorporated areas outside of Austin, like Steiner, seem custom-made for families. However, they're also absolutely nothing like Austin socially, culturally or aesthetically. They're far, far removed from what you're accustomed to.

Honestly? Given the rise in "strip mall" 'burbs cropping up on every horizon, the horrendous traffic, the over-crowding and the rising cost of living here, I'd pick the Bay Area. I pray my S.O. will get transferred there one day so I can go back!

[AcaciaRose]

I think the problems of moving away from your family apply to any cross-country move at all, no matter where you go. You might check City-Data's "General Moving" forum to find out what others have experienced.

Specifically about Austin: I moved here (to the downtown area) a year ago and although I like the city and the people a lot, I simply could not bear the extreme heat, so I'm moving back to the Bay Area soon.

Good luck!

[mark311]

Originally Posted by tacticool

I have a wife and 2 kids (18 mo. & 4yrs) and have never moved out of CA. My wife and I both have lots of family here that we are pretty close to as are the kids.

I think my warning is that it will be tough to do regular visits to the Bay area from Austin for you and vice-versa for your family to come to Austin. Your cheapest airfare will be about $300 round-trip, but easily could be $500 per person depending on when you book it. It's a miserable 27 hours (well about 18 hours of it is miserable) of driving each way so once you do that a couple times, you won't want to do it even on a yearly basis.

With that said, the Austin area can be a great place to raise kids, and coming from CA, we're very happy here. But, we weren't that close to the family that we have in CA. I could see it being an issue if we were. Since you are all so close to your family, have you looked into parts of Oregon or Arizona? Those locations make family visits much easier from the Bay area.

Edit: I noticed on your other thread that you were considering San Diego as well. Being from San Diego originally, that would be ideal if you could afford it. Travel time driving is 7 hours to and from the Bay Area or a very short flight. Your family is more likely to visit often as San Diego is a touristy place with the zoo, Sea World, Legoland, beaches, etc. Short weekend visits are not an issue at all. You could live out in a place like Temecula that has a fairly low cost of housing. The downfall is that you would have to deal with a grueling daily commute. It's probably something that you're familiar with in the Bay Area now.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by supernaut112

I'm an Austin native who moved to Berkeley — then back to Austin again. My primary reason at the time was cost. The Bay Area was shockingly expensive at the time, far more so than Austin was. From what I've heard from CA people who've moved here, they're about on par now.

Austin itself has a tinge of Bay Area in it — and yes, it's far more family friendly. The incorporated areas outside of Austin, like Steiner, seem custom-made for families. However, they're also absolutely nothing like Austin socially, culturally or aesthetically. They're far, far removed from what you're accustomed to.

Honestly? Given the rise in "strip mall" 'burbs cropping up on every horizon, the horrendous traffic, the over-crowding and the rising cost of living here, I'd pick the Bay Area. I pray my S.O. will get transferred there one day so I can go back!

I really don't see how the COL in the Bay Area is comparable to Austin, even with CA's drop in home prices. A cheap Bay Area home is still $500K. Eventually CA home prices will rise again to former levels simply because of the incredible imbalance between supply and demand.

Traffic here can be bad, but not everywhere. And I don't know how someone can say Austin is overcrowded.

[N. Olikee]

I lived in San Diego for a couple of years........many years ago, when I was young and single. It was fine, but expensive. Yeah, there are some nice beaches there, but cold...........I much prefer the East Coast and the Atlantic. However, lakes are even better.

Recently visited SD and LA and OC, and found it depressing. Glad I, personally, moved away from there. Nice place to visit, but.........................

[G Grasshopper]

As others have said, it depends on your relationship with your family. Personally, I think there is no substitute for extended family. Although I know children can be perfectly happy without extended family, it is an added dimension that is worth a great deal to me. We lived in Marin County while my son was growing up, with no family at all around. Most were in Texas or Wisconsin. He saw his grandmother twice a year, and his cousins once a year. If I could have changed that, I surely would have. If you need to move, I would look first to areas that are closer to home before moving so far away. But that is just me - you may have a different perspective.

[tacticool]

Thanks for all the feedback folks!

I've never really liked the Bay Area (geographically) other than being in close proximity to Tahoe for camping, shooting, boating, hiking, etc. Family is what has kept me here but I've always felt a bit out of place. Now with the company I work for in BK and my wife unemployed we are considering the benefits of moving to Austin to have more financial security, better schools for the kids, political climate more friendly to conservative Christians, and to be close to some very good friends we have there. The financial condition and future of CA is really scaring me.

The weather will be an issue for my wife but I love the heat and hate the cold long winters in the East Bay. Season passes to Schlitterbahn will be a must! I do fraud investigation of financial crimes and while there is some work in Austin seems to be more in Dallas and SA but I wouldn't want to live in either. I thought of living in New Braunfels and commuting to SA for work but I want to check it out when we are there in a few weeks first.

I lived in SoCal for about a year after college. I lived in Cardiff by the Sea and loved it. San Diego or South OC would be options depending on the jobs. Right now we are just applying for good looking jobs and praying that we'll be guided in the right direction.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by tacticool

I do fraud investigation of financial crimes and while there is some work in Austin seems to be more in Dallas and SA but I wouldn't want to live in either.

Why wouldn't you want to live in San Antonio or Dallas? I have to say that I probably had the same misconceptions having lived in CA all my life prior to moving to the Austin area 6 years ago, but there are actually some really nice parts of Dallas and San Antonio. I'm not that familiar with Dallas, but from what it sounds like you're looking for, the Northern part of Dallas would provide everything that you've stated in your wants. Austin would too, but after being here a while, even us former Californians realize that the Austin area isn't the only inhabitable place in Texas.