Austin's weather and scenery, I am from Phoenix, have horses (Dallas: how much, cheap house)

[Katjianna]

I am from Phoenix. Love Phoenix, would move back in a heartbeat. Husband hates it. We currently live in SoCal to try it out for a year before we buy. NO THANKS, for too many reasons!

Texas just seems like the right fit for us for all of the usual reasons. Cheap house and we can get land of the horses. We like Georgetown outside of Round Rock.

I am not trying to compare Phoenix Vs. Austin. I wanted to post this in the Austin area to get a TRUE idea of how much you like living there?

Here are my concerns. I LOVED the mountains in Phoenix, and LOVED that the weather was consistent. Here in Southern Ca it rains for a week, is 50 degrees, super cold at night and I miss out on so much time riding.

I hear that Texas weather can be unpredictable as well? Is it cold one day, warm the next? Rain for a few days to a week?

How are the people? I am originally from the midwest. Friendly, courteous of others. Is that "Southern hospitality" alive and well in Austin?

We considered Dallas by my husband prefers Austin and is a software engineer. He does not need to find work, he works remotely.

Please advise on weather changes/scenery/people?

Thanks for your time!

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Katjianna

I am from Phoenix. Love Phoenix, would move back in a heartbeat. Husband hates it. We currently live in SoCal to try it out for a year before we buy. NO THANKS, for too many reasons!

Texas just seems like the right fit for us for all of the usual reasons. Cheap house and we can get land of the horses. We like Georgetown outside of Round Rock.

I am not trying to compare Phoenix Vs. Austin. I wanted to post this in the Austin area to get a TRUE idea of how much you like living there?

Here are my concerns. I LOVED the mountains in Phoenix, and LOVED that the weather was consistent. Here in Southern Ca it rains for a week, is 50 degrees, super cold at night and I miss out on so much time riding.

I hear that Texas weather can be unpredictable as well? Is it cold one day, warm the next? Rain for a few days to a week?

How are the people? I am originally from the midwest. Friendly, courteous of others. Is that "Southern hospitality" alive and well in Austin?

We considered Dallas by my husband prefers Austin and is a software engineer. He does not need to find work, he works remotely.

Please advise on weather changes/scenery/people?

Thanks for your time!

If you think socal weather is inconsistent you would hate it here. We can be 30 degrees one day, then 72 the next. We get a lot more rain than so cal as well

[eastof35]

Weatherwise you can ride almost every day. There will be weeks like this one where it gets too muddy to do much riding bit those are rare.

Also the cold is never so bad that you can't ride.

The real problem is the heat and humidity, but that can be worked around by just riding in the morning or evening when it's like 100+ degrees.

[harkm]

I have lived in Phoenix, Dallas metro, and Austin. The people in Austin and Dallas are MUCH nicer than the people in Phoenix. It isn't even close in my opinion. I also got tired of the same weather every single day in Phoenix. In Dallas and Austin you get a variety of different weather from week to week and I happen to like it better. I believe you will like it in Austin since heat doesn't bother you. Austin is beautiful too!

[Katjianna]

Thank you for the opinions so far. The inconsistent weather may be an issue. I loved that Phoenix was the same weather day in and day out, it was easy to plan activities and prepare for [horse] shows. The rain can make life difficult with horses for sure. I think the weather differences are my main concern. I do dislike that here in CA is varies so much.

So nice to hear that the people are wonderful though, thats a big plus for me!

There is alot in Austin that would be a good fit for me. I will have to look up hay prices in Austin. Here in SoCal it is $20 a bale! Thats simply insane! I pay outrageous prices on everything, sit in traffic for hours and 8 out of 10 people are just incredibly rude. This is definitely not "home" for me, can't wait to leave! We will be visiting Austin again in a couple of months and I can't wait.

Any other opinions please share. Thanks!

[sxrckr]

You know what they say, if you don't like the weather in Texas, wait until tomorrow and it will change. There is real truth in this!

By the way, what is it about Phoenix that your husband hates?

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Katjianna

I am from Phoenix. Love Phoenix, would move back in a heartbeat. Husband hates it. We currently live in SoCal to try it out for a year before we buy. NO THANKS, for too many reasons!

Texas just seems like the right fit for us for all of the usual reasons. Cheap house and we can get land of the horses. We like Georgetown outside of Round Rock.

I am not trying to compare Phoenix Vs. Austin. I wanted to post this in the Austin area to get a TRUE idea of how much you like living there?

Here are my concerns. I LOVED the mountains in Phoenix, and LOVED that the weather was consistent. Here in Southern Ca it rains for a week, is 50 degrees, super cold at night and I miss out on so much time riding.

I hear that Texas weather can be unpredictable as well? Is it cold one day, warm the next? Rain for a few days to a week?

How are the people? I am originally from the midwest. Friendly, courteous of others. Is that "Southern hospitality" alive and well in Austin?

We considered Dallas by my husband prefers Austin and is a software engineer. He does not need to find work, he works remotely.

Please advise on weather changes/scenery/people?

Thanks for your time!

I have lived in Phoenix, surveyed all over Arizona and have some family there still. I like central Texas much more. While the weather is more variable here, there are no shortage of beautiful days when you can enjoy the outdoors. Austin is a very outdoor oriented City with lots of outdoor events and celebrations throughout the year. I'm sure you can find some nice rural areas around Georgetown.

[eepstein]

Both Austin and Dallas have miserable climates. Extreme heat in the summer, and constant weather changes in the winter. Cold, warm, cold warm. Fronts every few days, winds out of the South, North, South, North. back and forth. Very few nice days in the winter.

Phoenix has a FAR more pleasant climate. Yes, it is hotter than Texas cities, but you are rewarded with a beautiful winter which is pretty much 70 degrees for 3-4 months straight. There is always a tradeoff.

As far as cities in Texas, Dallas is the star of the state without a doubt. It's a mega city with everything you could possibly ask for. Despite being the "concrete jungle", there are tons of opportunities for just about every person.

I would personally avoid Austin at all costs. It's basically a horribly overcrowded, expensive, arrogant college town with little if anything going for it except for it's famous "multi media marketing campaigns." These are basically FALSE marketing to try and LURE people and business to this area, when 90% of the foolish end up in the more affordable suburbs.
The entire city is based upon the UT campus, and their non professional (pretend) football team. Longhorns everywhere you go...on shirts, on cars, on flags, painted on driveways, billboards, etc. The only 2 reasons anyone would visit Austin would be for South By Southwest, or the ACL festival. Both are pretty much the same with no name bands, and drunk college kids everywhere. (although I do think ACL has a few more famous bands that play their gigs and get the hell out shortly after)

Originally Posted by Katjianna

I am from Phoenix. Love Phoenix, would move back in a heartbeat. Husband hates it. We currently live in SoCal to try it out for a year before we buy. NO THANKS, for too many reasons!

Texas just seems like the right fit for us for all of the usual reasons. Cheap house and we can get land of the horses. We like Georgetown outside of Round Rock.

I am not trying to compare Phoenix Vs. Austin. I wanted to post this in the Austin area to get a TRUE idea of how much you like living there?

Here are my concerns. I LOVED the mountains in Phoenix, and LOVED that the weather was consistent. Here in Southern Ca it rains for a week, is 50 degrees, super cold at night and I miss out on so much time riding.

I hear that Texas weather can be unpredictable as well? Is it cold one day, warm the next? Rain for a few days to a week?

How are the people? I am originally from the midwest. Friendly, courteous of others. Is that "Southern hospitality" alive and well in Austin?

We considered Dallas by my husband prefers Austin and is a software engineer. He does not need to find work, he works remotely.

Please advise on weather changes/scenery/people?

Thanks for your time!

[Trainwreck20]

Rain for a week at a time is unusual, but does happen. There is a very significant horse culture around here, and I can tell you that Georgetown can be a good choice for horse people. Temperature varies quite a bit, but my horsey friends don't seem to mind that, so if it is the rain that your are worried about - well, they are predicting that we will be like Phoenix in 30 years .

AS for hay, I do not know about square bales, but the round ones are very high right now due to drought. My dad raises sheep, and the small round bales of coastal have gone from $30 to over $110 over the last year.

Finally, I have the poster above on my ignore list, so I can't see what it says, but it is probably completely opposite of anything useful .

[Katjianna]

I just wanted to bump this for any additional opinions of PHX vs Austin? It is "crunch time" here and we are either moving back to Phoenix or starting fresh and new in Austin. Looking to buy a house in 2 months. Any more viewpoints? Thanks!