Austin or San Francisco (Orange, San Diego: home, public schools, living)

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by twange

-Smaller city footprint. The sizes of the city blocks seem to be half the size of East Coast cities. I think that must be a characteristic of newer 21st century cities, supposedly to encourage pedestrian activity. Portland has obviously done a superior job in this aspect.
-Perceived political views, community action/involvement. Both towns citizens are very aggressive in influencing local politics.
-Newer city, not a lot of older, Deco architecture since the cities have grown only recently.
-Lots of younger people.
-Mostly white, with a low black population(too low IMHO). Of course Austin has a very high Latino culture, something Portland does not. There was a joke I heard when I was up there that Hispanics don't cross the California border as they weren't welcome
-Focus on outdoors activities
-Great music scenes
-Lack of pro sports(with the exception of the TrailBlazers, Portland doesn't have any)

There was a pretty big discussion on this forum about these two cities, so it seems these two cities share some DNA somewhere along the city evolutionary path.

My point was that Columbus and Austin are not very compatible.

OK, you have brought up some interesting points I did not consider. I just love Portland, and seem to hate Austin. To me there are so many reason that they are different, but that is a for another thread. You are right about the hispanics, portland has a large Russian population.

[lindseyrepp143]

This may need to be posted in the San Fran thread as well but - does anyone know a good tax site to figure out how much is taken from a certain set salary?

I'm wondering if after taxes and cost to rent a house in the Bay Area, my husband might be making the same as here in Austin!

[jwb123]

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[southwest1230]

I think comparing Austin-San Francisco is apples/oranges....its not terribly unlike comparing Portland to Chicago, Indianapolis to NYC, or Columbus, OH. to Washington D.C. Let's be fair here.....Austin is much smaller than San Fran metro area by a long shot. Literally I understand they have the same pop, and literally so does Boston, but both are culturally, economically, and historically wedded to a MUCH larger metro area. I would say that considering Austin's relative isolation, regionally, and even in Texas itself, its somewhat miraculous what it offers in all ways.
Austin is simply an out-of-the-way place for those looking to escape the suffocation of the huge metro areas that we tend to hang and compare Austin to after we move there. Austin is not Chicago, NYC, the Bay area, DC, or even Miami, for that matter. It is Texas in spirit and freedom, not to mention opportunity. It is regional in food, music, attitude, and look. Austin is for those, again, trying to get away from the constrictions and expectations we are burdened with, wherever that may be, including Houston and Dallas. It may not live up to Big City expectations, but one can still dream here, and you can't say that about too many places anymore.....something to be said for that, don't you think?

[southwest1230]

Originally Posted by brattpowered

Is this question a joke? Have you been to SF? San Francisco is a beautiful, captivating city filled with character. The Big Sur Coast is one of the most awe-inspiring natural areas in the world. Austin is in TEXAS and is basically just flat, dry scrubland full of generic suburbia with a tiny kernal of "cool" in the middle of it. "Nature" is dried out, trash strewn streams and brown hills. MY GOD, GO TO SAN FRANCISCO IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!

Scrubland with a tiny kernal of cool in it.......are you sure you aren't talking about my raisin bran cereal? Actually, that would sound more like cap crunch..that is a hilarious desc. of Austin....I'll have to remember that one.
can I steal and trademark that?

[southwest1230]

Originally Posted by another_hot-day

Well once you have kids, it's not about you anymore.

The thing about down town (6th street) is you have to drive home. With no public transpo, someone has to drive. The cost of a cab can really damage your drinking money

Zilker is cool every now and then and during free concerts.

Kayaking town lake is fun also.

Umm, i think that wraps up downtown.

That last line was hilarious.......all the funny comments seem to be on this
post.........definition of austin's DT: 2 festivals, 50 bars, one park, 300
dogs, hippies and dogs in kayaks, and those damn pedicabs all over!
Ahhhh, I still think DT Austin is a lot of fun, especially on week-ends.
And watch out for the drunken pedicab drivers!

[jclAustin]

What I miss most about the SF Bay area is California's natural beauty and diversity. Rugged pacific coastline, redwood forests, to the High Sierras all within a short car ride. In the bay area you're 1.5 hours from Nappa and Sonoma for wine tasting. You can go hiking / jogging at the many open space preserves that ring the area. You are 3 hours from Big Sur in the south, 3 hours from Mendocino to the North, 4 from Yosemite or Caleveras Big Trees, 6 hours from Tahoe or LA. Pt Reyes, Marin Headlands, Muir Woods, Muir Beach, etc all close as well.

[love roses]

If you travel around the entire state of Texas, you'll notice that it also has a fair amount of diversity in it's landscape, except that since it's so much larger than California, it takes longer to do.

[elmstreetschool]

Reading the posts about the California climate gives me a lump in the throat remembering how beautiful the Pacific coast is. Part of why we left Texas was the boring terrain and inhospitable climate. I'm getting ready to go back and feeling a little wistful

I was reading the post from someone who lives in a 4800 square foot house and is surrounded by "wealthier" people. Yikes. I'm not ready to play on that ball field In Texas, we can live on about half what we need on the East coast.

The closest thing Austin has to San Francisco is the Clarksville neighborhood. I'd love to live there but can't afford it. We picked Georgetown because it had an interesting old downtown neighborhood but was more affordable. I wouldn't want to live in, say, Round Rock. I know a lot of musician/artist/writer/etc. types who moved from central Austin to outlying towns like Elgin, Bartlett, Lockhart, etc. because of cost. Even East Austin has finally gentrified.

Had to look Steiner Ranch up on the map -- it's pretty far out! I have a friend who's lived in Apache Shores for about 25 years. That area is completely unrecognizable now. The trouble with the suburbs is that all the Austin attractions (look at the "area attractions" on the Steiner website) are about 20 miles away, and you have to travel the same roads that were built 20 years ago. TXDOT is notoriously behind the times in building transportation infrastructure. So expect traffic every time you go "in to town".

On the other hand, Californians might not recognize it as "traffic" being accustomed to something a little bit more severe.

[lifelong texan]

Hi Lindsey,
I was wondering what part of the country you and your husband are from? I have also lived in both SF and Austin.