Soon to be Chicago IT grad wanting to move to Austin (Houston: house, school districts)

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by SmartGXL

As far as living off of a $50,000 salary, I am going to say NO to that. Austin is VERY expensive now, as expensive as Chicago.

Of course you can. That's about the median household income. So fully half the people living in Austin earn less.

[anthonysawah]

Lol well then, Hoffdano, someone is having a bad day. Other than that unnecessary comment I want to thank you for your input. Now, I'm a decorated IT student, with a 3 month database project on my record, a year of system admin experience, MCSA SQL Server 2012 so I have some nice experience I also have some nice awards that will definitely make me look good. I have a nice big book of contacts and I'm sure I can find some leads to tech companies in Texas. So I hope that clarifies my experience.

-- smartgxl

Well as long as there is a church then I'm happy.

What exactly is it in Austin that makes it expensive? I should've been more specific in my question because I see housing still being a lot cheaper than Chicago if you've ever been here.

Also, weather is very important and a big reason why I wanna move to Texas.

[anthonysawah]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Of course you can. That's about the median household income. So fully half the people living in Austin earn less.

Thank you very much for your insight Novacek. I had trouble believing that statement a little bit so thanks for clarifying that for Me.

[SmartGXL]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Of course you can. That's about the median household income. So fully half the people living in Austin earn less.

Of course you CAN do that, but what quality of life will that give him? He certainly wont qualify to rent any of the new $1800/month apartments that are in the hot areas of town. He can rent cheaper/older places in town, but who wants to live in a dumpy apartment? Or he can live in a new apartment in the burbs.

EDIT: I just now saw that he is asking to live 10-15 miles OUTSIDE of Austin...I agree, that is doable on his theoretical 50k income.

[SmartGXL]

Originally Posted by anthonysawah

Lol well then, Hoffdano, someone is having a bad day. Other than that unnecessary comment I want to thank you for your input. Now, I'm a decorated IT student, with a 3 month database project on my record, a year of system admin experience, MCSA SQL Server 2012 so I have some nice experience I also have some nice awards that will definitely make me look good. I have a nice big book of contacts and I'm sure I can find some leads to tech companies in Texas. So I hope that clarifies my experience.

-- smartgxl

Well as long as there is a church then I'm happy.

What exactly is it in Austin that makes it expensive? I should've been more specific in my question because I see housing still being a lot cheaper than Chicago if you've ever been here.

Also, weather is very important and a big reason why I wanna move to Texas.

Weather is definitely better in Texas. And the cost of living in Texas is USUALLY cheaper, but you have to understand, HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of people have moved to Austin in just the last five years alone. A lot of people are moving there from places like California (and Chicago) and bringing lots of money with them, and it is now the fastest growing city in the US right now and the housing/rental market has gotten VERY expensive. Im talking $1800/month for "nice new" apartments, in areas within town.

However, I did just now see that you are willing to live 10-15 miles outside of the city, and so yes you can find newer, cheap rentals out that way, in places like Cedar Park (conservative suburb with more church going culture than what you find in Austin proper). You have to understand, Austin is the liberal "Berkeley" of Texas, and has a reputation of being more progressive. It is very different than the rest of Texas. So, there isnt really a big church scene in Austin proper.

As far as your education credentials go - Congrads on graduating soon! However, when you start looking for jobs, you are competing with people who have 20+ years of solid IT industry experience. Im not trying to put down what you have achieved so far, but IT employers usually want people with 3-5 years solid database experience. Lots of IT workers are moving there from Silicon Valley and bringing real on the job full time work experience, and you cant compete with these people yet. Plus, the employers, when they do want to hire a new grad, seem to have a bias towards hiring local people who are graduating from UT. Which is why I think you are better off looking for work in places like Dallas.

**Actually** I would say, you are better off working in Chicago for a few years, doing entry-level temp-to-hire contract IT work, and building your resume, before ever considering Austin.

EDIT: What Im trying to say here is, there is not a lot of entry-level IT work in Austin. Stay in Chicago for now, get entry-level work, build your resume for another two years, and then go to Austin from there.

How do I know all of this? I own a house in Dallas but also own a condo in Chicago. I have been in the IT field for 15+ years, worked in the Loop for most of those years and travel back and forth between Dallas and Chicago all the time. My brother lives in Austin and my family is originally from there. So I am very familiar with how things work in all three cities. I was just in Austin looking at apartments and it has gotten VERY EXPENSIVE there!!

[centraleastaustinite]

Originally Posted by anthonysawah

I see housing still being a lot cheaper than Chicago if you've ever been here.

Also, weather is very important and a big reason why I wanna move to Texas.

It's not. I literally just posted this in another thread today but Better Half & I just moved back to Austin last year from Chicago. We used to rent a 1BR in River West for $1400 and when we came to ATX we rented a 1BR in Zilker for $1300 while we were house hunting. And at that we purchased a single family home in Central East Austin for what we were planning to spend on a loft in the West Loop. So basically if you are living anywhere close to downtown, plan on paying Chicago prices.

Check out this report that was published last week on median 1BR rental prices in Austin.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by SmartGXL

Weather is definitely better in Texas. And the cost of living in Texas is USUALLY cheaper, but you have to understand, HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of people have moved to Austin in just the last five years alone. A lot of people are moving there from places like California (and Chicago) and bringing lots of money with them, and it is now the fastest growing city in the US right now and the housing/rental market has gotten VERY expensive. Im talking $1800/month for "nice new" apartments, in areas within town.

However, I did just now see that you are willing to live 10-15 miles outside of the city, and so yes you can find newer, cheap rentals out that way, in places like Cedar Park (conservative suburb with more church going culture than what you find in Austin proper). You have to understand, Austin is the liberal "Berkeley" of Texas, and has a reputation of being more progressive. It is very different than the rest of Texas. So, there isnt really a big church scene in Austin proper.

As far as your education credentials go - Congrads on graduating soon! However, when you start looking for jobs, you are competing with people who have 20+ years of solid IT industry experience. Im not trying to put down what you have achieved so far, but IT employers usually want people with 3-5 years solid database experience. Lots of IT workers are moving there from Silicon Valley and bringing real on the job full time work experience, and you cant compete with these people yet. Plus, the employers, when they do want to hire a new grad, seem to have a bias towards hiring local people who are graduating from UT. Which is why I think you are better off looking for work in places like Dallas.

**Actually** I would say, you are better off working in Chicago for a few years, doing entry-level temp-to-hire contract IT work, and building your resume, before ever considering Austin.

EDIT: What Im trying to say here is, there is not a lot of entry-level IT work in Austin. Stay in Chicago for now, get entry-level work, build your resume for another two years, and then go to Austin from there.

How do I know all of this? I own a house in Dallas but also own a condo in Chicago. I have been in the IT field for 15+ years, worked in the Loop for most of those years and travel back and forth between Dallas and Chicago all the time. My brother lives in Austin and my family is originally from there. So I am very familiar with how things work in all three cities. I was just in Austin looking at apartments and it has gotten VERY EXPENSIVE there!!

Let's see - HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS moved to Austin in just the last five years? No. Many thousands for sure. But not hundreds of thousands.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by anthonysawah

Lol well then, Hoffdano, someone is having a bad day. Other than that unnecessary comment I want to thank you for your input. Now, I'm a decorated IT student, with a 3 month database project on my record, a year of system admin experience, MCSA SQL Server 2012 so I have some nice experience I also have some nice awards that will definitely make me look good. I have a nice big book of contacts and I'm sure I can find some leads to tech companies in Texas. So I hope that clarifies my experience.

-- smartgxl

Well as long as there is a church then I'm happy.

What exactly is it in Austin that makes it expensive? I should've been more specific in my question because I see housing still being a lot cheaper than Chicago if you've ever been here.

Also, weather is very important and a big reason why I wanna move to Texas.

No - I am not having a bad day at all. I just don't get why someone would pick a city based on pro sports when most NEVER go to a pro game. Baseball is only kinda affordable. And I like sports.

But if you are good - you can find work in Austin. Don't be afraid to look in non-traditional places like local governments, school districts, etc. You can even consider Dell - but don't plan to stay long.

A difference between Austin and the other cities in Texas is the number of companies here where their business is IT. Software companies. Silicon. Etc. That's different than working in Houston for petro or Dallas for telcomm or banking.

One of my key coworkers is a Chicago native that moved here about 10-12 years ago. He would never move back. There are few things he misses of course - mostly certain foods. But doesn't miss the weather, the politics, the taxes, the corruption, etc.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Let's see - HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS moved to Austin in just the last five years? No. Many thousands for sure. But not hundreds of thousands.

For the whole metro, yes.

2010-2014 : 227k. Hundreds of thousands (barely).

For the whole city, not quite.
2010-2013 (just three years) : 95k

So for the whole city over 5 years, definitely over 100k, but probably not hundreds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_population

[SmartGXL]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Let's see - HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS moved to Austin in just the last five years? No. Many thousands for sure. But not hundreds of thousands.

EDIT: Novacek clearified what I had stated (thanks).