Does anyone else kind of hate Austin? (Houston, Dallas: wage, restaurants)

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by hound 109

That's because people have different definitions of "diverse".

For some, it's a melting pot or a rainbow of different types of people (& the %s of different groups in greater Austin confirm this diversity)....& for others, their definition of diversity is code for something else.

If people say what they mean, they'll get straight answers.


(& our bagels are mediocre at best.... and although my opinion is not vehement....I believe one can find a good pizza at a dozen different spots in Austin, But probably not the "great" pizza found in the NE)

According to the figures, 84% of Austin is either white or Hispanic/Latino. That's not very diverse, IMO. Not to mention that even among the white population, there not a marked Polish, Italian, Irish, etc. population.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by cBach

I was in Pittsburgh. Yinzers can get quite defensive about their city.

And Pittsburgh is nothing like Philadelphia. They aren't even that close to it. Philly is about the same distance to Pittsburgh as Austin is to Oklahoma City, and I'm pretty sure no one would compare those two cities.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

And Pittsburgh is nothing like Philadelphia. They aren't even that close to it. Philly is about the same distance to Pittsburgh as Austin is to Oklahoma City, and I'm pretty sure no one would compare those two cities.

Philadelphia Will Never Be A World-Class City (and That’s OK With Me) | News | Philadelphia Magazine

[Kion]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

And Pittsburgh is nothing like Philadelphia. They aren't even that close to it. Philly is about the same distance to Pittsburgh as Austin is to Oklahoma City, and I'm pretty sure no one would compare those two cities.

Never say never.

SXSW: The Next Austin? | Oklahoma Gazette

[Reohh]

Originally Posted by KayakLady

I'm a transplant from NYC and I moved because I wanted nice weather and a different way of life, away from the cramped, dirty, cold, expensive city but somewhere vibrant and cool. But man, Austin really drives me nuts. And everyone just says how great it is all the time, like they have these rose colored glasses. I mean yes, my rent is incredibly cheap by comparison to NYC, and the weather is nice and I have a few good friends. But apart from that, I don't really get it.

I mean the music is not that good. There's no real entertainment industry infrastructure. Musicians barely get paid and most of them are amateurs. The lack of diversity is ridiculous and really vividly reflected in the monolithic arts scene. I thought Austin would be better than Portland because of the big Mexican-American population but almost everyone is white - and that doesn't mean Jewish or Italian like up north.

The other place where you can see the lack of diversity is the food. Everytning is bland and overpriced. Taco places give you flour tortillas and you have to ask for limes and cilantro. The pizza is subpar and the bagels are almost non-existent. Breakfast tacos are great, but we need some more options. Since moving here I've gained 20lbs despite mostly walking and biking. I've never been home so much in my life. Apart from the fact that I rarely climb stairs anymore, I end up cooking a lot and being home and eating more because the street food is so overpriced and crappy anyway.

On week nights the city is a dead zone. No one goes out. And when people do go out, it's in groups - which is just really unappealing in a setting where people are supposedly rugged individualists. I don't really find that many people to be genuinely interesting, cool, or intriguing. I'm nice enough to people and have pleasant conversations and made a few friends but I can't really connect with anyone because I just don't get them.

Add to that the little possibility for serendipitous experience on a daily basis, and the drudgery of having to own a vehicle and drive places, and the lack of visual stimulation in a place full of 1970's architecture and trees, and it's really rough.

I really really want to like it here because it makes sense economically (and I like sunshine) but I feel like that means being somebody I'm not.

It sounds like to me you ended up in the wrong city, maybe you should give Houston a chance. Its everything that you may be looking for and then some. I often ask myself, why does so many love Houston and not Austin, but I've only visited Austin a few times as my brother lives there. However, I've lived in Houston most of my life aside from living in Mississippi for 6 1/2 years. Diversity strives in its people as well the restaurant industry. There's a high Hispanic population and that's everywhere you travel to in Houston except for the River Oaks area or Pearland, overall most of the areas are considered Little Mexico. On weeknights, everyone goes out even if they know they have work in the morning. Houston is family-oriented as they do have lots of free family events every weekend. The nearby parks even neighborhood parks may not be the best, but it does work if you are looking for scenic outdoors. However, traffic, flooding, and the lack of people knowing how to drive is what I hate the most about Houston as well as the people. They aren't as open as Austin folks since most of them are parents.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

According to the figures, 84% of Austin is either white or Hispanic/Latino. That's not very diverse, IMO. Not to mention that even among the white population, there not a marked Polish, Italian, Irish, etc. population.

Funny that you mention that. When people ask me if all the diversity was a culture shock since I've moved to LA, I tell them no because in Houston we also have a big population of Hispanics, Filipinos, Russians, Arabs, Persians. But what did strike me as different was the population of white people. That's different. In Texas it's more Anglo, German, Czech, Scots-Irish and French. In LA the white population is mostly Russian, Jewish, Italian, Armenian and Irish. Basically the same as you'd find in the northeast. That to me was different.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer

Speaking for myself, I research online extensively, as I would guess most people do.

Slightly arrogant? You mean like Mark Cuban? Our possible next Veep?

Well honestly if we are talking about arrogance, can any Californian make the case for their state without giving a snide quip against another state? It seems as though a big component of taking up for California requires that you disparage another state solely on the basis that it's not California. For instance, I say Texas is cheaper and is well developed, you might live a very high standard of living in a growing state. Retort from a Californian: yeah but I'd have to live in Texas.

What does that even mean? You would have to first be a sort of snide arrogant kind of guy to infer that. There is nothing that they're quantifying there.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Philadelphia Will Never Be A World-Class City (and That’s OK With Me) | News | Philadelphia Magazine

I never once said that Philadelphia was a world-class city. Perhaps you are thinking of a different poster. I will say, though, that there are many world-class aspects like architecture, education (I believe that only the Boston metro area has more colleges and universities per capita than Philly, but I could be wrong), museums, and is also home to the largest urban park in the US (larger than even NYC's Central Park). The entire park system is also one of the largest urban park systems in the US. So I think that's pretty world-class too.

[ScoPro]

Diversity can be overrated by the quota-obsessed queens.

I don't care what race, ethnicity, religion, or political party the people around me are, as long as they're not a-hole low brow slobs.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Diversity can be overrated by the quota-obsessed queens.

I don't care what race, ethnicity, religion, or political party the people around me are, as long as they're not a-hole low brow slobs.

Yes, but places like Austin, the Bay Area etc get a rep for not caring about what race a person is so long as they're either yuppie, hipster or liberal. The areas attract highly educated folks and the type of "diversity" found at the colleges they graduate from is the same. As long as they have their black North Face fleece they're fine.