Californians coming to Austin area?? (Houston, Santa Maria: live, prices, move to)

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

...Stop bashing the fact we don't have this or that hamburger chain....

Wait a sec! Did you forget that Cedar Park is getting a Carl's Jr.?!!! OK, that was uncalled for.

[Rose Red]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Pretty much what lots of other folks here said. Whether you're moving from California to Austin or from Austin to California or from the city to the country or from anywhere to anywhere, don't complain about where you moved TO to get away from where you moved FROM isn't exactly like where you moved from. (As a real estate agent, I possibly see that more often than most, and I try to mitigate it whenever I can.)

That's what people don't like, and, sadly, more than a few Californians have done exactly that, making it bad for all the truly excellent folk who have moved here from there.

As long as you don't do that (and like I said, that'll get you disliked no matter where you're moving to or from), you should find the folks here quite friendly and welcoming.

Speaking of which, welcome to Austin!

Guess I shouldn't post a thread about "what I miss about CA" LOL! I'll start with Nothing!!!

[txaggies00]

Hi. My husband and I were raised in Houston but have been in Atlanta for the last 7 years. We are currently in the middle of relocating to Austin through a job transfer. We have done hours of research as well. We have a superintendent of a very good school district outside of Houston in our family so her opinion of school districts helped us narrow it down to Leander ISD. We chose CP based on my research and recommendations. We had our house hunting trip 2 weekends ago and after 4 days of driving around looking at homes with our relator, we came to a couple of conclusions...hope they help....

1. Austin is awesome...we have 2 young children and are very active and there is so much to do there. We both graduated from Texas A&M so that was a bit to swallow at first but we are so excited.

2. Cedar Park is great...after we narrowed the homes down we drove the subdivisions on a Sunday and stopped any and everyone to ask about the area. Because many of the elementary schools are in communities, there are TONS of kids. Everyone was so friendly.

3. It's a great time to buy....we settled on a new construction in Twin Creeks Country Club but there were so many homes to look at that by our final day we had a wonderful problem...5 homes to choose from. Prices are dropping and it's a buyers market!

Hope that helps!

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

When, and if, you move to Austin, please don't try to 'reconstruct' California. Forget about 'Trader Joes' that all Californians seem so obsessed with. Stop bashing the fact we don't have this or that hamburger chain. Live and love the heat, the humidity, the Longhorns, the lake and you'll be fine.

Are you kidding? No one says you have to assimilate to the Texas mentality. I'd love a Trader Joe's or an In and Out Burger. I'm surprised at this response, it's not very welcoming.

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by txaggies00

Hi. My husband and I were raised in Houston but have been in Atlanta for the last 7 years. We are currently in the middle of relocating to Austin through a job transfer. We have done hours of research as well. We have a superintendent of a very good school district outside of Houston in our family so her opinion of school districts helped us narrow it down to Leander ISD. We chose CP based on my research and recommendations. We had our house hunting trip 2 weekends ago and after 4 days of driving around looking at homes with our relator, we came to a couple of conclusions...hope they help....

1. Austin is awesome...we have 2 young children and are very active and there is so much to do there. We both graduated from Texas A&M so that was a bit to swallow at first but we are so excited.

2. Cedar Park is great...after we narrowed the homes down we drove the subdivisions on a Sunday and stopped any and everyone to ask about the area. Because many of the elementary schools are in communities, there are TONS of kids. Everyone was so friendly.

3. It's a great time to buy....we settled on a new construction in Twin Creeks Country Club but there were so many homes to look at that by our final day we had a wonderful problem...5 homes to choose from. Prices are dropping and it's a buyers market!

Hope that helps!

Don't settle for less. Did you look at Steiner Ranch? Even here we are not immune to price activity. We just had a home in our section that is ~3,600 sq. ft. and a 3 1/2 car garage go for $485K. That is a give away price compared to June '06. Our neighborhood walks to two Exemplary schools. Laura Welch Bush Elem. and Canyon Ridge Middle School.

The third amenity center is not walking distance, but is biking distance for kids 8 and older, or driving distance for when the in-laws are in town.

Or, there is even new construction going in around the new amenity center, and they will be opening a 3rd elementary school around the newsest, and last sections, so check it out.

Check out Look at the Amenities Link

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Are you kidding? No one says you have to assimilate to the Texas mentality. I'd love a Trader Joe's or an In and Out Burger. I'm surprised at this response, it's not very welcoming.

If you're not willing to take on a 'Texas mentality' that's not very welcoming to your new home, either.

[cub77cub]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

If you're not willing to take on a 'Texas mentality' that's not very welcoming to your new home, either.

It really does not matter where you move from or where you move to. People always miss something. There's nothing wrong with missing something! I remember when my new DIL moved to CA from Houston. She was a total "bbq snob". We finally found a place that she reluctantly agreed was good BBQ ("for CA, that is"). Please don't knock Trader Joe's if you have never been there. Who wouldn't miss great low prices (most of the time) on
a vast array of stuff that you can't get most other places...great staff, and an awesome cheap wine selection!!! Even my doggie treats were a couple bucks cheaper than anywhere else!!

[TexasHorseLady]

I think the point was, missing something is one thing, constantly talking about how great where you came from was compared to where you are now leads the natives to think (if not actually say), "So, why is it that you're here and not there, again, and when are you going back?"

And then folks think that Texans don't like Californians, which isn't actually true and is where this all started.

I do find it interesting, however, the number of Californians on the craigslist Austin housing forum who come on there specifically for the purpose of running down Texas - and some of them, admittedly, have never been here! That kind of thing, too, perhaps contributes to the misconception.

[HappyTexan]

I've seen this posted on other City forums:

"..and then they come here (city name) and try to Californicate it, trying to turn it into the exact city they left."

It goes on with lots of opinions. I think the ones that want to bring California with them are the ones that left due to not being able to afford stuff in California, not that they left because they didn't like California.

I'm not against anyone coming here from anywhere. I just don't want them to bring or want all the baggage that drove them to leave in the first place.

[austifornian]

My experience is that negative attitudes about Texas are inversely proportional to that persons direct Texas experience. It's funny to hear people who have never actually set foot here ramble on about why it is the most horrible place on earth.