This may sound silly, but does Austin "feel" like a big city? (Houston: 2011, loan)

[TexasHorseLady]

It does, indeed! Of course, sometimes one of those roads has "gone away" due to new road construction, but that Invisible Map In My Head usually helps me find SOME way around it!

[brattpowered]

Originally Posted by gimme it

When you write,"underutilized" do you mean that the downtown is not thriving? Does it mean that most people go to chain restaurants rather than smaller restaurants or cafes? I would think the area around the Univ. would be lively and thriving. I'm trying to convince my husband to at least check it out. He loves a thriving downtown area and he is allergic to new suburban sprawl, which I am trying to convince him is everywhere these days. Help!!

By underutilized, I mean that it does not have a healthy balance of people who work, live and play there (yet, at least--we're working on it). It is heavily skewed toward bars and music venues, and against residential space. There are also way too many surface parking lots and windowless/doorless concrete-wall-against-the-street buildings to call it a real functional downtown.

The university area is pretty thriving, and much of the time it feels more urban and real the downtown itself.

[brattpowered]

Originally Posted by The Homesteader

Looks like you are a senior so this is a great city as UT is here. Lots of places to walk and enjpy gold, boating, fishing. Marble Falls, just to the west of us aia a small town with lots of retirees coming in. I am definitly going to retire here as the weather is perfect and views are enourmous. I grew up in New Canaan Ct and never want to see snow unless I am skiing on it!
Sheila

I grew up in Stamford, CT... I wish it would snow here!

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by gimme it

We are currently in NYC and my husband would prefer us relocating to a smaller city with 150,000 or less people. I was telling him that every place can feel small no matter how big it is. Even in NYC, we are in Greenwich Village and it feels like a small town. His concerns are the hassles of urban living such as traffic congestion, crowds, high prices,etc. I'm trying to convince him to check out Austin.

I think it depends on what you consider the drawbacks of a big city. Sure, cities like Chicago and Boston have neighborhoods with distinctive personalities, but they are still located in high density corridors, and you still have to jump on the city grids to get anywhere, whether you drive or commute. I think you are looking for a mellow atmosphere, maybe even bucolic-like, without the incessant hum of urban transportation corridors or pollution. Per Austin, I would not say that it has a small city feel, but it is more personable and grounded than many big cities, and people seem to get along and talk to each other more, which is similar to a small city. The traffic is anything but small city. It isn't the interstate traffic, as much as the local roads, which are usually pretty much humming night and day. There are quiet islands, like travis heights, hyde park, and such, but Austin is a pretty active and dynamic place. Madison, WIsc. might be closer to your ideal of a small city that still has enough going on not to stifle the soul.

[austifornian]

A friend of mine was talking the other day about how they would go out to eat at the Catfish Parlor on 183 and how far out of town that seemed at the time.

[gigi927]

Originally Posted by scongress1234

I think it depends on what you consider the drawbacks of a big city. Sure, cities like Chicago and Boston have neighborhoods with distinctive personalities, but they are still located in high density corridors, and you still have to jump on the city grids to get anywhere, whether you drive or commute. I think you are looking for a mellow atmosphere, maybe even bucolic-like, without the incessant hum of urban transportation corridors or pollution. Per Austin, I would not say that it has a small city feel, but it is more personable and grounded than many big cities, and people seem to get along and talk to each other more, which is similar to a small city. The traffic is anything but small city. It isn't the interstate traffic, as much as the local roads, which are usually pretty much humming night and day. There are quiet islands, like travis heights, hyde park, and such, but Austin is a pretty active and dynamic place. Madison, WIsc. might be closer to your ideal of a small city that still has enough going on not to stifle the soul.

well said!!!!!

[twange]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

One of the things I love about Central Texas is that if you don't like the topography or the soil or even, sometimes, the weather, you can just pick a direction and drive 50 miles, say, and you'll find something completely different. And whatever direction you choose, what you find will be different than any of the other directions. Austin is somewhat the same way in that if you don't like what you find in one neighborhood, chances are you'll find something you like in another one not all that far away

This is a great point! Austin really is a confluence of many different things, physically, philosophically and spiritually. For me that's the appeal. Some people probably don't get that here and simply judge the city by it's surface. That's a mistake I think.

[SweethomeSanAntonio]

Originally Posted by austifornian

Here's what you do Goldilocks,

Take him to Houston (pop. 5M) for two days (ooohhh! this city is too big!)
Take him to Bryan/College Station (pop. 150K) for two days (ooohhh! this city is too small!)
Take him to Austin (pop. 1.5M) for 5 days, (ooohh! this city is...)

Austin has about 800,000 or 900,000 urbanized area. It is not a city of 1.5 million. Unless you count Bastrop and San Marcos as Austin. The metro of 1.5 million is not contigious urban area.

[jread]

I'm from a small town of 20,000 and Austin definitely feels like a "city" to me. It does not feel like a "big city" like Houston does, but it's not small by any means. I don't know what the person who said that downtown is "underutilized" is referring to, as I think Austin's downtown is extremely busy and thriving. It really feels me with energy to be among the downtown hustle and bustle. At the same time, Austin has a lot of trees... EVERYWHERE... and this can make even the inner-city neighborhoods seem small and quiet. I think that if we had fewer trees that it wouldn't feel like a small town in many areas.

Also, just to give you an idea, there are a ton of highrise projects slated for downtown that are either under construction or about to be under construction. See the following graphic for a glimpse of downtown Austin now, and what it will look like in only two years: Future Austin Skyline Panoramic Poster :: Austin Fit Magazine

You can literally see it go from medium city to big city from 2008 to 2010.

[pvaustin]

Some Statistics for you...

Demographically, Austin ranks #16 in US. Austin is more populous than Boston, Seattle, Washington DC, Atlanta.

Rank ↓ City ↓ State ↓ Population ↓
1 New York City 8,250,567
2 Los Angeles 3,849,378
3 Chicago 2,833,321
4 Houston 2,144,491
5 Phoenix 1,512,986
6 Philadelphia 1,448,394
7 San Antonio 1,296,682
8 San Diego 1,256,951
9 Dallas 1,232,940
10 San Jose 0929,936
11 Detroite 0918,849
12 Jacksonville 0794,555
13 Indianapolisa 0785,597
14 San Francisco 0744,041
15 Columbus 0733,203
16 Austin 0709,893


Geographically Austin Ranks #26 in US. Austin is larger than Chicago, San Jose, Detroit, Philadelphia


Rank City Land Area (mi²) Land Area (km²) Total Area (mi²) Total Area (km²)
1 Sitka, Alaska * 2,874 7,444 4,812 12,462
2 Juneau, Alaska * 2,717 7,036 3,255 8,430
3 Anchorage, Alaska * 1,697 4,396 1,961 5,079
4 Jacksonville, Florida * 758 1,962 874 2,265
5 Anaconda, Montana * 737 1,909 741 1,920
6 Butte, Montana * 716 1,855 717 1,857
7 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 607 1,572 621 1,609
8 Honolulu, Hawaii * 600 1,554 2,127 5,509
9 Houston, Texas 579 1,501 602 1,558
10 Phoenix, Arizona 515 1,333 515 1,333
11 Nashville, Tennessee 502 1,226 526 1,287
12 Los Angeles, California 465 1,204 489 1,291
13 Skagway, Alaska 452 1,172 464 1,203
14 San Antonio, Texas 408 1,056 412 1,067
15 Suffolk, Virginia 400 1,036 429 1,111
16 Indianapolis, Indiana 362 936 368 954
17 Dallas, Texas 343 887 385 997
18 Chesapeake, Virginia 341 883 351 909
19 San Diego, California 325 840 372 964
20 Kansas City, Missouri 314 812 318 824
21 New York City, New York 308 788 469 1,214
22 Augusta, Georgia * 302 783 307 794
23 Fort Worth, Texas 293 758 299 774
24 Lexington, Kentucky 285 737 286 740
25 Memphis, Tennessee 279 723 295 763
26 Austin, Texas 252 651 258 669


Now, you make the judgment whether Austin is "big" or "small". I think its just perception. Statistically Austin is a "big" city.