Maybe Austin? (Houston, Spring, Live Oak: apartments, for rent, home)

[corruption]

My boyfriend and I are in our late 20's and hail from Detroit, MI. We are not rich people, and do not have outstanding jobs with degrees out the wazoo. We can not afford a house, can not take a trip and "visit" to see what it's like there. We can only go on what we read online. Some main questions are:

What is employment like there? He's an office worker, and I am trying to get office work. I have skills but no experience. Is it essentially hard to get work in this field?

What are some good neighborhoods that are fairly cheap?

What is the nightlife like there? I'm not really the partying type, but I want to experience new things, and have some fun once in a while. Are all the entertainment venues centered uptown/downtown? Does it shut down at an early time? We have the Fox Theater which brings big name singers/rappers/comedians/Disney on Ice etc...do you have something similar, and what is the name of it?

What is the weather like there? I am in mortal fear of anything that can kill me. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires, monsoons...you get the idea. The only thing we deal with is snow, and I'm tired of dealing with that.

Shopping...is there access to a lot of malls, or shopping centers?

Is there an eclectic mix of restaurants to try out?

We are trying to do more outdoor activities. Are there good nature trails/bike trails and parks there?

Are there ever any events that shut down a lot of city blocks on a particular day?

I'm looking to get into some extracurricular activities...are there abundant YMCA's, dance schools, recreation centers in the area?

Would you say you have a lot of areas that are to be avoided?

I'm pretty sure I have more questions...but I'll leave it at that for. Thank you in advance.

[car957]

You should stay. While we welcome you and hope you find this place to be home and a place of happiness, not having adequate finances to even come and visit is dangerous. Our summers can be pretty intensive with heat and humidity and we do have some bugs, although they are easily managed in my mind.

It sounds like you need to be checking the web a little more because your questions would require one to write a major report. Check our rents, do a google search for "austin music,""austin arts," town lake," and read a little more.

For job openings that are promoted for Austin, see Austin, Texas Jobs - WorkAustin.com

Good luck in your endeavors and if you make it here, I hope to see you on Town Lake.

[corruption]

I didn't need a report...just an opinion....I've posted these same questions in other cities, and have gotten varied responses...but thank you, I will do just that.

[twange]

Originally Posted by corruption

I didn't need a report...just an opinion....I've posted these same questions in other cities, and have gotten varied responses...but thank you, I will do just that.

I think what he/she meant, was that it sounds like you don't know too much about Austin and that it's REALLY hard to make such a huge decision based solely off of the web. Austin is a pretty vibrant place, but it can be expensive, which can be really bad if you haven't done proper research and get stuck in a place you can't afford.

My wife and I moved here from Cleveland at the end of last summer(so, we're old neighbors). Granted, we haven't been here a year yet, but so far we love it. There is a lot to do here...it's nothing like Detroit.

Learn as much as you can. This forum was very helpful to us but we also had been here before, and have some relatives in the area. We also spent a week here finding an apartment and exploring. The problem with relying on the web is that you end up getting other folk's opinions, which can only help you so much. You need to gather your own data.

Good luck!

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by corruption

My boyfriend and I are in our late 20's and hail from Detroit, MI. We are not rich people, and do not have outstanding jobs with degrees out the wazoo. We can not afford a house, can not take a trip and "visit" to see what it's like there. We can only go on what we read online. Some main questions are:

What is employment like there? He's an office worker, and I am trying to get office work. I have skills but no experience. Is it essentially hard to get work in this field?

What are some good neighborhoods that are fairly cheap?

What is the nightlife like there? I'm not really the partying type, but I want to experience new things, and have some fun once in a while. Are all the entertainment venues centered uptown/downtown? Does it shut down at an early time? We have the Fox Theater which brings big name singers/rappers/comedians/Disney on Ice etc...do you have something similar, and what is the name of it?

What is the weather like there? I am in mortal fear of anything that can kill me. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires, monsoons...you get the idea. The only thing we deal with is snow, and I'm tired of dealing with that.

Shopping...is there access to a lot of malls, or shopping centers?

Is there an eclectic mix of restaurants to try out?

We are trying to do more outdoor activities. Are there good nature trails/bike trails and parks there?

Are there ever any events that shut down a lot of city blocks on a particular day?

I'm looking to get into some extracurricular activities...are there abundant YMCA's, dance schools, recreation centers in the area?

Would you say you have a lot of areas that are to be avoided?

I'm pretty sure I have more questions...but I'll leave it at that for. Thank you in advance.

I will attempt to answer some of your questions

There are all sorts of hike & bike trails all over Austin.
East of I-35 to be avoided (downtown area to be more specific)
As for extracurricular activities...there are all sorts of outdoor activities.
The music scene in my opinion is awesome...lots of bars with different genres of music to be heard in and around Austin
There are several malls and strip malls in Austin.
There really isn't 4 seasons to speak of...mainly Summer, Extreme Summer, Semi-summer. It gets hot down there June-August, even into Sept. The heat melted off my rear view mirror one day--that's hot! So be ready for the heat if you move! As for storms--they get some mighty wicked thunderstorms in Texas. Tornadoes are not unheard of!
As for jobs...I can't really answer that question for you. I'm a nurse, so I know that when I move, I will have a nice-paying job that will support me in Austin. There are always jobs available if you are a nurse no matter where you go. As for office work, if I were you, I would gain some experience before you move. Even though you have the skills, experience counts more in an employer's eyes. You don't want to move to another city WITHOUT having employment! Austin is expensive--one of the more expensive cities in Texas. You will pay ~ $800.00/month for rent only and most likely that apt will not be centrally located (Locals, correct me if I'm wrong on that )

I hope I answered most of your questions!

[corruption]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

I will attempt to answer some of your questions

There are all sorts of hike & bike trails all over Austin.
East of I-35 to be avoided (downtown area to be more specific)
As for extracurricular activities...there are all sorts of outdoor activities.
The music scene in my opinion is awesome...lots of bars with different genres of music to be heard in and around Austin
There are several malls and strip malls in Austin.
There really isn't 4 seasons to speak of...mainly Summer, Extreme Summer, Semi-summer. It gets hot down there June-August, even into Sept. The heat melted off my rear view mirror one day--that's hot! So be ready for the heat if you move! As for storms--they get some mighty wicked thunderstorms in Texas. Tornadoes are not unheard of!
As for jobs...I can't really answer that question for you. I'm a nurse, so I know that when I move, I will have a nice-paying job that will support me in Austin. There are always jobs available if you are a nurse no matter where you go. As for office work, if I were you, I would gain some experience before you move. Even though you have the skills, experience counts more in an employer's eyes. You don't want to move to another city WITHOUT having employment! Austin is expensive--one of the more expensive cities in Texas. You will pay ~ $800.00/month for rent only and most likely that apt will not be centrally located (Locals, correct me if I'm wrong on that )

I hope I answered most of your questions!

Thank you for your response

[TexasGirl@Heart]

You are quite welcome You can also check the local newspaper on line to see if there are any jobs that you might be interested in.
austin360.com check out jobs there that are posted on line.

[twange]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

$800.00/month for rent only and most likely that apt will not be centrally located (Locals, correct me if I'm wrong on that )

We pay $775 for a large 1 bedroom, covered deck, pool, pet friendly apartment with laundry hook-ups right on S 1st, right in the mix. We are literally 5 minutes from downtown, the SoCo and S.Lamar districts not to mention all of the funky stuff on S 1st. We're loving the location All of our out of town guests and local friends comment on how close we are to everything "Austin". It's possible to find these places but you have to put in some serious research. Study the city like you want to get an "A" Use a free apartment locator to help with that and be VERY explicit about what you want and/or don't want. Be prepared to choose quickly out of a fairly small pool of apartments(depending on the time of year)and understand that you may not see the actual apartment until you move in, so ask for dimensions and/or floorplans. They will either show you a model or a vacant unit that is "similar". I would recommend looking around the time when students are getting out and leaving the city for the summer.

Austin has so many outdoor options, if you can't find something to do, you aren't looking.

As for the weather, it will certainly get cold during December, January and even February. Often the temps drop 30-40 degrees in the evening down into the upper 20s. That's pretty much winter Many trees lose their leaves and a lot of the grass goes dormant. This part of the year is ugly to many folks, but I think it's sort of interesting. Your attention focuses on the Live Oaks and Juniper(called Cedar by locals) which stay green. Not to mention cactus, palms and succulents of all sorts. Believe me, after the gray, cold, dirty black exhaust-stained snow and skeletal tree forms of winter in the Great Lakes, you'll wonder what the hell people are complaining about here. Spring and fall are totally amazing. Things are starting to bloom right now, leaves are budding, the doves are calling en masse...life is happening everywhere. Summers are torturous and a bit oppressive, but nothing's free

People say stay away from East of 35, but that is clearly changing. You'd be hard-pressed to buy anything under $250K right now in the East-Central area. Even if it's a shack. Just think, 10-12 years ago, SoCo was nasty and now it's one of the trendiest areas in town. Look at Austin and draw a circle with a 5 miles radius. That's going to be the future urban city of Austin(good or bad), so it's a matter of time until the "East of 35" rule is simply obliterated. But for right now, if you don't want to be a pioneer, just look carefully in these areas.

Food is great here but you will notice a sizable void of Italian, Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine that's so common up there. Here, that is replaced in ubiquity with BBQ, Tex-Mex, Mexican and other South-American styles. But there is also a decent amount of Vegetarian, Asian, European, Californian and Indian. Some areas have more than others.

There are a lot of office clerical jobs as well. I just got a seasonal job at the IRS that runs until about August. I'm a musician with almost 10 years of college teaching experience...I've NEVER worked in an office setting and I still got a decent-paying job. If you can't get a job before you move here, I would save at least 3 months of rent, utilities, gas, food etc...to keep your noses above water. Keep in mind though that not being employed will make renting a decent place a bit harder. Just keep your ear to the ground!

Good Luck!

[jenkirk]

If you want to get some experience in office work, and move to Texas. I would suggest going to Houston for a few years and then moving to Austin. Houston has a very strong job market. The housing costs are also much more affordable.

Austin's job market is more competitive for office admins. You could easily go to a temporary agency in Houston, and get a temp to permanant job. Not saying that you cannot do that in Austin, but it would be much easier in Houston.

Many people feel that Austin is an upgrade in lifestyle from Houston, and I am part of this group. However if you want the "Austin Weird" vibe, you can get in your car and visit for the weekend if you live in Houston. That is what we did until we could move to Austin with good jobs. Good luck in whatever you decide!

[orngkat]

As far as employment, either the University of Texas or the state have many entry level clerical jobs. UT actually has a temp agency where one can get their feet wet as long as they have basic typing and spelling skills.