Mid-30s ultra-liberal NO KIDS couple with great dogs thinking of moving to Austin. Help? (Columbus: neighborhoods, construction)

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by StephanieRN

I am from Ohio originally, and lived in Socal for 11yrs. Just moved here 6mo's ago, and feel like I am back in bible belt Ohio. Actually had a coworker refer to a job applicant as a "devout christian which means he has integrity and morals". Apparently he is confused. LOL! Yes, being a texan is truely a state of mind and they speak it frequently! So, if you are looking for ultra liberal and child free (they start reproducing at a young age here)place? Look elsewhere.

I find it amazing how many people from elsewhere hear these kinds of things and are asked what church they attend when I NEVER hear it. The reason for that is a perpetual puzzle to me.

[twange]

Originally Posted by StephanieRN

I am from Ohio originally, and lived in Socal for 11yrs. Just moved here 6mo's ago, and feel like I am back in bible belt Ohio. Actually had a coworker refer to a job applicant as a "devout christian which means he has integrity and morals". Apparently he is confused. LOL! Yes, being a texan is truely a state of mind and they speak it frequently! So, if you are looking for ultra liberal and child free (they start reproducing at a young age here)place? Look elsewhere.

Bible Belt Ohio? Where specifically are you referring? I'm from Ohio and never saw it as Bible Belt. Maybe the extreme southern sections that border Kentucky and West Virginia but that's about it...

[ktex]

Funny, this is an old post but I was going to add that anyone moving to Austin should be fully prepared to be around kids nearly ALL the time from my experience. They ARE everywhere. It's like we had something in the water a few years back and it hasn't stopped. And dogs. Everywhere. Seriously.

[figureskater]

Originally Posted by ktex

Funny, this is an old post but I was going to add that anyone moving to Austin should be fully prepared to be around kids nearly ALL the time from my experience. They ARE everywhere. It's like we had something in the water a few years back and it hasn't stopped. And dogs. Everywhere. Seriously.

Also in places for adults?

Are they at least respectful?

[centralaustinite]

I posted this on another thread (the child-free ultra-liberal thread) but Austin is a young town and there are lots of college age kids and lots of infants and young children pretty much everywhere. Barton Creek Greenbelt: kids, Town Lake Hike and Bike (strollers and kids), ACL fest: kids. Art trails: kids. You will see babies in slings at City Council meetings (my youngest went to his first Council meeting 7 months -- you can always tell when a neighborhood issue is red-hot by the number of babies and toddlers in the meeting). Coffee houses definitely have kids, restaurants fairly often, bars and clubs, not so much.

The hipsters have kids, the central city is full of kids, east side has lots of kids and there are even a few kids living in downtown condos. The central city tends to be heaviest in the 0-5 age range. It thins out above age 5 as more people opt for suburban schools but the pipeline of new babies keeps em coming!

If you are used to a fairly child-free city like DC, you will be shocked and perhaps this is not the best place for you. Folks always come to this forum and ask where the "family-friendly" areas of town are. And my reply is always: pretty much the whole city! And dogs too. Yes, even some restaurants allow dogs.

Salt Lake City and Provo Utah probably have the highest proportion of young families in America, not sure who would have the least but certainly kids are very scare in some places on the east coast. We are not Salt Lake City but we are much closer to them on the scale than anywhere east.

[figureskater]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

You will see babies in slings at City Council meetings (my youngest went to his first Council meeting 7 months -- you can always tell when a neighborhood issue is red-hot by the number of babies and toddlers in the meeting). .

That sounds like Third World. So far I have seen kids in meetings only in Africa.

So why do some people write on this forum that they have never heard any screaming kid in a public place?

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by figureskater

That sounds like Third World. So far I have seen kids in meetings only in Africa.

So why do some people write on this forum that they have never heard any screaming kid in a public place?

First, why on earth do you think that it sounds like Third World? Where do you think YOU came from? Sprang full grown from the forehead of Zeus, perhaps?

Second, perhaps the reason that people write that they have never heard any screaming kid in a public place might have to do with the kids being raised in the middle of life and thus learning appropriate behavior at an early age.

Now, I'm not going to say that I've NEVER heard a screaming kid in a public place in my past 40 years in this area. But now that I think about it, I've heard them a lot less here than in some other places I've been. Maybe that's the reason.

I do know that when my first-born was very young, I took him to McDonald's, first, and taught him "restaurant manners". When he could reliably behave there, we moved on to a cafeteria. From there, to a family restaurant. Each level was earned. By the time he was in 5th grade, he could reliably be trusted to go to a formal dinner at a teacher's house with no fear of embarrassing himself (or us), never mind a city council meeting where he would be learning how his community was governed.

[iceshots]

Originally Posted by figureskater

That sounds like Third World. So far I have seen kids in meetings only in Africa.

So why do some people write on this forum that they have never heard any screaming kid in a public place?

I am one of the ones that said that. My statement was that I have never seen "screaming" kids, but I have always seen kids in restaurants. Just not the screaming part.

One thing that is constant here is kids and dogs. You see kids everywhere, but never running wild (of course there are probably exceptions). I am also getting a real kick out of seeing dogs in the local home depot and other hardware type stores. Its kind of nice.

You make it sound like if you see a kid, they must be screaming. Not the case if they are raised properly. My daughter has only had one screaming tantrum while growing up. Right in the middle of Disneyland.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by figureskater

That sounds like Third World. So far I have seen kids in meetings only in Africa.

So why do some people write on this forum that they have never heard any screaming kid in a public place?

I think I said it too. Honestly, there are many areas downtown that offer nothing in terms of things to do for a family, and you don't see many kids in those areas. At least I don't. The city council meetings, not sure I can agree with centralaustinite... never seen kids there. But I'm sure it happens.

Still, as everyone else has mentioned -- kids are in every neighborhood in Austin. It's very family-friendly, but in a good way. We're not talking teenage rednecks with their 12 kids running around the trailer park. Whatever the opposite of that might be, that's sort of what it is like here...

[figureskater]

Originally Posted by iceshots

You make it sound like if you see a kid, they must be screaming. Not the case if they are raised properly. My daughter has only had one screaming tantrum while growing up. Right in the middle of Disneyland.

That's right. Whenever I see a kid here in NY, it is screaming, kicking people, throwing objects/food at customers, standing in dirty shoes on a seat, running wild, jumping etc. Really, I haven't seen any well mannered one so far.

When I was growing up, I was required respect to people. Also, I was never brought to any place which is not strictly for kids, until I learned to respect adults.

BTW, Disneyland seems a proper place to scream together with playgrounds.