Thinking of leaving Austin for Dallas or Houston? (San Antonio, Plano: how much, house)

[achtung baby]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

I can't really speak for Dallas, but Houston's prices have been going up pretty steadily too. It's not at Austin levels yet. I will say that I think Houston is MORE eclectic than Austin and is definitely more diverse.

100% agree with you.

We got into bidding war last year on the market in Houston. It wasn’t pretty at all.

[R1070]

Originally Posted by texan2yankee

From my experience of growing up in Dallas, living in Houston and now living in Austin.

Dallas is cliquey because many people grow up there and never leave (except temporarily for college) so have lots of old friends and don't need new relationships. You might find it difficult to make friends unless you already have friends in Dallas or have work colleagues willing to bring you into their singles friendship group.

Houston is a very different city to Dallas. There are more transplants from all over the country/world. Making new friends and dating is easier than Dallas if that is your goal. Also, if upward professional mobility is important Houston has more business prestige than Dallas. Austin has no prestige, imo.

I would never live in Austin if I wasn't married. This is a university town and a bedroom community suburb.

Dallas/DFW is adding the most people of any area in the country. Your description makes it sound like Charleston or Savannah. You have lots of new people constantly moving to Dallas from all over. Dallas has the better neighborhoods when compared to Houston. Houston will seem like more of a bargain though.

[ForgotTheMilk]

4. Related to 2/3, the city is still not taken seriously by those in NY/LA/SF. I don’t care about this by itself but I worry about job impact and this likely relates to the meeting young professionals issue I have
5. All the fun stuff is wildly spread out with almost nothing near the city center (except lady bird lake perhaps)

Houston and Dallas are not going to be an improvement on these two points.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by ForgotTheMilk

Houston and Dallas are not going to be an improvement on these two points.

We know. Houston and Dallas are more cosmopolitan than Austin. But no one who would be concerned about "Cosmopolitan" would live in Texas anyway, so the twin big ones in TX are relegated to the consolation prize status to the upwardly mobile in this country. The coasts and Austin are different of course.

[Need4Camaro]

To be fair I do know people who chose Houston after leaving LA because it was cosmopolitan. I would say Houston actually hits fairly hard in that category.

[Trainwreck20]

After Austin, Houston is my favorite city. I like the proximity to the coast and the year-round greenery. I like the amenities that it has, as well.

[hereticiam]

Last year we were looking into moving to Texas.
Austin was our first choice due to our careers.
Housing prices were way too high.
We looked into living in cities around Austin to lower the housing prices.
Even though housing prices were lower the schools were not as good as we wanted them to be.
Were were looking at Round Rock, Georgetown, Dripping Green etc.
We began looking at Dallas next. We were looking in North Dallas. Dallas seemed 15-20% less than Austin. Public schools were excellent. Over the last 2 years there has been a massive run up in prices in North Dallas well. Every home was selling at 25% over asking price, had to waive all contingencies.
We are now leaning towards Houston. Even though Houston has also had a run up in housing prices it is still about 15% less expensive than North Dallas. There are few bidding wars, there is a lot of housing development, nicer master planned communities like Towne Lake, Bridgeland, Cinco Ranch, Cross Creek Ranch. Even for 15% less than North Dallas we get bigger yard, newer home and better amenities. Public schools in the place like Katy/Cypress are as good as North Dallas public schools.
We are also considering North Atlanta but it is also as expensive as North Dallas.

[Need4Camaro]

Yeah. Atlanta's affordability is deceiving. It does exist, but if you want to live in a desirable area where the good schools or white collar jobs are, it's not very affordable. I do recommend searching East Cobb though. The schools are good, and its more affordable than Roswell/Sandy Springs and Alpharetta.. ..the homes are older though.

[mojo101]

Cinco Ranch is nice,TX has no income tax and sales tax is at par with other states

[Ice_Major]

Originally Posted by Cows_are_cool123

I moved here about 5 years ago and post pandemic have been really disappointed in what I see here. I’m thinking of moving to either Houston or Dallas. A couple complaints I have:

1. Housing costs are insane (and I make well into the 6 figure range)

DFW has a lot of undesirable areas which brings down mean and median values for the whole, but as Need4Camero noted, housing cost in the desirable parts DFW are comparable to Austin. Houston on a whole appears to be more of a bargain when compared to the others.


2. Related to 1, so many young people seem like they have either left Austin or moved to the outer parts of the city to save money. Most of my friends/dates are either 40+ or 21-23 (college students). As an early 30s single young professional (male), making friends and dating here have not been easy.

Nothing unique to Austin. To some degree you will experience the same in Houston/Dallas. I found it easier to make lasting friends in Austin versus Dallas. People just seemed to stick to their own already formed circles, which was interesting considering the transient nature of the city. I imagine it is difficult to make single friends in that age range anywhere.

3. The airport is tiny and has barely any flights compared to Dfw or bush

Indeed, DFW and Houston are lightyears ahead of Austin in this category. DFW and Love airports are the number 1 thing I miss about living in Dallas. Could literally fly direct to anywhere in the U.S. Austin airport is improving though, with more and more routes being added. I believe Delta has designated it a Focus city. American and Southwest have greatly expanded their options.

4. Related to 2/3, the city is still not taken seriously by those in NY/LA/SF. I don’t care about this by itself but I worry about job impact and this likely relates to the meeting young professionals issue I have

I wouldn't worry about not being taking seriously. Austin has a very favorable view around the world. If you work in tech it is recognized as a major tech player now with the recent relocations and expansions. Don’t' think moving to Houston or Dallas will give you a leg up in this category.

5. All the fun stuff is wildly spread out with almost nothing near the city center (except lady bird lake perhaps)

Might just be me, but Austin feels way more centralized than other major Texas cities. DFW is horrible in this regard. In DFW I had to get use to everything being 25 - 40 minutes apart. Hotspots were all over the place. Houston doesn’t appear to be any better. Trust me, Austin is the better of the three in this regard.

Now here’s what I see as pros of Austin:

1. Fun town in parts
2. Growing population and economy (so some of the above may get better)
3. Eclectic and authentic feel you can’t get in Houston or Dallas
4. People are geniuely pretty nice here

TLDR: thinking of leaving Austin and going to Dallas or Houston. Should I?

I lived in DFW for 6 ½ years, Austin for 7, and spend a lot of time in Houston due to the work, so I have experience with all three. I would say look at your life goals, needs, and wants. Then spend a decent amount of time in each city to really get a feel.