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I moved to San Antonio from NYC org.( born and raised in Greenwich Village ) 3yrs ago . My sisters moved here also we love it. We have visited Austin several times but like all of SA better I think there is more to do here and it is growing every day-- there is so much building here. Maybe before you buy a house come see what SA has to offer we also have great schools And Sa is a melting pot just like NY with people moving here from everywhere not just Hispanic
Since 1997 I have lived in NYC and Austin two times each. I love them both and can't seem to decide which is better for me although both are different in many ways. I bought a townhome in Austin so I can return from time to time. It's almost like a yin and yang energy that shouldn't be one without the other. Austin is a place for rejuvenation of my spirit and my creativity. I feel nourished there. I have time to be human and make long lasting friendships with people who are sincere and thoughtful. People are helpful and have time to listen when you speak. Strangers have encouragement and tips for success and they sincerely seem to want the best for me without getting too involved. It seems like a great place to raise a family.
Why do I always leave Austin and come back? In the past I have felt that my creativity and energy gets built up and then it's wasted in a small place. I would never say it's boring in Austin, but it's just not ambitious enough. I get sleepy and I get annoyed by the underachievers. Alternatively in the high tech industries the agression is annoying. Companies demand too much time for little pay. Unemployment is to blame. Overall, the very thing that energizes me begins to annoy me. Okay maybe it's not Austin, it's me. Third time I hope to strike a balance.
I'm coming back to Austin in a few weeks and this time I hope I feel good about staying. NYC is an overpriced rat race. Lot's of opportunity, lots of risk, lot's of anxiety. The cost of living index showed me that while I thought I was getting ahead making lots of money in NY I would have been better off in Austin making what I made 10 years ago.
Searching for happiness is a funny thing. Austin is an oasis. It is what you make of it. Boring...never.
As a Texan who has lived in NYC for 8 years, this post rang true. My scenario is a little different. I've "made" it here in NYC and welcome a chance to ramp down the intensity a bit in Austin.
JimNY - after living in NYC for twenty years I moved to Austin for a work project almost 18 months ago. It has been the most un-happy period of my adult life and when my project is finished (another year) I am going to head back to NY.
There are a number of great things about Austin. (For me they would include the running and biking trails, great every-day restaurants, hot sunny climate, easy to get around town.) However - Austin is absolutely part of the deep south and the people here are true Southerners.
It is not true that "many" New Yorkers and Californians are here. 90% of Austinites grew up somewhere in Texas - many of them in very small towns across East Texas, West Texas or along the border. And like all true southerners - they are brought up in a ........ 'code of civility'..(for lack of a better term) that governs the way they interact with the world and people around them.
I'll spare you the gory details, but Southerners are very, very, very different from people up North and even MORE different from people along the Eastern corridor. They are super, super polite. And because this is the only gear they have for interacting socially, they are often times insipid and frequently passive-aggressive.
Talk to other east coasters (and especially New Yorkers if you can find them) who have moved here. I believe the majority of them will tell you
how scarey a room full of Austines can really be if you want intimacy in your friendships. They just can't do it.
Also the town is way conservative. They consider themselves to be progressive and liberal. But again, because their reference point it the small towns across Texas they come from, they do not really know progressive and liberal the way you or someone from the coasts knows progressive and liberal. The town is almost completely white and Christian.
For the record, as someone who was born and bred in Texas (East Texas) and has lived in Central and North Texas and has friends and family in San Antonio and Houston, Texas is NOT "Southern". SOME of its roots come from the South, others from Mexico, others from other parts of the country and world. (Six Flags and all that.) Just to get that misconception cleared up.
As for intimacy, that street goes both ways. I suspect that the young man from NYC who I threw out of my house (so much for politeness) for coming into my home, being introduced to me as I cooked in my kitchen, and promptly telling me I was frying chicken wrong as his first gesture of friendship, found it difficult to establish intimacy with people here. Remember, telling people how much better things are back in NYC or how your way is the only right way to do something is NOT the way to establish friendships and intimacy, in Texas or much of anywhere else. It's boorish behavior in most big cities, come to that. But if your only point of reference is NYC, you might not realize that.
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
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Being a big-city person, I got a little bored after living in Austin for several years. I thought the restaurant scene was kind of... well, not good. The arts/culture/museums were just too small and not up to my standards I guess. The nightlife seemed too geared to the college crowd. I could go on. That being said, it's not a bad place. I haven't actally lived in NY but do have family there so am very familiar with it. I actually prefer Houston for reasons named above. People keep commenting "this is Texas" as an excuse, but remember that Houston and Dallas are just a step below places like Chicago and San Francisco on culture/arts/food etc (especially Houston being the nation's 4th largest city).
Being a big-city person, I got a little bored after living in Austin for several years. I thought the restaurant scene was kind of... well, not good. The arts/culture/museums were just too small and not up to my standards I guess. The nightlife seemed too geared to the college crowd. I could go on. That being said, it's not a bad place. I haven't actally lived in NY but do have family there so am very familiar with it. I actually prefer Houston for reasons named above. People keep commenting "this is Texas" as an excuse, but remember that Houston and Dallas are just a step below places like Chicago and San Francisco on culture/arts/food etc (especially Houston being the nation's 4th largest city).
It's been said many, many, many times here but I think it bears repeating(apparently necessary). Austin is a late 20th, early 21st century city. It's roots obviously go back to the 19th century but it remained a fairly small town until well past WWII. That might seem like a long time for people, but for the "gestation period" of a city it ain't sh*t. Austin is in the late adolescent stage.
I've been here a little over one year and already the place has changed. It's happening fast. Too fast for many, not fast enough for some. If you are expecting a mature, bustling city with multiple layers of activity, world-class arts, entertainment and public institutions, multi-national racial and ethnic diversity, an infinite choice of dining options from greasy spoon to 5-star cuisine...Austin may come up short in some of those categories right now compared to cities with much older histories like NYC, SF, Boston, LA, Chicago, Houston, Dallas...But it has some fantastic qualities, and new opportunities seem to be presenting themselves regularly.
NYC is like the Grand Canyon. The bottom layer is made up of sediment and minerals from an ancient ocean rising up thousands of feet through many, many layers of time and change, each section built upon the last through millions of years.
Austin is only on its second or third layer which means that it is still fairly easy to see its early origins. You will either find that beautiful or boring depending on how you look at it and what you expect to see.
JimNY - after living in NYC for twenty years I moved to Austin for a work project almost 18 months ago. It has been the most un-happy period of my adult life and when my project is finished (another year) I am going to head back to NY.
There are a number of great things about Austin. (For me they would include the running and biking trails, great every-day restaurants, hot sunny climate, easy to get around town.) However - Austin is absolutely part of the deep south and the people here are true Southerners.
It is not true that "many" New Yorkers and Californians are here. 90% of Austinites grew up somewhere in Texas - many of them in very small towns across East Texas, West Texas or along the border. And like all true southerners - they are brought up in a ........ 'code of civility'..(for lack of a better term) that governs the way they interact with the world and people around them.
I'll spare you the gory details, but Southerners are very, very, very different from people up North and even MORE different from people along the Eastern corridor. They are super, super polite. And because this is the only gear they have for interacting socially, they are often times insipid and frequently passive-aggressive.
Talk to other east coasters (and especially New Yorkers if you can find them) who have moved here. I believe the majority of them will tell you
how scarey a room full of Austines can really be if you want intimacy in your friendships. They just can't do it.
Also the town is way conservative. They consider themselves to be progressive and liberal. But again, because their reference point it the small towns across Texas they come from, they do not really know progressive and liberal the way you or someone from the coasts knows progressive and liberal. The town is almost completely white and Christian.
Thanks for the advice, but being a lifetime resident of NY (over 40 years) I feel it's time to move on. Like many on this thread the high cost of living, stress and some of the other negatives have been strengthening my decision of leaving. I will always love NY for it's culture, arts and diversity of cultures, but at this point in my life I prefer a place where stress is lower(yes stress is still everywhere).
I think it's hard to make comparisons of those things offered by such a large city as NY to a place like Austin. Many have said, and I agree, it's what you make of a place.
I have visited Austin on many occasions and found everyone to be very open and friendly. I was even there this past weekend and found a complete stranger to go completely out of his way to give my wife and I directions. Rare in NY. Maybe more in the burbs.
As for arts, there may not be as much as NY, but there is certainly enough to take in. Including, film. I see more activity in the way of festivals and film groups going on in Austin. I just attended the Fantastic Film Festival this past weekend and it was great. I love genre films, but I've never attended anything like that in NY. The energy level was high and was held at the Alamo Drafthouse which I thought was a unique way to experience a film.
As far as weather, well if you like being outdoors then it's certainly the place to be. I'm certainly going to enjoy the year round cycling!
Will I miss NY?, of course. I'll enjoy the walks through the village, the Five Boro Bike Tour, and the great restaurants, but with family being back here I know I'll be making the occasional trip back.
TexasHorseLady -
There is no misperception about Texas being the deep, d-e-e-p South. You might as well re-name the place Tara.
Your reaction to the New Yorker who said you fried the chicken wrong illustrates my point. You were so traumatized you threw him out of your house?? Why not tell him he can fry the chicken any way he wants when he is at his house and you will fry it your way at yours! The natives down here have a bizarre obsession with politeness-at-the- expense-of-everything-else. It is one of the things that makes them Southerners. I do not think you are in a position to compare and contrast since you have only lived in Texas.
Also I do not necessarily think Southerners are wrong and NOrtherners are right. They are just different ways of interacting with the world and I think it is very tough for a Northerner to learn to act this way.
In any event - now I am hungry for some fried chicken! (and i'm serious.)
IAs a Jew, once you go two minutes outside of Austin theres a "What church do you go to?" type attitude that I don't like.
You moved to Texas, what did you think was going to happen. If you expected things to be like in New England, why didn't you just stay there? yes, once you're away from the UT campus and a few other liberal pockets in town, its in-your-face Texas. Be aware of that before expecting this to be New York for snow birds.
What's with all these northerners coming down here and being surprised when Texas ends up being Texas?
TexasHorseLady -
There is no misperception about Texas being the deep, d-e-e-p South. You might as well re-name the place Tara.
Texas the deep South?! Go to Georgia, Mississippi, or even South Carolina and then come back and try to compare Texas to those "Deep South" states. Texas may have a bit of a southern influence, but the Deep South it ain't!
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Reponse to JimNY - BE CAREFUL!
