Moving From Chicago To Austin - Texas (TX) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

DennyCrane · 06-25-2008, 10:56 AM

I think it's important to have realistic expectations and be willing to make reasonable concessions. For example, I would love to live someplace with great weather year round. But most of the cities that have such weather, like L.A. and San Fransisco, are unbelievably expensive. I would also love to live someplace with an IT market so strong, I'd have recruiters me calling everyday. But a place like San Jose, while full of IT jobs, is again way too expensive. So you have to be willing to make trade-offs and figure out what things you absolutely have to have and what things you can live without.

From my own research, Austin seems like the best compromise. Does it have the best weather? No. Does it have the best IT market? No. There's no such thing as a perfect city. If there were, everyone would move there, driving up the cost of living and increasing traffic, making it no longer the perfect city. Sure, Chicago probably has a bigger IT market than Austin. But it's so expensive here that you can't afford to live close to where the jobs are and you end up living far away, spending more time commuting to and from work, and having less free time, not to mention being in a lousy mood after all that driving and paying so much for gas. I know I would experience the same thing in other cities with strong IT markets. Cities like Washington D.C., Seattle, Atlanta, and New York all have great IT markets, but they'd all present some of the same problems I'm facing in Chicago. When I lived in KC, I felt like it was the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. It was only after living in Chicago that I came to appreciate the advantages of being in a smaller city. Quality of life is the issue and we all measure it in different ways. I can see now why a lot of people leave the city and move to small towns. I'm not there yet, but I know that big cities don't agree with me. So if it means taking a pay cut, being without great museums and sports franchises, I can live with it. I just want my decision to be an informed one, that's all.

Atl_321 · 06-25-2008, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenbar

Yeah, my husbands experience in finding a job was not at all like what clockwise says. He found a long term, high paying contract job before we even moved down and then a full time offer from Dell came a few months later... and he didn't know anyone down here to help him land a job, he just has a good resume with solid experience.

It's probably safe to say that if you live in RR you will be near the tech jobs... some of the biggest tech employers (Samsung, Dell, National Instruments, etc) are here in RR, or just slightly over the RR/Austin border.

Everyone says how hard it is to get a job here - but we haven't found that to be true at all. His job search was quick and painless. We took a slight paycut, but he also transitioned from contract to perm emplyee, and contract is always a higher rate... plus, with the lower cost of living here, compared to Seattle - we don't feel as if we took a cut, and actually feel more comfortable than we did in Seattle.

The weather is great, the people are great - there is lots to do... I'll respond to your PM

My wife has been offered two jobs (at different times) in Austin- both high tech startups. She had, believe it or not, a tougher time here in ATL. It's a part of the reason we are almost fully decided on moving to Austin.

Jennibc · 06-25-2008, 12:11 PM

I guess it all comes down to what sector of IT you are looking into- if you are doing business applications Chicago might be better, if you are computer architecture guy/gal you will have an easier time in a place like Austin with all of its semiconductor/computer businesses. Looking at the list from Business Week posted earlier might help in the sense that it gives the largest sector in each market. At one time we were investigating Chicago, but there are far more jobs in Austin for which my husband is qualified.

mimimomx3 · 06-25-2008, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenbar

Because you say it is? I'm sorry if it was hard for you - is that why you went back to Chicago? All I am offering is that for my husband, who is a mid-to upper level software guy with solid experience and a good resume .... it wasn't that hard at all. Yes, Dell has been laying off recently - but that's a whole other thread. There are tons of other companies here that AREN'T laying off - Austin, in particular, is big for Gamers...

Like many of your other username incarnations, you are filled with doom and gloom about Austin - I just want to offer that it's not as bad as you make it out to be, for everyone.

I think it also depends on the level at which you're coming in. There are pleny of mid level tech jobs, but once you get to director level, it's a bit tougher.

DennyCrane · 06-25-2008, 03:08 PM

Atl_321,

I was briefly thinking of moving to Atlanta. It was only after I heard about the awful traffic there that I ruled it out. I hope the startups in Austin are still hiring because I do prefer smaller companies. Just wondering how you went about your job search cause so far, I'm not having much luck.

Jennibc,

My area of expertise is Java/J2EE. So mainly server-side applications.

mimimomx3,

Luckily, I'm not at the director level. I'm more mid to senior level developer.

ragdog09 · 06-26-2008, 02:55 PM

most of the Austin suburbs are fine... all of them exept manor

TexasHorseLady · 06-26-2008, 04:46 PM

And why not the ones in Manor, one asks?

Megan1967 · 06-26-2008, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clockwise5

just come out here and see what its all about.......it may cost 500 bucks or so, but come out for 2-3 days, drive around, and see it....then do more web research, and make your decision...

Wow. The price of travel must have really one up in two years. My airplane ticket alone was $240. Driving would have taken 36K miles worth of gas round trip and two hotel stays while on route (once there and once on the way back) so flying was by far the best bet. My 4 night stay at the Hampton in was $575 and then there was the rental car and food.

I agree, though, that you must visit a place before you move there and I intend to visit Austin at least one more time before I decide one way or another.

springbean · 06-26-2008, 06:32 PM

My husband is an IT recruiter, PM (or direct mail on the site

) me what your looking for and I can pass along his info to you.

Austin97 · 06-30-2008, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

I think it's important to have realistic expectations and be willing to make reasonable concessions. For example, I would love to live someplace with great weather year round. But most of the cities that have such weather, like L.A. and San Fransisco, are unbelievably expensive. I would also love to live someplace with an IT market so strong, I'd have recruiters me calling everyday. But a place like San Jose, while full of IT jobs, is again way too expensive. So you have to be willing to make trade-offs and figure out what things you absolutely have to have and what things you can live without.

From my own research, Austin seems like the best compromise. Does it have the best weather? No. Does it have the best IT market? No. There's no such thing as a perfect city. If there were, everyone would move there, driving up the cost of living and increasing traffic, making it no longer the perfect city. Sure, Chicago probably has a bigger IT market than Austin. But it's so expensive here that you can't afford to live close to where the jobs are and you end up living far away, spending more time commuting to and from work, and having less free time, not to mention being in a lousy mood after all that driving and paying so much for gas. I know I would experience the same thing in other cities with strong IT markets. Cities like Washington D.C., Seattle, Atlanta, and New York all have great IT markets, but they'd all present some of the same problems I'm facing in Chicago. When I lived in KC, I felt like it was the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. It was only after living in Chicago that I came to appreciate the advantages of being in a smaller city. Quality of life is the issue and we all measure it in different ways. I can see now why a lot of people leave the city and move to small towns. I'm not there yet, but I know that big cities don't agree with me. So if it means taking a pay cut, being without great museums and sports franchises, I can live with it. I just want my decision to be an informed one, that's all.

Here is the thing, because austin doesnt have many large companies we have almost no "IT" market. The market for software development is primarily in product development selling to IT companies outside of austin. That being said we obviously have some IT.

Home depot, Dell, national instruments, the semiconductor companies (AMD, samsung, freescale), paypal, google, IBM, state of texas, Seton healthcare, UT austin, whole foods.

Here is a link to the largest companies, they typically are the ones with real IT organizations.

Business & Industry | The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce :: Austin, Texas (http://www.austinchamber.com/DoBusiness/GreaterAustinProfile/business.html - broken link)