Who's the moderator of this thread? (San Antonio, Austin: rentals, houses, neighborhoods)

[cabolissa]

I'm curious. I wish there was some sort of "sticky" section for this thread so we didn't have to search through prior posts for common questions like: photos of cities, comparisons, schools, etc... I really like the way the Denver forum's "Index - Key Threads - PHOTO TOURS" is such a great resource for people trying to get a feel for the area. How can we do this on the Austin forum?

I'm seeking photos of communities and am having to spend quite a bit of time using the search feature. Many of the results don't have photos at all...

[Trainwreck20]

There actually was an attempt at one time to have such a thread, but it was essentially unused. There is a thread in the Texas forum for pictures by one particular user (RGV) which include pictures of Austin. There are probably more by him that are not in there, too.

[cabolissa]

Thanks, that's a start!

[readymade]

I think it would be cool to have sticky threads for "best restaurants," "sections of austin," "photos," "need a... (doctor, dentist, pet sitter, etc..)" all the various stuff that people always come on asking about.

[cabolissa]

Originally Posted by readymade

I think it would be cool to have sticky threads for "best restaurants," "sections of austin," "photos," "need a... (doctor, dentist, pet sitter, etc..)" all the various stuff that people always come on asking about.

Exactly my point... The Texas sticky is OK, but just too broad. It's better to have Austin further divided by the sub-cities (Round Rock, Lakeway, etc). I agree that the locals sometimes get annoyed by repetitive questions, and tell the poster to use the search feature. But that feature is spotty at best at recovering good info, so this is why the sticky would be great.

[Trainwreck20]

We used to have a general topics sticky (Jump the Shark), but it kind of fell into disuse. By the admin policy, we are pretty much limited to two stickies per forum. As for sub forums, the admin usually looks for a natural division. There are many more users that are looking for 'somewhere around Austin' than 'somewhere in RR', etc, so there are not typically going to be subforums (or stickies) for particular neighboring cities.

[cabolissa]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

We used to have a general topics sticky (Jump the Shark), but it kind of fell into disuse. By the admin policy, we are pretty much limited to two stickies per forum. As for sub forums, the admin usually looks for a natural division. There are many more users that are looking for 'somewhere around Austin' than 'somewhere in RR', etc, so there are not typically going to be subforums (or stickies) for particular neighboring cities.

I thought "jump the shark" referred to sitcoms which resort to ridiculous plotlines to bolster ratings (ie, Fonzy jumping a shark on his motorcycle in Happy Days). I don't see the reference to information about Austin - may be the reason is went unused...

I agree that there only needs to be one sticky which houses an index to other posts, like the Denver example - take a look: http://www.city-data.com/forum/denve...s-updated.html

I especially like that there are individual city sections, but also topic sections like: opinions, restaurants, parks, weather, vacation, rentals, etc... It's a wealth of info at your fingertips. Also, I like the shopping, schools, and Comparisons which is great for people getting a feel from how it differs from where they're from. It's useful for other people from the same area who now reside in Austin provide feedback, since they use the same frame of reference in describing characteristics. I think that another topic to include would be property taxes (how areas compare, etc).

Just an idea...

[atxcio]

I kinda agree, the "Jump the Shark" thread I thought was for miscellaneous, off-topic posts and not necessarily useful for answering the common questions we see over and over again.

I think what cabolissa is suggesting is similar to what the San Antonio forum has, where there is like a "FAQ" sticky which contains links to other threads & general city info. It's locked, but people can always click off the thread to "master threads" which might already exist regarding ISDs, restaurants, photos, liberal neighborhoods, etc. Heck, we could also link to the most popular threads which discuss "whether Austin is overhyped" or "what are the drawbacks of living in Austin", since those things are often discussed.

That way, you only have 1 sticky that everyone can refer to if their question has already been discussed in length. Then, if we wanted to bring back an off-topic thread, you'd have 1 sticky remaining.

[cabolissa]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I kinda agree, the "Jump the Shark" thread I thought was for miscellaneous, off-topic posts and not necessarily useful for answering the common questions we see over and over again.

I think what cabolissa is suggesting is similar to what the San Antonio forum has, where there is like a "FAQ" sticky which contains links to other threads & general city info. It's locked, but people can always click off the thread to "master threads" which might already exist regarding ISDs, restaurants, photos, liberal neighborhoods, etc. Heck, we could also link to the most popular threads which discuss "whether Austin is overhyped" or "what are the drawbacks of living in Austin", since those things are often discussed.

That way, you only have 1 sticky that everyone can refer to if their question has already been discussed in length. Then, if we wanted to bring back an off-topic thread, you'd have 1 sticky remaining.

Yup! Tons of uses for it and very beneficial.