Best things about living in Austin (Houston, Dallas: homes, buy, school)

[cabolissa]

After reading through some rather negative threads on this forum, I've decided to start a more positive one. Go on, tell us some of your favorite things about living in Austin!

[readymade]

The Alamo Drafthouse!
Friendly, fun people
Town Lake
You can always find something fun to do
Decent bands, if you know where to look
Liberal/open-minded
The traffic isn't as bad as most of the places I've lived
Fantastic food (this is also something I hate about Austin ;-). I've already gained 5 pounds since I've moved)

[iceshots]

Originally Posted by cabolissa

After reading through some rather negative threads on this forum, I've decided to start a more positive one. Go on, tell us some of your favorite things about living in Austin!

Days filled with sunshine in the middle of winter!!!!!!

Relaxed atmosphere. No one rushing all over the place.

Live in the country with deer in the backyard, 10 minutes to school, 6 minutes to Home Depot, 20 minutes to work and shopping, 35 minutes to downtown, and 20 minutes to the lake. Not too many places you can do that.

[jobert]

Town Lake, laid back, weather (some like it hot), liberal attitude

[twange]

-The people
-The weather(yea, it's hot in the summer but the rest of the year is great!)
-The various festivals that seem to be always happening
-The multiple greenbelts filled with places to hike, bike, walk your dog, kayak
-Some really great, smaller music venues that afford listeners an up-close experience to performers
-Lots of interesting local businesses
-Central Market
-The Alamo-effing-Drafthouse(just fantastic, really)
-The huge variation of flora(desert, prairie and coastal)
-The rivers and lakes
-A lot of creative energy and generally positive atmosphere
-A vibrant, growing downtown
-Socially open and accepting
-Politically interested population
-Compared to most cities, a Green-oriented soul
-Close proximity to some really nice outlying small towns
-A good, developing restaurant scene, especially in the cheap to moderate range.
-Awesomely dog-friendly
-Young AND young at heart

Some of it is just feel. If you like it, it will feel good

[TexasHorseLady]

It's in the 70's today.
Live and let live attitude.
The "Austin weird" that can still be found in some places, just to make life interesting.
The lakes.
Zilker Park and the Oriental Garden
The food.
The music.
Hill Country Wine & Food Festival.
Central Market and Whole Foods flagship.
Bookpeople.
The people. Definitely, the people.

[love roses]

As someone who lives in one of the outlying small towns, I'll agree with the proximity to Austin that twange mentions. And add that bands centered in Austin travel out to these towns to our little dance halls quite frequently.

Proximity to many lakes, not only Travis.

The people, and the laid back spirit. This is a total Texas thing, not isolated to only Austin.

All the festivals in Austin and the towns surrounding it.

The history

The pretty decent weather

The live and let live attitude. People really don't slam each other because someone may be right wing or left wing and christian, or not christian, or whatever the case may be. I have friends from all walks of life and I like it that way

On rereading this, none of that is supposed to sound negative. To me, much of the region feeds each other in a sense. Austin is not the only part of the hill country to have this "Central Texas" vibe. I believe all of the towns in the region have this similar feel so I felt compelled to include them all. After all, the hill country reaches all the way from nearly McCamey/Iraan down to Uvalde and Devine over to New Braunfels out east to Taylor and up past San Saba Brady Menard, ElDorado and Big Lake. At least according to my Texas travel guide

[Cardiff Giant]

The awesome sunsets (I've seen some unbelievable sunrises too!).

[atxcio]

1. The outdoorsy stuff so close-in: the running/hiking trails, the mountain bike trails, the lakes, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, etc. And all the people who are always out there taking advantage of it! It's inspiring to see, motivating to be a part of, and don't we all need a little more motivation in our lives??

2. The airport. Well designed, beautiful, easy and quick access. Sure, you won't find the direct flights everywhere like Dallas and Houston, but we have more than our fair share... and the ease of getting in/out makes up for an extra 30 or 45 minute hop to Dallas or Houston. Nothing beats coming home to our airport.

3. People; this is a Texas thing. Everyone is friendly and laid back.

4. No entrenched families or big-money controlling the city. No single big company dominating the landscape. Dell in Round Rock came close for awhile, but this city has the university and state government which will always employ more than any single company. Basically, you have clean slate here, you can make as much or as little as you want for yourself -- but you'll never have to worry about being outcast because you ran afoul of a big company or some important family. You can feel like you are a part of this town in six months, a year -- just whenever you feel like you are an Austinite, you actually are. And people will treat you that way, whether you've lived here all your life or only been here a year.

5. Climate. It's not California weather, but compared to 90% of the country, I love the weather here. If you like snow and cold temperatures, though, it might not be for you.

6. Big enough, but not too big. In the past, Austinites fell into the categories of: Student, University/State employee, or Slacker. Typical college / state capital town. But now, at >1.5m people, you can have a real career here. Or, you can still be a slacker. Or some combination of both!

7. The scenery. A very beautiful combination of city and hill country; unique among Texas cities, certainly. Although some people despise the development on the hills in west Austin, I think it makes for a really neat cityscape, with homes and roads going all up in the hills, rather than just in the valleys below. The city wouldn't grow that way were it not for the climate -- you couldn't build the way you do here if ice or snow was a regular occurrence.

8. The proximity to the huge metros of Houston and Dallas, plus San Antonio. Whether you buy into Austin's placement on top ten lists or not, you can't deny the fact that we are surrounded by some of the most dynamic, vibrant, economically active, opportunity-filled metros in the country right now. It's easy to forget we're in the center of something much bigger: the second most populous (and super-fast growing) state, the best economy in the nation, home to much of the fortune 500, top airlines, a unique and storied culture, friendliest people, near-fanatical state pride, etc.

8. The music, the festivals, the food, and everything else I've forgotten to mention. I truly love it here. If I ever have to leave, it will be temporary! I'd never say Austin is the best in the country, because we have so many wonderful cities. But I really like everything I've discovered (and continue to discover) in this town.

[twange]

Originally Posted by Cardiff Giant

The awesome sunsets (I've seen some unbelievable sunrises too!).

Oh yea. Because of my new job hours, I've been enjoying the sunrises daily

I would say that the skies in general are wonderful here, but that would be Texas in general, not just Austin. A lot of people b*tch about the lack of tall trees but that just makes more room for big skies! And stars