If you're planning to move to Austin (especially from a bigger city)... (Houston: best cities, sales)

[berg1002]

I have had it in the back of my head to move or take a look someday at moving there. It seemed everyone hypes up Austin. Nice to hear your point of view.

Thanks

[Frodo2008]

Originally Posted by berg1002

I have had it in the back of my head to move or take a look someday at moving there. It seemed everyone hypes up Austin. Nice to hear your point of view.

Thanks

No problem. I'm just putting in my 2 cents worth.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by SpreadingTruth

I moved to Austin with my wife 8 months ago from Los Angeles. I lived in Los Angeles for 1 year and I'm originally from Brooklyn, NY.

Ok, so with out of the way, I signed up to this site to clear up some information for you city people. I'm a little pissed about the false information people are spewing so it's time to drop some knowledge

If you're moving to Austin, here's what you need to know:

WHAT SUCKS

1) The food sucks. Cheeseburgers here are no better than cheeseburgers anywhere. It's a CHEESEBURGER. If you're lucky enough to find some good Cajun food, the place will probably be closed by 10pm anyway. There is little diversity. There are a few gems here or there, but it's nothing close to what you can get in LA, Chicago, NY, Philly, or DC. My best experience with food here was a French restaurant that's $100 per person... and it wasn't as good as a tiny French restaurant in LA.

Often times you will find yourself having to do a lot of research to find a good place to eat... and given the state of the economy I'm guessing you can't spend a ***** ton of money on food. This is not like New York or Los Angeles where you can pick a popular street and find some ecsquisite restaurants. In Pasadena my restaraunt life was constrained to a single zip code... and I didn't even visit half of the places I wanted to.

90% of the stuff you'll find here is restaurant chains: Mexican, Steakhouse, Italian... that's about it. There are some nice places around downtown but nothing special.

Austinites tend to label things as special in Austin when those things aren't that special at all. Don't know why they do that...

2) Texans think that Texas is a country. Have you ever seen someone with the shape of the state they live in tattooed on their body? Have you ever seen someone from LA with a tattoo of the state of California on their body? Me neither, until I moved to Austin. And frankly I can't figure out why.

LA has hollywood, celebs and beautiful sunsets
NY has statue of liberty, the italian mob, the yankees and true diversity
TX has... cowboys, mexicans and...?

3) Drivers in Ausin, Texas are worse than drivers in LA
If you currently live in LA, you will understand how horrible this is I'm not even going to elaborate here because I'd end up writing a whole essay about this.

4) When they say Austin is liberal, they mean it has a bunch of college kids. In other words, most adults over the age of 35 that you see will not be liberal. There are a few social groups here like any city (goth.. really nice ppl btw, musicians, etc) but when you roll it up as a whole... it's Texas. It's the southern region. This is not a golden city in the middle of a swamp if you know what i mean.

Since I'm on the topic if people, I've seen a great deal of uptight people that act like that have a stick up their ass. In fact just last week I was lounging on the outside of a cafe I really enjoy in North Austin and some... person... came up to me, interrupted my conversation and reminded me that I shouldn't smoke with 50ft of the entrance. This cafe literally has 3 tables and people regularly go there to smoke, drink and have interesting conversation. I wish that sob was worth flattening but of course he wasn't. People like only cause you grief no matter how many times you punch them in the face.

I've had atleast 10 instances like the above in the past 8 months. Oh and I still haven't gotten used to everyone saying hi to me.

5) There is nothing else to do besides eating, shooting guns at the range and watching movies. We've exhausted every possible option of doing something interesting. We've headed North/South/East and found nooooooooooooooothing. West is the only option where you will find Fredericksburg. You can only really go there for the food because the quaint little town has been so commercialized that it's nothing but gift shops and restaurants. The food is WORTH IT though!!!

6) There are people here that were born in Texas, lived in Texas their whole lives and will probably die in Texas. They have never been out of the state. Just keep that in mind.

7) It's expensive city. If you're looking to move to *any* non-city environment, you should atleast consider a few others first. This city is damn expensive in comparison to other small cities.

8) ALLERGIES. Many people that move here suffer from Cedar Fever in their first year. It really depends on how well your body handles allergens. Once you get it... you'll know it... and you'll hate it. Google for "Austin allergies" or "Cedar fever" and enjoy the read. Also this page covers it simply:
AroundAustin.Com: Achoo! Austin Allergies

9) Public Schools Sucks. Basically my theory is that republicans run this state which is why they it's not bankrupt right now. They're good with business but they suck with social programs. The result is one of the largest high school dropout rates in the country, terrible conditions of the public schools, teachers that abuse their students, etc. If you have a kid between the ages of 8 and 16 and you're planning to move here... start looking for a private school or some sort of way to home school your child.

WHAT DOESN'T SUCK

1) If you live out in North Austin, it's very peaceful. The crime rate is very low, rent isn't expensive and it's pretty scenic. North Austin is like 90% white people. If you're wanting to relax a little and do your own thing, this is the place to do it provided you can find yourself a descent job (covered below).

2) If you're a people person and enjoy the energy of others around you I promise that you will find the people here socially retarted and they will bother the hell out of you. Most people that I've come across don't understand basic etiquette. Sorry

HOWEVER (the reason its in the positive section), this also means that you can easily detatch yourself from the general population and enjoy things that you wouldn't normally do on a regular basis, such as do some photography (there's plenty of nature/sites to go around here), have a picnic, read a book, focus on your personal work and ambition for a while, mellow out and don't do much of anything, go horseback riding, go shoot a gun at the range (tons of fun), etc.

3) THERE IS NO INCOME TAX!!! There are some things that are significantly cheaper than other cities. Car insurance will probably be cheaper. The big one is income tax. If you live in a state that enforces its own income tax (ie: california, new york, etc) -- this will be a real pleasure for you. You'll find that some products will be cheaper for you than before (can't remember which, but I do remember saying "oh that's much cheaper than LA or NY"). Ah, gas is one of them. Texas gas is very cheap!

4) If you're a single guy, you will find alooooooooooot of available tang here... but only if you're looking to get married. There are boatloads of single women here. I see them everyday... no rock on their finger... and they're all pretty trendy.

The market for good men in this town is horrible for them. I've been told this on more than one occasion and it doesn't surprise me in the least. Sof if you know what it's like to be a traditionally self respectful man, have a fair amount of money in your pocket and know how to treat a woman -- you could easily find "the one" here. If you just want to get laid, you won't have trouble with that either

5) The job market is still alive. It sucks, but it's better than NY and LA. You'd be able to find something here pretty easy if you are a "motivated self-starter" bla bla bla

6) Austin will make you appreciate the places you lived before.

Good luck.

If you liked LA or NY then I would never expect you to like any area in Texas. This isn't either one ';thank god.But it seems that many don't share your opinon as teaxs is growing so fast in population.If your now having a problem finding a job then I thnik your in the wrong area for what you do as unemployent is pretty low. I always say if a area doesn't suit you move;this is a big country.From your omments on relationship it sounds like your typical bar material really.

[Klassyhk]

Originally Posted by SpreadingTruth

2) Texans think that Texas is a country. Have you ever seen someone with the shape of the state they live in tattooed on their body? Have you ever seen someone from LA with a tattoo of the state of California on their body? Me neither, until I moved to Austin. And frankly I can't figure out why.

Native Texan-turned NYer here. Ok your question is have we ever seen a person from LA, with a tattoo of the state of California on their body, in AUSTIN, TX? No, I must say I haven't. Wait, do they have to be from LA? For example, could it be a person from the bay area instead? Aw, never mind. I've never seen a person from the bay area with a tattoo of the state of California in Austin either. Guess, I'm with you on that. I can't for the life of me figure out why a person with a tattoo of the state of California would be in Austin, TX of all places showing off such a tattoo. Perhaps there is some type of discount offered to Californians who move to ATX (as long as they have the state of California tattoo).

[Frodo2008]

This is in reply to SpreadingTruth. Yes Texans have tons of pride in their state. There's nothing wrong with that. I could see this getting on some people's nerves but there really isn't anything wrong with this. People in Boston have plenty of pride about living in Boston so this is the case pretty much everywhere you go. I used to live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The local people just call it The UP. The locals were called Yoopers. The Yoopers were just as proud of the UP as Texans are of Texas. It seems everywhere you go people have pride in the place they live. That's fine with me. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

[artsyguy]

I agree with your post. I experienced the exact same thing.

Originally Posted by SpreadingTruth

I moved to Austin with my wife 8 months ago from Los Angeles. I lived in Los Angeles for 1 year and I'm originally from Brooklyn, NY.

Ok, so with out of the way, I signed up to this site to clear up some information for you city people. I'm a little pissed about the false information people are spewing so it's time to drop some knowledge

If you're moving to Austin, here's what you need to know:

WHAT SUCKS

1) The food sucks. Cheeseburgers here are no better than cheeseburgers anywhere. It's a CHEESEBURGER. If you're lucky enough to find some good Cajun food, the place will probably be closed by 10pm anyway. There is little diversity. There are a few gems here or there, but it's nothing close to what you can get in LA, Chicago, NY, Philly, or DC. My best experience with food here was a French restaurant that's $100 per person... and it wasn't as good as a tiny French restaurant in LA.

Often times you will find yourself having to do a lot of research to find a good place to eat... and given the state of the economy I'm guessing you can't spend a ***** ton of money on food. This is not like New York or Los Angeles where you can pick a popular street and find some ecsquisite restaurants. In Pasadena my restaraunt life was constrained to a single zip code... and I didn't even visit half of the places I wanted to.

90% of the stuff you'll find here is restaurant chains: Mexican, Steakhouse, Italian... that's about it. There are some nice places around downtown but nothing special.

Austinites tend to label things as special in Austin when those things aren't that special at all. Don't know why they do that...

2) Texans think that Texas is a country. Have you ever seen someone with the shape of the state they live in tattooed on their body? Have you ever seen someone from LA with a tattoo of the state of California on their body? Me neither, until I moved to Austin. And frankly I can't figure out why.

LA has hollywood, celebs and beautiful sunsets
NY has statue of liberty, the italian mob, the yankees and true diversity
TX has... cowboys, mexicans and...?

3) Drivers in Ausin, Texas are worse than drivers in LA
If you currently live in LA, you will understand how horrible this is I'm not even going to elaborate here because I'd end up writing a whole essay about this.

4) When they say Austin is liberal, they mean it has a bunch of college kids. In other words, most adults over the age of 35 that you see will not be liberal. There are a few social groups here like any city (goth.. really nice ppl btw, musicians, etc) but when you roll it up as a whole... it's Texas. It's the southern region. This is not a golden city in the middle of a swamp if you know what i mean.

Since I'm on the topic if people, I've seen a great deal of uptight people that act like that have a stick up their ass. In fact just last week I was lounging on the outside of a cafe I really enjoy in North Austin and some... person... came up to me, interrupted my conversation and reminded me that I shouldn't smoke with 50ft of the entrance. This cafe literally has 3 tables and people regularly go there to smoke, drink and have interesting conversation. I wish that sob was worth flattening but of course he wasn't. People like only cause you grief no matter how many times you punch them in the face.

I've had atleast 10 instances like the above in the past 8 months. Oh and I still haven't gotten used to everyone saying hi to me.

5) There is nothing else to do besides eating, shooting guns at the range and watching movies. We've exhausted every possible option of doing something interesting. We've headed North/South/East and found nooooooooooooooothing. West is the only option where you will find Fredericksburg. You can only really go there for the food because the quaint little town has been so commercialized that it's nothing but gift shops and restaurants. The food is WORTH IT though!!!

6) There are people here that were born in Texas, lived in Texas their whole lives and will probably die in Texas. They have never been out of the state. Just keep that in mind.

7) It's expensive city. If you're looking to move to *any* non-city environment, you should atleast consider a few others first. This city is damn expensive in comparison to other small cities.

8) ALLERGIES. Many people that move here suffer from Cedar Fever in their first year. It really depends on how well your body handles allergens. Once you get it... you'll know it... and you'll hate it. Google for "Austin allergies" or "Cedar fever" and enjoy the read. Also this page covers it simply:
AroundAustin.Com: Achoo! Austin Allergies

9) Public Schools Sucks. Basically my theory is that republicans run this state which is why they it's not bankrupt right now. They're good with business but they suck with social programs. The result is one of the largest high school dropout rates in the country, terrible conditions of the public schools, teachers that abuse their students, etc. If you have a kid between the ages of 8 and 16 and you're planning to move here... start looking for a private school or some sort of way to home school your child.

WHAT DOESN'T SUCK

1) If you live out in North Austin, it's very peaceful. The crime rate is very low, rent isn't expensive and it's pretty scenic. North Austin is like 90% white people. If you're wanting to relax a little and do your own thing, this is the place to do it provided you can find yourself a descent job (covered below).

2) If you're a people person and enjoy the energy of others around you I promise that you will find the people here socially retarted and they will bother the hell out of you. Most people that I've come across don't understand basic etiquette. Sorry

HOWEVER (the reason its in the positive section), this also means that you can easily detatch yourself from the general population and enjoy things that you wouldn't normally do on a regular basis, such as do some photography (there's plenty of nature/sites to go around here), have a picnic, read a book, focus on your personal work and ambition for a while, mellow out and don't do much of anything, go horseback riding, go shoot a gun at the range (tons of fun), etc.

3) THERE IS NO INCOME TAX!!! There are some things that are significantly cheaper than other cities. Car insurance will probably be cheaper. The big one is income tax. If you live in a state that enforces its own income tax (ie: california, new york, etc) -- this will be a real pleasure for you. You'll find that some products will be cheaper for you than before (can't remember which, but I do remember saying "oh that's much cheaper than LA or NY"). Ah, gas is one of them. Texas gas is very cheap!

4) If you're a single guy, you will find alooooooooooot of available tang here... but only if you're looking to get married. There are boatloads of single women here. I see them everyday... no rock on their finger... and they're all pretty trendy.

The market for good men in this town is horrible for them. I've been told this on more than one occasion and it doesn't surprise me in the least. Sof if you know what it's like to be a traditionally self respectful man, have a fair amount of money in your pocket and know how to treat a woman -- you could easily find "the one" here. If you just want to get laid, you won't have trouble with that either

5) The job market is still alive. It sucks, but it's better than NY and LA. You'd be able to find something here pretty easy if you are a "motivated self-starter" bla bla bla

6) Austin will make you appreciate the places you lived before.

Good luck.

[orangeblossom]

Oh goodness. Ive read so many great things about Austin. I live in Seattle. Ive always wanted to visit Austin because after 20+ years of living in Seattle,I'm ready to see the sun! Plus Ive researched the housing there and after living here,I think its more affordable.

Well,you just have to visit a place to make any judgments. I guess its time for a visit. Informative thread though~

[paul09]

I really Like the city.
there are g8 place for dinning out.
and it is not very expensive.
Our opinion are perspective. Expensive if it is compared to small town.

you can check lot of website like http://bestaustindining.com/ , Local Coupons for Austin to get the good dinning list and the best deals available.

[ATX Homeboy]

What sucks about Austin:

1. Food is food. Do us all a favor and stick some in your face so you'll shut up. Sounds to me that you've not been anywhere in 8 months.
2. Texas IS its own country. Get over yourself or just learn to have some pride.
3. Drivers in Austin drive that way because they all came from the same place you did and ruined it for the rest of us so now we're just paying it forward.
4. Austin is liberal compared to other parts of Texas and you would know that if you were from here. Try visiting Vidor or Seadrift or any other place outside of Austin. I don't think you gotta go far Williamson County or Bastrop for that matter.
5. At least it sounds like you enjoy going to the firing range. Hell, I shoot my guns in my backyard.
6. I'm from Austin and I've been many places outside Texas, but there's only a few places nicer than Austin and even those are still inside of Texas.
7. Yeah, it's expensive. Wanna know why. Because idiots from NYC, LA, Chicago etc. have increased their property values so much they can't afford to live or work there anymore. What do they do? Move here and make us suffer the same fate. Wah-Wahhhhh.
8. Allergies. We got 'em so what? You live here your whole life you'll get used to it. So just MAN UP.
9. Public Schools. You're from NY?LA? and trying to compare their institutions to ours? Get real. I'm a public school teacher in central Texas at a Blue Ribbon campus. We get great results from our students because we care, we work hard, and expect success from our students. Student Dropout rates, really? As a parent or student perhaps you should take responsibility for your child or your self where that is concerned!

What Doesn't?:

1. North Austin has some rough areas too. North of the River including Booker T. Washington, Cameron Road & 290, or Peyton Gin and N. Lamar Blvd.
2. Socially Retarded? Are you serious? It is sad that someone pointed out the law to you concerning smoking but what's worse is... you took that off somebody.
3. Yeah, no income tax. Whoooppeee. Too bad you gotta pay 9,000 a year in property tax. City of Austin has never provided me with $9,000 worth of services.
4. You're married and telling us about getting women here? Hmmmm.
5. Jobs. We gotta 'em because we're not afraid to work.
6. If you appreciate NY & LA so much Go Back. Austin was a small college town all my life growing up here. It was quaint and peaceful. Everything was recognizable. Nothing looks or feels the same anymore. Thank you for that.

[readymade]

My husband encountered one of the "Damn Californians coming here and driving up our prices" people last week during a job interview! The guy hated my husband on sight and almost refused to shake his hand. "I'm from Chicago, and I rent!" my husband said. "You get a pass, then," the guy replied begrudgingly.

The awesome thing about this encounter is that my husband now has a "Damn Californians!" character to add to his repertoire of things he does to make me laugh. It's seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen! When he throws in the begrudging handshake, I'm on the floor.