Just try and convince me NOT to move to Austin! (Houston: house, to buy)

[mimimomx3]

Someone moving to Texas from the DC area should enjoy the slower pace, the weather and the slightlylower cost of living. Please leave the nanny state mentality of big government that you see in the DC area behind, though.

[The_Fairfaxian]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

Someone moving to Texas from the DC area should enjoy the slower pace, the weather and the slightlylower cost of living. Please leave the nanny state mentality of big government that you see in the DC area behind, though.

GLADLY

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by The_Fairfaxian

From what I'm reading on this post about Austin (and most of Texas in general), the more I dive into it, the more breath-taken I am at the state in general. I know that no state or place is perfect, but from what I'm gather about Austin (and also Houston in that case), it's almost everything I'm looking for:

-A strong and steadily growing job market
-A very affordable cost of living
-A lot of young college-grad professionals (in order to assure an active social and dating life)
-People who are genuinely friendly, laid-back, and believe in the live-and-let-live philosophy instead of being intentionally arrogant, overtly anal, and uber-pretentious
-Young college grads who are open to meeting new people based on personality and interests and not based on "who they grew up with," "inside connections," or their "political power"
-A christian and church-minded place where people don't waste their time shoving down the Bible in peoples' throats but use that energy to live by example of the Bible's lessons and commandments
-A more progressive and libertarian-minded lifestyle (people are neutral/indifferent to a person's political affiliation, skin color, religion, etc.)
-The women are beautiful in many forms, from the southern belle the Latina señorita and everything in between.
-A strong gridiron football culture (Friday Night H.S. Football, Saturday College Football, Sunday Professional Football...something I can definitely get used to)

Now I know not everyone in Austin and Texas aren't like this, but if there are some things that I misstated, some things that I should be aware of, or things I make sure to do before making the move, I would welcome the comments.

And as for the humid weather and lack of mass transportation, I can handle those problems. I can (and plan to) get a car, and as for the weather...well if all of the things I gathered about Austin are true, lets just say everything has a price

You simply have to come out here for a visit and see if the place is really what you think it is.....in some ways it probably WILL live up to your preconceptions, and it some ways it probably won't...just like meeting someone you haven't seen on the web, when you are staring at them face-to-face, idealization time is over and you are looking at him/it in the face.....it simply is what it is(Texas)......millions of people have had dreams made, broken, and most folks are simply living out thier lives there, much the same as anywhere else.....some are even idealizing and searching for other places, just like you.........

Best advice I can give...come out and give it a visit, but remember, the grass is always greener........

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by love roses

Just a few points I don't agree with. First, only gonna flame ya' a little on the ugliness. I don't find Texas ugly at all personally but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I won't disagree that the East Coast has some beautiful parts. But, Texas is in a drought so not much is going to be green. Same as when I lived in Colorado. It gets dry there and Xeriscaping was pretty common. Just a question, How many parts of Texas besides Central Texas/Austin have you visited? And I don't mean just driving along the interstate, but actually getting off the main road and really driving around by alternate routes?

Proximity to other cities: Of course there is nothing comparable to NY in Texas. There's nothing comparable to it ANYWHERE else in the Country. But, we are 3-4 hrs from Dallas and 2 hours from Houston and San Antonio. All of those cities are larger than Austin and all with different vibes and amenities than Austin.

Ugly, sprawling suburbs. We've got to have somewhere to put all the people moving here. I am just repeating what another poster said somewhere, but it's true. Highlands Ranch in Colorado would be another example of sprawling suburbia. Just saying, it's happening everywhere.

I lived near Highland Ranch, your right about that. Funny thing is that I always thought that Colorado was this tree covered mountainous state. Some of it is, but the part with all the jobs is on the flat front range.

I tried Austin. You live in Hutto, that's the place with the hippos right?
Too hot, too flat. Next I tried Colorado: Too cold, dry and statically charged (kept getting shocked). Moved to AZ: Love it, Lots of mountains all around me, 7 months of 60-79 degree weather and beautiful desert topography. Hotter than all get out though for 5 months. I guess Austin was all right, I think in the end it drove me nuts no being about to see mountains. I don't know why this bothered me so much, but it really did.

[1mintjulep]

I've never found Austin to be particularly church-based, at least not compared to where I grew up. There's a fair amount of religious diversity here, such that I haven't had a problem meeting other Buddhists or people involved with other Eastern spiritual practices (yoga, etc.).

It's funny to hear people complain about Texas being flat. I grew up in Louisiana, and when I first drove into the Austin area, having never been here before, I thought the hills were spectacular. It's all about perspective. And I love the heat. Anything below 60 degrees, and I have to turn on the heat or go put on a sweater.

[watchoverme]

Austin isn't flat really... Texas is however. I don't think anyone here thinks that Austin is particularly flat.

[jread]

Originally Posted by The_Fairfaxian

From what I'm reading on this post about Austin (and most of Texas in general), the more I dive into it, the more breath-taken I am at the state in general. I know that no state or place is perfect, but from what I'm gather about Austin (and also Houston in that case), it's almost everything I'm looking for:

-A strong and steadily growing job market
-A very affordable cost of living
-A lot of young college-grad professionals (in order to assure an active social and dating life)
-People who are genuinely friendly, laid-back, and believe in the live-and-let-live philosophy instead of being intentionally arrogant, overtly anal, and uber-pretentious
-Young college grads who are open to meeting new people based on personality and interests and not based on "who they grew up with," "inside connections," or their "political power"
-A christian and church-minded place where people don't waste their time shoving down the Bible in peoples' throats but use that energy to live by example of the Bible's lessons and commandments
-A more progressive and libertarian-minded lifestyle (people are neutral/indifferent to a person's political affiliation, skin color, religion, etc.)
-The women are beautiful in many forms, from the southern belle the Latina señorita and everything in between.
-A strong gridiron football culture (Friday Night H.S. Football, Saturday College Football, Sunday Professional Football...something I can definitely get used to)

Now I know not everyone in Austin and Texas aren't like this, but if there are some things that I misstated, some things that I should be aware of, or things I make sure to do before making the move, I would welcome the comments.

And as for the humid weather and lack of mass transportation, I can handle those problems. I can (and plan to) get a car, and as for the weather...well if all of the things I gathered about Austin are true, lets just say everything has a price

You've pretty much got it down, however Austin is definitely not "churchy" in any way (some of the suburbs are, but not the city itself). Also, if you're coming from the DC area then you already experience much worse humidity than anything we have in Austin. For most of the year, Austin is actually quite dry with low humidity (especially over the last year). It gets humid in the spring, but the summers are generally hot and dry, and fall/winter are very dry.

[groovamos]

Originally Posted by watchoverme

Austin isn't flat really... Texas is however. I don't think anyone here thinks that Austin is particularly flat.

Texas is so huge, with so much flat land in West Texas, the Panhandle, the coastal plain including here in Houston, I was thinking you might like to know that the state has 3 mountain ranges, each with many peaks in excess of 7000 ft, in other words bigger than anything east of the Mississppi; note the highest, Guadalupe Peak, at slightly less than 8750 ft. The three ranges are:

1. Chisos Mountains -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisos_Mountains

2. Davis Mountains -- http://www.davis-mountains.com/

3. Guadalupe Mountains -- Gaudalupe Mountains, hike through Dog Canyon.

This last range is the only one I have backpacked. Scroll down this last link for a look at the grandeur. What is missing here is a photo of the upper McKittrick Canyon which is as spectacular as Yosemite Valley and can only be seen on overnight hikes or trail rides. But notice the juxtaposition of desert with Ponderosa Pine and broad leaf forests in this range depicted in the link. What makes forests grow here at upper altitudes is frequent foggy drizzle most of the year, where at lower altitudes this is not frequent. There is a mountain stream flowing down McKittrick.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by watchoverme

Austin isn't flat really... Texas is however. I don't think anyone here thinks that Austin is particularly flat.

Looks like you need to do some traveling around Texas (I admit I do too)--perhaps in the places groovamos has cited. In your statement, I would be willing to accept replacing 'Texas' with the 'Texas Gulf Coast' or even 'Houston'; However, while Texas might not be the most mountainous, or "beautiful" state (I don't really care for mountains) I'm fairly certain it offers more topographical/climate variety than any state in the Northeast, so you can find whatever is beautiful to you, all in one state.

Originally Posted by jread

You've pretty much got it down, however Austin is definitely not "churchy" in any way (some of the suburbs are, but not the city itself). Also, if you're coming from the DC area then you already experience much worse humidity than anything we have in Austin. For most of the year, Austin is actually quite dry with low humidity (especially over the last year). It gets humid in the spring, but the summers are generally hot and dry, and fall/winter are very dry.

Wait...what? People have all these misconceptions about humidity in Texas, and now I see where they stem from...

These be the facts:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed

Both fairly humid--if it makes you feel better though, they haven't beaten Houston which has a wonderful average 90% relative humidity (morning) and 63% relative humidity (afternoon).

[love roses]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

I lived near Highland Ranch, your right about that. Funny thing is that I always thought that Colorado was this tree covered mountainous state. Some of it is, but the part with all the jobs is on the flat front range.

I tried Austin. You live in Hutto, that's the place with the hippos right?
Too hot, too flat. Next I tried Colorado: Too cold, dry and statically charged (kept getting shocked). Moved to AZ: Love it, Lots of mountains all around me, 7 months of 60-79 degree weather and beautiful desert topography. Hotter than all get out though for 5 months. I guess Austin was all right, I think in the end it drove me nuts no being about to see mountains. I don't know why this bothered me so much, but it really did.

I got a little chuckle out of the part where you mention the static charges in Colorado. That was one of the things I hated with a passion and one of the things that I DID dislike about winter and even after abt. 6 yrs. there, it never got less painful In the driest months, especially winter, I always wore gloves when I went grocery shopping because there was nothing in there I could touch that wouldn't create a spark along with the shock. Those were the worst!