The good bad and the ugly (Houston, Dallas: home, living in, rich)

[jobert]

Originally Posted by ZugZub

Could you clarify what you mean by "must-have"?

must have areas of Austin: hills, proximity, large historic homes, etc. What a large amount of people in Austin want, but there is a limited amount of. I didn't say "good schools" because that is always in flux. Referring back to the Sharpstown example, it was a nice neighborhood with nice schools, but lacked the previous mentioned criteria: hills, proximity, historic homes, etc. What isn't "must-have" is what we have gluts of: sprawl, far from urban centers, cookie cutter, you know stuff that is not unique and can be found in any suburb across america.

[ZugZub]

Originally Posted by jobert

must have areas of Austin: hills, proximity, large historic homes, etc. What a large amount of people in Austin want, but there is a limited amount of. I didn't say "good schools" because that is always in flux. Referring back to the Sharpstown example, it was a nice neighborhood with nice schools, but lacked the previous mentioned criteria: hills, proximity, historic homes, etc. What isn't "must-have" is what we have gluts of: sprawl, far from urban centers, cookie cutter, you know stuff that is not unique and can be found in any suburb across america.

Gotcha! Yeah, I'd rather buy a house that doesn't look like all the ones around it, even if I have to do a lot of work to it. It's not like I'm looking to turn around and sell quick; probably would hold onto it at least ten years. Oh, and how's your city for HOAs? Are they prevalent? Hate 'em hate 'em

[readymade]

Originally Posted by ZugZub

Gotcha! Yeah, I'd rather buy a house that doesn't look like all the ones around it, even if I have to do a lot of work to it. It's not like I'm looking to turn around and sell quick; probably would hold onto it at least ten years. Oh, and how's your city for HOAs? Are they prevalent? Hate 'em hate 'em

They. Are. Prevalent.

You can find non-HOAs (I agree with you about them), but you have to look a little harder.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

For some of us where we finally purchase a home is about the cost. The way these forums tie money and home value into a superior sector of society is disturbing. And also how poor is equated with being criminal, bad neighborhood, blah, blah, blah. We need to stop looking at all the crime in the streets here and start looking at crime in the suites. Quotes around streets and suites. Having said all that I found myself asking numerous times about the good schools. I'm a hippo-crit. Ah well... Oh, and HOA's = racket

[jobert]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

For some of us where we finally purchase a home is about the cost. The way these forums tie money and home value into a superior sector of society is disturbing. And also how poor is equated with being criminal, bad neighborhood, blah, blah, blah. We need to stop looking at all the crime in the streets here and start looking at crime in the suites. Quotes around streets and suites. Having said all that I found myself asking numerous times about the good schools. I'm a hippo-crit. Ah well... Oh, and HOA's = racket

Living in a neighborhood were your neighbors might rob your house when you leave town for the weekend doens't happen in rich neighborhoods. This is my justification for tying poor = crime together. People in rich neighborhoods don't come home from work, put on the ski-mask then go steal cars...

[jobert]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

For some of us where we finally purchase a home is about the cost. The way these forums tie money and home value into a superior sector of society is disturbing. And also how poor is equated with being criminal, bad neighborhood, blah, blah, blah. We need to stop looking at all the crime in the streets here and start looking at crime in the suites. Quotes around streets and suites. Having said all that I found myself asking numerous times about the good schools. I'm a hippo-crit. Ah well... Oh, and HOA's = racket

I hate to say it, but if you are looking for cheap housing, you will not find it in Austin. If you want to live in a nice neighborhood for less than 150K, you really need to be looking in Dallas.

[austin-steve]

So what if I don't have census data on hand to support this. There, I said it. What I am using is common sense.

Well, you are making the assumption that high population has a direct correlation with high crime, which just isn't supported by facts, namely crime statistics.

New Orleans is, I believe, currently the most crime ridden city in the U.S., and it's population is only 300,000. Singapore, with a population of over 4 Million, has 1/10th the crime rate of the U.S., despite many "bad" areas. So its not population that matters, it's who the people are and how they act.

I guess what I'm saying is that I reject your hypothesis in it's entirety because it is baseless. Just because Austin grows (and it should be around 3 million in the greater metro area 2030) doesn't at all mean that there will develop large "bad areas" just because of that growth. Your theory fails to take into consideration a multitude of factors that determine crime rates and instead supposes that one factor alone, population growth, will make your case.

So, I suggest you go find what the instance of crime per 100K residents is in American cities and come report back that you found that some of the worst crime is in smaller communities of less than 300K and in fact some of the safest U.S. cities are large ones. I know this to be the case but I'm not going to go do your research for you.

Steve

[jobert]

Good points there Steve, good points.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Singapore, with a population of over 4 Million, has 1/10th the crime rate of the U.S., despite many "bad" areas. So its not population that matters, it's who the people are and how they act.

Don't they cane people in Singapore?

[jobert]

okay, let me temper my argument here a little. Austin is the most expensive city in Texas, so there will not be the decayed squalor you would find in the other major cities of Texas, true. I think it's unrealistic to say the worst pockets of Austin will be as large and as bad as the other Texas cities. The scarcity of housing, and the neverending flow of people willing to move here will ensure we don't have the widespread third-world neighborhoods that other cities have. (my apologies to anyone from the third-world, or anyone who knows anyone from the third-world, blah,blah.) Don't get me wrong, I just don't think every corner of Austin is going to be at the end of a rainbow, and some areas will approach what we have found in the other major urban areas in Texas.