Is there any fair an balanced opinion from the people of Austin (real estate, schools)

[thedude72]

I guess when people get on the forum and say I'm being negative about things I'm really just providing my experience when living in Austin.
I would like to see people be more objective about things
Potentially Austin could be a great city but it assuredly has it's problems and
ignoring the problem isn't really the solution

[jobert]

Originally Posted by thedude72

I guess when people get on the forum and say I'm being negative about things I'm really just providing my experience when living in Austin.
I would like to see people be more objective about things
Potentially Austin could be a great city but it assuredly has it's problems and
ignoring the problem isn't really the solution

hey man, we b**** and moan all the time here if you hadn't noticed already.
There are things that suck and things that are great, we do a fine job of addressing both in this forum. There has been countless redundant threads about the following: weather, sprawl, traffic, attitudes, the heat, natural beauty, amenities, the Longhorns, housing costs, schools, austin vibe, the music scene, etc. to the point of boorishness. Why don't you start a thread about threads I guess? I have no idea if this is even a valid thread topic I'm speaking to..

[JustTheTemp]

I would be the first to agree with you that Austin has a lot of problems. For the majority of time that I have lived here, most salaries have not been on par with the realistic cost of living.

My biggest complaint: Expenses keep going up-up-up -- rent, real estate, food, entertainment -- but wages don't rise commensurately to cover the additional expenditure. This makes it very difficult for me to recommend moving to Austin for anyone who doesn't have a really good job lined up, savings to rely on, or family/friends to live with.

Austin is not expensive, per se ... certainly there are more expensive cities to live in. But when I research other cities with a similar cost of living and find that the population there makes a lot more money, or when I look at the average salaries in little bunk towns in Texas that are very inexpensive to live in and find them on par with Austin's, that cannot be a good thing.

This was happening before the recession/depression.

[llkltk]

People say that Austin has a lot of problems, but you don't see any of them leaving do you? Deep down, they all love it here.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by JustTheTemp

most salaries have not been on par with the realistic cost of living.

The only reason it's expensive here is because everyone is trying to crowd into desirable hill country areas on the western side of the city. There are a lot of areas not worth the price beign asked... Look east of 35. there is a lottttt of housing for less than $75 a sf. You can live within 5 miles of downtown for this price if you look hard enough.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by thedude72

I guess when people get on the forum and say I'm being negative about things I'm really just providing my experience when living in Austin.
I would like to see people be more objective about things
Potentially Austin could be a great city but it assuredly has it's problems and
ignoring the problem isn't really the solution

On other posts you say things like:

"Austin is a crap city coated in sugar,and you can always count on an Austinite to keep adding more crap and more sugar."

From my few weeks on this forum I have seen many posts by people who are critical of Austin, yet quite happy overall with their life here. Austin is not trouble free. I haven't seen a single post here that says that.

It seems like your entire experience in Austin has been negative. That is too bad. You seem to think everyone smokes pot. The pay is too low. Blah blah blah.

Why are you here in this city? Have you lived someplace you were happy? If so you really should go there. Because Austin isn't going to change because you ***** and moan here. After 25 years I STILL LIKE IT HERE.

[TexasHorseLady]

For anyone considering taking this thread seriously, I recommend first reviewing previous posts by the OP.

[ILikeSmartHippies]

Originally Posted by thedude72

ignoring the problem isn't really the solution

posting here isn't the solution either. either run for office to fix the problems or admit that you're just ranting & raving.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by llkltk

People say that Austin has a lot of problems, but you don't see any of them leaving do you? Deep down, they all love it here.

Just for the record-- I am leaving... Back to New England. After all this time still feels more like home. Nothing wrong with Austin-- It's not perfect-- But It's not home.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Well, you can ignore all my negative posts because I don't live there yet. My opinions are mostly based on my limited ability to clearly see anything. I'm not sure what fair and balanced you're looking for.