Is Austin Weird Like the Adam's Family of Cities (Houston: high school, university)

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

or maybe it was the same and we just didn't have city data. I know, I know...it's all the fault of the people moving here. I get it, I get it. Gawd...

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

or maybe it was the same and we just didn't have city data. I know, I know...it's all the fault of the people moving here. I get it, I get it. Gawd...

No..just too many people picking apart relo places under the microscope. Almost a freudian obsession with every little detail about Austin...what is it like? Will I fit in? Is in as liberal as they say? Really eclectic? Has growth soured the old atmosphere? Too many people? Why so many californians? Is real estate affordable there?..........And then the 1001 iterations of the "are they really as friendly as the internet says?"....after which the internet answers back in the guise of City Data.......

And you can get as regressive as you like just with City Data....How do people find city-data? Is that the only site they go on to ask questions/ How come they don't ask friends and family about it? Why do they trust strangers with personal moves, some of them major life decisions, when they don't know most of the neighbors on their block they're living on now? Is this the cracker barrel of the new age? The collective corner stoop of electronic blips? How come on one posts their real name or pictures like Facebook? Are they afraid? Are they more shy than the social networking sites? Are they they type that would have been doing Dungeons and Dragons in MUD chatrooms in the 80's?..........

See?........and all we are doing is moving from one place to another.....
if we reflected on all of lives moves with the same obsessive manner, we would never get our of our living room chair!

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Former Odessan in Austin

When I made my original post, I was thinking about the hayseeds in Texas that think that the world is only 3,000 years old. These Texas hayseeds are the ones that think Austin is wierd.

C'mon, even the hayseeds think it's SIX thousand years old. Cut em SOME slack.

[Former Odessan in Austin]

Originally Posted by inthecut

No..just too many people picking apart relo places under the microscope. Almost a freudian obsession with every little detail about Austin...what is it like? Will I fit in? Is in as liberal as they say? Really eclectic? Has growth soured the old atmosphere? Too many people? Why so many californians? Is real estate affordable there?..........And then the 1001 iterations of the "are they really as friendly as the internet says?"....after which the internet answers back in the guise of City Data.......

And you can get as regressive as you like just with City Data....How do people find city-data? Is that the only site they go on to ask questions/ How come they don't ask friends and family about it? Why do they trust strangers with personal moves, some of them major life decisions, when they don't know most of the neighbors on their block they're living on now? Is this the cracker barrel of the new age? The collective corner stoop of electronic blips? How come on one posts their real name or pictures like Facebook? Are they afraid? Are they more shy than the social networking sites? Are they they type that would have been doing Dungeons and Dragons in MUD chatrooms in the 80's?..........

See?........and all we are doing is moving from one place to another.....
if we reflected on all of lives moves with the same obsessive manner, we would never get our of our living room chair!

Well there are very few places left in America that actually have an economy after George W Bush destroyed America. People are moving to Austin because we still have an economy.

[Former Odessan in Austin]

Originally Posted by love roses

I would add that most college towns and cities have their share of educated people. Houston, Dallas, some parts of S. Texas...among several others. I didn't see any hillbilly hayseeds on the square in Georgetown today.

Austin IS in Texas. I'm just saying, since you said Austin isn't wierd, it just has a high percentage of educated people as opposed to Texas, which does not. I don't think I'd tell all the engineers and astronauts in Clear Lake/League City that they were uneducated or any of the energy CEO's, whether for green energy companies in W. Texas or Oil on the Gulf that they are uneducated, or the fine medical personnel in Dallas, Tyler and Houston that they are uneducated or the well to do ranchers and farmers who put food on our tables, or the forest rangers and game wardens and people who help protect our wildlife.

Yes, you are talking about Williamson County, a part of the metro area but not a part of the core City of Austin. Williamson County only prospered because of the white flight from Austin when Austin ISD integrated their school district. Williamson County feels more like Waco then Austin. Remember when Williamson County rejected a plant site Apple Computers was going to build in Round Rock because Apple Computers allowed same sex marriage couples the same benefits as all of its employees. Now that is a progressive county, not a hayseed amongst them. That is what I call weird, not allowing a major employer in the area based on prejudice. Lots of laughs, I never venture into Williamson County except when I have to drive to Dallas

[TexasHorseLady]

Interestingly, I've lived in Williamson County since 1996 (WELL after AISD integrated their school district - the son who was in third grade when that happened was off at college when we moved), after living in Austin proper from 1969 until 1996. My husband's business remained in Austin, and we still own a house there - we moved because keeping horses and cows in Austin proper doesn't work so well. I can say that this is a pretty inaccurate description of the county, but, then, that's not terribly surprising, all things considered.

[Former Odessan in Austin]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Interestingly, I've lived in Williamson County since 1996 (WELL after AISD integrated their school district - the son who was in third grade when that happened was off at college when we moved), after living in Austin proper from 1969 until 1996. My husband's business remained in Austin, and we still own a house there - we moved because keeping horses and cows in Austin proper doesn't work so well. I can say that this is a pretty inaccurate description of the county, but, then, that's not terribly surprising, all things considered.

Are you denying Williamson County rejected a plant site Apple Computers was going to build in Round Rock because Apple Computers allowed same sex marriage couples the same benefits as all of its employees.

[TexasHorseLady]

I'm denying your stereotype of the reasons that Williamson County is growing, your stereotypical characterization of Williamson County, and your stereotypes of Texas in general.

[Frodo2008]

Originally Posted by inthecut

Some people here in other posts have mentioned that Houston is the most underrated city in the US, and that Austin is the most overrated in Texas...while I sorta agree about Austin, I 100% agree about Houston...and I'd say Houston is more arty and "weird" as well as having more bizarre residents......lots of folks geting their "Freak on" in Houston..

Yeah Houston is very diverse. It has a lot of art and culture. Houston is very underrated. Most people around the country have the wrong impression of Houston.

[Frodo2008]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

No Austin in general isn't weird except for that time the buffoonish cop shocked the old grandma with a taser. Also somebody recently posted a bunch of obese hippies riding around town in motor-carts protesting the war in Iraq. And that God-Foresaken transgendered man.

If you want to see real weirdos look at the photo gallery here from another Texas city: The Church Dallas Event Pictures

This definitely does not look like your usual church. This reminds me of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. At the Rocky Horror Picture Show there are a lot of interesting looking people there.