Is Austin overrated? (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: amusement parks, how much, university)

[doctorjef]

I wouldn't recommend Austin as a tourist destination except for tourism incidental to some trip for another purpose, like a friend of mine who recently went down to Austin because of a bachelor party. I think it can be a great place if you're coming because of friends or some business/professional purpose (conference, continuing ed, interview, clients) and I've enjoyed showing visiting friends around the area when I lived there. I was quite happy in Austin most of the time I lived there - I think it's a better place to live than an attractive tourist destination on its own merits. However, I never thought of Austin as a tourist destination per se. The idea of being over-rated in this context seems silly and meaningless to me -- something someone who needed to write a newspaper feature made up essentially.

[artsyguy]

Becoming??

It already is a terrible city to live in.

Originally Posted by austinite45

yes. and it's also becoming a terrible city to live in.

[contramundum]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

Becoming??

It already is a terrible city to live in.

I figure I just have higher standards than most other people. That's why I don't like it and they do.

I mean could it be any uglier?

[doctorjef]

Why don't you guys start an Austin Haters Club? Only I don't think ArtsyGuy should be a full member, since he doesn't actually live in Austin. You could make him an associate member.

[Nomadic9460678748]

Is Austin overrated?

I think it really depends on what you're looking for. Not that a semantic quibbling removes substance from the question at hand, but my feeling is that Austin is most certainly OVERHYPED as opposed to just being overrated. As a tourist destination, I feel Austin is most certainly overrated. I would much rather go visit my friends in California, Pennsylvania, or New York than have them come here. I mean, how many times can you really take people to a bridge to watch a bunch of rats with wings?

People who make their home here by choice tend to be committed to the prospect of living and dying in Texas and enjoy the brand of "progressisivism" and "diversity" Austin offers relative to other Texas cities, but Austin is still very much a Texas city in that it is poorly planned, sprawly, and strip mally. It's unlike other bigger Texas cities in that it is much more stratified (West is White, East is Non-White), limited in terms of its cultural/culinary offerings (Houston and Dallas have Austin beat in terms of restaurants, museums, and a globally renown arts scene).

Quite a few people seem determined to hold on to the vestiges of an Austin which has long since been blotted out by the growing gap-toothed condo skyline one sees everyday. That Austin which so many claim to revere and want to keep "weird" is reserved for a few (those who can actually AFFORD to live in Clarksville, Travis Heights, or Hyde Park, say), while everyone else must live in a mega-apartment complex off of Parmer or Slaughter. Austin's kind of like that girl you went to high school with who thinks she can become the prettiest girl in school by telling everyone at every available opportunity how pretty she is, hoping that you might look past her acne, blackheads, and gut and one day believe she is indeed the best-looking broad about. There are better fish out there. But she's the best Texas can offer you.

My experience with other places I've lived (though I've lived in Austin a cumulative 20 years, attended Oak Springs Elementary, Dobie Middle School, Lanier, and UT), such as Boston and Oakland and Portland, is that those places are much more primed for tourists in that they have a decent public transportation infrastructure, which is helpful in that it precludes the need and extra expense of a rental car. But we are in Texas, thus public transportation is anathema to the cultural DNA and most would rather share the wealth of their auto exhaust at any opportunity. Also, Austin is not nearly as dense as a lot of other touristy regions.

My opinion: Austin is extremely overrated, and I would live somewhere else in a New York minute. Omaha, Nebraska perhaps?

Also . . . are you kidding? What would you CD Sentinels do without artsyguy? He gives you something to look forward to and you know it!

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Well, that sort of depends on you, I would think. I wouldn't have any problem at all filling a couple of weeks with interesting things to do in Austin (some times of the year, it's a matter of having to make a choice from four or five things any given day and having to miss some), but that's me - your mileage clearly varies.

I love living in Austin. I'm just talking about people that come here for two weeks. You are making your comment as a resident of Austin not as a tourist from another state or country. So, I'd say your bias is getting in the way!

[TexasHorseLady]

Actually, it was when I moved out of the city that I found myself hitting myself on the forehead, thinking, "What was I thinking! All those things to do all around me and I never even paid attention to them!" I actually take more advantage of them now (and am more aware of them and appreciate them more) now that I have to make some effort, albeit not much, to get to them. I suspect that's not at all unusual - people don't really notice what's right in their back yard because, well, it's right there and thus "ordinary".

[Slick Shoes]

I used to say no, but now that it appears at the top of every list imaginable, I say yes. Watching the growth compared to when I was younger has been nearly-traumatic in a way, and the city is changing rapidly, and can't help but change...in some ways maybe for the better but in most ways likely not.

[Slick Shoes]

Unless you're here for a music festival or high-tech conference, Austin generally is a very overrated tourist destination. I've met people that came here in May and September and were surprised that it was close to or above 100 degrees and were complaining about it. Surprise, you're in the Southwest.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by Austin97

Austin is a terrible tourist destination.

Having lived in a tourist-based city, Williamsburg, VA, that is actually a good thing since activities are geared towards the locals rather than entertaining the out-of-towners with novelties (e.g. pseudo-historic areas) and crass commercialism (e.g. casinos).