What is the "carrying capacity" of Austin? (real estate, home)

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by inthecut

If you want to get away from the "born and raised-ville", wouldn't anyplace fit the bill....that is, anyplace that is different?....Is it a matter of getting away/running from place of origin, and starting over? Surely most places with job opportunities in your respective field can "make" you happy as well....

And how about all those people mentioning that they needed some sun, and tired of the cloudy days/cold in their place of origin?

Per Sunshine, you have the entire sunbelt....the sunbelt spreads 2,400 miles from west to east. I get the impression that those running from cold/cloudy weather only feel comfortable in Austin. Let's go over the other opportunities....Las Vegas(at least when it had jobs) is too gaudy/blue-collar to those looking for amenities......Phoenix is too sprawling and hot, and has too large of a retiree component, along with high crime.....New Mexico has little to offer besides Albuquerque and a few D of Energy related burgs like Los Alamos....Dallas and Houston are too sprawling, and San Antonio is too sleepy and off the grid.....Louisiana is too southern and high crime, ditto for the rest of the deep south, ala 'Bama, Miss, and Georgia, and, speaking of Georgia, Atlanta was the murder cap of the USA for several years, so thats off the grid.....that leaves only Florida, which is WAY too touristy and senior orientated, not to mention horrid per low paying service work(paid in sunshine).......

So, after considering the entire sunbelt, those looking to escape the cold and maintain a sense of eclectica/liberality, in a place they can feel confortable in, are relegated to a tiny little metro known as Austin, Texas..........

Strange but true.....the entire southern sunbelt has only one metro that intelligent folks looking for a liberal, eclectic atmosphere can feel confortable in.....Austin......

Doesn't say much for the sunbelt or south as a whole, does it?

Not all of us who moved here are ready to say the rest of the Sunbelt is lost or we wouldn't live there. It just so happens this is where my husband was able to find a job because of his area of expertise. I think you read way too much into things.

[Paulmmm]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Crime rates in Austin have changed little over the years.

Thanks for the factual info. I should have known better.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Not that it really matters but the link to the "magic" song from last night somehow became the flip side of the 45 of "magic", (by the way it sounded sick, and not in a good way).

someone tell me how that happened without me doing it please? That is messed up!

However, now when I click on the link to it, it plays the "magic" song.


Whatever.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Not all of us who moved here are ready to say the rest of the Sunbelt is lost or we wouldn't live there. It just so happens this is where my husband was able to find a job because of his area of expertise. I think you read way too much into things.

Sorry, but I strongly feel, actually am quite certain, that the vast majority of relocatees in Austin moving from non-southern states never considered any other southern cities besides Austin, and wouldn't move to any southern cities besides Austin, and that includes Houston, DFW, and San Antonio.
Austin is just a neutered turf devoid enough of all things southern for them to feel comfortable.....Honestly, how many non-southerners would move to Miss, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky, etc.? That's the whole charm of Austin, in that it is liberal, devoid of the heavier trappings of southerness(except for southern friendly), and a nice little neutral comfort zone.......They can move to the south AND feel cool/hip to themselves and their friends. I could not think of one other southern city they could find palatable, with the exception of the research corridor/triangle in NC, itself another large relo place for non-southerners to migrate to and still feel they haven't landed in the bible belt. Atlanta would be the exception for those looking for a big city experience, being somewhat denuded itself from the hard-core southern experience.....

[Jennibc]

No need to apologize.

We have friends and family that have moved from other parts of the country (nonsouth) to Knoxville, Memphis, Oak Ridge, Charleston (SC), Dallas, San Antonio, Orlando, Coral Gables, Little Rock, Silver springs, (some consider MD part of the south), and Atlanta all during the past decade. All moved for job opportunities within their companies or within their industries.

Where are you getting all of your demographic information to support your hypothesis? If you provided me with that, I might be persuaded, however, without it, I just don't agree.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

No need to apologize.

We have friends and family that have moved from other parts of the country (nonsouth) to Knoxville, Memphis, Oak Ridge, Charleston (SC), Dallas, San Antonio, Orlando, Coral Gables, Little Rock, Silver springs, (some consider MD part of the south), and Atlanta all during the past decade. All moved for job opportunities within their companies or within their industries.

Where are you getting all of your demographic information to support your hypothesis? If you provided me with that, I might be persuaded, however, without it, I just don't agree.

Sounds like you have a very large network of friends.....Atlanta I mentioned as palatable, orlando and CG are both in what is considered the "northern" re:yankee part of Florida, and the carolinas have attracted a lot of high tech jobs as well as finance....

Frankly, I don't believe many people moving from the north, even more so the west coast, would find much of the south palatable outside of Texas, and Austin in particular.

The sunbelt as a whole has gained enormous population, but that is very largely concentrated in just a few states, Florida and Texas, as well as the Atlanta metro.....that leaves out pretty much the entire rest of the south, except for the research triangle, which is as much of an anomoly in the carolinas as Austin is in Texas, as well as the DC metro, which really does not expand any farther south in Vir than Loudin and Fairfax country.....

Austin is one of the only cities that those that are looking for a liberal atmosphere in the south can find palatable...I really don't think Little Rock would be quite on the radar of anyone moving from Californa, along with Memphis....

Re Coral Gables, that is a very exclusive burb of Miami, and about as southern as the ex-manhattanites that inhabit the same....

[Paulmmm]

My wife and I moved here from San Francisco almost 2 years ago. I'm from Boston originally and she's from Canada. Before we ended up in Austin, we also thought about moving to Asheville, Memphis, Nashville, and Savannah. We visited and researched them all and liked Austin best.

And I'd like to point out that, in my opinion, there's often an undercurrent of "what are people running away from?" in a lot of questioning posts. Believe it or not, we weren't running away from anything. We were looking ahead to someplace we thought we'd enjoy (and we do). But maybe that's just us having a positive view of life as opposed to a perpetually negative one.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Paulmmm

My wife and I moved here from San Francisco almost 2 years ago. I'm from Boston originally and she's from Canada. Before we ended up in Austin, we also thought about moving to Asheville, Memphis, Nashville, and Savannah. We visited and researched them all and liked Austin best.

And I'd like to point out that, in my opinion, there's often an undercurrent of "what are people running away from?" in a lot of questioning posts. Believe it or not, we weren't running away from anything. We were looking ahead to someplace we thought we'd enjoy (and we do). But maybe that's just us having a positive view of life as opposed to a perpetually negative one.

Well, if you study US history, and westward expansion, it has always been a matter of looking for "utopia", from Joseph Smiths' Zion(SLC) on down... "this is the place!" has been uttered countless times by those looking for a place better than where they live, ala grass greener.....

Sometimes it seems like we are actually trying to go back to a idealized childhood, where everyone loved us and we were happy 24/7.......and we all feel that there must be some magic place out there that fulfills that dream.....

Right now Austin is that place, but there were many before, and many will follow, that give us a chance to "chase that dream", as ultimately foolish as the search always ends up......

Our happiness resides in our own selves, not in a "place".....till we learn that we will forever keep looking for "el dorado"....

[orngkat]

I work at UT and there is a constant influx of new professors or staff hired from places like Boston, NYC etc. There are cultural shortchanges here for them I'm sure but I often hear that they are glad to be somewhere warm for a change. And that they appreciate a slower way of life. I like to say living in Texas is a love hate thing. Personally, I think things are becoming a bit crowded and that we have lost some of the Texas friendly. Everywhere I go, there seems to be lines and or crowds of people and that is something I don't recall just a few years ago. There will come a point though when Austin is no longer the latest "it" city and maybe then things will become a little less frenzied.

[Paulmmm]

Originally Posted by inthecut

Well, if you study US history, and westward expansion, it has always been a matter of looking for "utopia", from Joseph Smiths' Zion(SLC) on down... "this is the place!" has been uttered countless times by those looking for a place better than where they live, ala grass greener.....

Sometimes it seems like we are actually trying to go back to a idealized childhood, where everyone loved us and we were happy 24/7.......and we all feel that there must be some magic place out there that fulfills that dream.....

Right now Austin is that place, but there were many before, and many will follow, that give us a chance to "chase that dream", as ultimately foolish as the search always ends up......

Our happiness resides in our own selves, not in a "place".....till we learn that we will forever keep looking for "el dorado"....

I don't know why I bother posting my own opinions and experiences, only to have my post quoted and be lectured to by someone who speaks for everyone ("we all feel"). Since my input isn't needed, I will exit this thread. Please feel free to now misinterpret this and have the last word.