Are the relos moving to Austin some of the least grounded/established in the areas they are coming from? (Round Rock: middle-class, apartment complexes)

[inthecut]

Reason I ask, is that if someone has deep roots in a community, is involved deeply in the same, and/or is thriving in a business, self-owned or otherwise, why would they be so eager to "jump ship"?....

Put another way, someone with a large extended family and many great friends surely must have SOME misgivings to jettison the same to live in an area where they know not a soul. I would imagine someone with an established, successful business, built over many years, and with extreme effort in creating local clientele, would be especially reticent to start over from scratch in an entirely different region.

So the question is, are Austin relocatees largely composed of economically disposessed folks, folks that were socially marginal in their place of origin,
or both? I just can't believe that many people would, especially in this economy, give up a successful business and/or a large social network, and spend another 10/15 years building up the same.....

I have a pretty good read on this, and I would say that the vast majority of relos are middle-class lower-tier workers who either have little chance for advancement where they are, are greatly dissatisfied with the job opportunities from whence they came, and/or have a very small social network, small enough to have no regrets jettisoning for a relo move to a place where they hear people are "friendly"......

Am I wrong on this? Best way I can put this, Has anyone left a well-paying job(non-transfer) or established, successful locally-based business, just to take their chances in Austin? My bar is high for a well-paying job. My definition is one that has taken time to achieve(skills, promotions), and pays what would be a very good wage in most metros......

Look forward to the replies on this one!

[Jennibc]

Aaarrrrrgggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's sunny here, the people are friendly and my spouse in making six figures. There are lots and lots of people who moved here to take a good job with a good company.

Some times people like the excitement of trying something new.

For me it was wanting to raise my son in a happier, less cynical culture.

How many relos have you actually spoken with? Or are you basing your handle of thing entirely on what you read on CD?

[Nor Cal Wahine]

You continue to beat this subject into the ground, over and over and over. Why? This I believe is as valid a question as the ones you repeatedly ask here. I'm genuinely curious as to why you wish to continue starting new threads to discuss the same subject. Is it because you are not getting the answers that you seek?

Oh, and in order to stay on-topic, I think jennibc's reply is spot-on for many of us. For me, marriage to a native is what brought me here.

[Moekazi]

You know there's prolly a billion posts on the City Data forum of people explaining why they move. You have a post count of nearly 1200. If you want an answer to your question, try spending more time reading than typing.

.

[jobert]

a sound hypothesis for some. I think a lot of people relocate for white collar jobs such as myself. Those that come with little and have little lined up are in for a rude awakening when they see the cost of living in this town. It's not expensive, but it's expensive for someone who has no job, or is making $7/hr. That said, I think they will coagulate into the megapartment complexes up north that you speak fondly of. I don't think you beat things to death, but you keep re-phrasing them with slightly different angles each time. It's fresh, pessimistic, but fresh.

addendum: many of the people who post something to the effect of: "I'm thinking of moving there with no job because it sounded like fun" (which is about 30% of the posts) rarely follow up to tell everyone how it wen,t or if they moved. The may be so SOL they can't even make it to a cpu for all we know.. speculation of course.

ITC, you should start a thread for all those who moved here without jobs - asking them how things worked out.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by inthecut

Reason I ask, is that if someone has deep roots in a community, is involved deeply in the same, and/or is thriving in a business, self-owned or otherwise, why would they be so eager to "jump ship"?....

Put another way, someone with a large extended family and many great friends surely must have SOME misgivings to jettison the same to live in an area where they know not a soul. I would imagine someone with an established, successful business, built over many years, and with extreme effort in creating local clientele, would be especially reticent to start over from scratch in an entirely different region.

So the question is, are Austin relocatees largely composed of economically disposessed folks, folks that were socially marginal in their place of origin,
or both? I just can't believe that many people would, especially in this economy, give up a successful business and/or a large social network, and spend another 10/15 years building up the same.....

I have a pretty good read on this, and I would say that the vast majority of relos are middle-class lower-tier workers who either have little chance for advancement where they are, are greatly dissatisfied with the job opportunities from whence they came, and/or have a very small social network, small enough to have no regrets jettisoning for a relo move to a place where they hear people are "friendly"......

Am I wrong on this? Best way I can put this, Has anyone left a well-paying job(non-transfer) or established, successful locally-based business, just to take their chances in Austin? My bar is high for a well-paying job. My definition is one that has taken time to achieve(skills, promotions), and pays what would be a very good wage in most metros......

Look forward to the replies on this one!

I think you're off base. I had a great job in NYC, I made great money, I owned a condo and I have very deep familial roots. My definition of 'Great money' might not match yours, but considering I was young and didn't have a degree it paid $$, especially when you factored in the copious overtime. I was making much more than $7/hr. I'm a middle tier middle class worker who put in the years of experience to get where I am. Many of the relos I've encountered are anything but what you are describing. If there was an iota of truth in your assertion, the home prices wouldn't skyrocket as high as they have. They have gone way up, in part by the fistsful of dollars many relos have. Recall the Austin home price spike in the early 2000s as a result of the Cali influx?

I've never really heard of or thought about Austin prior to 2002. My relo destination of choice was Miami. Not to mention, NYC was my home, where I was raised, where I had my identity. I moved here not because I was enamoured. I moved here due to love. My husband comes from here, and I loved him enough to leave my 'rock' to start a new life here. I took a chance, I had no job waiting for me, but I knew that I would do whatever I had to do. Would I do that now? For the reason I just gave, yes. For any other reason, no. I ain't one of those who have the sparklies in my eyes about this town, to where I would leave with no job prospect in sight. Sorry.

[Tiger Beer]

Just curious, how much is the average TEMP JOB in Austin?

For example, in SF, it seemed like they were possible in the $18/hour range...whereas San Diego, which is also quite expensive, seemed to be significantly lower - like hard $10/hour, and hard-pressed to find something a few more more - for just basic word processing, spreadsheets, powerpoint skills.

[Nor Cal Wahine]

Originally Posted by riaelise

I moved here because my husband comes from here, and I loved him enough to leave my 'rock' to start a new life here.

Same story for me! I had the Texas experience already under my belt given that my father is a 2nd gen TX native and I'd spent a lot of time here visiting relatives, but it was marriage to a native Austinite who was on a work assignment in CA (and desperate to get back home) that got me to leave my own 'rock'.

[south side chap]

Crikey. I've read some insulting, misguided generalizing nonsense in my time but the post at the top of this page takes the biscuit.

Quite how the OP thinks that he can have an even vague idea why I (a "relo") might have decided to settle in Austin is beyond me. I'm certainly not going to take the bait, and would merely say that the OP has no idea about my circumstances or the majority of "relo's" that he speaks of, and he does him/herself a disservice by dressing up opinions as questions.

Oh, and a question in the style of ITC, is what do you, forum people, make of the frequent use of .... as punctuation. Some might say that it is exceptionally poor punctuation that could be construed as quite annoying indeed but one or two others might have a different view. Mostly, I would blame poor punctuation on this forum on badly educated people who have moved to Austin recently, and, therefore have no right to live here and should go back to where they came from.

I can't wait to see the replies on that one.......................

[Moekazi]

Originally Posted by jobert

ITC, you should start a thread for all those who moved here without jobs - asking them how things worked out.

That's a great thread topic.

I know a couple that recently moved to the Round Rock area from east LA. Neither had jobs before they left. Neither had jobs lined up before they moved. Left no family, just friends. They just bought and moved into a house that's better than the one they left. The house they bought was cheaper, so they have some cash to live on for a while. I won't say things worked out well for them because i think it's premature to do so until they start getting income.

.