Austin vs. San Diego (Dallas, Round Rock: houses, rent, salary)

[Wim]

We are going to be moving away from Nevada City, Northern California this summer. This is a beautiful, laid back and very safe area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. Perfect for retreat or retirement. We are looking for an area with more of a diverse population (nationality and ethnicity wise). We are looking for a progressive, family friendly (with good schools), beautiful, diverse place with people who care about building up a good life instead of trying to get away from it.
Places we are considering so far are San Diego, CA and Austin, TX. Both have pros and cons. Off course San Diego has perfect weather, the coast is wonderful and people from all over the world live and visit there. But the nicer areas of San Diego close to the coast are very expensive with rent ranging around $1,400 per month for a one bedroom appartment. And the cheaper areas don't have much appeal in regards to what we are looking for. I have heard great things about Austin as well, but my wife's salary as an RN is HALF over there from the rate in CA. That would pretty much offset the lower cost of living I think...
Any suggestions out there? Thanks in advance.

[tbodine88]

You might consider the smaller towns around austin.

There are new hospitals in San Marcos, Round Rock, and George Town.

Quality of life is better in the smaller towns like Lockhart or Smithville. Further afield there is Rockport, Aransas Pass and Navasota.

[Biscuits]

That is like choosing between steak and hamburger. I love Austin and it is usually an improvement compared to the vast majority of cities, but San Diego is in another league.

[achtungpv]

I agree with Biscuits. San Diego has everything Austin has and 10 times more, plus the perfect weather. If you can afford it, SD is the obvious choice.

[sweetclimber]

I lived in both places and Austin is FAR superior to San Diego. You have wonderful outdoor activities year round in Austin, a world class University and more beautiful people inside and out. The only thing that San Diego has is the ocean and any oceanographer will tell you the Southern California beaches are VERY polluted and the water is very cold so what is the point? Anyways Austin is the obvious choice if you like great weather year round with a great community instead of good weather with a " everyone for themselves" materialistic mentality like San Diego!

[mimimomx3]

San Diego is beautiful, so is Austin....but having an ocean near by (maybe polluted by oceanographer standards, looks good enough for me) pushes San Diego ahead!

[tashina]

Hmmmm....I lived in San Diego for 35 years and Austin for the last 2 years.

San Diego has something special - we called it vibrancy, I think, on another post here. Flowers, palm trees, character. People are so-so for the most part. Good areas are ridiculously expensive at the moment. Better freeways but more crowded freeways. So many more places to go if you are into art galleries general cultural activities.

Austin has lots of greenery and trees, big beautiful sky, better grocery store (HEB on Slaughter), better music scene, more interesting weather, and lovely houses at 1/3rd the price of California which is why I'm here. Also the people are generally friendlier here.

If prices were equal, I'd be back in California. As it is, it comes down to a nice house here (and I'm a stay-at-home artist so where I live is important to me) or an apartment in San Diego. I'm also considering North Dallas - Austin is very small town-ish to me. This isn't a bad thing to some, but I'm dying for something to do and live music isn't my thing.