Possibly relocating, need to get a feel for Austin... can you recommend an itinerary? (Clarksville: real estate, apartments)

[smittenkitten]

Hi Everyone,

My fiance and I are considering moving to Austin and will be taking a trip in the next month or two to visit the area to see if it's "right" for us. This will probably be the only opportunity we have to see if Austin's the right place for us, so I want to make sure we do/see the right things to make a decision. What would you recommend we do to get a "feel" for the city?

Can you please tell me what you'd recommend we do in our time in Austin? Any activities we should do, places to visit, restaurants to eat at, neighborhoods to drive through? Anything "quintessentially Austin"?

I've viewed as many threads as I could that gave tips on what to see for visitors, but I'm wondering if there are different things that people thinking about relocating should do. Like, driving through Austin neighborhoods might be more helpful than spending half a day at a museum or something.

We will be renting a car and staying 4-5 days. We are young professionals in our late 20s, if that helps at all.

Thanks for your advice!!

[TexasHorseLady]

What do you like to do? Do you prefer, for example, to eat out, or do you love cooking? Are you outdoor types? If so, hiking, biking, horseback riding, water sports? What's your favorite form of entertainment? What kind of neighborhood/housing are you interested in?

I'd think for a relocation trip you shouldn't spend half a day at a museum, but what you should do depends a great deal on you. As much as possible, look for the dealbreakers without which you would not be happy, and see if they are available in the city you're contemplating moving to.

So, what are the answers to those questions? That'll help us give you suggestions.

[inthecut]

THL, how the heck do you answer all these requests 24/7? Do you live inside my computer?
LOL!

[smittenkitten]

Thanks TexasHorseLady, those are good questions.

We are 28. We definitely love eating out but don't very often due to budget constraints. We cook most of our meals. We like hiking and kayaking and are hoping in general to lead a more active life (which might be easier when it's not 10 degrees outside, like it is here in Boston!!). I am originally from Colorado and would like to get back into the kind of outdoor active living that I did when I was younger. That part of Austin appeals to me.

We are fairly quiet and probably go out a lot less than most people our age. We are not big nightlife people and don't drink or party much. We'd rather spend $50 on a rare sit-down dinner out together than on a night at a club.

We will need to rent a 1+ or 2 bedroom apartment or home. We would probably prefer to live closer to the city than in the suburbs (which slightly scares my NYC-native fiance ).

Your advice on thinking about dealbreakers is a good idea. What we're looking for in a nutshell is a city with a more affordable cost of living than Boston, a place where we have some chance of being able to afford a home in a couple of years, a place with a young and open-minded/liberal population, and someplace warmer than Boston!! I'd also like someplace with a less stressful, more laid-back approach to life than the "rat race" mentality of places like Boston and NY.

Thanks again for your help!

[txgal78]

Couple of ideas:

Outdoor: Hike the Barton Creek Greenbelt, Kayak on Lady Bird Lake, and walk the Lady Bird Lake Trail

Neighborhoods: Check out Hyde Park, Travis Heights, Bouldin, and Clarksville

Restaurants/Shopping: Watch the sunset at the Oasis on Lake Travis, browse shops on South Congress and get coffee and Jo's and pizza at Homeslice, walk around the shops in the 2nd Street District and get dinner at Taverna

Other: Definitely go to the flagship Whole Foods, check out the UT drag/campus, and take a trip to Driftwood to eat at the Salt Lick

(btw, my husband and I moved to Austin from the East Coast when we were 26/27 respectively and this is what we hit )

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by smittenkitten

Thanks TexasHorseLady, those are good questions.

We are 28. We definitely love eating out but don't very often due to budget constraints. We cook most of our meals. We like hiking and kayaking and are hoping in general to lead a more active life (which might be easier when it's not 10 degrees outside, like it is here in Boston!!). I am originally from Colorado and would like to get back into the kind of outdoor active living that I did when I was younger. That part of Austin appeals to me.

We are fairly quiet and probably go out a lot less than most people our age. We are not big nightlife people and don't drink or party much. We'd rather spend $50 on a rare sit-down dinner out together than on a night at a club.

We will need to rent a 1+ or 2 bedroom apartment or home. We would probably prefer to live closer to the city than in the suburbs (which slightly scares my NYC-native fiance ).

Your advice on thinking about dealbreakers is a good idea. What we're looking for in a nutshell is a city with a more affordable cost of living than Boston, a place where we have some chance of being able to afford a home in a couple of years, a place with a young and open-minded/liberal population, and someplace warmer than Boston!! I'd also like someplace with a less stressful, more laid-back approach to life than the "rat race" mentality of places like Boston and NY.

Thanks again for your help!

Why are 99% of the posts here relocation related, and always answered by real estate relocation agents?

I definitely have to get my RE license and start making money on here...these agents have to be pulling 6 figs just from these leads alone!

[TexasHorseLady]

inthecut, I'm online a lot simply because a lot of the work I do is online (forms are on an online database, MLS is online, etc., etc., etc.). Plus, I love Austin and the vicinity (as you know) and talking about it, and I love real estate. It's not a mystery. (By the way, there's a heck of a lot more to being a real estate agent than talking online - but lots of people have that misapprehension before they get into the field, that's why there's such a huge number that are no longer in business after the first year.)

What's a mystery to me is how you find time to take all those photos you post on here!

The reason most posts on here are relocation related is because City-Data is a relocation forum.

OP, I'd say check out the Barton Creek Greenbelt (yes, you'll be here in winter if it's in the next couple of months, but "winter" here is an entirely different beast than winter in Boston - it's likely to be greening up, I smelled spring when I stepped out my back door a little while ago, never mind it was 14 degrees a couple of nights ago) and Zilker Park.

Investigate the South Lamar/Ben White area, mostly just north of there, but don't miss Central Market in the shopping center on the Southeast corner of that intersection, and have lunch or dinner at Azul Tequila next to the Target on the Northeast corner of the same intersection. If you rent an apartment in that area, you'll be pretty close to everything, five minutes from downtown, minutes from the greenbelt, and set up via Ben White/360/290/Mopac/I35 to just about anywhere you might want to go. You didn't mention a price range, but I was looking at apartments in that area for someone else just this afternoon and you could lease an apartment in the $700-900 range depending on size, a condo for slightly more to a lot more, and a house in the $1400 and up range. You've got a Randall's (grocery chain), Sun Harvest, the aforementioned Central Market,

Also check out downtown, of course, and drive the city in general. 6th Street and Lamar is a good place to look at - the Whole Foods flagship store is there, and Book People is right across the street, plus other shopping. Lady Bird Lake and the hike and bike trails are right there, as well, something you might be interested in.

Head out to the Lake - the Oasis is NOT a great place to eat, but it IS a great place to have a margarita and watch the sunset, though I personally prefer Iguana Grill (slightly better food, margaritas are as good, view is pretty much as good, but the Oasis is a local landmark).

You might want to check out UT, if you have time, if only because it is a pretty big landmark here and there are museums and libraries and activities there that you might want to take advantage of at some point.

I'm sure more will occur to me, but I need to stick dinner in the oven.

[smittenkitten]

Um.....Lots of posts are relocation-related because city-data.com is a place to get lots of helpful information on places you're thinking about moving to. This is a great resource for people who want to move to improve their quality of life, and need a little help to get through the process. I truly appreciate people giving their own time to guide others by lending their personal advice and experiences.

If this forum is too *whatever* for you, then why are you wasting your time and everyone else's complaining about it? GO DO SOMETHING. sheesh.

And please, don't hijack my thread with your personal ranting. Nice people are giving me very helpful information here, for which I am very grateful. I am depending on this information to help guide us in this difficult time of our lives. Please respect that. Thanks.

[smittenkitten]

Hey txgal 78,

Thank you so much for your ideas! I will definitely look into those more! And it's so nice to know that it's based on your own personal experience . I appreciate your taking the time to share it.

[smittenkitten]

Thank you so much TexasHorseLady for the great insider info! This trip is really starting to come together. I can't wait to see that lake sunset!!