Please give me 10 reasons why NOT to move to the Austin area. (Dallas: relocating)

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by david4455

Please share with me some reasons why NOT to move to Austin. What did you discover after you moved that you wish you had known before.....

1. Not just hot, but humid. We knew about this of course, and I really can't tolerate cold or even cool weather... but it's getting to me already. Also, it's not sunny often enough for me. Clouds come and go and it seems there's rarely a day with all-day sun. Though that might not be an issue for someone from the PNW. And maybe that's good since it's so dreadfully hot already.

2. Terrible drivers. No one knows what the fast lane is for... they can clog you for miles when you want to pass. I thought the drivers in Los Angeles were bad, but they have nothing on the people here.

3. The soil is dreadful for growing anything, and you dig down 1-2 feet (or less!) and hit solid rock. Where we live, anyway. I was looking forward to having a nice garden with our huge property, but it's too miserable to be outside now and the soil is so awful I don't think anything would grow without too much back-breaking work.

4. The road system. The one-way access or frontage roads or whatever they're called are the most illogical system I've ever seen. Plus, the roads seem to have artibrary names that change and start and stop. We still have problems finding our way around.

5. Property taxes. Much too high, if you ask me, even when you factor in not paying state income tax.

6. No good mountains or ocean in close proximity.

[david4455]

I should have never started this thread... I am quickly finding it quite depressing...especially because my partner, a Texas boy at heart, is very set on moving to Austin.....

[love roses]

I'm being off topic here, but wanted to reply to two things from Iguanas4. The clue is in the name "hill" country (not "mountain" country). Gardening out here has been great so far, for me. But I live east of 35, no rocky soil. I'm gonna try and get my neighbor to take a picture of some of these monster zucchini we've been growing. We grew them last year, too. We don't do anything to them, either and it puts miracle grow to shame. We think the farmers around here ought to be growing more vegetables, not so much corn. We're also doing tomatoes again which are doing great, and this year new we're doing okra and bell peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe and onions. So far, so good.

Only bad thing I have to say about Austin is the drivers are terrible (as far as speeding and tailgating)

[AustinTraveler]

Originally Posted by david4455

I should have never started this thread... I am quickly finding it quite depressing...especially because my partner, a Texas boy at heart, is very set on moving to Austin.....

David, your question was "Please give me 10 reasons why NOT to move to the Austin area". Of course you're getting negative responses. Don't let it discourage or depress you. There is no perfect place. Visit Austin and make up your own mind.

[david4455]

Originally Posted by AustinTraveler

David, your question was "Please give me 10 reasons why NOT to move to the Austin area". Of course you're getting negative responses. Don't let it discourage or depress you. There is no perfect place. Visit Austin and make up your own mind.

Which we will do in late October... so looking forward to the scouting trip.

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by love roses

I'm being off topic here, but wanted to reply to two things from Iguanas4. The clue is in the name "hill" country (not "mountain" country). Gardening out here has been great so far, for me. But I live east of 35, no rocky soil.

Yeah, I've heard it isn't so rocky everywhere in the general Austin area. But since I had just posted a response to the same person about how Georgetown wasn't so bad, I thought I should mention it.

So I guess I'd say if activities that involve digging in your yard are important (gardening, landscaping, installing a pool, etc.), be sure you find out how feasable those things will be in your potential neighborhood!

Most of the other bad things on my list weren't a surprise to us. Just the gardening/digging thing and the horrible drivers, I guess. And the relative lack of fully sunny days. Plus, it was waaay colder this past winter than I would have liked. The gardening thing might have been a deal breaker on Georgetown for us, had we known in advance, but that's hard to say.

I would like to add, though, that I've noticed many threads on this list are overboard with the positives. Many people say how wonderful and awesome Austin is, and they felt at home and so happy the minute they moved here. That's obviously a very personal thing, and I'm sure those people are indeed very happy. But although we are ok with our move to Georgetown and still feel it was the best option in our case, it was not an easy transition and we are still trying to get used to it. There are plenty of positives, but I surely can't say that I feel like this is HOME to me, or that I can see us staying here over the long term. My bf feels the same way. YMMV, of course!!

To the original poster, don't feel too discouraged by the negative responses. As Trainwreck said (I think it was!), come and judge for yourself. Oops, I mean AustinTraveler said that.

[vermont08]

Originally Posted by david4455

Which we will do in late October... so looking forward to the scouting trip.

Good idea but don't fool yourself. Please also visit during the 5-6 months of summer (HOT!!!) weather. We took a trip down there to visit my brother (the only reason we had been thinking of moving there was to be close to him) and all I can say is it is way to hot & humid for us already it is only June. I should also say the other place we are looking at has long winters (Burlington, VT) so we are taking a trip up there in 2 weeks and then again in the winter (Jan.) to see what it is really like to be there in the middle of winter.

[Torontonian]

Same here. We moved to Austin 7 month ago and now I'm not sure if it was the right choice/decision. It could be because of some general differences between Canada, where I'm from, and US not related to Austin particularly

> There are plenty of positives, but I surely can't say that I feel like this is HOME to me, or that I can see us staying here over the long term.

[traceyr13]

It's a huge adjustment if you are used to living in another part of the country, but I think for the majority of people (that I have heard, anyway) it ends up being a good decision.

For me (moving here a year ago after a lifelong East Coaster), the first few weeks I had this euphoria where everything seemed so great, and then I really had 3-4 months of true culture shock funk. I noticed everything that was different and/or "not as good" as "home", and it was really hard.

After a year living here, I just went back to Rhode Island for 4 days this past weekend, and couldn't WAIT to get back "home" to Austin, hot weather and all.

Texas is certainly an adjustment, but I think Austin is a great place to live, all things considered (sorry that wasn't a negative like the topic of your post, but I thought you could use a positive spin right now!)

[Texanwannabe]

Originally Posted by david4455

I should have never started this thread... I am quickly finding it quite depressing...especially because my partner, a Texas boy at heart, is very set on moving to Austin.....

AustinTraveler is right! You did ask for the negatives on moving to Austin Now if you switch gears and ask what are the positives about moving to Austin, I am sure you will get tons of positive responses!