Please give me 10 reasons why NOT to move to the Austin area. (Dallas: cheap house, neighborhood)

[gigi927]

To the OP...keep in mind that the negatives that folks are mentioning are, in many cases, relative to where you're coming from.

For example, I moved here from Arizona, and while most everyone moans and groans about how hot it is here, it's not to me. I played tennis in the middle of the day on Saturday this past weekend when it was 90+ degrees. Now granted, I sweat like a pig, but I could never, ever, have played tennis at 11:00 a.m. in Phoenix in the middle of June. For me, summer here is a snap.

Bad drivers? Not IMO. Most drivers are not at all aggressive (perhaps too passive would be my negative comment) compared to larger cities I've lived in (Phoenix, Chicago, San Francisco).

So keep in mind that everyone comes with their own filters when they're listing positives as well as negatives. Of course, things like property taxes are completely factual and indeed suck but for those of us with kids in school - I am more than happy to pay the $ to get a school superior to what we were getting in AZ for our 1% property tax.

For me, the biggest negatives have been lack of proximity to mountains and nice beaches, and difficulty with travel (not as many nonstop flights out of here) and entertainment (as someone else said, the "big" acts don't come here, you have to go to Dallas or SA).

Hope your trip goes well!

[AustinGuy]

Originally Posted by gigi927

Bad drivers? Not IMO. Most drivers are not at all aggressive (perhaps too passive would be my negative comment) compared to larger cities I've lived in (Phoenix, Chicago, San Francisco).

My thinking on Austin drivers isn't that they're bad in an "aggressive" sort of way, I think they're bad in a "don't know how to drive" sort of way.

[another_hot-day]

I am from Nor. Cal and the thing that bothers me the most in not being near the ocean.
The ocean side here is also not that great, but it will do in a pinch.

Second thing is, no mountains.

Then comes the 8 months of summer and the one week of winter.

[brattpowered]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

My thinking on Austin drivers isn't that they're bad in an "aggressive" sort of way, I think they're bad in a "don't know how to drive" sort of way.

I think passive AND clueless would be good descriptors of the drivers here. The good part about this is that they are easy to take advantage of. What frustrates me most are slow drivers in the passing lane and people who just don't take their right of way.

[easywithericdotcom]

Moved here from Denver, Colorado suburbs (western foothills) about 10 years ago. Have missed it at times - the scenery/the mountains are incredibly beautiful in Colorado. Miss it the most during the summer months, but boy let me tell you how much I don't miss it from about October through May! While friends and family are moaning and diggning out from under, I am out in my shorts and shirtsleeves at 10 o'clock at night after stepping out of the health club with damp hair. No snow tires!

The things that have been the most difficult and that (had I known about them) would have kept me from moving here:

Traffic! (talk about bad - and terrible drivers - sorry folks - I think its because its almost impossible to lose your license here & because of the way the roads are engineered (on ramps and such) and because of very poor signage),

Allergies! (these can take you out of action for a better part of the year if they are severe enough; didn't realize that austin is the "allergy capital of the world"),

Shopping & Dining are quite a bit more limited although that is changing,

Entertainment, Sports & Recreation (unless you own a boat) seem pretty limited to me unless you want to spend all your time on 6th street drinking and listening to live music.

Having said all this, the violent crime rate is very much lower here (feel so much safer here than I ever did in Denver), property crime is higher but I believe that campus crime at the local colleges contributes largely to those figures. The growing season is really long and you can grow all that really neat tropical looking stuff - lots of nice locally grown produce is available! The lakes are very nice (particularly Lake Travis) if you can get out on them and that changes your whole perspective on everything. Can you say BARBEQUE??!!! Golf (year round) yeay! The general environment (including business) is much more casual - people don't wear all their money on their back here or pretend to. In this part of the country you definetely cannot judge a persons means by how they are dressed. People are extremely friendly in this part of the country and that just makes everything you do a whole lot nicer!!!! Austin is a more liberal enclave in the middle of a very conservative state. Denver was like that too. I think it does bring a nice sense of balance - nothing is too out of control here like it is say in some places on both the eastern and western coasts? Both voices are heard here and it makes for some interesting dialogue.

Almost Forgot!!! Real Estate! Coming from Denver, my perspective on real estate is that there are abundant, affordable, beautiful, unique, varied offerings here in Central Texas for residential real estate! You can get an awful lot of home anywhere in the State of Texas for far less than you can in the metropolitan Denver area.

Sorry to be so verbose. Hope this is some help to you!

[TERRIE]

Originally Posted by another_hot-day

I am from Nor. Cal and the thing that bothers me the most in not being near the ocean.
The ocean side here is also not that great, but it will do in a pinch.

Second thing is, no mountains.

Then comes the 8 months of summer and the one week of winter.

8 months of summer and 1 week of winter? sounds perfect to me! i grew up in montana where it is just the opposite...

[malarkey]

This is a great thread, the OP should NOT be sorry for asking.

I read this thread making a mental check on each item posted: "would that stop me?"

Only a few things give me pause, but probably wouldn't stop me:

• No easy flights out/back. Wouldn't stop me, but it is a hassle, and makes airfare higher.

• High property taxes. I fear I'm already too late to buy something there in a neighborhood I would want to live in.

• A little piece of legislation called SB 1229, just recently passed. (shuts down the ability to order wine from out of state retailers).

Or, if I go down and find that the things I really need to be a happy person aren't available, or easily obtainable.

But one thing is for sure, my time in Seattle is limited. I'm not interested in trying to get into the real estate market here. The average house price in King County is now $500K. This is ALL of King County, even if you live way the hell out in Carnation and have a hellish commute.

The other thing that would make me really cranky is if I can't find a job that allows telecommuting, at least 3 days a week. I'm done commuting people. I've been commuting to jobs where it's really unnecessary for the past 14 years.

I realize I have to establish trust first, but once I have, there's no reason my work can't be done from home.

That's MY soapbox for the day!

[Twincerely]

Originally Posted by malarkey

• No easy flights out/back. Wouldn't stop me, but it is a hassle, and makes airfare higher.

We were worried about this too. Hubby works from home, but travels a lot. We talked to a couple who are travel agents and a friend of ours who works for the CDC and travels quite a bit. Both parties agreed they'd rather fly out of Austin and make a connection than fly out of a major airport for a direct flight. According to these Austinites, the Austin airport is super easy to get in and out of and there's never a line at security. Our CDC friend said he can arrive a half hour before his flight and still be waiting at the gate. It sounds too good to be true. Anyone have any real experiences at the airport?

[noplacelikeWA]

We moved to TX (actually live in SA but spend tons of time in Austin) from north Seattle in April 2006, my DH is a Snohomish County native and I lived in the PNW for 21years, so heres my view since moving.

1. It's really downright ugly, (when compared to the PNW)
2. The infrastructure is a joke which fuels the traffic and bad driver problems
3. You have to drive everywhere to do anything
4. Because of the heat nobody does much outdoors except after dark
5. Locals get all excited about wild flowers growing along the highway (they actually stop and take family portraits) because there really is nothing else to enjoy about the landscape (when compared to the PNW)
6. The pools and waterparks are only open when school is out so even though it 80 degrees out from April to October, you can only cool off in the pools from June 1st to August 15th.
7. Count on driving a good distance (1+hrs) to get to the waterparks, theme parks, or beach
8. The property taxes are insane, and you will not save any $ over buying something here, you'll just get more house for your $
9. The best scenery they have to offer is in the hill country and it really is not impressive (when compared to the PNW)
10. The bugs also keep people indoors alot, mosquitoes and june bugs are everywhere

I LOVE all the sunshine and the heat, but I miss everything else about the PNW terribly. Good luck!

[Hi-Power]

If you think Austin is hot, you've never been to Tuscon or Phoenix.

I think cdelena nailed in on the head with his or her list.

Brattpowered, if you think Texas, especially Austin, is just a place for "Christian fascists" (a term I've never heard of before), then you have absolutely no clue about Austin. If you have such a problem with it why don't you just leave? If you are having that much trouble with the police in a fairly large city like Austin, then there's something wrong with your behavior.

Iguana, Georgetown is the worst city in Texas I've ever been to as far as the attitudes of the people who live there.

I think Austin is better than Dallas or Houston but I've been to nicer large towns outside of Texas. I've been to the PNW and I think the Texas Hill Country is nicer. At least it doesn't rain down here every day.