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I'll comment on observations a friend of mine who moved from Austin suburbs has said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by drake35
criteria-
pro business- Seattle itself may be questionable, but the metro area is very business friendly especially for high tech related jobs. All the major firms have been hiring in droves (Microsoft laid off 200 marketing and sales people ... not engineers, they're always on the lookout for good grads). Seattle area's economy has largely shrugged off the downturn better than the rest of the nation so I think business wise it is looking up.
lower crime- Seattle. It is a very safe area to live. There were something like 20 murders in the metro area last year. Some areas I've lived with comparable populations fulfilled that in a month.
housing costs- Austin, probably, has cheaper housing.
quality of life- I would say seattle. There's such a small mom and pop shop culture here, along with BEAUTIFUL natural surroundings and temperate climates, along with a generally chill population.
And this is another observation. If you want to live in an area where politics is only begrudgingly brought up and people generally keep to themselves, then SEATTLE BY A MILE! Texans always wear their politics on their sleeve, especially the conservatives. You also won't get bible thumping religious maniacs here like you do there. The suburbs here are very centrist leaning left, and very similar in outlook. You have to go way out of your way to get more conservative folks, usually east of the cascades, or south of Olympia, and then usually it's the "mind your own damn business" type of conservatives who I like and can discuss rationally with.
Compare that to the "I'm right you're wrong and to prove it I'll point my gun at you" type of conservatives in Tejas.
what do you guys think is a better city overall? I know over a dozen folks who moved from Austin to Seattle, and they all say they'd never move back, ever.
I'll comment on observations a friend of mine who moved from Austin suburbs has said:
None of what you said sounds like Austin AT ALL. Keep in mind that he lived in the suburbs, big keyword right there. That's like judging Seattle by living in Bellevue. Austin is not like the "I'm right you're wrong and to prove it I'll point my gun at you" Texas stereotype, in fact quite the opposite. Austin is like the San Francisco of Texas, a very liberal college town. Also, Austin was rated one of the safest cities for its size. Austin also has plenty of high tech jobs as well with Dell being located nearby.
As much as I like Austin, I would choose Seattle only because I don't like having long, hot summers of 95+ heat for 7 months. I grew up in Portland so I'm more used to the northwest climate anyway.
None of what you said sounds like Austin AT ALL. Keep in mind that he lived in the suburbs, big keyword right there. That's like judging Seattle by living in Bellevue. Austin is not like the "I'm right you're wrong and to prove it I'll point my gun at you" Texas stereotype, in fact quite the opposite. Austin is like the San Francisco of Texas, a very liberal college town. Also, Austin was rated one of the safest cities for its size. Austin also has plenty of high tech jobs as well with Dell being located nearby.
As much as I like Austin, I would choose Seattle only because I don't like having long, hot summers of 95+ heat for 7 months. I grew up in Portland so I'm more used to the northwest climate anyway.
Austin is by FAR the best place to live in the State of Texas. A bastion of liberalism among the staunch conservative surroundings. Old money, high tech, great scenery, one of the finest universities in the country, unreal music scene and a great food scene.
But as you mentioned, the heat is oppressive. Too bad, because it really is a great city.
This comparison has been done many times before. Seattle is twice the size of Austin so it's going to have many more amenities and also has many more outdoor activities, although for the city itself Austin is no slouch in that regard. Seattle is on my short list of cities to live in one day. I've never lived in Seattle but I can comment on Austin for the criteria:
pro business- Austin nurtures independent businesses, and supporting them is part of the ethos of the city. Couple that with the very pro-business environment of TX.
lower crime- Austin has very low violent crime, but higher property crime. I believe Seattle is pretty low crime too though.
housing costs- overall Austin is much cheaper. Central Austin, esp. DT and adjacent neighborhoods have become quite expensive. You also have high prop taxes.
quality of life- Seattle is well-known for high QOL...that said Austin offers a fantastic QOL and there's a reason people love living here. I'm sure the same can be said for Seattle.
For someone that is actually trying to decide which of the two to live in, I think it pretty much comes down to which type of ****ty weather you dislike more: very gloomy or very hot and humid.
And this is another observation. If you want to live in an area where politics is only begrudgingly brought up and people generally keep to themselves, then SEATTLE BY A MILE! Texans always wear their politics on their sleeve, especially the conservatives. You also won't get bible thumping religious maniacs here like you do there. The suburbs here are very centrist leaning left, and very similar in outlook. You have to go way out of your way to get more conservative folks, usually east of the cascades, or south of Olympia, and then usually it's the "mind your own damn business" type of conservatives who I like and can discuss rationally with.
Well some people do wear their politics on their sleeves around here (Seattle area) and it is the progressives. Also, the Seattle area suburbs are centrist to leaning right. The suburbs that do lean left are adjacent to the major urban centers.
Austin is by FAR the best place to live in the State of Texas. A bastion of liberalism among the staunch conservative surroundings. Old money, high tech, great scenery, one of the finest universities in the country, unreal music scene and a great food scene.
But as you mentioned, the heat is oppressive. Too bad, because it really is a great city.
Austin is to small for me, I prefer metros to be over 3.5 million unless its Nashville or New Orleans because those two just interest me more than other metros of their size. Seattle is a big city with the amenities to show for it and Austin just isn't there at this point.
When Austin reaches 4-5 million people it will be a thriving metropolis with the amenities to match its size and the bustling energy of a large city and huge metropolis IMO
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R1070
Umm..... not for everyone.
I think most Seattleites would assert that Austin is the only place in Texas for them. Much more of a kinship there where as Dallas and Houston are almost polar opposites of Seattle. Austin actually has topography, nice lakes, hills and trees (like Seattle, though no mountains) and Dallas is topographically in the middle of nowhere. Though it's true that the negative Texas political stereotypes are less true within cities like Dallas and Houston, and of course most people know Austin is the liberal bastion of Texas. However I have to say Rick Perry certainly didn't help matters of repelling the negative extreme neo-conservative image of Texas, a big setback unfortunately.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 02-13-2012 at 04:34 AM..
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