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I visited Scottsdale it seems pretty superficial and upscale not as bad as Miami Beach.
I've seen this criticism a lot. But, of course, coming from New York City it's hard to imagine it being more superficial or more upscale than what I am already used to.
I found this breakdown by day of traffic in every metro. It looks like on the worst days, 7.1 minutes get added to an Austin commute for traffic, and 2.3 minutes in Phoenix. That's an extra 24% of your driving time tacked on for congestion in Austin, and 8% in Phoenix. Austin is just as bad as here in New York City! Surprising. So the traffic issue is settled, Phoenix has around 1/3rd of the congestion of Austin despite being a bigger metro.
But, it seems like the general consensus here is that Austin is better for nightlife than Scottsdale. Is that the case?
What are some things to do in Austin they don't have in Scottsdale, and what are some things in Scottsdale they don't have in Austin? And here's a third criterion, which is better for outdoorsy activities?
And a fourth, which feels hotter in the summer?
I like dry heat, like a dry sauna, so in my mind I am leaning toward Scottsdale. Yet I'm still very open to Austin.
Austin's traffic issues are due to the lack of infrastructure. They weren't prepared for the crazy influx of people and cars on the road. There's no room to expand and widen I-35.
I lived in AZ and spend a significant amount of time in Austin. I really enjoy visiting Austin, and would give Austin the nod for nightlife, and would rank it a 9/10. Lots of events going on throughout the year. Scottsdale has events throughout the year also (I'd rank it a 7.8/10), on a slightly smaller scale simply due to the size of Austin vs Scottsdale.
Outdoorsy activities are good in both places, but I'd have to give it to Scottsdale because its surrounded by lots of places to visit for outdoor stuff both locally, and within a 2 hours drive north to Flagstaff/Sedona for a total change from the desert to huge Ponderosa Pines.
As for which feels hotter in the summer...this really comes down to each individual. Both are very hot, however I hate moist air with dew points above 60, and this is what I miss about living in AZ-the dry, Arid air. Austin has a Humid Subtropical climate. Basically, coming from the east coast, Austin may feel somewhat dry, but if your coming from AZ, Austin may feel humid.
Overall, for younger folks, Austin is a hot spot. Scottsdale itself, seems to be more for the slightly established folks and not quite as vibrant as Austin.
I've seen this criticism a lot. But, of course, coming from New York City it's hard to imagine it being more superficial or more upscale than what I am already used to.
Both my parents are Dr's, my brother is a lawyer and my sister is a nurse. I grew up fairly wealthy I am not into flashy showy people and gold diggers but if you do you might like Scottsdale, Scottsdale is a huge town so you can find middle class parts as well. Paradise Valley is probably the wealthiest part of Phoenix thou and it can be quite flashy and some parts of Scottsdale as well.
Last edited by UKWildcat1981; 04-22-2015 at 08:46 PM..
My parents live in Scottsdale, and my brother lives in Austin. Having lived in Scottsdale (I wasn't born or raised there), I would prefer Austin. Through my eyes, Scottsdale (and really most of the Phoenix metro) seemed so unnecessarily pretentious. It just seemed like a typical upscale American suburb, except that the people there thought of it as some world class destination. It was so generic and boring, with everything being some shade of brown or beige.
Despite its smaller size, Austin has a lot to offer. I was very impressed with the dining/restaurant scene, stemming from the fact that Austin is a more diverse metro area than Phoenix. Austin's downtown puts Phoenix's to shame. Also, the summers in Austin will be much more tolerable, even with humidity.
As far as traffic goes, Scottsdale will have less. But being more sprawled out, you end up driving a much longer distance in your daily life.
How far are you commuting? That was actually data for the entire Phoenix metro that looked pretty non-congested, so does Scottsdale have the worst traffic in the metro then?
Oh I commute all over the metro. Scottsdale's traffic is quite brutal. I wouldn't call it worst in the metro, but the whole metro can be pretty rough. Tons of surface street and highway gridlock. 101 seems to randomly gridlock sometimes now... It's mostly a weekday issue. But my work office/shop is on the Gilbert / Chandler border. I often start my day there. I do a lot of work in Scottsdale. If I were to have a job site off of say, Chaparral and Scottsdale Rd (Because I do have an ongoing project near there, and it's a pretty central Scottsdale spot) , I'd give myself an hour in the morning rush to make it there on time in traffic. That's a trip of only around 25 miles and google maps estimates it will take 31 min, traffic not included. That is a relatively short drive across this massive metro by the way, I drove almost 55K miles last year, 90% was getting around the valley, I know this town quite well by now.
Austin's traffic may be worse, I'm not sure. It would surprise me unless their infrastructure sucks relative to population. Either way, Scottsdale is no breeze at all.
My parents live in Scottsdale, and my brother lives in Austin. Having lived in Scottsdale (I wasn't born or raised there), I would prefer Austin. Through my eyes, Scottsdale (and really most of the Phoenix metro) seemed so unnecessarily pretentious. It just seemed like a typical upscale American suburb, except that the people there thought of it as some world class destination. It was so generic and boring, with everything being some shade of brown or beige.
Despite its smaller size, Austin has a lot to offer. I was very impressed with the dining/restaurant scene, stemming from the fact that Austin is a more diverse metro area than Phoenix. Austin's downtown puts Phoenix's to shame. Also, the summers in Austin will be much more tolerable, even with humidity.
As far as traffic goes, Scottsdale will have less. But being more sprawled out, you end up driving a much longer distance in your daily life.
I agree with your assessment its not that people are rude in Scottsdale I just think the citizens of Austin are more down to earth and more to my liking but everyone is different plus Austin is more laid back and chill, people are not so obsessed with cars, money and looks and trying to impress everyone. Scottsdale is a great city to retire in thou.
On a typical day depending on where my jobsite is, traffic adds a half hour to an hour both ways. I think your Scottsdale info is extremely off. Scottsdale is one of my least favorite areas to try to commute through.
It's all relative. Through a small portion of North Scottsdale traffic sucks for about 5-10 minutes per rush hour. That's it.
edit: however, i looked through OP's http://www.governing.com/blogs/by-th...reas.html#data site and have come to the conclusion that it's about 400% full of crap. I've never seen such inaccurate estimates in my life. According to this horrible website, DC is a peachy area.
Oh I commute all over the metro. Scottsdale's traffic is quite brutal. I wouldn't call it worst in the metro, but the whole metro can be pretty rough. Tons of surface street and highway gridlock. 101 seems to randomly gridlock sometimes now... It's mostly a weekday issue. But my work office/shop is on the Gilbert / Chandler border. I often start my day there. I do a lot of work in Scottsdale. If I were to have a job site off of say, Chaparral and Scottsdale Rd (Because I do have an ongoing project near there, and it's a pretty central Scottsdale spot) , I'd give myself an hour in the morning rush to make it there on time in traffic. That's a trip of only around 25 miles and google maps estimates it will take 31 min, traffic not included. That is a relatively short drive across this massive metro by the way, I drove almost 55K miles last year, 90% was getting around the valley, I know this town quite well by now.
Austin's traffic may be worse, I'm not sure. It would surprise me unless their infrastructure sucks relative to population. Either way, Scottsdale is no breeze at all.
Trust us. Austin is worse. Mostly because in Austin everybody is converging on downtown. In Scottsdale, that's not the case. Think of it. In Austin you have downtown/The 50,000+ university and the bulk of the entire area's entertainment district all in the same place. In Phoenix, all that is much more spread out and most people who live in Scottsdale don't work there.
I'd think that Austin would appeal to the under 30 crowd a lot more. I'd think that Scottsdale (both living and working there) would appeal to the over 30 crowd.
All in all, I think you could do fine in either place. However, escaping the heat is a lot easier in Arizona than in Texas.
I have a good friend that is a highly compensated tech genius that was living in Scottsdale and moved to Austin about a year ago. He prefers Austin although the property taxes on his $1.5M house was a shocker. To me Scottsdale has a very good nightlife and is very nice city but there is probably less opportunity in Scottsdale and in Austin you get a city with a large university and the state capital. Advantage of Scottsdale is you are in the metro of a large active city. In general imo, Austin is better if you are younger and starting your career and Scottsdale may have an edge for middle aged people.
I have a good friend that is a highly compensated tech genius that was living in Scottsdale and moved to Austin about a year ago. He prefers Austin although the property taxes on his $1.5M house was a shocker. To me Scottsdale has a very good nightlife and is very nice city but there is probably less opportunity in Scottsdale and in Austin you get a city with a large university and the state capital. Advantage of Scottsdale is you are in the metro of a large active city. In general imo, Austin is better if you are younger and starting your career and Scottsdale may have an edge for middle aged people.
^^^
I agree with this. Opportunities in Austin are great, especially for younger crowds and people in the tech field, but Scottsdale is great for people that seem to be a bit "established" or rather people who may be cruising in 3rd or 4th gear of life. I fall in the latter crowd.
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