Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been wanting to write a screed about Austin anyway, and since a couple of other Austinites have moved and/or are planning moves here, I wanted to give my reasons and see if it sparks some discussion...
The reasons I left:
1) The intangible feeling of home. Austin never made it as home. I felt more at home in a room full of strangers at La Guardia than a room full of people I knew in Austin. The people are different, have different values.
2) I am an achiever and Austin was full of people who are more laid back, relaxed and recreation oriented. My ambition was always considered a negative down there. I considered it the minor leagues of business, and, if success was to come, it would have to be in the NY market for me to consider it success. Too easy to start a business and live on love in Austin.
3) The Texas idiocracy. Yes, Connecticut has its conservatives and liberals, and we argue. But way too large a contingent in Texas wants the schools to teach that the Earth is 6000 years old, pray before football games (not in Hebrew), put crosses on public property and don't give a hoot that there are others with differing beliefs. They don't call the US a Christian nation in CT and don't look for my horns when the find out I am Jewish.
4) The weather. 60 days this summer over 100. Enough said.
5) Access to a world class city. An hour and 20 on the train and I am in midtown Manhattan. Three and a half hours from Austin and I am in Houston. Gross.
6) The food. I don't like Tex-Mex. Sorry. The food in CT is much better quality, more diverse and better prepared. No Olive Garden. I had an early bird special in a place on the FFlD / BPT line last night for $13 with salad, an unbelievable Chicken parm entree, dessert and coffee. This 'cheap' Italian food in Bridgeport was better than the best of the best in Austin.
7) Public transportation. I am tired of driving my car everywhere. From a train station four minutes from my house I can get to Boston, Washington DC, NYC and everywhere in between. And when I get there each city has reasonable public transportation.
8) Economic Stability. As a techie (Now a corporate trainer who trains programmers and developers) I am tired of riding the up and down waves of Austin. It seems like every economic adjustment was magnified 10x there and it just got tiring.
9) I'm not cool enough for Austin. I don't have tight jeans that barely cover my crotch. I don't have tremendous sunglasses or a pencil think beard. I like wearing a hoodie and jeans and don't like to be judged by what I wear.
10) My Friends and Family are here. While you can always take an airplane and visit friends and family, there is nothing quite like living among them.
Hope this wasn't too self-indulgent. I enjoyed writing it.
Although i mostly left Austin for work in CT, I can attest to a lot of this. Austin is an amazing city in my opinion, but it's just not for me. I truly think it offers so much more than your average place, but all the offerings in the world just wasn't enough to make some of these points less important. The people are just different, and as nice as they are, yes they do very much feel like strangers even when you know them.
About not being cool enough... hah! I'm decently cool in CT, but not too cool in Austin. It was saddening for me as well.
Wow, thanks for noting, I'm really surprised to hear all that. Good to know
I figured with all the transplants and tech culture, etc. that Austin wouldn't quite be like what I'll call "Bush Texas" for lack of a better word. For one thing (and he's not even a transplant, he's a native of Austin), Michael Dell of Dell computer is Jewish. Guess it's more "good ol boy" country than I thought.
The one thing I dislike about this part of the country (especially the closer you get to NY) besides the extreme expenses though is #2 above. I'm all for ambition and achievement, but there are too many people in this part of the country for whom work and commuting are literally their entire waking life every day, month, and year. Now if all you want to do is work and sleep and have no relaxation or family life, I respect that, but too many force that culture on their employees, many of whom either want some semblence of an "outside life" and/or have family conflicts because of it.
But a lot of what you say is why if I relocate, I'd want to stay in the northeast (or the west coast, but that's certainly not the place to be right now).
I've been wanting to write a screed about Austin anyway, and since a couple of other Austinites have moved and/or are planning moves here, I wanted to give my reasons and see if it sparks some discussion...
The reasons I left:
1) The intangible feeling of home. Austin never made it as home. I felt more at home in a room full of strangers at La Guardia than a room full of people I knew in Austin. The people are different, have different values.
2) I am an achiever and Austin was full of people who are more laid back, relaxed and recreation oriented. My ambition was always considered a negative down there. I considered it the minor leagues of business, and, if success was to come, it would have to be in the NY market for me to consider it success. Too easy to start a business and live on love in Austin.
3) The Texas idiocracy. Yes, Connecticut has its conservatives and liberals, and we argue. But way too large a contingent in Texas wants the schools to teach that the Earth is 6000 years old, pray before football games (not in Hebrew), put crosses on public property and don't give a hoot that there are others with differing beliefs. They don't call the US a Christian nation in CT and don't look for my horns when the find out I am Jewish.
4) The weather. 60 days this summer over 100. Enough said.
5) Access to a world class city. An hour and 20 on the train and I am in midtown Manhattan. Three and a half hours from Austin and I am in Houston. Gross.
6) The food. I don't like Tex-Mex. Sorry. The food in CT is much better quality, more diverse and better prepared. No Olive Garden. I had an early bird special in a place on the FFlD / BPT line last night for $13 with salad, an unbelievable Chicken parm entree, dessert and coffee. This 'cheap' Italian food in Bridgeport was better than the best of the best in Austin.
7) Public transportation. I am tired of driving my car everywhere. From a train station four minutes from my house I can get to Boston, Washington DC, NYC and everywhere in between. And when I get there each city has reasonable public transportation.
8) Economic Stability. As a techie (Now a corporate trainer who trains programmers and developers) I am tired of riding the up and down waves of Austin. It seems like every economic adjustment was magnified 10x there and it just got tiring.
9) I'm not cool enough for Austin. I don't have tight jeans that barely cover my crotch. I don't have tremendous sunglasses or a pencil think beard. I like wearing a hoodie and jeans and don't like to be judged by what I wear.
10) My Friends and Family are here. While you can always take an airplane and visit friends and family, there is nothing quite like living among them.
Hope this wasn't too self-indulgent. I enjoyed writing it.
Well, I lived in Austin for 4 years and while I loved living there, I can't disagree with any of the above points. You are right on the money with point #1. The people are different than here, much more surface-oriented. It is difficult to describe without living in both places, Austin and CT.
Austin has a Jewish population, but it's still in Texas. I think most of my comments in #3 refer more to Texas as a whole than Austin. Austin is much more progressive than the rest of Texas, but would be considered moderate by Northeastern standards. However, the Texas influence is strong and there is plenty of the Christian hegemony to go around-- even in the liberal enclave of Austin.
I will say my part of Austin is not christian or religious at ALL. I live on South Congress between SOCO and downtown and I am surrounded by the most liberal of the liberal. I think the further out you get, the more conservatives you run into.
We went to Texas a few months ago to visit my family: me and my Jewish, Manhattan-born husband. One of my family's neighbors said hi to me but looked at my husband and wouldn't shake his hand. We had never met because they were new to the neighborhood. My husband and I shook it off as an anomaly. On our way back to the airport, the cabby who took us said "How did ya'll like your visit?". I said I lived here all my life and it was great to come home again. She said, I kid you not, "You look like you belong but he (looking at my husband) looks, uhhhhh, well, he looks smart". We both knew what she really wanted to say and it hurt me. I had forgotten the blatant prejudices in Texas after living in CT and NY for so many years. It really hurt. Not everyone in Texas, of course, feels this way but we were only there for three days and our limited contact with unrelated Texans was minimal.
Don't get me wrong. I still love Texas but I understand what you are saying.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 10-14-2009 at 07:39 PM..
I've been wanting to write a screed about Austin anyway, and since a couple of other Austinites have moved and/or are planning moves here, I wanted to give my reasons and see if it sparks some discussion...
The reasons I left:
1) The intangible feeling of home. Austin never made it as home. I felt more at home in a room full of strangers at La Guardia than a room full of people I knew in Austin. The people are different, have different values.
2) I am an achiever and Austin was full of people who are more laid back, relaxed and recreation oriented. My ambition was always considered a negative down there. I considered it the minor leagues of business, and, if success was to come, it would have to be in the NY market for me to consider it success. Too easy to start a business and live on love in Austin.
3) The Texas idiocracy. Yes, Connecticut has its conservatives and liberals, and we argue. But way too large a contingent in Texas wants the schools to teach that the Earth is 6000 years old, pray before football games (not in Hebrew), put crosses on public property and don't give a hoot that there are others with differing beliefs. They don't call the US a Christian nation in CT and don't look for my horns when the find out I am Jewish.
4) The weather. 60 days this summer over 100. Enough said.
5) Access to a world class city. An hour and 20 on the train and I am in midtown Manhattan. Three and a half hours from Austin and I am in Houston. Gross.
6) The food. I don't like Tex-Mex. Sorry. The food in CT is much better quality, more diverse and better prepared. No Olive Garden. I had an early bird special in a place on the FFlD / BPT line last night for $13 with salad, an unbelievable Chicken parm entree, dessert and coffee. This 'cheap' Italian food in Bridgeport was better than the best of the best in Austin.
7) Public transportation. I am tired of driving my car everywhere. From a train station four minutes from my house I can get to Boston, Washington DC, NYC and everywhere in between. And when I get there each city has reasonable public transportation.
8) Economic Stability. As a techie (Now a corporate trainer who trains programmers and developers) I am tired of riding the up and down waves of Austin. It seems like every economic adjustment was magnified 10x there and it just got tiring.
9) I'm not cool enough for Austin. I don't have tight jeans that barely cover my crotch. I don't have tremendous sunglasses or a pencil think beard. I like wearing a hoodie and jeans and don't like to be judged by what I wear.
10) My Friends and Family are here. While you can always take an airplane and visit friends and family, there is nothing quite like living among them.
Hope this wasn't too self-indulgent. I enjoyed writing it.
Not just Texas, I am a NYC born Jewish Man living now in the Raleigh area of NC. Well I get the well you don't look like a jew... But wait you have a bigger nose and you sound like a yankee, well maybe you do look like a jew.... Yep I listened to that diddy last week at a local party in the neighborhood.
Not just Texas, I am a NYC born Jewish Man living now in the Raleigh area of NC. Well I get the well you don't look like a jew... But wait you have a bigger nose and you sound like a yankee, well maybe you do look like a jew.... Yep I listened to that diddy last week at a local party in the neighborhood.
My brother-in-law lives in NC (Piedmont Triad area) and gets a similar vibe.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm decently cool in CT, but not too cool in Austin. It was saddening for me as well.
