SA vs. Austin?? (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: lawyer, military, income)

[irnag]

nsid23, here is my two cents. First of all I grew up in the 80's and partied in both SA and Austin. So naturally I was into the new wave stuff, slam dancing, etc. Definitely Austin is the more party atmosphere. Austin always reminded me of a circus parade, where you were the one walking past all the oddities. Rick Riordan, a local (SA) author described it best. SA is like the girl that stayed home to take care of the family and Austin is the boy that went off to college. But for every Clubfoot in Austin there were small hole in the wall clubs that would spring up in SA. You just had to look a little harder, but they were there. Back in my day there were some clubs around SAC and of course Cooter Browns out by UTSA. And the local band scene was underrated. Joe King, The Max, The Clocks etc. some excellent entertainment played in SA. To me, the Weekender in Friday's Express News was a must read. And this was a time before St Mary's Street and other areas had sprung up. SA has a lot more culture and diversity and I would argue that you could ultimately find more of a variety of things to do.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you choose SA or Austin. It's what you make of the place. If you choose to hate SA for a perceived lack of fun, you will. If you embrace all that it has to offer, you will. The same goes for Austin. I know, because I moved to Terre Haute, Indiana from SA. Was it a culture shock? No, people are the same wherever you go. Was Terre Haute a boring place? Probably, but I was too busy having fun to notice. Certainly I missed SA, but there were good things about Indiana I would never have experienced otherwise.

[irwin]

Originally Posted by nsid23

Hello, I've browsed and browsed these forums and found a lot of really really good information and opinions on this site in regards to both SA and Austin. Here's my dilema and hopefully and I can get some helpful feedback, I'd really appreciate it.

I'm a single, attractive, 23 year old male, I currently live in the Des Moines, Iowa metro area where I've been for the past 5 years. I work full-time at a big insurance company that I've been with for close to 3 years. I take college classes at night and am about 30 credits short of graduating, which would take a little over a year's time. I know if I say "I'm not getting any younger" and want to do it now, I'm going to catch heck cause I know I am still pretty young, but I really do feel that way, that I need to do it asap.

The company I am with has just opened a new office in San Antonio and has offered me to relocate. I have been down to SA 3 times in the past 4 months for a week at a time each. I really did the best I could to venture out to try and see the city. I found that I liked it. However, some people and I went to Austin on a Saturday for a day and night out, and I was blown away. I loved it. Seemed more of a fit for me.

I hope this doesn't sound shallow at all, but the number one interest I have and deciding factor of a place for me to move would be the nightlife. I am a very outgoing person and love to be "where the fun is," lively spots with singles, having fun.

I live in Iowa and if you can imagine the nightlife here isn't the greatest. When we were out in SA we went down to the riverwalk area for bars and I thought they were okay, but nothing over the top. And every local I spoke with said that no locals even go downtown, that its more of a tourist spot. Even ventured out one night to the Flying Saucer, and I was much more impressed with the waitresses opposed to any female patrons there.

Everyone I spoke with said that Austin would be a much better fit for me, and I guess I just wanted to explain my situation on here to see if it still held true. I've already looked into what the commute from Austin to SA would be like on this forum, and not have heard one good thing about it. So I've forgot about that option. I originally wanted to move to Phoenix, but I really enjoyed Austin and would be cheaper to live there as well.

So I guess what I'm asking is

A. Does SA have a nightlife that I missed?
B. Should I risk losing my senority and my company and try to switch companies in effort to live in Austin?
C. Should I just take the year to finish school, and try to relocate from there?
D. How do the two (SA and Austin) compare with single ladies (21 - 26 range)?



Thank you so much for your time reading this book I just wrote and any advice or insight will be appreciated!

- nsid23

Austin all the way. San Antonio is a place for families. I know, I grew up there (and left).

Austin is not NYC or Boston, but it has a good nightlife and social scene for young professionals. Definitely the best in Texas, at least in my mind. It is also a lot hipper and edgier which makes it more fun, again at least to me. They are building a bunch of new condos and loft spaces just west of the warehouse district. If I ever moved back there that is where I would look. It's close to nightlife and, if you work downtown, you could walk to work. The big Whole Foods is also within easy walking/biking distance. Finally, the education level of people in Austin are on a completely different level than people in San Antonio. At its heart, SA is a blue collar military town, while I believe Austin has one of the highest percentage of PHD's per capita in the nation. That is reflected in Austin greater progressiveness and general political leanings as compared to San Antonio.

In the end, it all depends on your tastes. The one thing I can say is that you don't want to do is driving to Austin to hit 6th Street on the weekends; very dangerous.

[hello13685]

Given my experience and needs that have reflected those of Nsid23, I concur with both Irwin and Googie2525. Irwin makes a very valid point about education level and its relationship to progressiveness. I believe that this factor reverberates throughout an entire city culture, and that is something that you might want to think about, Nsid23. You may very well find that the people that you meet on your nightlife outings in Austin may end up being people that you have more in common with; it will be easier to form more suitable relationships that way--platonic and otherwise. It will be an exciting move!

[irnag]

Here is the data Irwin. As you can see, Austin is nowhere to be found. I think you meant the Austin has the highest number of Teasips per Capita. Notice, Aggieland is on that list.

Corvallis is in the top ten for the number of PHD's per capita in 2005
Workforce
Benton county, the home of Oregon State University (http://www.oregonstate.edu) and Hewlett-Packard Corvallis division ranks in the top ten for communities with the highest PHD's per capita. Corvallis has 25% of the population with graduate education. This compares to 9% in the general state population for Oregon.

The whole list from the US Census bureau includes:

Ithaca, N.Y. MSA
Blacksburg-Christianburg-Radford, Va. MSA
Ames, Iowa MSA
College Station-Bryan, Texas MSA
Corvallis, Ore. MSA
State College, Pa. MSA
Iowa City, Iowa MSA
Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Bloomington, Ind. MSA
Gainesville, Fla. MSA
Athens-Clarke County, Ga.
Santa Fe, N.M. MSA
Columbia, Mo. MSA
Morgantown, W.Va. MSA
Boulder, Colo. MSA

[irwin]

Originally Posted by irnag

Here is the data Irwin. As you can see, Austin is nowhere to be found. I think you meant the Austin has the highest number of Teasips per Capita. Notice, Aggieland is on that list.

Corvallis is in the top ten for the number of PHD's per capita in 2005
Workforce
Benton county, the home of Oregon State University (http://www.oregonstate.edu) and Hewlett-Packard Corvallis division ranks in the top ten for communities with the highest PHD's per capita. Corvallis has 25% of the population with graduate education. This compares to 9% in the general state population for Oregon.

The whole list from the US Census bureau includes:

Ithaca, N.Y. MSA
Blacksburg-Christianburg-Radford, Va. MSA
Ames, Iowa MSA
College Station-Bryan, Texas MSA
Corvallis, Ore. MSA
State College, Pa. MSA
Iowa City, Iowa MSA
Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Bloomington, Ind. MSA
Gainesville, Fla. MSA
Athens-Clarke County, Ga.
Santa Fe, N.M. MSA
Columbia, Mo. MSA
Morgantown, W.Va. MSA
Boulder, Colo. MSA

Hey, again, that's just what I had heard. Obviously the towns listed are college towns (I emphasize the word town). Austin is a city and thus the per capita percentage is going to be diluted.

But, even with your data, I think it is pretty obvious that generally Austin is a more educated population when compared to San Antonio. That is a consequence of UT of course, but also the more white collar professions in Austin.

[hello13685]

Of course there are more PhDs on a per capita basis in those listed college towns. Austin is different from many of those places because it is a city in its own right that attracts culture in forms other than university systems.

[Torrey]

I live in San Antonio.

San Antonio has no night life. Austin has a night life, and lots of cool outdoors types of things going for it.

The women in San Antonio are better. Austin has a high level of people with AIDs, and women are promiscuous there.

In my opinion of the two, Austin is a nice place to visit, and a terrible place to live because Austin is SKY HIGH on the cost of living whereas San Antonio is CHEAP. Better to get your job in SA, and visit Austin in my opinion.

Good luck.

[AustinTraveler]

Originally Posted by Torrey

Austin has a high level of people with AIDs, and women are promiscuous there

Do you have some statistics to back up this statement?

[Torrey]

I learned about this information around 10 years ago, and no I don't have an article to point to because I consider it irrelevent.

[irwin]

Originally Posted by Torrey

I learned about this information around 10 years ago, and no I don't have an article to point to because I consider it irrelevent.

If you consider irrelevant, then why did you bring it up?