Austin or Bay Area? (Howe: income, income tax, living)

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by kbchitown

Just moved from Chicago to Austin myself. If you think Chicago is not very open to different lifestyles.....you might want to reconsider Texas. Sportsfreaks are a hundred times worse in TX...they are rabid UT fans here. And I mean rabid....Texas orange merchandise is everywhere...High school football is a religion.

Austin is considered "liberal" but I am shocked to see/hear such hate directed at our president and democrats. I see "F" Obama...Obama is a "commie, socialist, nazi" bumper stickers ALL THE TIME . Radio is dominated by right wing extremists.

You will miss the change of seasons....believe me. The summers are blazing hot with no relief for months.

There is no work here. And for those of you who disagree....I'm sorry, but this is my opinion.

I can answer this with 2 words in English and in French : Not true and BS.

(I learned French in high school.)

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by Sailor22

Thanks for the help, yes the health issues are something that I cannot pretend to overlook. It is not an option so knowing that, this is why I am very concerned with which place to choose.

I do have many friends/family (brother) in the LA area. I have never visited there but know the climate might be better? I am a bit afraid of earthquakes but am terrified of tornadoes which Austin and Chicago have tons of. I have been in about 10 tornadoes (actual ones!) through the years in various spots I have lived. From experiencing so many of them, it has developed into a huge phobia of mine. Something I guess to also consider. I have yet to experience an earthquake but am sure they are no fun either in a way different aspect than a tornado.

If I had my choice, I would live in the twin cities minus the weather with mountains around! Obviously, again, Minnesota is completely out of the question, although it offers almost everything I am looking for minus the climate, which is huge!

I appreciate all of the responses...keep em coming! Thanks!

The best climate I've experienced is in the city San Francisco. It's never too hot or too cold there. If you've got health issues, I would think that Los Angeles would be a terrible place to be due to its horrible air quality.

Originally Posted by Sailor22

what about flash floods (Austin)? I experienced one in Dallas once visiting. It was super crazy, especially because I was driving on the Interstate.
I know that Texas has the most tornadoes out of any state but it seems like the majority of them occur semi- away from Austin (?).

I've lived in Austin most of my life, and tornadoes are actually quite rare. Most of the ones I hear about strike north of the city. Flash flooding is more common, though.

[kbchitown]

Originally Posted by Sailor22

If I had my choice, I would live in the twin cities minus the weather with mountains around! Obviously, again, Minnesota is completely out of the question, although it offers almost everything I am looking for minus the climate, which is huge!

I appreciate all of the responses...keep em coming! Thanks!

Believe me, Austin is not for you.

Also, regarding owning a house in Austin. Austin housing can be VERY expensive unless you live in the suburbs. Close-in Hill Country housing is expensive, too. And be sure to examine property taxes....which are typically double of what you pay in the Chicago area (....and yes, we don't need to be reminded that there is no personal income tax in TX - for now - but our property taxes in TX are more than our combined IL property and state income tax ).

[eepstein]

Austin is FAR more conservative overall than most Austinites like to think. Places like North Dallas (south of 635), Denver, Sacramento, and Portland area FAR more overall liberal places than Austin. I personally have never seem any "F OBAMA" stickers, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit. Out in the Avery Ranch area it's normally the bumper stickers that say "Real Men Love Jesus"!!

Originally Posted by artsyguy

I completely agree with you. That is why I literally skedaddled out of Austin like a bat out of hell. If you are gay or of non-white Anglo heritage you will be freaking out everyday.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by kbchitown

Just moved from Chicago to Austin myself. If you think Chicago is not very open to different lifestyles.....you might want to reconsider Texas. Sportsfreaks are a hundred times worse in TX...they are rabid UT fans here. And I mean rabid....Texas orange merchandise is everywhere...High school football is a religion.

Austin is considered "liberal" but I am shocked to see/hear such hate directed at our president and democrats. I see "F" Obama...Obama is a "commie, socialist, nazi" bumper stickers ALL THE TIME . Radio is dominated by right wing extremists.

You will miss the change of seasons....believe me. The summers are blazing hot with no relief for months.

There is no work here. And for those of you who disagree....I'm sorry, but this is my opinion.

Originally Posted by ImOnFiya

I can answer this with 2 words in English and in French : Not true and BS.

(I learned French in high school.)

Now actually he is not that far off the mark, you know? Please remember he came from another state's and region's MAJOR city.

I've lost count of how many people have moved here from Chicago, New York or other northern major city and then said Austin was NOT like they expected. Why? In Texas, these people would feel much more at home with the amenities of Houston or Dallas. So why do they come to Austin, a much smaller city where sports and the arts are centered so much around the University? Probably the ridiculous number of puff piece articles, news stories pumping Austin, and other similar overhype nonsense that I'm sure these writers are getting from the city and tourism bureau constantly making lots of wind about Austin being the supposed Shagri-La of the Western Hemisphere.

BTW though.... I haven't seen those bumper stickers. In many ways I think the current administration blows from a policy standpoint, but I shouldn't need a stupid, childish sticker on my car.

[AMJ27]

Originally Posted by kbchitown

Believe me, Austin is not for you.

Also, regarding owning a house in Austin. Austin housing can be VERY expensive unless you live in the suburbs. Close-in Hill Country housing is expensive, too. And be sure to examine property taxes....which are typically double of what you pay in the Chicago area (....and yes, we don't need to be reminded that there is no personal income tax in TX - for now - but our property taxes in TX are more than our combined IL property and state income tax ).

My property taxes in IL (Chicago suburbs, collar county) were almost the identical rate of my property taxes here in SW Austin (Travis County). Our rate is 2.2 percent.

[BevoLJ]

A few of my friends had the "F*** BUSH!" stickers which I thought was funny, but I've never seen a sticker like that about Obama. However if I did I am not sure I would assume it was a right wing nutcase driving. I'm pretty liberal, as are most all of my friends Moderator cut: national politics

[AMJ27]

Originally Posted by kbchitown

Just moved from Chicago to Austin myself. If you think Chicago is not very open to different lifestyles.....you might want to reconsider Texas. Sportsfreaks are a hundred times worse in TX...they are rabid UT fans here. And I mean rabid....Texas orange merchandise is everywhere...High school football is a religion.

Austin is considered "liberal" but I am shocked to see/hear such hate directed at our president and democrats. I see "F" Obama...Obama is a "commie, socialist, nazi" bumper stickers ALL THE TIME . Radio is dominated by right wing extremists.

You will miss the change of seasons....believe me. The summers are blazing hot with no relief for months.

There is no work here. And for those of you who disagree....I'm sorry, but this is my opinion.

I was a bit amused with the Longhorn obsession on Saturdays here! It's like a sea of burnt orange on Saturdays, but not much different to the Bears jerseys I was used to seeing on Sundays in the fall/winter. Just a brighter color here.

The only crazy anti-Obama stuff I have really encountered since moving here was when we were driving between Dallas and Austin about a month ago. There were some very shocking billboards along the way along with more pawn shops and gun stores than I've ever seen in my life. I was anxious to return to the Austin bubble after that road trip. I haven't had a lot of deep political discussions with my neighbors yet, but we are quite liberal and haven't felt out of place at all in our Austin suburban existance. There was a mix of political signs over the election season in our neighborhood with probably more Dem signs than Repubs. Where we lived in the Chicagoland area felt much more conservative than here.

As for there being "no work here," I think that really depends on the industry. Our prospects are much better here than in Chicago where my husband's industry has been fleeing. Of course, I would never personally move anywhere without a job secured.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by eepstein

Austin is FAR more conservative overall than most Austinites like to think. Places like North Dallas (south of 635), Denver, Sacramento, and Portland area FAR more overall liberal places than Austin.

Isn't that area of North Dallas where George W Bush lives right now? And his presidential library and conservative think tank is being built? You know, alongside the Methodist university? By the Highland Park neighborhood, which only got it's first black homeowner in 2003?

Yeah, totally liberal up there.

[Nomadic9460678748]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

LA could be a great option for you. I went to UCLA and lived in Santa Monica for 4 years. I loved it there. As a student I was living with quite a few friends obviously, but I remember pretty much everything still being more affordable that SF. I grew up here in Austin and moved back here many years ago and I have still never experienced a tornado. I did experience a couple small earthquakes and little trimmers in Cali, but never one that caused me any real scare. However, I do remember fires and mudslides being a much bigger issue there than earthquakes. Also, I don't know if this is still a problem over there but when I was living there huge parts of the state would just randomly have massive blackouts like every other day due to not being able to afford power. At that time when I was there, they had a complete nutjob named Governor Davis that makes our current nutjob Gov. Perry look like a savior. The guy was a total disaster. Anyway, those blackouts could be very dangerous, and quite scary. Well they ended up giving him the boot and The Governator took over and hopefully he has gotten that whole being unable to afford power thing sorted out.

I recommend a book entitled Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Or if reading is not your thing, check out the documentary. It will provide you with some insight into the rather non-random nature of the blackouts you reference.