Where would you move if you were to leave Austin? (Dallas: how much, house)

[winkosmosis]

Don't go to Hawaii. Maybe if you're rich and retired...

[je4xff]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Don't go to Hawaii. Maybe if you're rich and retired...

Aww Wink - still bummed out about waking up in Maui every day? Is there anything in particular keeping you from leaving? It's much easier to move to Texas from Hawaii than vice versa...

But like you said - "rich and retired" is a good plan fo sho. If we have to go sooner then rich and retired, that's ok too - I work on the internetz, so all I needs is one of them fancy wifi connectoids. Any Maui coffee shop should do...

[Shredding_Gnar78]

I spoke to someone last night who said Nashville or Charlotte.

BUT Tornadoes scare me. I've been to Portland and Seattle. Nice places indeed.

[bgrn198]

If I were gunna move out of Austin it would be to San Antonio one of my favorite cities and close enough to Austin to visit for the day or weekend.

[infoseeker2010]

If I leave Austin (I pray god everyday for that ), it will be back to my beloved State of California.

And yes, I don't think there is plastic culture, selfishness, greed or pretentiousness. There is difference between above and being entrepreneur, rich and fashionable. So according to you, does NYC has same plastic culture??

[AlexandraDKat]

Originally Posted by Shredding_Gnar78

I moved here from Cali last year. I've traveled extensively and internationally.. which gave me plenty of reference. Austin seemed like a great place for me; a single musician that does tech stuff for a living.

I had no pre-conceived notion that Austin is being inundated with Californians. Perhaps this would have changed my path. Regardless, a year later, I realized that this wonderful city is being transformed rapidly. And sadly I feel like I may have got here late.

I think the best thing in Austin is the people.. and by that, I mean generally the Austin Natives and Central Texans. I love the lush green landscape, beautiful red and blue birds, downtown events, great food, and job opportunities. Spring and Fall are unequivocally beautiful here. Once I made some friends, I was downtown and starting getting some dates, meeting some really fun girls. Which was a great change. (ever heard of 'man-diego?') I have a nice apartment now, which took about 6 months to find. Alas, Austin has welcomed me with open arms.

My beef is that, in the short time since my arrival, I've watched construction downtown... $3000/mo apartments and people with $75,000 cars that have out of state plates, etc. I have heard over and over again that:

A) the old Austin is on its way out. The local government people, collaborating with developers, are going to make this place into their own vision of a 'hip' town, which is basically a marketing vehicle to attract more rich people. I also heard that many people moved here from Louisiana and the gulf area after Katrina, and more recently, the oil spill. Summary: more people, new yuppie playground downtown.

B) the city doesn't have the infrastructure to support the current level of growth (2011 census put Austin at 20% population growth in the last 10 years) Sprawl will continue in all directions.

C) no musicians are thrilled about the situation here, as far as I can tell. I have dozens of musician friends. The slogan "The live music capital of the world" has become dark satire. Don't get me wrong - I love blues and cover bands as much as the next guy. But go the Austin craigslist musican section... lots of frustration and negative energy. SXSW isn't what it was. Everything has a time horizon.

D) apartments and jobs are tight. My rent went up 15% in the first year. I spent 3 months of daily job searching to find something worth calling a job.. and it ended up being pretty crappy because of a poor business model and deceptive CEO. But I've got my foot in the door and have 2 interviews this week And as someone posted on this board, real estate is most likely going to experience growth when compared to the market nationally.

I grew up in Orange County and lived in both LA and San Diego. I love the beach and the burritos... San Diego wasn't easy to leave... (OC blows)

I loathe the plastic Socal culture of selfishness and greed. Pretentiousness of the rich OC elitists was something I grew up with and learned to adapt to. (I took to punk and metal music, started smoking and being a bad kid at like 12 years old) The urban sprawl, over development, traffic, competition for everything. Where is the love? It like a commercial culture, where everyone is caught in some idea - some picture - that was sold in a magazine. After the recession, liveable wage jobs were few and far between. The state of California doesn't do much to attract business like other states do.


Anyway, long story short, I've made my way here.. and now I'm thinking about the future. My Mom always told me "you have to live where you can work". She's so smart. People keep moving here for whatever reason, but from what I observe, the city was never built to scale. And much of this new Austin looks like home in the OC. The same thing happened to San Francisco. Things Change. Everything has a time horizon.

I'm pretty good at forecasting.... I see Downtown Austin turning into something like Santa Monica in the next 5 years or so... a culture that features material wealth, where you are judged on your physical appearance more than anything. If you want to see it first hand, go to whole foods on 6th and Lamar on Sunday afternoon. That, in my opinion, is the epicenter, and the focal point of my argument.

where do we go now, sweet child of mine?

You're right on the money. Husband and I drove from L.A. to Austin at the end of 2005 to potentially relocate. BTW, he's an L.A. musician and I grew up in O.C.

We noticed that trend back then. Lots of phony/wealthy/celebrity-obsessed Californians - something we wanted and still want to get away from. We were happy to meet the cool Texans and can only imagine how great Austin must have been before the influx.

Where would you go now?

[rogramjet]

If you're looking for the charm and friendliness of old Austin, among some of the most beautiful neighborhoods and architecture in Texas - head to Fort Worth. It's a city that experienced the growing pains that Austin is now currently experiencing during Texas' oil boom in the first half of the 20th century. Fort Worth is now the same size as Austin, and except for its booming northern edge, it has terrific public infrastructure. For example, it has a hike and bike trail along the banks of the Trinity River longer than Austin's - and it's completely paved! And Fort Worth is experiencing a significant emerging music scene. The city has the nicest people ever - certainly rivaling the friendliness of Austin. Other than Austin or Fort Worth, I would move to two other cities I've lived in for a significant time - New York City and San Francisco.

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by rogramjet

If you're looking for the charm and friendliness of old Austin, among some of the most beautiful neighborhoods and architecture in Texas - head to Fort Worth. It's a city that experienced the growing pains that Austin is now currently experiencing during Texas' oil boom in the first half of the 20th century. Fort Worth is now the same size as Austin, and except for its booming northern edge, it has terrific public infrastructure. For example, it has a hike and bike trail along the banks of the Trinity River longer than Austin's - and it's completely paved! And Fort Worth is experiencing a significant emerging music scene. The city has the nicest people ever - certainly rivaling the friendliness of Austin. Other than Austin or Fort Worth, I would move to two other cities I've lived in for a significant time - New York City and San Francisco.

Fort Worth is a fine place and I agree with some of its strengths that you point to--nice neighborhoods, friendliness, architecture, emerging music scene etc.. But it lacks a certain intellectual and artistic vibrancy that Austin has, and I honestly don't think it will ever have that same spirit. The Trinity trail that you point to is long but ugly and boring. It cannot compare with Austin's Town (Lady Bird) Lake trail and it's not even close to the Barton Creek Greenbelt trail. Building the Chisholm Trail Tollway right along side one of its nicest sections demonstrates the city's traditional priorities and values. To be fair, there is a nascent awareness of trying to build a more sustainable and responsible city (see Bike Fort Worth Plan), but so far these amount to a small number of progressive threads in an otherwise very conservative and back-water fabric.

And yet...

I do like it. And it is nice to know that it won't be overtaken by annoying (materialistic, vapid, posers) anytime soon.

[migol84]

Originally Posted by AlexandraDKat

We noticed that trend back then. Lots of phony/wealthy/celebrity-obsessed Californians - something we wanted and still want to get away from.

Seriously. Tell me. Where do you go to see those types of people? Because in my 12.5 years of living in Austin never did I ever see them, or maybe I did but I never took notice. So who are these people and where do they hang out?

[rogramjet]

Originally Posted by Campeador

Fort Worth is a fine place and I agree with some of its strengths that you point to--nice neighborhoods, friendliness, architecture, emerging music scene etc.. But it lacks a certain intellectual and artistic vibrancy that Austin has, and I honestly don't think it will ever have that same spirit. The Trinity trail that you point to is long but ugly and boring. It cannot compare with Austin's Town (Lady Bird) Lake trail and it's not even close to the Barton Creek Greenbelt trail. Building the Chisholm Trail Tollway right along side one of its nicest sections demonstrates the city's traditional priorities and values. To be fair, there is a nascent awareness of trying to build a more sustainable and responsible city (see Bike Fort Worth Plan), but so far these amount to a small number of progressive threads in an otherwise very conservative and back-water fabric.

And yet...

I do like it. And it is nice to know that it won't be overtaken by annoying (materialistic, vapid, posers) anytime soon.

I appreciate your perspective and largely agree with the exception of the characterization of Fort Worth as back-water. All one has to do is visit the city's world class museums to dispel that notion. And that's just a start. I've run both city's trails and for sheer beauty Fort Worth is my preference. Fort Worth, to me, is muscular, manicured, and in many ways elegant. Austin, to me, is more effete - sorta like a cute girl who doesn't shave her legs. BTW, I'm not trying to make this an Austin vs. Fort Worth thing. Both are great cities - and the only cities in Texas I would care to live in. Thus my answer to the thread's question...