Houston to Austin relocation comments? (San Antonio, San Marcos: low income, rent, utilities)

[Trainwreck20]

I think this post wins the title of "most assinine post on City-Data" award.

Lol, you have the right poster, but you will have to go look at the post-history and you can find some really doozies!

[diablo234]

Originally Posted by atxcio

It always fascinates me how these city vs. city threads (especially Austin vs. Dallas, Austin vs. Houston, etc) ALWAYS end up as a competition about which is more gay friendly. I mean, I understand the importance to certain folks. But really, this ends up being like the top first or second subject people seem to gravitate to, despite the fact the vast majority discussing it are not gay.

Yeah I kind of find it funny as well.

And honestly most major cities nowadays (that is cities with over a million people in their metro area) can be considered gay-friendly to at least some extent anyways since being gay no longer has that negative stigma attached to it anymore.

Anyways the only reason why I responded in the first place is that personally I can't stand it when someone spews false information just because they have some personal dislike of a place especially on this website as it's main purpose is to help out people relocating to a new state/area.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I have to say, I'd take Austin's short (but intense) rush hour and smaller roads over something like the newly expanded 24-lane Katy Fwy in Houston ANYDAY. Sure, you can drive through Houston at 55mph during rush hour on it... but it's a terrible eyesore. Wouldn't want to live anywhere near it. And just watch, in a few years it will be bumper to bumper anyway... just with A LOT more cars. The fact it moves fairly well now will just make people think it's practical to live 40 miles out of town instead of 30, and before you know it you are back where you started in terms of transit time. Just with a whole heck of a lot more pavement and pollution.

Anyway, I'm just ranting at this point... It's too bad we can't figure out how to make roads better rather than just bigger. But we're talking TXDot here, so no chance of figuring it out anytime soon.

It would be so much better if people would just move closer to their jobs.

Doesn't that describe all Texas cities? Austin is equally sprawling.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Doesn't that describe all Texas cities? Austin is equally sprawling.

Not really equal, no. Unless you are comparing Austin to the smaller Texas cities. There aren't many large highways here. Also no loop.

But Austin still does sprawl, most notably along the one interstate (even though it hasn't been expanded in 40 years). I believe I mentioned as much.

[eepstein]

Yes, I-35 is yet another way we are KEEPING AUSTIN WEIRD. Major expansions are taking place all up and down I-35 between Temple and Waco to eventually make it 3 lanes in both directions. The total cost of this I believe is close to 5 billion dollars. No future plans for any widening or reconfiguring in the most congested medium size city in the nation.

KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD!!!

Originally Posted by atxcio

Not really equal, no. Unless you are comparing Austin to the smaller Texas cities. There aren't many large highways here. Also no loop.

But Austin still does sprawl, most notably along the one interstate (even though it hasn't been expanded in 40 years). I believe I mentioned as much.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by eepstein

And I wouldn't move to Austin if I were gay (or Texas at all for that matter). A few years ago I actually had a few gay friends in this area who ended up moving to Denver because of all the "anti gay" setiments in this part of the state.

I dont find Houston to be especially gay friendly either, but Dallas on the other hand, is quite gay friendly (especially north dallas).

Originally Posted by diablo234

Yeah we in Houston are so unfriendly to gay people we even decided to elect one as our mayor.

LOL. And apparently Plano and Frisco are now the hotspot for gays? Are they the new Montrose? Now THAT'S the funniest thing I've heard all week!

[eepstein]

No, not so much Plano and Frisco, but north Dallas--highland village, and a a good chunk of areas south of 635 and downtown.

Originally Posted by sxrckr

LOL. And apparently Plano and Frisco are now the hotspot for gays? Are they the new Montrose? Now THAT'S the funniest thing I've heard all week!

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by eepstein

I-35 is yet another way we are KEEPING AUSTIN WEIRD. Major expansions are taking place all up and down I-35 between Temple and Waco to eventually make it 3 lanes in both directions. The total cost of this I believe is close to 5 billion dollars. No future plans for any widening or reconfiguring in the most congested medium size city in the nation.

Yep. For us folks who would rather not live next to 24 lanes of pavement for a single highway scarring the city, it's called dodging a bullet. Again, I'll take our shorter intense rush hour on smaller roads any day.

Although we should have HOV lanes. No excuse for not having those.

For other folks, like yourself, places like Dallas will naturally be more appealing -- endless amounts of asphalt to drive on, Domain-like shopping everywhere, and apparently a gay mecca to boot. Winning!

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Not really equal, no. Unless you are comparing Austin to the smaller Texas cities. There aren't many large highways here. Also no loop.

But Austin still does sprawl, most notably along the one interstate (even though it hasn't been expanded in 40 years). I believe I mentioned as much.

Also seems to sprawl westward along 71 and NW along 183. When I lived in South Austin about 4-5 years ago, that area of town was blowing up all the way to Kyle and Buda. Really Austin sprawls from about Buda/Kyle to Round Rock/Georgetown which is about 40-50 miles. Combined with the geography of the area, Austin and San Antonio are arguably more sprawly.

Originally Posted by atxcio

Yep. For us folks who would rather not live next to 24 lanes of pavement for a single highway scarring the city, it's called dodging a bullet. Again, I'll take our shorter intense rush hour on smaller roads any day.

Although we should have HOV lanes. No excuse for not having those.

And how much longer before this "shorter intense rush hour" turns into something gruesome. Austin, like DFW and Houston, have been bursting at the seems with population growth. Austin needs to figure out quickly what it plans to do it about its infrastructure. I've been avoiding 35 like the plague for the past 8 years, now it seems like west Austin (around Mopac, 360, 290, and 71) is starting to show plague like symptoms.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Also seems to sprawl westward along 71 and NW along 183. When I lived in South Austin about 4-5 years ago, that area of town was blowing up all the way to Kyle and Buda. Really Austin sprawls from about Buda/Kyle to Round Rock/Georgetown which is about 40-50 miles.

Just look at any satellite image. Is there a long strip of pretty much constant stuff along I-35, even down to San Marcos? Sure. But Austin simply doesn't have the road infrastructure to feed sprawl like San Antonio's, much less anything like DFW or Houston.

And how much longer before this "shorter intense rush hour" turns into something gruesome. Austin, like DFW and Houston, have been bursting at the seems with population growth. Austin needs to figure out quickly what it plans to do it about its infrastructure.

It's already gruesome, I'd say. You definitely don't want to be on Mopac, 360 or I-35 between 8:00-9:30am and 4:30-6:30pm. And yes, Austin needs to figure out what it plans to do. Hopefully it will be HOV lanes, finishing existing connectors, better timed lights, encouraging density in central areas, and more public transit. Hopefully it WILL NOT be just adding an obscene amount of freeway lanes everywhere. That is much worse urban planning IMO.