Are TOO MANY people moving to Austin? (Cedar Park, Pflugerville: lease, hotel)

[Traveleratheart]

I have lived here 18 years, moved from LA, and do find it feels much more crowded in the last year. I am much more careful in planning activities to avoid big traffic times and have found traffic jams as early as 2;30 on the freeways. it is harder to be spontaneous, and I am seeing way too much concrete. It is bringing back memories as to why I left LA...but there are many fun, cultural things here. When i first moved I was amazed at how many excellent choices there were of things to do, and now that i am a parent I appreciate how very kid friendly it is here. But I would say there are too many people here, and what used to be a 10 minute drive is now 30 to 45 minutes.

[GATX2004]

It really depends on where you are coming from, what your expectations are, and what flavor of "adventure" you're looking for. The Austin you experience will be radically different depending on what part of town you live in, just like any major city.

I'm in my late 20's, moved to Austin to go to UT in 2000 and have been here since. I've always lived in the central part of the city (West Campus, Hyde Park, East Austin). There are a ton of young, fun, creative people doing great things here. On any night of the week I can find a good show in any of a number of genres of music. There are a lot of talented artists, especially on the east side (see the East Austin Studio Tour for more info). We are one of the safest major cities in America. Austin's food scene is burgeoning and there are several restaurants that have gotten tons of national praise. We are home to the Alamo Drafthouse and Franklin BBQ. There's kayaking on Lady Bird, swimming in Deep Eddy and Barton Springs, or a jog/ride around town lake. A short drive takes you to Hamilton Pool or Krause Springs (look them up!). The Austin I love has a ton to recommend it.

But you are exactly right, a lot of other people have realized that. Rent anywhere within 2 miles of downtown is going to be expensive. Saying it is NYC/SF levels is hyperbole, but it is certainly not cheap. And it is not plentiful. You can occasionally find an older 2/1, 900s qft house in dubious state of repair for 1400, but more likely you'll pay 700 for an efficiency, $1000 for a 1 br, or @1800 for a 2 br apartment. All those new high rises places people scoffed at when they were going up? The ones they said would never fill up? They are full up at $1800 for a 1 br. The next wave of development in the central city won't finish for 5+ years, so it will likely get worse before it gets better.

And competition for jobs is not a whole lot easier. If you are moving here hoping to find something, I'd say make sure you have 3+ months of expenses saved. And as other commenters have posted, be prepared to tend bar, wait tables, or take temp jobs in the mean time, particularly if work in a creative industry (advertising, design, music, etc) or teaching. Of course if you have a computer science degree or can write code, won't have much trouble finding work here. There is also significant demand for medical professionals.

Again, I've never lived in the 'burbs, but I have friends that moved out there. I don't see them as much, simply because it is logistically difficult. If you decide you want cheaper rent and more space to stretch out, I don't blame you. Living in the city is not what everyone wants. But know that you'll be facing some of the worst traffic in the country, long commutes, poor arterial highways, substandard public transport, and generally the same homogenization that affects suburban areas everywhere. But there are much better schools and if you're looking to raise kids, you could certainly do worse than suburban Austin.

Austin already has a urban/suburban dichotomy. And the city is at a major crossroads these days between a commuter-oriented future vs a density-oriented future. I've already seen massive changes and I've only been here 12 years. The influx of people is not going to stop. The citizens and the city council need to decide how they want to invest in Austin's future and what vision they want for the city in 20 years. If they want to encourage growth in the outlying areas, the easier and cheaper option, they will need to improve the arterial road system, add more outlying highway loops, and work on the infrastructure in the 'burbs. The competing, and I think better, option is to encourage more density in the city by improving public transport in the core (even potentially at the expense of commuter communities), encouraging mixed use development, and adding more office space downtown. This is unpopular and unlikely because it will be expensive, and will require suburban residents to foot massive bond bills for programs and projects that won't directly benefit them in the short-term. But they will reap the benefits of reduced congestion in the long-run when new residents move into the city center.

Either way, the only 2 things I can tell you with any reasonable degree of certainty are a) You should move here soon! And b)The Austin you find yourself in 12 years from now, will not be the one you moved to. And that's ok.

[NativeTexanGrrl]

There are definitely too many people moving to Austin and all of Texas.

[N. Olikee]

Went through this Same Thing when I lived in San Diego back in the early '80s. "Welcome to San Diego, now go home, etc."

There are LOTS of People moving LOTS of Places for Whatever Reason.............get over it.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by NativeTexanGrrl

There are definitely too many people moving to Austin and all of Texas.

I am sure that is a problem Rust Belt states like Michigan and Ohio wish they had. I have lived too long to think you can maintain equilibrium - in anything. You are growing, or shrinking. I choose growing.

Also related is the folks that want Austin to be the size it was the day AFTER they got here. "Moat" mentality - "I'm inside, pull up the drawbridge". Manifested in the '90s by the cars that had SOS bumper stickers - and out of state plates! If you were smart enough to realize this is a good place, then do you really think NO ONE else in the world will figure it out as well?

[TexasHorseLady]

SOS (Save Our Springs) bumper stickers, and SOS itself, were not about sending people packing. They were about preserving the very things that drew people to Austin in the first place (and the water those people drink, come to that), by making prudent and reasonable decisions about where development could be allowed without killing the goose that laid the golden egg so that developers could make a buck and run off to the next city with their booty.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

SOS (Save Our Springs) bumper stickers, and SOS itself, were not about sending people packing. They were about preserving the very things that drew people to Austin in the first place (and the water those people drink, come to that), by making prudent and reasonable decisions about where development could be allowed without killing the goose that laid the golden egg so that developers could make a buck and run off to the next city with their booty.

Nice hyperbole. First, "the water those people drink.". The contribution to Austin's water supply from the Barton Creek watershed is less than 0.2% on an annual basis. Much of the area covered by the ordinance drains eventually into Onion Creek, which enters the Colorado south of Town Lake - with ZERO effect on Austin's or anyone else's drinking water for that matter as no downstream cities draw drinking water from the Colorado.

Second, greater development density than was allowed under SOS was made possible later under a variety of legal and legislative moves. Under SOS, SW Austin and Circle C in particular, would look nothing like it does today. Is there a SCINTILLA of evidence that this denser development has "killed the goose that laid the golden egg"? You can't argue simultaneously that Austin has grown too much, while arguing that the now relaxed SOS provisions were about keeping the goose alive.

Third, the poster child for the hatred, the developer devil incarnate Gary Bradley, has run off to what city? He is, and always was going to be, an Austinite. This "carpetbagger" slur was never rooted in fact.

And now the SOS crowd wants to slow down infrastructure in a completely different part of town. For what purpose, other than to limit growth? That "if we don't build it, they won't come" strategy is directly responsible for the traffic and myriad other problems here. If anything kills the goose, it will be that and not environmentally sensitive development such as what covers much of SW Austin today - and never would be allowed under the unmodufied SOS restrictions.

[TexasHorseLady]

Why do I get the feeling from many of your posts that you, personally, benefit from development in some way?

Heck, I'm a real estate agent and I don't bang the drum so loudly that all development is good development!

[redvelvet709]

Originally Posted by outsider25

Hey,

My fiance and I are in our mid 20s and looking for a new adventure. We keep reading/hearing about how great Austin is and we were considering a visit with the view to a move.

My only concern is that it appears that A LOT of people have the same idea and i'm worried that it will be crowded, there won't be so many opportunities, prices will be driven up etc.

Is this a fair concern or is it not too noticeable to any residents reading? (Ideally over a significant period, not someone who just moved last year!)

Many thanks.

Yes. The answer to this question has been yes for the past 20 years.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Why do I get the feeling from many of your posts that you, personally, benefit from development in some way?

Heck, I'm a real estate agent and I don't bang the drum so loudly that all development is good development!

Why does one have to have a financial interest in development to be opposed to carte blanche barriers? I could make the case that someone with existing RE interests is vested in restricting supply, to drive up the value of the existing inventory.

No one in Austin gives a rats petunia about city wide quality development - if the did, Dove Springs wouldn't be there, right on top of the Onion Creek watershed. It is schlock, right on top of each other, and was built without a peep. The only place that the inner city, true believers care about is SW. There has been a concerted effort to restrict public infrastructure to make it less attractive. As a consequence, there isn't a HS on the Patton/Small site, as was originally intended. There isn't a MS in Lantana as was proposed. The Y is a gosh awful mess, because environmentalists have been successful in blocking every proposed remedy. Shady Hollow is subjected to horrendous traffic because 45 can't be finished in any fashion.

So, your assumption is completely wrong - my only RE is Austin is my single family dwelling, which will only profit my heirs, as my next stop is Arlington National Cemetary. My income is not tied to development, nor is my wife's. My only interest is in seeing environmentally sensitive development occur - as it has SW up to today, and would have never been allowed under SOS. Austin has to capitalize on its strengths, and the blackland towards Bastrop isnt it. We are all environmentalists here - you have to be. Only a few of us are nuts about it.