Austin vs. San Antonio - IT jobs (Plano, Waco: rent, insurance) - Texas (TX) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

imaterry78259 · 09-21-2007, 04:35 AM

San Antonio has huge major employers amd the second fastest grwoing city in the country. Factored out the the state jobs from Austin, since it is the capital and lets go $ to $.

Austin is more health conscious and has a more alternative lifestyle than San Antonio but it ends right there. Most Austinites have not being all over SA to appreciates its beauty, charm and the new Silcon Westover Hill area. Go to Monte Vista, Olmos Park, Alamo Heights,Tobin Hill, King William and Jefferson areas. These are all inner city beautiful neighborhoods

hello13685 · 09-21-2007, 10:19 AM

Hi XZiler8r,

I am a CA transplant living in San Antonio. I clearly agree that as a city, Austin is far superior to San Antonio. However, I think that your choice may depend on what your priorities are. If you have kids and your life is just going to be a daily commute and weekends at Sam's Club and Costco, you would be better off in San Antonio, for better commuting and cheapter housing. If, however, you envision leaving your home for anything other than work or errands (in other words you might need some kind of social or cultural stimulation) then you should choose Austin. Now, people from San Antonio will argue "but we've got such and such cultural festival, and this and that," which is true. The problem rests in the likelihood that it exists at a puny scale that someone coming from the outside (for example Orlando, or CA) would find to be negligible, if not downright depressing. Good luck!!

tashina · 09-21-2007, 11:32 AM

hello13685 last couple of sentences hit upon the big reason that I as an outsider am having trouble becoming a Texan. I had always heard the phrase "everything is bigger in Texas" and when I came here I guess I expected that to apply to man-made as well as natural features, but that was a mistake on my part.

Texas has big gorgeous skies which I would sorely miss if I left. They have big weather and big empty areas to drive through and also sprawling cities that take forever to drive through.

But when my builder's sales agent hyped Central Market (the Austin 290 location) and we went, it was no better than an average upscale grocery store in most areas of California. When they hyped the new Domain, up I went and it was like a little version of Santana Row in the San Jose area. Plus it looks like a mall that would be nice downtown, but seems out of place in the middle of tech suburbs. I went to San Antonio to finally get to a bigger city and we drove around downtown and there really didn't seem to be much to do - although I tried to look up stuff first online. We walked the Alamo, we went to the Riverwalk mall (kinda pretty, but eh, but seemed more artificial than an enhancing the beauty of a natural feature) and that was about it. We tried to drive around some pretty areas with older houses, but the streets were so narrow for the amount of traffic it wasn't very pleasurable (surface streets leading north out of downtown). Where are the pretty funky malls like Seaport Village and Horton Plaza? Where are the Japanese bookstores and craft galleries?

I enjoy aspects of Texas and in ways it's about as good for some outdoor activities - but both Austin and San Antonio are small town if you are from a larger city on the coasts. This isn't a put-down. I'm just saying that some people from the coasts look at the size of San Antonio and think it is a big city - and a forum like this is the perfect place to let them know that it isn't.

jread · 09-21-2007, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tashina

hello13685 last couple of sentences hit upon the big reason that I as an outsider am having trouble becoming a Texan. I had always heard the phrase "everything is bigger in Texas" and when I came here I guess I expected that to apply to man-made as well as natural features, but that was a mistake on my part.

Texas has big gorgeous skies which I would sorely miss if I left. They have big weather and big empty areas to drive through and also sprawling cities that take forever to drive through.

But when my builder's sales agent hyped Central Market (the Austin 290 location) and we went, it was no better than an average upscale grocery store in most areas of California. When they hyped the new Domain, up I went and it was like a little version of Santana Row in the San Jose area. Plus it looks like a mall that would be nice downtown, but seems out of place in the middle of tech suburbs. I went to San Antonio to finally get to a bigger city and we drove around downtown and there really didn't seem to be much to do - although I tried to look up stuff first online. We walked the Alamo, we went to the Riverwalk mall (kinda pretty, but eh, but seemed more artificial than an enhancing the beauty of a natural feature) and that was about it. We tried to drive around some pretty areas with older houses, but the streets were so narrow for the amount of traffic it wasn't very pleasurable (surface streets leading north out of downtown). Where are the pretty funky malls like Seaport Village and Horton Plaza? Where are the Japanese bookstores and craft galleries?

I enjoy aspects of Texas and in ways it's about as good for some outdoor activities - but both Austin and San Antonio are small town if you are from a larger city on the coasts. This isn't a put-down. I'm just saying that some people from the coasts look at the size of San Antonio and think it is a big city - and a forum like this is the perfect place to let them know that it isn't.

You are not going to get most of the big-city amenities in places like Austin and San Antonio. If you want to experience the "worldly" feeling in Texas you need to go to Houston or Dallas (especially Houston). Houston, for instance, has a more developed skyline than Los Angeles, a theater district second only to Broadway in size, cultures from all over the world, a true "Chinatown", etc. I do wish Austin had more of this but without all the other stuff I can't stand about Houston

http://www.buygolfshirts.com/images/houston.jpg (broken link)

tashina · 09-21-2007, 01:32 PM

Totally agree, jread. I'd be happy to live in Houston if they would relocate it to the Hill Country and change a few zoning laws. That humidity would suck the life right outta me.

We are thinking of moving to North Dallas just to have more access to big city activities. It's actually faster to get into downtown there from 20 miles north than it is from 10 miles SW here (non rush hour). And to tie this all to the OP's post, if you are looking for IT jobs, North Dallas is a good place to look around too.

In Austin vs San Antonio, for tech I'd go North Austin. For general lifestyle and city "quality" I'd take Austin over San Antonio. If you're most interested in lower priced homes and a less stressful lifestyle and think you can get a job anywhere, San Antonio is a good choice.

imaterry78259 · 09-21-2007, 01:43 PM

Of course, I totally disagree with the last few post. If you over 30 in Austin there is no where to go and do. I lived in Austin for 8 years and I know what I am talking about. I live in SF Bay area and Miami, New Orleans and now SA. Austin is the most overrated hyoped city. I know it has the greatest marketing department in the USA. IT jobs -Austin wins that one but SA is going to boom like no other. I talked to a lady here today from Santa Barbara, Ca who thought that Austin is a "Snooty" place and can't see all the markup about it

pwherman512 · 09-21-2007, 01:54 PM

"If you over 30 in Austin there is no where to go and do"- Are you serious? Wow, I have heard it all now. Let's see over 30 crowd: Town Lake, Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Zilker Park, Barton Springs......... ah forget it, there is not enough room on this webpage. Man, I am just at a loss for words now. That has to be the craziest post yet- but hey to each his/her own.

And San Antonio is going to "boom like no other"- When? They were saying that in 1993 when I moved there! Hello it's 2007, when is the boom coming? Toyota was supposed to be it, but guess what, the suppliers that were supposed to bring even more jobs decided to move north of San Antonio.

love roses · 09-21-2007, 02:26 PM

From the sound of it, If, as it sounds from some of these posts, that some can't find anything to do in Austin and San Antonio, I'd say they landed in the wrong city. I've been to Dallas lots of times (lots of family there), and lived in Houston. Houston has a nice sized China Town. It's one of the largest cities in Texas, and as a port city, also has a more diverse population (and I don't mean just limited to black and hispanic). Also a much broader arts/theatre/museum scene. I lived a block away from a small, modern museum that did lots of photography shows as well as other mediums. To get any sort of "hills" around Houston, you'd probably have to go somewhere like Conroe to get away from the flatness. But couldn't speak on the IT field there. Maybe similar to Dallas, but Houston has more engineering type jobs, oil/gas, aerospace, finance.

jread · 09-21-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by love roses

Houston has a nice sized China Town. It's one of the largest cities in Texas

Technically it is the largest city in Texas and the 4th largest in the United States. The landscape and climate are horrendous, though, which is too bad. I will give Houston a few things: it's a big city with a lot going on, tons of jobs, excellent schools (Rice University), and a low cost of living.

iguanas4 · 09-21-2007, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwherman512

Let's see over 30 crowd: Town Lake, Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Zilker Park, Barton Springs......... ah forget it, there is not enough room on this webpage.

Yeah, but aren't all those things pretty much the same activity? Lake activities, that is, or biking or something similar. Nothing wrong with any of that, and we've enjoyed it. But still, we are over 30 and feeling like there's nothing for us to do around here. Maybe because what we want to "do" is go to the beach.