Considering Austin as a possible new home, looking for some useful information. (Alamo: appointed)

[ERSRHD]

My wife and I are currently living just east of Pittsburgh, PA and while we love Pittsburgh, it just doesn't have as much to offer as some other cities in the US. We're looking for a city that has a better job market, reasonable rent and a suitable atmosphere for a couple in their mid to late twenties. Austin seems to have a lot of what we're looking for, but we only know just a little bit so I was wondering if anyone could inform us as to whether or not this is the place for us. Here's some general info about us:

-We're both young (24/29yrs old)
-We love music, art, film, etc. and we love going to shows.
-My wife has a degree in interior design
-I graduate this December with two degrees in the Humanities, and I'm a US Navy veteran.
-We want children, but not right away, so we're not terribly concerned about schools/parks at the moment.
-We have 2 cars.

Some questions we have:
What are the safer areas in Austin? Dangerous ones?
What areas are suitable for young professionals?

I hope I've been descriptive enough! Thanks in advance for any useful information.

[Jennibc]

What kind of jobs are you hoping for? That humanities degree, unfortunately will do nothing for you here in terms of opening any doors. Lots and lots of UT grads vying for entry level positions.

What do you consider reasonable rent? Rent here is relatively high because it's growing rapidly (more demand, less supply). The economy here is thriving, but that is because certain sectors of it are strong. You (or your wife) are not going to be able to show up and walk into an entry level interior design job though.

I don't mean for this post to sound so negative, but a lot of people come here because they read Austin has a strong economy etc. and then are really disappointed when they don't find jobs.

[ERSRHD]

I don't mind the negativity. I didn't expect the answers to be positive necessarily. I was looking for rent under $1,000 if possible, though from your response it doesn't sound like that will be possible. I did some browsing on Craigslist to see what housing was going for, and at a glance it didn't seem too bad, but I don't know much about the location of some of those places.

For the record, I didn't expect jobs to just fall into our laps, and we're both pretty flexible and willing to accept jobs outside of what we went to school for.

In any case, thanks for the information.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by ERSRHD

I was looking for rent under $1,000 if possible, though from your response it doesn't sound like that will be possible.

It's possible, but what are you looking for? The more specific you are, the better that people here can advise you.

Also, invest some time in reading through previous threads here. There's a wealth of information already posted that will give you a much better feel for the city.

Good luck!

[Jennibc]

If you are willing to do a one bedroom and aren't expecting to live right downtown, then you can get something for under $1000.

As far as safe vs. dangerous, we have lower income neighborhoods here where the crime rates are higher, but we don't really have dangerous neighborhoods the way some larger cities like L.A., have dangerous neighborhoods. There is no place in town I wouldn't feel safe walking in during the middle of the day.

If you like music, it will mostly depend on the kind of music you like, but there is no shortage of places to go watch live music. Now, most of these shows are going to be bands you haven't heard of (yet, in some cases!). We have the Alamo Drafthouse and the Violet Crown theater here so if you like specialty box office films, we get 'em here. As far as art goes, we have galleries but some people come on this board and bemoan the quality of the museums and galleries here.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by ERSRHD

I don't mind the negativity. I didn't expect the answers to be positive necessarily. I was looking for rent under $1,000 if possible, though from your response it doesn't sound like that will be possible. I did some browsing on Craigslist to see what housing was going for, and at a glance it didn't seem too bad, but I don't know much about the location of some of those places.

For the record, I didn't expect jobs to just fall into our laps, and we're both pretty flexible and willing to accept jobs outside of what we went to school for.

In any case, thanks for the information.

The median gross rent in Austin (2009) wasw $889. //www.city-data.com/city/Austin-Texas.html

Rents have gone up but I'm sure you can find something suitable.

There are numerous links here that will help you see what is available: //www.city-data.com/forum/membe...#vmessage83198