Questions for SoCal transplants (Houston, Austin: spring break, live, beach)

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by janineg

Do people swim in the lakes?

Sometimes we even use bathing suits.

[janineg]

You're not allowed to swim in a lot of the lakes in San Diego because they're actually reservoirs. So I didn't know if there were rules like that for Austin lakes.

[kiacook]

Oh yeah, people swim in the lakes. Lots of people have boats and spend every weekend out on the water in the summer. That could make it bearable.

[G Grasshopper]

I have lived in both southern and northern CA and now Austin. There is no place in the US that has the ideal weather that coastal CA has. However, So. CA can certainly get hot, considering that people don't air condition their houses. It depends on how sensitive you are to this. Personally, I would prefer CA weather, but I have been able to adjust fairly well to the heat here. With all the air conditioning, you get used to being inside during the heat of the day. I know that different people have different tolerances, but it also is a matter of how you think about it. If you make up your mind that the hot weather isn't something appropriate to complain about, it makes life easier. Leaving family may be a harder challenge, though. Of course, it depends on your relationships, but you can't replace them here. We moved to CA and basically had to raise our son without extended family (except for 2 visits per year.) I often wished that had been different.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by janineg

We live in San Diego and I'm very happy here. We have a house, family nearby, I loooooove the climate. But my husband hates his job working for one of the very few video game companies here and would like to find a job in an area like Austin that has many companies to choose from (and he has a friend at a particular company that he'd love to work for). He's very experienced, so I think it would be do-able.
But I'm worried about what it would be like to live in Austin's climate. This summer in San Diego was bad by my standards and it made me feel grumpy. Of course, we don't have air conditioning because you hardly ever need it, so maybe that made it worse. When the temps get into the 90's I'm miserable and don't even want to be outside. So looking at the average weather in Austin, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. How do people endure the summer? Even the surrounding months look pretty hot. Do people acclimate eventually? Do kids end up inside all summer?
As a side note, are there biting flies in Austin? We visit Ontario Canada sometimes and the biting flies can drive you crazy. Are the biting/stinging insects much worse than than California?
I've been trying to look at pictures of the Austin area and like how green it looks. Not as green as the east coast, but there look to be many more large trees than in CA. I've looked at home prices, and I'm guessing we'd be able to afford what we paid here, around $300,000. I think we'd get a nicer home and much better schools, so that's a big plus. It's mainly the weather I worry about....

absolutely do not move to austin, the weather will kill you.

[orngkat]

I have lived in Austin many years and the heat bothers me now more than ever. Basically stuck inside a great deal due to high temps and mosquitos is not a fun way to spend at the minimum four months a year.

[G Grasshopper]

It is true that mosquitoes are a problem in Texas but not in CA. When you get a nice evening to sit out during the summer, this is often made unpleasant by mosquitoes.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

It is true that mosquitoes are a problem in Texas but not in CA. When you get a nice evening to sit out during the summer, this is often made unpleasant by mosquitoes.

The ants bite here too. You just have to watch where you're walking when wearning flip-flops or sandals.

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

It is true that mosquitoes are a problem in Texas but not in CA. When you get a nice evening to sit out during the summer, this is often made unpleasant by mosquitoes.

Odd. I've never had an issue with mosquitoes at the house - only ever at the lake at dusk.

[chatapuggy]

Based on your post, coming from SoCal, especially San Dog which to me has always had one of the best annual climates short of Hawaii, there will be some obstacles to overcome.

We got here in the Summer, and while it can be hot and miserable at times, I have seen worse (FL, GA, LA, Houston, etc). Unless you are working outside, you will be fine, A/C is everywhere. It does kinda suck though that sometimes it doesn't cool down at night, that can be rough.

Also, in my opinion, SoCal has no huge bug issues at all, that will change here, and the hot weather brings all the good ones out! Snakes, Yellowjackets, Wasps, Scorpions, etc. That part I still do not like, it seems the pest control guys stay in business here as its the thing to do on a monthly basis. But of course, that all depends on where you live in Austin I am sure. We still do scorpion checks with a UV flashlight every night before we put our daughter to sleep! Oh yeah, and not being able to go barefoot around the house for me sucks, you always gotta have shoes on! Mosquitoes, hmmm, we didn't see them at all much, but of course we don't live anywhere near water?

Allergies do suck bad! I never seemed to get really bad allergies in Cali at all, sometimes with the dust in the IE, or in LA back in the 80s when the smog was so bad we would have the Red Flag days in school to stay inside. But we have been here 6 months now, and mine are horrible, wife never even had them, now her headaches stay around all the time. Worst thing that we are keeping an eye on which could even be a deciding factor for us to move or not in the near future is our 2 year old. She had mild ear infections before we left SoCal, once here, and in daycare again where kids get sick alot, she developed ear infections so bad that would not drain, we had to do the tube surgery. While that helped, she stays sick almost daily, now on flonase spray, and developing what seem like a constant bronchitis. Talking to other parents, its the norm and you deal with it. Wait til you see the ENT clinics they got here, more than I have ever seen, and they are packed with folks getting their weekly allergy shots! No joke.

Kids do adapt anyway I believe, but it seems rough here so far, we do live on a greenbelt which was a bad move on our part, but when the critters were out, we couldn't even use that huge beautiful backyard we have as we were scared to death of scorpions, and snakes especially. Now that its cooler a bit, the critters have since disappeared, but we take her out for a walk or whatever, and she has the teary eyes, scratchy, etc from the mold and cedar allergies it seems, so we cant win.

So all in all, is not bad, just takes some getting used to, but allergies and the critters were the worst part for us to get over and still are, the heat was overhyped in my opinion and was fine this summer. Not that is wasn't bad, but it is what it is. There were days I worked up in the SoCal high desert and the temp reached 117 for days with no wind, hot is hot man whether its dry or humid. But no doubt, it gets hot and miserable here. But we all know the weather is what even brings some folks to So Cal, but you gotta sacrifice something, I always believe you cant have it all...

Oh yeah, the house prices, better rethink that one. While yeah you can get a good house for 300k, the property taxes alone bring it right back up to the 550k you may already be used to. You do however get more house for your money without having to live so far like Cali. And the fact that there is no state income tax may offset things a bit which can help. But the traffic here is insane and while it seems you may only drive 15 miles let's say to work, it could take you 40min. Not alot of access roads here and no shoulders on highway for accidents make things bad. Cali to me always had the best highway system I have seen in the US. So be prepared for that and choose your desired area wisely. But yeah, for 300k, even 500k you get a shack in San Dog! Maybe 800sq ft!

Extended family, not a big deal, we had a huge one, wife was worried. Reality was and you probably know, everyone lives all over the place in SoCal and with traffic and other issues, we could never seem to manage seeing each other more than a few times a year anyway. Jetblue into Long Beach non-stop 2 1/2 hr flight will make that easier. I go back twice a month (take care of my elderly Grandfather), easy flight, smooth and on time, 2 great airports to get in and out of as well. That will help.

These are all just my opinions and do not mean to offend anyone, so please don't flame me!

Hope this helps you, hope to see you here!