Austin or Houston? (Dallas, Fort Worth, Round Rock: condo, townhouse, neighborhood)

[Maxxilla]

I would greatly appreciate input on our situation:

My husband and I are both looking for jobs; we are relocating from Fort Worth.

We love the idea of big cities, but the logistics always seem to get in the way. When we were living in downtown Dallas we had so much fun-- until we had to get in some form of transportation and leave the area. Oh, and the costs are unpleasant. For $1600 a month rent, I would like more than 1 room and a bathroom; I've always been a big fan of walls.

Fast forward: now we have a nine year-old and are living in the suburbs, trying to find a place with a bigger city mentality than Fort Worth.

I am an operating room nurse. He has experience as a manager in production/warehouse/distribution type stuff in the food industry, as well as being a meat expert.

I keep turning down jobs because I can't decide on location. We have a budget of about 250 - 300. Our priority is a good school. Our second priority is a commute under an hour. It can be house, townhouse, condo, whatever. We would probably need to be close to town (or Round Rock) because that's where the increased likelihood of jobs lies.

If you've gotten this far, I applaud and thank you!

[drshdw]

I'm from Houston and I much prefer Austin. Could probably find a house in Lake Travis ISD for $250-300k, has good schools, etc. There's a relatively new hospital out there, Lakeway Regional Medical Center, a big HEB, ok sized Whole Foods, etc. We looked at RR but anything in the good school zones were $300-350+.

[pmiranda]

"trying to find a place with a bigger city mentality than Fort Worth"
That sounds more like Houston than Austin to me, but then that can mean different things to different people.

Luckily you're used to long commutes already, so anything around Austin will seem like nothing if you can find a neighborhood on the same side of the river as work.

[sxrckr]

Check the search button -- there are several other threads on Austin v. Houston.

That being said, I'd think the job opportunities for a nurse (or most medical fields) and a warehouse/distribution/mfg guy would be superior in Houston.

[radiolibre99]

Health jobs? Houston. Big City feel? Houston.

Austin reminds me of a southern version of San Jose/San Diego. It's a place for wannabe techies, start ups, young people. It's beautiful though. Gorgeous hills, blue lakes, less humidity, and plenty of outdoor activities.

It's a toss up. Houston has way more opportunities and jobs. Austin has a better quality of life.

[Maxxilla]

Hmmm. We're not young by any stretch.

[radiolibre99]

Well what do you mean by big city? Austin is no small town but its not big like LA or Houston.

It offers a quality of life for people of any age but its mostly a young urban town. You're better off in the round rock area, north Austin.

[LiveUrban]

Houston is a much bigger city.. but most of it is urban sprawl.

Austin has a lively downtown and a growing number of places where you can live the urban lifestyle

[JamaicanSprinter]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Health jobs? Houston. Big City feel? Houston.

Austin reminds me of a southern version of San Jose/San Diego. It's a place for wannabe techies, start ups, young people. It's beautiful though. Gorgeous hills, blue lakes, less humidity, and plenty of outdoor activities.

It's a toss up. Houston has way more opportunities and jobs. Austin has a better quality of life.

Houston has more opportunities if you are specialized in something engineering,medical,oil etc. IT is not the land of endless jobs it is a buyers market now and because so many people are trying to move here because its "cheap" you have hundreds of people applying to even low level $10 per hour jobs. Wages are now dropping because companies know this and take advantage. People always say Houston has jobs yet 75% of people I know here are flat broke haha they could live like this in Austin. IF you can get a job in Austin that pays decent go there because the quality of life is better. Its not worth being in Houston if you are working for under 100k this city sucks lol. If you can make that or more here than live in Houston and just take trips to Austin.

[radiolibre99]

Try living in LA making 12 an hour. That pay would be heavenly in Houston by comparison.
Yes, the other side of the Texas gravy train they don't tell you about in Forbes is that all of the good paying jobs are specialized professional jobs or highly skilled labor. The rest are low wage service sector. Coupled with the abysmal level of social services houston sucks for working people. I can imagine Austin is the same.

People just don't read the fine print. The job boom and growth is for professionals and skilled laborers. Got an MBA from Stanford? Come to Houston and make 100k for O&G. Got ten years working construction? Come to Houston and be a forman for a good salary.

Other than that the wages are criminally low. You will live in a dump. You can get a house but it will most likely be in one of Houston's many many poor suburbs.

How is Austin by comparison, ya'll?