Born and Raised in LA, thinking of moving to Austin.... (Houston: best city, transplants)

[bornandraisedinla]

Pros and Cons.

And I've heard you may not want us "Californians" there.
But I still want to live there. I'm really nice. I promise.

Lived in LA my whole life.
Grew up and lived all over LA: Hollywood/Koreatown/Silverlake/Downtown. (not the valley)
Never lived anywhere else.
Need something new.
Consider myself the artsy / indie / alternative / quirky type.
Both my husband and I want to move.

He's originally from Houston and went to Austin for school at UT. So he's lived there before...

I love LA. It will always be a part of me, but LA takes itself to seriously and I'm over it.

Any personal experiences to share?

Thank you all guys!

Oh and we're an interracial couple....if that is at all necessary to know.

[A-Tex]

Austin is no longer like the town your husband remembers from his UT days. And it is most definitely not the promised land being portrayed by the media. It's not smart to move anywhere simply because you have a vague goal of something "new."

You need to come here and visit for a significant period of time, particularly during the harshest weather months to not only familiarize yourself with the city as it is today but determine whether you can hack the climate change. And do not even think about moving here without a job offer in hand. Nearly 200 people are moving to Austin every day and all of them are looking for jobs too.

[migol84]

I think what makes Austin cool for a lot of people who decide to move here is that its still relatively cheap and its still a pretty cool town to live in despite its "radical changes". It certainly may not be what it was back in the 90s, 80s, 70s or even 60s but Austin is always going to have a brand of people for every decade saying the same thing year after year after year that Austin is "not what it used to be". So that's that... but for the most part, its a pretty welcoming town.

I just moved back from SF... I moved back for similar reasons as yours. And even though Austin may be "overrated" by the media in many respects, I really don't think that the people here in Austin consider it the "best city"... I think everybody here has their polarizing opinions about its changes, which some views can be contradictory since they all want "progress". There's no public transportation like in LA, the weather can be harsh, I hear its getting harder to find a place to live... anyways, I personally would like for this city to get its ball rolling on public transportation. That's about the only thing that I feel this city needs to truly work on. If the prices are gonna climb, if housing is going to become scarce due to the influx of transplants I can deal with it, so long as there is a real plan for an urban rail at some point in the near future.

OH yeah and gamedays pretty much suck even more... you almost can't drive anywhere.

[Idlewile]

Be sure to search the MANY threads discussing comparisons of LA and Austin and CA in general. There are a lot offering some wise assessments.

I am from LA and the Bay Area, grew up in both places and spent much of my adulthood in SF... my biggest takeaway after living here in Austin for 2 years: If you truly love, appreciate and prioritize first the things that only CA offers (not all do which is okay too) - top notch cultural opportunities, cosmopolitan vibe and artsy feel, sheer beauty, the ocean, the mountains, access to snow and temperate mld weather, access to endless day trips and weekends trips, Austin and TX will not measure up. I will also say that the media and many TX natives, like to say how "weird" Austin is... quirky and liberal, etc. Well, my benchmark is CA and also 13 years in Colorado and Austin is not nearly as quirky and weird as it's made out to be but your assessment of this is purely dependent on what your prior experience is and what you are used to.

I am not saying that there are not many, many Californians who have moved here and have not been happy, there are. But those that do prioritize these requirements (above) at the top of their lists do not stay here long (we know of 4 families and 2 couples who've come and gone in the last two years). If you are willing to give up these unique things in exchange for a less expensive cost of living and then Austin (and Texas) may be the place for you.

[bornandraisedinla]

I little more detail in our situation.
I would like a more relaxed place to be in.
LA is too fast. Everyone is racing. Care too much about superficial things, self image, a lot of people are snotty (when in fact, from my personal experience, MOST of the people that give LA a bad rep aren't even born and raised here, usually out of towners who think theyre supposed to be a certain way because they live here). Not saying that that's EVERY out of towner, no.

But I'm over LA in that sense.
It takes itself too seriously.
I've visited New Orleans and I love the southern hospitality. Won me over.
But if we move, husband and I want to move somewhere in Texas (because his whole family is in Houston), but not H Town just yet.

We've heard Austin has a big music and arts scene.

Might I add... I'm in my 20s and my husband is his 30s.

Note, I recently watched Slackers.......filmed in Austin -- is that really how slow paced it is?
Are people really "did you hear this" or "have you heard that" down there?
(probably a very dumb question to ask, so I apologize...but I really don't know Austin personally. Haven't met it yet!)

We don't have any children, but definitely want to have them!
Would Austin be a good place to raise kids, if and when they happen?

We're a young married couple so we want to experience a new style of living together.
How's it looking guys?

And this is probably a silly question also....but do Austinites really dislike us Californians? Will it be difficult to meet people/make friends there? Is there a huge misconception of how Californians are supposed to be? My husband is from Houston -- and I love my Texan man like nothing else in this world! Haha.

I want kinder people. Outdoorsy activities. Artsy vibe, galleries, or can catch a drawing group regularly if I want, for instance. Yoga. People that don't take themselves too seriously but are still genuine and hard working, a good energy and welcoming environment...

THANK YOU very much everyone that has answered so far. You guys are awesome.

[AustinGuy]

Originally Posted by bornandraisedinla

Note, I recently watched Slackers.......filmed in Austin -- is that really how slow paced it is?
Are people really "did you hear this" or "have you heard that" down there?
(probably a very dumb question to ask, so I apologize...but I really don't know Austin personally. Haven't met it yet!)

I think you should really schedule a trip and visit. The Austin of Slacker is long gone.

[bornandraisedinla]

Well, I clearly have not visited. Lol. But can you pretty please indulge me anyway?

[migol84]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

I think you should really schedule a trip and visit. The Austin of Slacker is long gone.

It's not entirely true. Austin still has for the most part a slacker attitude. Maybe not as much as in the movie but its still caters to that slacker mentality. And also... Austin is still a kind of city where you meet many mutual friends. This person will know that person who knows that person who happens to be your neighbor, etc. I just recently got back from a DT spot where I was offered a gig without me even asking for the job... then we started talking about friends who are still here from since I'd first gone. Before that I went to Thunderbird Cafe.... the vibe there was so mellow. I've never went to any place in California not necessarily anything near to the laidback vibe you will get from say a place like Spiderhouse, Bouldin Creek Cafe, Thunderbird, etc... I think these are very much attributes to this "slacker" mentality. Also, the fact that I'd first left Austin originally was for this very reason... I was just slacking too much and I felt I needed to get certain issues of mine straight and I felt moving to a place like San Francisco would help me. It did a bit... but only in a way that I realized that if I moved back here to Austin I'd have plenty more opportunities to work on my gigs as a filmmaker, which as it turns out to be similar to the movie Slacker. All these lazy boneheads talking all this gibberish without ever doing something with their lives. Linklater realized he needed to do something with his life... so he made a movie about it.

[migol84]

Originally Posted by bornandraisedinla

Well, I clearly have not visited. Lol. But can you pretty please indulge me anyway?

You're not going to find any part of Austin anywhere as bustling, urban or fast paced as LA. Visit the neighborhood Hyde Park... walk around the Lady Bird Lake... try to get yourself feeling like a local. Austin can be a very sleepy town. Its why I think it paradoxically bores a lot of people who decide to move. People want to move here because they simply "hear its a great place to live" which it is, but it might not fit your standards to what you deem to be a "city" in its true sense. Austin is growing but its outgrowing itself and yet at the same time, Downtown can be pretty dead on a Sunday night as it was right now before I came home. I think its because there is still a lot of unused space in the city. Still lots of unused land everywhere. Its still not densely populated unless you get closer to DT. Austin has as much sq. ft of land as NYC to put into perspective. What is cool about Austin and why I personally enjoy it so much is that even though you'll be driving around North Loop and Guadalupe and you're like, man its dead, you'll suddenly run into a coffee shop like Epoch that is open 24hrs and you'll run into some really cool people who are like-minded. This is very much the same Spirit as in Slacker.... which btw, the coffee shop shot in Slacker is still there. My friend works there. It's in the Hyde Park neighborhood and its called Quacks. I think it may have been called something a bit different but Quacks was in that same location as the one in the movie.

Also, daytimes are only bustling with traffic and some nights too on weekends or when there are big events, and people still don't walk as much as they do in SF. But you're from LA so you might be used to all of that.

[sxrckr]

As others said, check the threads on LA vs Austin.

Austin is definitely different than a decade or two ago. Some ways better, some worse. I hand a feeling many of the things your husband may have liked during college will mostly be gone.

What you mention of liking New Orleans and your husband's family in Houston... I think you'd like The Heights there. Montrose may be worth looking at too. Houston will also be much different than your husband experienced (vastly improved.)

You're just going to have to visit Texas to see what you think. If your husband's family wasn't here, I'd probably suggest Pacific NW or elsewhere as an alternative because we have a ridiculous number of people moving here and not all of them like it.