Why I Can't Wait to Leave Austin (Houston, San Antonio: HOA, how much)

[sal98]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

If you're planning on moving this fall, why are you applying to lease houses now?

ACK! Edit: this winter (end of January next year), when his contract is up. One of my part-time contract gigs ends this fall, and I mixed up the two.

[sal98]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

"Cultural Arts"? Good lord, that field has been absolutely flooded here for decades. It would be easier to get an English or history teaching job in AISD.

Austin is overrun with "artists" of all stripes.

Sorry it didn't work out for the OP, but more thorough research should be done before making a move without a job in hand.

Seems like everybody outside the state is still lured by the Seven Cities of Cibola myth.

Didn't mean to imply I am an "artist" - I actually have worked in the museum field for several years and there is not an artistic bone in my body, ha.

[lighthouse2000]

I have been in many states and cities, some of them, including austin are strong growing communities, all of them have one thing in common when looking for specific jobs, the list are huge! and just a few are selected, so, expect the same in many cities.. also rents are hard to come by, sadly, al of those are signs of progress.

[jj11801180]

You should have moved to Houston.
I am a liberal arts major, now I work in GIS for an oil company.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by jj11801180

You should have moved to Houston.
I am a liberal arts major, now I work in GIS for an oil company.

Lol. That sounds like Houston. I love the town because of that.

But why is that? I've met pysch major working in apartment complex management making 60k. I've known criminal justice majors working logistics making 50, and on and on. I know a guy who's been fired from several jobs and has now landed a cushy university gig making almost 40k. These are the ppl I know on the lower end of the job market.

I mean what gives in Houston? Do employers just really need to fill spots? In LA I couldn't job hunt like that until I find the right fit.

[jj11801180]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Lol. That sounds like Houston. I love the town because of that.

But why is that? I've met pysch major working in apartment complex management making 60k. I've known criminal justice majors working logistics making 50, and on and on. I know a guy who's been fired from several jobs and has now landed a cushy university gig making almost 40k. These are the ppl I know on the lower end of the job market.

I mean what gives in Houston? Do employers just really need to fill spots? In LA I couldn't job hunt like that until I find the right fit.

For me it was just lucky timing. My wife and I moved from Austin to Houston for jobs, I was working in state government and making crap money.

My new boss here at the oil company is a Landman also with a liberal arts background, maybe he felt sorry for me and gave me a shot. lol
In all seriousness, Houston gets a bad rap from Austinites, but Austin can't compete with the job diversity and increased salaries that Houston provides.

Do I want to live in Austin and enjoy the scenery, or do I want to live a cush life in Houston and make 40k more? We will move back to Austin when we can afford a 2nd house in the hills!

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by sal98

Didn't mean to imply I am an "artist" - I actually have worked in the museum field for several years and there is not an artistic bone in my body, ha.

Hope you weren't offended, but I have a BA in History myself, so know the score around Austin.

Texas Memorial Museum, one of the best in the state, is in danger because of threatened budget cuts. That possibility is a crime, IMO. But the Bullock Texas State Museum has been a breath of fresh air, however limited it may be. So much more could be done, but understandably the purse strings are tight - even those from the private sector.

The thing is, the "cultural arts" in Austin are all small time venues and there are so many qualified individuals available to fill the few employment prospects.

I was lucky, starting in AISD in 1969.

Best wishes in whatever endeavor you and yours choose.

[riaelise]

OP, I hear you. I relocated a decade ago and gave up my NYC job so that my husband could continue his career in Austin. What a difference ten years can make. I had to take temp jobs too that paid CRAP (I had stopped earning $9.00 hour at 19 years old) but they enabled me to get my foot into the local job market and market myself. I ended up getting jobs in my field, but it did surprise me that there wasn't a plethora of jobs in my field (compared to other, larger cities).

My husband ended up getting laid off shortly after I arrived, so picture that -- me making $9.00/hr. and him with no job at all! Back then though, Austin was very inexpensive...we had a nice 3/2 duplex in the Spicewood Springs area for $900/mo...so being temporarily jobless and underpaid wasn't so bad. Now? It's ridiculous. I think maybe a larger Texas city might be better for you (i.e. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio). The "cool factor" that Austin supposedly has isn't going to pay your rising bills. You need to move to a city where it is larger and has more opportunities. The salary differential bugs the hell out of me because I don't see how anything here can justify making less than other Texas cities, but thankfully my present company pays me well enough so that I don't really care. Good luck.

[ScoPro]

The salary differential is no mystery to long time Austinites - it is a result of the largest University in the nation churning out thousands of liberal arts majors who all seem to want to stay in Austin to continue their collegiate social life, but with a high paying job. Plus the thousands of techies and other college grads from Cali or the Rust Belt who move here after reading about the rosy "Austin is your Mecca/Utopia" baloney.

That's why a LARGE % of the wait staff at many restaurants have college degrees.... not to mention the 100,000 applications (winnowed down by 30,000 by my daughter in law) on file at the AISD HR office - to fill a small amount of turnover each school year.

Kind of like the oil bust in West Texas during the '80s when a Whataburger manager once quipped, "Don't apply here to flip burgers unless you have a Masters in Petroleum Engineering".

Austin has been at that point for 6 or 7 years.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by jj11801180

For me it was just lucky timing. My wife and I moved from Austin to Houston for jobs, I was working in state government and making crap money.

My new boss here at the oil company is a Landman also with a liberal arts background, maybe he felt sorry for me and gave me a shot. lol
In all seriousness, Houston gets a bad rap from Austinites, but Austin can't compete with the job diversity and increased salaries that Houston provides.

Do I want to live in Austin and enjoy the scenery, or do I want to live a cush life in Houston and make 40k more? We will move back to Austin when we can afford a 2nd house in the hills!

But i see that all the time in Houston. My best friends dad has a teaching degree but has a lot of accounting experience some how and is a top dog at Anadarko. He was going to recruit his son to go to work and he's a psych major. I mean I see this stuff all the time especially with the medium size businesses in the city.