I told you so! Advice not taken? (Austin, Canyon: rental, home)

[usernamenottaken]

Relating to Moving to Austin posts, for some of you who have been on this forum for a long time, I wonder if you are curious about the outcomes of people's decisions.

And for those asking questions, did you take the advice given? Or did you just read what you wanted to hear? Or did you ignore advice and do what you wanted to do anyway? What was the outcome and do you now see the advice was accurate or not?

The reason I am curious is that I did a combination of the above. My timeline was short, we were moving whether I liked it or not and I only had a few days in town to figure out how we were going to uproot our lives and transplant. For me, this forum was invaluable. I tried hard to find a place to live with the commute in mind, so that was one good decision. I learned a lot, but I also was told things I chose to ignore. Maybe given more decision time I would have made different choices and taken more of the advice. I don't regret the move, just some of the details. One thing I do remember was feeling the attitude that "we're full here, so don't move" from some replies, so maybe that's why I took some advice lightly.

I know it can be frustrating seeming to answer the same questions over and over, but the reality is everyone believes their situation is unique, and it probably is in some ways. That's why posters should take time to research boards before posting and then ask specifics that you have not found after searching. And give as many details about your unique situation so you can get accurate advice.

Hopefully more people who have asked questions and moved will come back here and share their advice since they have been there, done that.

[Austin97]

I am curious, could you post your actual outcome?

[usernamenottaken]

I ended up in the area I initially thought looked good "on paper" weighing commute, feel of the area, school options, and rental prices. I chose the school I thought would be best, based on my limited criteria. But in hind sight, I should have looked at more school options which would have expanded my housing options. Overall I like this area (Grandview Hills/Canyon Creek) and it fits our budget and lifestyle - with the exception of having to drive on 620, hate that! I'd prefer to live closer to Austin, but it's not feasible given commutes, housing costs and school options. The advice on this forum helped, but coming out, driving around and seeing things for myself was far more valuable.

[zakas80]

'I do remember was feeling the attitude that "we're full here, so don't move" from some replies'

This has got significantly worse over the last year or so, that it's pretty sad. The "keep Austin to ourselves" crowd has certainly grown on CD and why I don't come on too much anymore. Used to be more helpful, insightful, and friendly posters on the Austin forum but now its mostly DB's.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by zakas80

'I do remember was feeling the attitude that "we're full here, so don't move" from some replies'

This has got significantly worse over the last year or so, that it's pretty sad. The "keep Austin to ourselves" crowd has certainly grown on CD and why I don't come on too much anymore. Used to be more helpful, insightful, and friendly posters on the Austin forum but now its mostly DB's.

But I think they're just being honest...

[10scoachrick]

Some of that could be read: "Stay away...I don't have a job and don't want the competition" or "Stay away...you're just driving up the cost of housing...just wait until I get my place, then you can come"

Naturally, it will get a little worse as more and more folks move here and the ones who were feeling 'crowded' before will feel more and more that way.

[RoadWarrior12]

I think a big piece of it is just fatigue.

"I've never been to Texas, but all the articles say Austin is great, so I'm moving there next summer - where can I find a 3br/2ba home to purchase sight unseen for less than 250 - oh, and I need to track to the BEST schools.

This article I read using 2008 statistics said it's totally possible."

Those days are gone - but the media and perception won't let it die.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by usernamenottaken

Relating to Moving to Austin posts, for some of you who have been on this forum for a long time, I wonder if you are curious about the outcomes of people's decisions.

And for those asking questions, did you take the advice given? Or did you just read what you wanted to hear? Or did you ignore advice and do what you wanted to do anyway? What was the outcome and do you now see the advice was accurate or not?

The reason I am curious is that I did a combination of the above. My timeline was short, we were moving whether I liked it or not and I only had a few days in town to figure out how we were going to uproot our lives and transplant. For me, this forum was invaluable. I tried hard to find a place to live with the commute in mind, so that was one good decision. I learned a lot, but I also was told things I chose to ignore. Maybe given more decision time I would have made different choices and taken more of the advice. I don't regret the move, just some of the details. One thing I do remember was feeling the attitude that "we're full here, so don't move" from some replies, so maybe that's why I took some advice lightly.

I know it can be frustrating seeming to answer the same questions over and over, but the reality is everyone believes their situation is unique, and it probably is in some ways. That's why posters should take time to research boards before posting and then ask specifics that you have not found after searching. And give as many details about your unique situation so you can get accurate advice.

Hopefully more people who have asked questions and moved will come back here and share their advice since they have been there, done that.

Funny, I was just thinking about this very thing this morning. When you take the time and effort to answer peoples' questions and offer advice on specific questions, it would be satisfying to know the outcome. I always like to read the posts from people who report back on their situation and whether or not they were successful in getting what they wanted. It's also good to hear the negatives too - I think that helps others in making their decisions.

And yes, I'd love to hear back from more people!

[10scoachrick]

I've had the pleasure of meeting one such poster after she and her family located here. We chatted about some of the advice and some of her experiences after settling in. It was kinda neat following up.

For us, after a few weeks on the boards asking questions more specific to our situation(no kids, no commute, etc), we made the move to an area that turned out to be perfect for us. As is the case with lots of newcomers, many of the responses to our questions took the 'closer to town is better' approach. Nothing wrong with that; but in our case...norther was better...away from congestion was better...easy access to open highways was better. Mind you, this was in early '08, before the deep downturn and subsequent spike in new arrivals...we had it easy! The only giant 'what if' in our case would have been"...'what if' we had moved within walking distance of a tennis club?" Who knows? I might not have stayed as retired(and I'd likely be THAT much closer to the recommended knee replacement(s) than I am now).

[COCUE]

For me, CD was invaluable to me. I got really great info here that i then used as inputs into the decision making process for my family and our own unique situation. I look at any suggestions/advice that one receives from folks who are arguably strangers as just data input into my decision making process because to be fair they don't know me neither do they have all the relevant information ( they only have what i choose to share on a public forum).

Given how useful CD was for me, I thought it was appropriate to share the outcome so far which I did.

I agree that here on CD, there seems to be a lot of " we are full, don't come".. As well, as " if you come here, you don't have any right to look back positively on where you left and wish for some of the things you left behind including food" and " the please leave whatever your politics, culture, food etc behind and become whatever the definition of what a proper Austinite should be otherwise, you don't deserve to be here". Of course there's the I'd you don't live downtown or in the city then there must be something wrong with you and there is no way you could choose otherwise and still be normal... not actually allowing that there really are people like me who have lived pretty much all their lives in big cities and may just want something else for whatever reason..


However the majority of the feelings i've noticed here seems to be people who are really proud of their city, and GENUINELY go out of their way to help in anyway they can by answering any and all questions and quite often offering to help in real life. That's been invaluable to me