Why do people want to work and live in Austin if it is already overcrowded, expensive to live there ? (living, land)

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by scm53

Maybe if you and the high priest of the First Church of Urbanism would allow some of us to live as we prefer - the same way we are willing to let you live as you prefer - then people might stop pushing back.

Ring roads are often disasters for suburbanites too!

I'm not a particular advocate of urbanism other than in my personal choices. I do think the Paris example is instructive in that it points to the danger of a center-periphery dynamic. It seems that Austin is devolving into an area where folks in Lakeway/Bee Caves never come downtown and central folks never go out there -- it will make any regional transportation solution -- even your ringroad, more difficult to implement. I can't imagine driving on 620 every day, I was only out there for the first time in about 15 years two months ago, and I wouldn't be happy about having to pay for a solution.

[creepy]

I feel like an idiot because I ignored your main question. they move here because it is either cheaper than where they come from or they perceive it to be, incorrectly.
Look at this chart from NY.
Meet the "Typical" Roommates of New York City « Roommates by Apartment List Roommates by Apartment List
LA...
Roommates-by-LA-Neighborhood Guide is Hilariously Wrong - Bad Infographic Thing - Curbed LA

The rents there are $1200.00+

[dbsteel]

It's cheaper, it offers a fresh start, its warmer, it sounds good in the magazines. They'll worry about the other crap when they get there as they hear more good than bad.

It seems no different to me than any other "hot warm cities" in the last 30 years. Pheonix, Tuscon, Vegas, Orlando..... take your pick. I remember everyone flocking to Arizona at one point years ago. Now they are flocking to Texas.

[Eastcoasting]

I really thought this question was rhetorical.

In no particular order for most all moving here all one needs is a few of these boxes to be ticked.

Compared to where many are coming from:

-Cheaper housing
-Better public schools
-Safer
-Better employment numbers
-Perceived Hip factor
-Warmer
-Cleaner
-Clean slate factor
-No state income tax
-Cowboy hats
-BBQ
-Live music
-Optimism (aside from CD)

[Trainwreck20]

Man, I am ready for school to be out so we get that summer traffic pattern started......

[lighthouse2000]

Austin IS NOT overcrowded, the transportation system is the one that is overcrowded, The city is fine, great schools and services in general, a lot of greenbelts, now what it needs is an aggressive transportation and new roads growth...

[A-Tex]

Originally Posted by lighthouse2000

Austin IS NOT overcrowded, the transportation system is the one that is overcrowded, The city is fine, great schools and services in general, a lot of greenbelts, now what it needs is an aggressive transportation and new roads growth...

Says the person who still doesn't live here.

[hillcountryheart]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

OMG! Paris' ring road is an utter disaster! It has basically destroyed the city and turned it into a fortress! It completely reinforces K's point! Talk about suburban sprawl and congestion and social exclusion!

To really make it work, you need a series of rings - as in Amsterdam and London. The canals do the job too. And of course in A'dam there are bike paths everywhere. But both cities either outright ban traffic from many central areas, or limit the hours; and A'dam also has street cars and canal boats in the core. On the other hand, when a country is full, IT IS full; there are 100 mile long traffic jams as those who either choose or can't afford to live in the main cities of employment go to work. People live on houseboats, some legal some not; and squatters are allowed to occupy buildings to escape the elements. There really is such a thing as *full*.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by Eastcoasting

-Cowboy hats

I saw more cowboy hats living in California than Austin, but I did live near a Marine base. I normally go weeks or months in Austin before I see someone wearing a cowboy hat.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

Says the person who still doesn't live here.

by what metric do you think Austin is crowded.

It simply is not crowded by any reasonable metric - it's one of the lowest density cities of its size in the entire planet.