Downtown living

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by riaelise

And my point was and still is..who cares? Why should I care? I wasn't responding to him anyway. I was answering another post. And I know about much of downtown, more than you think I do. But thanks for the attempt at snark with your heb and multiplex comment, because I wasn't comparing downtown austin to the suburbs, I was comparing it to my old neighborhood in manhattan. If I'm gonna do the downtown thing, I'd do it right. Btw, there are not plenty of movie theaters at all. Please list "plenty". As for grocery stores, there's a royal blue or two, a cvs that doubles up as a grocery store, and the whole paycheck. That's your plenty of grocery stores. Really..

Movie Theaters in or very close to downtown: 2 Alamo Drafthouses, 1 Violet Crown, 1 Paramount Theater, 1 Hideout Theater, I IMAX theater. The diversity of film offerings in or next to 78701 compares favorably to any other zip code in town.

Grocerie stores: 1 Flag Ship Whole Foods (one of the best groceries stores anywhere on in America), 3 Royal Blue, 1 Trader Joes under construction and open by end of year and 1 HEB planned for Plaza Saltillo and 1 kick ass Farmers Market. Considering the population a few years ago was mostly the incarcerated, that's pretty amazing. Again, in a few years it will compare favorably to any area in Austin in both breadth and depth of offerings.

[balor123]

I sympathize with OP. I hate suburbs but for families, that's really the only choice. Downtown is nice but some people also just like hive living, as another put it here. Rumor has it that there's a plan to build a mini high rise (20-30 stories) in Northwest Hills in a few years. That might be an option. But you'll have to compete with me for it!

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by riaelise

And my point was and still is..who cares? Why should I care? I wasn't responding to him anyway. I was answering another post. And I know about much of downtown, more than you think I do. But thanks for the attempt at snark with your heb and multiplex comment, because I wasn't comparing downtown austin to the suburbs, I was comparing it to my old neighborhood in manhattan. If I'm gonna do the downtown thing, I'd do it right. Btw, there are not plenty of movie theaters at all. Please list "plenty". As for grocery stores, there's a royal blue or two, a cvs that doubles up as a grocery store, and the whole paycheck. That's your plenty of grocery stores. Really..

You never mentioned Manhattan in any of your posts, but nice attempt at a save. If you want to bring that borough into consideration and compare it to Austin we will then have to start with price per square foot, or in other words not a fair comparison at all. A more fair comparison would be the downtowns of other US cities that are commensurate to Austin's overall size.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

You never mentioned Manhattan in any of your posts, but nice attempt at a save. If you want to bring that borough into consideration and compare it to Austin we will then have to start with price per square foot, or in other words not a fair comparison at all. A more fair comparison would be the downtowns of other US cities that are commensurate to Austin's overall size.

I'm not attempting to "save" anything. This convo is no sweat off my back. I come from New York and whether it's a fair comparison or not, it's my barometer for a downtown, not Cleveland. In addition, I can feel however i want to feel about downtown just like you and the other one can feel however you want about where I live. I was agreeing with another poster. If you don't care for what I said, then what can I say.

[hoffdano]

I just searched homes for sale in 78701 on realtor.com. Kinda interesting. Looked at perhaps 10 of 65 listings. The floor seems to be about $350K but there are just a few. And these are 1BR/1BA units. Somewhere between $350/sq. ft. to more than a staggering $750/sq. ft.

Just about anyone buying in 78701 will have significant income or accumulated assets. No young families unless they are wealthy.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Obviously people value it highly. They pay a huge premium to be their. Or to put it another way, to live in Pflugerville or some other sprawlburb requires a deep discount to get them there.

I would pay a huge premium to NOT live downtown. I love my suburbs, my freedom, my space, my views, my shops, my restaurants, my parks, my lakes, my golf courses, etc.

So I get a double bonus. I get to live in the suburbs AND get a lower cost of living. BTW, 98% of us CHOOSE to not live downtown.