Where do Austinites fed up with Austin move? (Fort Worth, New Braunfels: renting, condos)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Eastcoasting

I would guess that they move further afield...but still in the area.

Where are you going to go with warm weather, no state income tax, low humidity, low crime, jobs and great smoked meat?

When you retire no state income tax is not that big of a relief, but high property tax is a big burden. There's no way that I would stay for retirement in Texas. It's probably back to Louisiana for me, or maybe retire to a beach somewhere, maybe the panhandle of Florida. By the way the smoked sausage in Louisiana is worlds above the smoked sausage here, although the brisket in Austin is far better than probably anyplace on the planet.

If I'm looking for a low humidity retirement state, New Mexico may be it.

[Tams here]

Originally Posted by mark311

Back to their original hometowns? At least that's what most of the people that I know have done. I know 3 families that figured out how difficult it is to raise a family nowadays without any help from their extended families so they all went back home. It wasn't really for the other reasons listed by the Op.

Good point and one I am considering as well. I have been here, away from my whole family in the NE, for 30+years for various reasons. I do go up there several times a year to visit but always have missed that support over the years that an extended family can provide. I feel a need to connect more with my elderly parents and siblings. Time is right in my life to consider a move. There isn't a lot tying me down here either. Traffic, higher cost of living, etc. are all things secondary but enough to help push me away from here. I've actually, over the last year or so, gotten rid of so much of my material possessions. It's an ongoing process, that's for sure!

[ATX Wahine]

Originally Posted by Blowback

Fed up Austinites don't move. They just get on the Internet and complain about how it used to be.

This board really drives that truth home. In traffic. Caused by transplants, of course. Who don't follow the traffic laws. And want an In 'n' Out on every corner.

[Trainwreck20]

Well, I guess you are posting on the wrong forum, since the people that could answer have already left .

If I had to guess, though, I would agree with a couple of other points made above - either back from whence they came, or to somewhere closer to family. For me, both of those would be here, so wouldn't help me much...

On that same thought, I sit here and try to think of people that I know that have moved away:
- I know two families that went to Colorado (Denver area). One was a fairly young couple and they soon started a family there. The other was 'empty-nest'ers' that both took good jobs in the area. Both couples were Texas natives, and 3 of the 4 were multi-generation Texans (not sure on one). As far as I know, neither left due to traffic or taxes, though, rather specific job opportunities that happened to be in Denver. If they had been those same opportunities elsewhere, I think they probably would have gone.

- I know a couple with a young child that is thinking of moving to FL (Tampa) to be nearer family; however, they need to find a job there (there is a potential transfer within the company for the husband, not sure for the wife). They are not hell-bent on moving, just thinking it would be an option and knowing where he works, I doubt it is to avoid traffic (he works about 4 miles from his house).

- A co-worker and his wife moved several (5? 6?) years ago from Bastrop to the Portland, OR, mainly due to being an outdoorsy (to the extreme) type couple with two young kids. I think they were fleeing the heat and allergies as much as anything, and also wanted the greater access to huge chunks of public land.

- When did the first of the LOTR movies come out? I had a co-worker that moved to NZ to work on those movies, and he is still there.

It is actually pretty dang hard to think of people that have moved away, I just don't know that many......

[PrimusPilus]

The tech job market is good all over the country now. A few of my friends who got multiple offers chose CA or Portland (location was the strongest pull for them). However, they moved out of Austin not due to traffic or housing issues but because they were laid off. Still that might give us an idea of Austinites' preferences when they choose to move out of Austin.

[ScoPro]

Well, we moved up to the Brushy Creek/Round Rock area 20 years ago. Worked pretty good until 100,000 more Austinites did the same thing. lol

[HappyTexan]

I retired but I like Texas so I just moved to a lower COL area.
My RE taxes are back in the $2K range rather than the $7-8K range I had in Travis county.

Others that I know left did so because of allergies and they left Texas to move to other states.

[robertsacamano]

As a famous Austinite once said:

I'm not from here
I just live here
can't see that it matters much
I read the papers and I watch the nightly news
who's to say I'm out of touch

nobody's from here
most of us just live here
locals long since moved away
sold the played-out farms for parking lots
went off looking for a better way

onto some bright future somewhere
better times on down the road
wonder if they ever got there
wherever it was they thought they'd go

[robertsacamano]

Btw, that was a song they used to play on KGSR back when it was good.

[ctr88]

I was just in Austin checking it out for 3 days hadn't been back since 2006. I still love the live music joints, cool looking restaurants, and the old core of Austin very much. Just don't love the house prices and traffic.

Traffic & congestion is bad in Austin. But it won't get any better going to the Bay Area, Denver or Seattle, all have really bad traffic & quickly escalating house prices and rents (my home town Seattle traffic by the way is even worse than Austin based on my brief stay...but that's like saying what's worse the Flu or a Fever - both are terrible).

Even coming from the West Coast, house prices in the older Austin core are shockingly high. When you factor in the massive property taxes I think Austin is on par with Seattle and San Diego (not quite SF Bay) with housing costs (possibly even higher). And while I love Austin, to pay those housing costs without the beach or mountains, with no views, and with terrible traffic, is questionable. Giving up beach and mountains was once worth it to come to TX for the exchange of lower houses prices & less traffic. Not the case in Austin anymore. Also as been said many times on this forum, people who move to Austin and live out in the cookie cutter burbs to me are not really living in Austin. They are living in anywhere chainland suburbia American, but with no views (you just could be some suburb in Vegas, Phoenix, Orlando, Charlotte, Dallas, etc.. - it all looks the same with the same stores, freeways, houses, cars). So what's the point? If someone is going to go cookie cutter, might as well go for lower prices and property taxes.

I was reading a post from a while back with what is the "next Austin". Seemed like some moved to San Antonio (I was not a huge fan of SA, kind of bland and shabby, some OK older core neighborhoods...but has a looooong was to go to become Austin-like). I think Nashville would be interesting for fleeing Austinites, MUCH lower property taxes than TX, 4 seasons, lower houses prices, has a live music scene AND no state income tax. Maybe Asheville NC? Cheaper house prices, lower propertytaxes & less traffic there too + live music scene & artsy-ness. Any cool places in Louisiana? Lafayette? Memphis? Athens GA? Tallahassee? Of course you need a job in all these areas unless you can live anywhere. What about San Marcos and New Braunfels? Need a job there too I guess. Marfa is so in the middle of nowhere!