Your "I moved to Austin because..." stories

[cBach]

First time I visited Austin was in mid 1990's with a friend in college that was scoping out grad school. To be honest, I was not impressed.

Visited with my (ex) first wife circa 2001 and she fell in love with Austin, I still was not convinced but was looking to move closer to family who resided in Dallas and Louisiana at that time, so it was a good "middle ground".

My work allowed me to move, since I can work from anywhere. After moving here, I quickly adapted to living here and it was natural. I loved the laid back vibe, the ability to wear shorts, t-shirt, and sandals everywhere, and the live music.

Seen a lot of change, downtown used to be quite sleepy, now there are skyscrapers everywhere. 620 was out in the boonies, now there are lots of shops, but the biggest change is people are now dressing up a bit more and driving flashier cars, there seems to be a different vibe. However, crime is still low and my son is entrenched in the local school system, so I'm not going anywhere soon.

[aamor1987]

Originally Posted by Country-n-Sunshine

Hello everyone,

In case you missed my other thread, I just vacationed in Austin for the first time and really fell in love with the area. The visit was purely for vacation (a friend of mine has a son who went to college there and decided to stay) but I went with a thought in the back of my mind to look at it as a potential future place to live.

I would love to hear from others in what brought you to Austin, what hurdles you had to overcome (if any), any regrets, how much you've come to love the area, etc..

I'm struggling in a big way even considering moving. I have lived all my life in the state I currently live but realize there is so much more to experience. I have gone back and forth for years wanting to move elsewhere and every time I come close, I chicken out. So many people just up and move I don't know why I'm making such a big deal about it but I admit, it scares the heck out of me.

Without any big ties to the area, I have no excuse not to move. The one major thing that's holding me back is my job. I have a great job that I absolutely love and look forward to. I make decent money and am fortunate enough to work with and for some wonderful people. That's rare to find all those ingredients so - would I be foolish to consider leaving a job that's (at least right now) a near perfect fit?

The only other thing that I love about living here is being so close to the ocean. That I would truly miss. Yet...the "other half" of me feels like I should've been born in the Midwest somewhere and think I could make an easy transition to living in Texas.

Anyway, I welcome any insight, comments, experiences anyone would be willing to share.

Thanks!

I moved to Austin 7 years ago from Los Angeles, CA. I moved because of the insane cost of living in L.A. and at the time, I didn't have college degree or experience to get a decent job in L.A. My grandpa had recently moved to Austin, so this is where I wound up. 7 years later... The cost of living here has gone WAAYYY up! And now I'm done with school and have experience in my chosen career but the jobs here don't pay enough to match the current cost of living. And I miss California, I'm currently planning my move back... I'm soooooo over Austin. I honestly don't understand what people like so much about this city. The weather sucks, traffic is bad, people are flaky, earnings potential sucks, cost of living is high and getting higher, I can go on and on.

[rocknrollinhoneybadger]

I moved to Austin because anything outside of the border of the great state of Texas is entirely overrated.

[Julio July]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

Also, understand that Austin's population skews very young and the job market reflects that. Unless you're in a high demand/low supply field, age will be a factor in the job search process, although no one will tell you that. Over 100 people are moving here every day and are willing make things like salary accommodations to do so. Add that to a younger than usual workforce and competition from tons of newly minted college grads, it creates an environment where salaries are repressed while rents remain high. Austin is no longer an easy town to relocate to --- especially without an existing support network.

You are SO right!!! But oddly, nobody ever mentions that in any of the 15 different "Moving to Austin. Advice?" threads that pop up on this forum every day...