Anybody move from Dallas to Austin? (Houston, Greenville: neighborhoods, college, living in)

[usamathman]

Just wondering if anybody has experiences living in both cities.


I lived in Dallas for about 7 months. Beautiful city, but much too spread out and sleepy for my tastes.


Felt like the only places with anything going on after 9 were uptown and deep ellum.


I really did not enjoy my last 6 months living there as a single guy.


I love being out at night.


Don't think I can take another place that seems to die down at 9 pm.


How does Austin compare as far as bustle, busyness and overall entertainment options for singles are concerned?

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by usamathman

How does Austin compare as far as bustle, busyness and overall entertainment options for singles are concerned?

Where are you from? It would help to know what is your basis for comparison. Are you from the NE? Texas and most of the south does not do bustle and busyness. Look at Chicago or NYC.

[Austin97]

maybe visit austin for a week. Austin does pretty well in a few areas to midnight every day, 2am on weekends.

Cost of living is much higher though.

Austin is much more compact than dallas but also does not have big city amenities.

[Glenn Ross]

Good news! I moved from Dallas to Austin. Bad news! It was back in the 1980's. I was single at the time. To me, Dallas was all office buildings and concrete. Austin, is more Zilker Park and local businesses. When I moved here, I knew one person, my college roommate. I was single; he was married. Within three days I had found a local organization to join made up of people like me. I joined to meet women and it worked. I met her and we recently celebrated our 25th anniversary.

You should like it here IF you get involved and be proactive in finding people that share your interests and passions. Social media is great for that, I had to do it the old-fashioned way.

Go for it!

[riaelise]

I believe you are from the NE (NYC?) since I remember your user name from the NYC forum. If you're thinking about a Manhattan equivalent, then Austin really isn't it. sorry. 2 am is probably the latest it's gonna be and it's mostly bars.

Not a knock on Austin, but I'm from New York City and regularly partied in Manhattan so I just have to be honest. I'm surprised that a large city like Dallas with such a largish downtown area will shut down at 9 pm.

I freely admit moving here as a married person.

Dallas COL isn't too far off from Austin's, though the pay is higher. go figure.

Maybe Houston might be a fit as I know a few ex-Tri Staters that have relocated there and it has NYC's diversity. It's truly an international city.

[usamathman]

Great comments everyone.


Moved to Dallas thinking that it would have a similar feel to NYC and Chicago.


But as you all mentioned. That was a mistake.


May just have to schedule a visit.


Going to look into Houston as well.

Really appreciate it.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by usamathman

Moved to Dallas thinking that it would have a similar feel to NYC and Chicago.

Going to look into Houston as well.

I'm actually shocked that you thought Dallas, the 9th largest city in the U.S., would have the hustle & bustle of the largest (NYC) and the 3rd largest (Chicago) city in the country . I'm also shocked you would think Dallas, built mostly around cars, would have the same pedestrian culture and density of NYC and Chicago. It's actually a great thing that you plan on visiting Austin and Houston before planning to move there. I'll let you in on a secret though -- both of those cities are low density, suburban sprawl cities like Dallas. . Here's another secret -- Houston's Downtown is just as lively and dead as Downtown Dallas. Even worse in Houston's case, is that it has no walkable neighborhoods like Uptown, Deep Ellum, Oak Lawn, Bishop Arts, or Lower Greenville. The nightlife is even more spread out than Dallas's. On the flip side, it is a more diverse and international city than Dallas. I would say the singles scene in all 3 cities would be similar.

Downtown Austin basically combines parts of Uptown, Deep Ellum, and Oak Lawn into a more compact area. This could definitely be a plus for you. However, Downtown Austin doesn't have that towering feel like you would get in Downtown Dallas and Houston (e.g. Dense, tall skyscrapers, narrow streets, etc.). Outside of Downtown Austin, it becomes suburban real quick and not very walkable. It is also a smaller city population wise in both city proper and metro than Houston and Dallas. Depending on how old you are, Austin is more geared towards the college and up to mid 20s crowd. If you're single and in your early 30s, Houston (and Dallas) would probably be better.

Sadly, there's nothing in Texas that can compare to the hustle and bustle of NYC or Chicago. Also, bars close at 2 AM in all TX cities.

[Trainwreck20]

Sadly, there's nothing in Texas that can compare to the hustle and bustle of NYC or Chicago. Also, bars close at 2 AM in all TX cities.

Some stop serving alcohol and stay open until 4 am ('dance clubs', mostly).

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Some stop serving alcohol and stay open until 4 am ('dance clubs', mostly).

This is true and all 3 cities have their "after hours" spots. But the comparison is Texas to Chicago & NYC. We just have no answer to the vibrancy of those cities.

[10scoachrick]

Vibrancy only occurs at four in the morning? Yawn.

Miami, anyone?