why would a young person live in Austin? (Pflugerville, Portland: houses, school district)

[verybadgnome]

Well I think it all starts with employment and Austin has that. Looked at moving to Ft Lauderdale a few years back and virtually nothing in my field, whereas here there is plenty, both private sector and public.

Younger people who don't make a lot of money will increasingly be moving out to places like Easton Park which is projected to have 10,000 units at build out. There is still plenty of land in East Travis County ripe for development and with SH 130 and an upgraded US 183 it will be that much more attractive.

[ericsami]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

I came here at 23 but we didn't buy a house until our thirties. First place I rented was for $300 a month!

Moved here in 97. the 2 bedroom apartment we had in jollyville was 675 with water included.
the same apartment complex (old 1970s place) is asking 1350. there are now a bunch of other fees.

if you factor in food inflation as well as housing costs. and then take a look at wages in Austin Area
you realize that this trend can't keep going much longer.

That's basically 3.7 inflation rate through boom and bust.

[ericsami]

some people don't get it. I am not complaining about me.
I made it (I was lucky). but I am not sure 25ish folks
are gone be able to buy 300k home in Austin any time soon. maybe if they save up
for ten years and save up 50K they will have have a house near their 40s.

I just don't see Austin as a place with natural attractions. we are not Denver or Salt lake city with Rockies in our back yard. we are also not Sandiego with warm waters of pacific. therefore at some point there has to be an equilibrium between cost of living and earning opportunities.

for a long time this place (and some other places in Texas) have been attractive because of the comparative cheaper prices. and it is still much cheaper than many places.

one might say it is cheaper than places like San Jose. and that's true. but so are places like Nashville.

for quite while out of state movers have been the catalyst for our boom. you would have to think at some point with rising prices that is going to change.

I have always wondered if a city like Little Rock had the right policies in place they could steal a whole lot of traffic coming Austin's way.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Well I think it all starts with employment and Austin has that. Looked at moving to Ft Lauderdale a few years back and virtually nothing in my field, whereas here there is plenty, both private sector and public.

Younger people who don't make a lot of money will increasingly be moving out to places like Easton Park which is projected to have 10,000 units at build out. There is still plenty of land in East Travis County ripe for development and with SH 130 and an upgraded US 183 it will be that much more attractive.

Agreed, there is plenty of land close in out east. If the city council can get its head out of its butt then they will remove high density zoning restrictions and lots of new inventory will come online, hopefully on the east side.

If you want to know where to invest, draw a circle around downtown austin about 15 miles in diameter and that is where housing developments will go. Buy acreage as close in as you can afford.

As yogi berra said "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

[dbsteel]

It's Hipster Heaven so they hear, and they move in droves, and they aren't ready to buy a house and settle down.....


Or you grew up there.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by Kion

.....They'd move here for the scene. Much to the dismay of the geriatric guard around here, it's just as attractive to this generation's "creative" types as it was in the 70/80/90's. That creativity just looks different and therefore must be feared.

I think what the "geriatric guard" is referring to.... is a creative "scene" where creative young people move to because of a certain coolness & out there ness coupled with inexpensive living (so the creative youngsters can create & not have to work 12 hours a day to live in a faux cool place). Being able to live inexpensively (central/warehousy, whatever) is a component of the scene.

Think NY in the early/mid 70s, Austin mid-late 70s/early 80s, LA of the early to mid 60s, Seattle & Twin Cities from the late 80s, Athens GA early 90s (probably a handful of others). The geriatric guard observed, enjoyed (& might have participated in) all of those scenes.

Others have mentioned where the current or next "scene" might be, but Austin 2016 isn't it. Austin and it's current scene is about as fearsome as the bearded hipster romantic interest in a Lifetime chic flick movie. But it IS a good place to make a living & raise a family for the pre & current geriatric guard.

[Westerner92]

Home-ownership isn't high on the list for most of our generation. Home prices seem to be skyrocketing in any city that offers a halfway decent economy and quality of life. Many, even those that went to an in-state public institution, are saddled with debt from predatory tuition increases and student loans, which puts a major damper saving for a down payment, especially when you consider starting wages have been somewhat stagnant for the past 15 or so years. Combine that with the fact that most people now wait awhile to get married, and all of a sudden it becomes worth a couple hundred dollars in extra rent to live in a trendy, fun, active, outdoorsy, relatively creative, relatively pretty, winterless city full of a bunch of other single young people who enjoy life beyond material wealth. Despite all the moaning on this board, Austin still has one of the best combinations of cheap rent and creative edge in nation (New Orleans seems to be the next big creative hub if you care about that sort of thing). Young people absolutely notice the difference.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Well I think it all starts with employment and Austin has that. Looked at moving to Ft Lauderdale a few years back and virtually nothing in my field, whereas here there is plenty, both private sector and public.

Younger people who don't make a lot of money will increasingly be moving out to places like Easton Park which is projected to have 10,000 units at build out. There is still plenty of land in East Travis County ripe for development and with SH 130 and an upgraded US 183 it will be that much more attractive.

You do realize that a lot of our food comes from land out east (and similar in other places) that is being paved over, don't you? Just because land is flat doesn't make it useless for anything but plopping houses on.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

You do realize that a lot of our food comes from land out east (and similar in other places) that is being paved over, don't you? Just because land is flat doesn't make it useless for anything but plopping houses on.

I know what you are saying, but there is not a 'lot' of food coming from the east of Austin. The last report I found for Travis County (2012) showed that vast majority of agriculture use land is pastureland and animal feed grains and hay. Ironically, there is apparently a lot of sod produced out there, presumably for sodding the yards of all those new houses....

There is a somewhat significant melon crop, though, so I suppose I might have eaten some of those .

[10scoachrick]

PLENTY of land(and water, apparently) out east...invest in your great grandkids' future!!!

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...835&j=72492142