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Go look at what I posted. Try driving I-10 from 610 to 99 at rush hour. Or 290 from 610 to 99. You will want to blow your brains out. I am not saying Austin traffic isn't bad, but people overstate how bad it is compared to places like Houston or LA don't really seem to have much perspective.
I am very familiar with Houston and lived there for some time. Traffic there sucks too, but I think parts of Austin are worse. At least Houston is doing something about it. I-10 has 12 main lanes now. Conversely, Austin seems to just add a few bike lanes and wonder why people are complaining.
My in-laws live in Houston (actually right off of I-10), and every time they come here, they talk about how Austin's traffic is worse than Houston's.
At least Houston is doing something about it. I-10 has 12 main lanes now. Conversely, Austin seems to just add a few bike lanes and wonder why people are complaining.
Or
Toll 1
45
183A
Toll 290
130
(completed)
Mopac toll lanes
183 South (tripling the width in some cases)
(Under construction)
I35
Mopac South
45 SW
183 North
(planned/planning)
Yeah, "just a few bike lanes". It's not like Austin has spent $Billions$ on roads in just the last 10 years <sarcasm>
I was reading that the roads downtown were planned for a maximum city of 500K which we surpassed a long time ago.
So, prior to around 1990 the roads were relatively congestion free and it's been a struggle to keep up ever since.
That doesn't make any sense. The roads downtown were laid out in the 19th Century. And the total population of the city is meaningless, it's the traffic patterns and the percentage of jobs downtown.
I lived in Houston for 30 years. And I've lived here for 4 1/2 or so now. I live right on the border of N Austin and Pflugerville (actually unincorporated Travis County technically), and my office is in south Austin. Though I visit my office most days, and work out of it alot, I also have a job that has me travelling all over the city for a very high amount of time. All of that is to say that I can speak pretty confidently about the traffic in both cities.
Austin traffic is bad, the city has done a horrible job of planning to accommodate for increased population (intentionally one may be led to believe). And I will also say, that if you are on MoPac, or on certain stretches of 35, then traffic may at times be slower moving than it is in most spots on Houston free-ways.
That said, distances that people are travelling here are mostly shorter so commute times are mostly not any worse. And the bigger issues are this:
*Drive time - The rush hour periods in both the morning and evening here are MUCH shorter than they are in Houston.
*Non-freeway traffic - The main road traffic here is not as bad as it is in Houston.
*Outer zones - Houston traffic is literally awful EVERYWHERE. Go up to Spring, the Woodlands, over to Cypress, down to Sugarland. Not just the freeways in those places, but the regular roads in them are congested beyond belief. The drive from the time that I get off of 290 to my parents home in north Spring, that drive would have taken me 25-ish minutes 10 years ago, it takes me closer to an hour most days now.
Austin doesn't have that. Come up to Pflugerville, Round Rock, Cedar Park, any of the outlaying areas and the over-road traffic is not anything to concern with in the way that it is in the suburbs of Houston. Houston is a parking lot EVERYWHERE, for long periods of the day, every day of the week. Austin is a parking lot on it's main free-ways, and particularly along specific stretches of 2 of the freeways.
Someone like me can live in the northern reaches, work south, and not have any real problem with traffic ever here because unless I'm travelling for work I don't have to be on the 2 small stretches of road that are an issue here. You can't avoid the traffic in Houston. EVERYONE, anywhere, even out to the outer suburbs is stuck in gaping, awful traffic.
I am very familiar with Houston and lived there for some time. Traffic there sucks too, but I think parts of Austin are worse. At least Houston is doing something about it. I-10 has 12 main lanes now. Conversely, Austin seems to just add a few bike lanes and wonder why people are complaining.
My in-laws live in Houston (actually right off of I-10), and every time they come here, they talk about how Austin's traffic is worse than Houston's.
I have spent many years in both cities. The traffic is a wash. Regarding I-10, Houston's population (especially its westward suburb growth) has already filled up I-10's new lanes to capacity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 10scoachrick
Oh, please, Tell that to the dozens of folks there at lunch on any given day. I'm a pulled pork guy myself, and Dickey's pulled pork ain't half bad(pork ribs will do in a pinch). Poke E Joe's messed theirs up with sauce; but you can still get it un-sauced with a little notice. What many of us want is a decent meal, not some "wait in line forever, pay double for the privilege, heaven-sent brisket" with lousy sides. Seems too many places are too proud to serve pork shoulder because it's not Texan enough, the same way they don't bother having decent sweet tea or mac n cheese for the kiddos. This forum cracks me up.
I don't mind pork, but I am a Texan and when I want BBQ, I want Texas BBQ...Brisket, sausage, beef and pork ribs, maybe some turkey. Just because McDonald's has millions of patrons does not make a McDonald's burger good. But this discussion has now diverged into two different ideas. Great BBQ vs a decent meal you don't have to wait long for. So, on the former, JMMC often does not have a long wait, as do a few other places. Not the case for Franklin (although recently weekday lunch lines have been short from what I hear). These are the places for legit, top quality Texas BBQ (and most of them have pork too).
Now, if I want a quick, decent BBQ meal without dealing with lines, I will go to Rudy's. Usually consistent and no wait or very little.
I lived in Houston for 30 years. And I've lived here for 4 1/2 or so now. I live right on the border of N Austin and Pflugerville (actually unincorporated Travis County technically), and my office is in south Austin. Though I visit my office most days, and work out of it alot, I also have a job that has me travelling all over the city for a very high amount of time. All of that is to say that I can speak pretty confidently about the traffic in both cities.
Austin traffic is bad, the city has done a horrible job of planning to accommodate for increased population (intentionally one may be led to believe). And I will also say, that if you are on MoPac, or on certain stretches of 35, then traffic may at times be slower moving than it is in most spots on Houston free-ways.
That said, distances that people are travelling here are mostly shorter so commute times are mostly not any worse. And the bigger issues are this:
*Drive time - The rush hour periods in both the morning and evening here are MUCH shorter than they are in Houston.
*Non-freeway traffic - The main road traffic here is not as bad as it is in Houston.
*Outer zones - Houston traffic is literally awful EVERYWHERE. Go up to Spring, the Woodlands, over to Cypress, down to Sugarland. Not just the freeways in those places, but the regular roads in them are congested beyond belief. The drive from the time that I get off of 290 to my parents home in north Spring, that drive would have taken me 25-ish minutes 10 years ago, it takes me closer to an hour most days now.
Austin doesn't have that. Come up to Pflugerville, Round Rock, Cedar Park, any of the outlaying areas and the over-road traffic is not anything to concern with in the way that it is in the suburbs of Houston. Houston is a parking lot EVERYWHERE, for long periods of the day, every day of the week. Austin is a parking lot on it's main free-ways, and particularly along specific stretches of 2 of the freeways.
Someone like me can live in the northern reaches, work south, and not have any real problem with traffic ever here because unless I'm travelling for work I don't have to be on the 2 small stretches of road that are an issue here. You can't avoid the traffic in Houston. EVERYONE, anywhere, even out to the outer suburbs is stuck in gaping, awful traffic.
I disagree with pretty much all of this. I lived in Austin from 2009-2012 and live in Houston for the most part now. I feel that while there are spots in Houston that equal or exceed Austin traffic, average speeds in Austin seem lower during peak periods. Plus Houston has a lot more alternatives on a typical commute. Traveling north to south in Austin is much more difficult than it is in Houston, generally speaking. I do agree with you about the suburbs of Houston vs. Austin, but I think that's more of function of regional population - Dallas suburbs are like that too.
Believe it or not, the ease of living ITL Houston as opposed to central Austin (plus the generally better amenities in the city) was the main reason I chose to leave. Just one opinion, and of course YMMV, but I find Houston a bit easier to get around than Austin, particularly in the inner city.
Well Mr. Clutch, that may be because Houston doesn't appear to delete parking spaces ITL, build highrises with no parking spaces, narrow car lanes down to add bike lanes, put roundabouts everywhere, and close downtown main thoroughfares almost every weekend for a whatevercharitycause run.
This thread is intended for people who live in Austin or the surrounding communities.
Austin is one of the cities that is nationally recognized for its population growth, culturally progressive attitude (at least compared to the rest of Texas) and being home to a top public university. It's consistently touted in the media as one of the hottest places in the U.S. to relocate to.
1) What aspects do you find of Austin to be overrated (if any)?
2) Are there any aspects of Austin that you think are underrated or ignored?
3) Do you like the positive media attention Austin receives or do you find it aggravating that so many out-of-towners want to move there?
1) Most everything here I overrated except for the great opportunity to meet people and experience new friends from everywhere in the world. And the barbeque. Left behind some great food where we came from but think the brisket and sausage may b worth the trade.
2) Fire ants. Fire ants are definitely underrated in the media. The little red bass turds are obviously the spawn of Satan and have not been given near the attention they deserve in mass media or horror films.
3) I think it is great that Austin thinks enough of itself to keep the slogan "Keep Austin Weird" even though weird left the building a decade or two ago. It's wonderful that the local can bill this as the live music capital of the world when neither the largest music festival or the most venues are located here. Civic pride is great (seriously) and I love that the media here supports the culture that this is the best place on the planet. The reality is that the out-of-towners are not moving here due to media pressure, they are moving here because there are jobs here.
Incidentally, before the hate mail appears in the form of raving mad natives thinking I am all about bashing their homeland, I like it here and am growing to love it and view it as home. We need to remember that although it is a wonderful place, some of us are here out of necessity rather than a pretty brochure that made it seem like a nice place to try for a while. Because it is a move that happened out of necessity, some of us take a little time to adjust.
Percentage growth is the only appropriate way to look at it.
And it's the only way that accurately measures the effects and challenges of that growth.
Yes, Liberty Hill could double it's population with a smaller absolute number of people.
And that doubling of population would totally change the feel of liberty hill. A lot more than the measly 17% growth of Austin in the 00's changed Austin.
Heck, take _half_ the absolute numerical growth of Austin in the 00s and drop it in the middle of Liberty Hill. Things would come to a standstill. And it would completely lose whatever small town feel it has.
Yet you would claim that 60x growth would be slower growth than Austin
On some level I agree with that, but not in a situation such as Austin currently.
First, the percentage is multiplied against an ever bigger number, so we're really talking about an ever growing headcount.
Road capacity to the primary work destinations has not grown proportionally, percentage-wise, or capacity-wise. I mean, just look at 620. Look at westbound Ben White to 360 (over Lamar) to Mopac. It's backed up now past Lamar as I saw this morning coming off 290 onto Lamar.
Think of it like this, if I add the same percentage of growth to my waistline each year, I'm actually going to be adding an increasing number of additional pounds each year. Then when I surpass the last notch on my belt, I'm screwed. I wouldn't then say to myself "but you're not getting any fatter than you were percentage-wise in the 1970s". I'd say, "crap, I'm all out of belt!"
Austin is all out of belt. Percentages don't matter. We're maxed out.
Steve
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, the same way they don't bother having decent sweet tea or mac n cheese for the kiddos. This forum cracks me up.
