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Old 05-15-2017, 10:21 PM
 
1 posts, read 3,838 times
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Hi there, my name is Holly. My husband and I and our 1 yr old daughter are considering moving to the Austin area this fall. We currently live in Long Beach, ca. About 20 miles south of Los Angeles.. we are currently looking at the suburbs of north Austin, specifically cedar park, round rock, pflugerville, and Georgetown/Leander.. I'm really just looking for any information on the Austin area? Pros and cons? Traffic? Job opportunities? Etc.. we are looking for something a little bit slower paced than LA with more space and more affordable home prices. I know the weather can be brutal in summer. But honestly anywhere outside of California there's going to be some weather so that's not a deterrent for me. I've lived in Chicago before, so as long as I'm not dealing with temperatures below zero I'm fine. Don't need to sugar coat anything, just lay it in me.. thanks😊
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Old 05-15-2017, 10:38 PM
 
35,508 posts, read 17,745,634 times
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In the spirit of "not sugar coating anything", can I ask what ethnicity you are? Are you "white", or Asian or Indian or a different ethnicity?
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Old 05-15-2017, 10:42 PM
 
23,690 posts, read 9,280,366 times
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The traffic is pretty bad in Austin...be sure to visit in July or August to see if you can handle the heat.The winters are real mild.
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Old 05-16-2017, 07:22 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX via San Antonio, TX
9,843 posts, read 13,605,987 times
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Have you been to Austin before? What is your budget? What are some things you like to do? Deal breakers?Interests (outdoors, indoors, music, etc)? I really recommend having a job lined up before moving to Austin. Many will also suggest having a job before deciding on where to live. If you end up with a job in south Austin a commute from those suburbs you mentioned could be almost an hour and half on a bad day. Forty-five a good one.
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Old 05-16-2017, 07:25 AM
 
2,627 posts, read 6,554,061 times
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I think you are going to get responses like the ones above because your post was pretty general. You can search this forum and find a lot of existing threads about California to Austin posts (including ones that focus on Cedar Park, Round Rock, etc.)

Try doing a search of the Austin forum first and see what you can find and then maybe ask some more specific questions. Generally, housing in the suburbs that you mentioned is probably not as affordable as you would think but you can still get a pretty nice home for around $300k to $400k depending on the area. Most newer homes here are on small lots just like the newer areas in CA. I would compare the areas that you mentioned to how the Inland Empire/Temecula area was about 20 years ago with similar temperatures and housing. There is tremendous growth with rising costs and the traffic to go along with it.

With that said, you can get into good public schools in a lot of areas pretty easily at that ~$300K price point for a single family home on a small lot. Austin is far away from Long Beach so if you grew up in CA and have a lot of family and friends there, it's both difficult and expensive to visit (this also goes for people visiting you). You'll probably try the drive back and forth once or twice before you realize that a $400 plane ticket per person is worth it over the drive. Weekend visits aren't really feasible due to the distance. There are lots of tech jobs here, but other jobs for something like bio-tech might be difficult to find here.
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Old 05-16-2017, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,471,443 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ClaraC View Post
In the spirit of "not sugar coating anything", can I ask what ethnicity you are? Are you "white", or Asian or Indian or a different ethnicity?
Why in the world would you ask that question?
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Old 05-16-2017, 07:57 AM
 
23,690 posts, read 9,280,366 times
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Whats your budget for housing,OP?
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Old 05-16-2017, 08:35 AM
 
71 posts, read 114,947 times
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Mark311 - I am in similar situation... I lived in the Inland Empire of CA and had to leave for the high desert 5 years ago cause Iliterally couldn't afford IE anymore.. and it has gotten worse since I left. Now, I want to get out of this state! You are more right than you know about how IE has grown and so over run with traffic, crowded schools and expensive housing and so expensive. Austin and Dallas are my choices for TX. What areas on the outskirts of Austin do you might have a recommendation for? We are seniors, no kids, $200 for a house with some land (not in town or neighborhood) but my husband is a MEP Piping Superintendet... wants to work a few more years before retiring so that is why the Dallas/Austin areas...they are growing and he can get a few years in. An hours drive time either way. (out here we measure in time not miles...takes an hour to drive 40 miles out here! Thanks
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Old 05-16-2017, 08:47 AM
 
436 posts, read 566,854 times
Reputation: 590
Quote:
Originally Posted by 10scoachrick View Post
Why in the world would you ask that question?
Honestly that kind of question bothers me too but I have seen waaaay too many threads on c-d from Indians who do not want to mix with non-indians and only want to live in an indian community. It's depressing that people want to move to America and purposefully not integrate but that is the world we live in.

Buddy of mine from my last temp tech job was from New Delhi and we hanged out a lot as a tight knit group in the trenches of emergency support. After several months he confided that the other Indian groups (about 1/3 of the call center) were starting to treat him like crap because he was hanging around "us" (forgot the word he used). I felt horrible for him.
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Old 05-16-2017, 09:00 AM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,039,518 times
Reputation: 3915
Quote:
Originally Posted by coffeebreakwhatever View Post
Mark311 - I am in similar situation... I lived in the Inland Empire of CA and had to leave for the high desert 5 years ago cause Iliterally couldn't afford IE anymore.. and it has gotten worse since I left. Now, I want to get out of this state! You are more right than you know about how IE has grown and so over run with traffic, crowded schools and expensive housing and so expensive. Austin and Dallas are my choices for TX. What areas on the outskirts of Austin do you might have a recommendation for? We are seniors, no kids, $200 for a house with some land (not in town or neighborhood) but my husband is a MEP Piping Superintendet... wants to work a few more years before retiring so that is why the Dallas/Austin areas...they are growing and he can get a few years in. An hours drive time either way. (out here we measure in time not miles...takes an hour to drive 40 miles out here! Thanks

Has he lined up work yet? Yes, Texas is booming but as previously mentioned, oil is down and there are a lot of people with that type of experience (and local connections which counts FOR A LOT here) looking for the same type of work. I would be a bit cautious.
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