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My block is a mixture of Texas natives and transplants who have been here a while (over 20 years). Overall, I think my neighborhood is probably 50/50 - native Texans (native Round Rockers even) and transplants who have been here on average 10 years. Newer residents however seem to be transplants who have lived here less than three years.
My husband is an Austin native. He overall doesn't have much of an opinion when it comes to transplants (obviously, he married one - me!), however he doesn't like when transplants impose changes to the Texas way of life. He doesn't like the increased traffic. These are feelings that he shares only with people who ask, not something that he aggressively announces to newcomers.
I'm a New Yorker, so for me to be anti-transplant would be absurd. I overall don't really care, but like my husband, don't really enjoy the increased traffic, prices, etc. that comes along with people moving into the area. Last year, my city's population has increased by triple the number of people than years prior. And with that comes more stop lights, school zones, and cars. I found success by taking the "when in Rome do as Romans do" approach. I'm not in New York anymore and if I wanted to live there, I would have stayed. I moved to a new place to start over. A new life.
My kids though are 100% Texan with a drawl. All they know is Texas. I'm the odd (wo)man out.
The GOOD thing about Austin is all the people from everywhere else. If you wanted to be surrounded by a bunch of native Texans, well, there is almost all of the rest of Texas for that, no problem. And I like the fact that many of these newcomers bring their ways and needs with them; makes the town more interesting. If avoiding traffic is your great goal in life, look in the mirror. You are the traffic. You and everyone else like you.
There is lots of empty Texas for everyone; just not in Austin (or Houston, Dallas or San Antonio).
The GOOD thing about Austin is all the people from everywhere else. If you wanted to be surrounded by a bunch of native Texans, well, there is almost all of the rest of Texas for that, no problem. And I like the fact that many of these newcomers bring their ways and needs with them; makes the town more interesting. If avoiding traffic is your great goal in life, look in the mirror. You are the traffic. You and everyone else like you.
There is lots of empty Texas for everyone; just not in Austin (or Houston, Dallas or San Antonio).
Avoiding traffic isn't our great goal in life, because if it were, we'd have to move to Smithville. but the increased traffic sucks, especially to many natives. And I'm talking about local traffic, not just traffic going into Austin. I don't set foot in Austin other than during work hours, but nowadays I have daily stoppage at various points along my route. And I'm not the traffic, because I take public transit. My car is off the road, at least in Austin.
Avoiding traffic isn't our great goal in life, because if it were, we'd have to move to Smithville. but the increased traffic sucks, especially to many natives. And I'm talking about local traffic, not just traffic going into Austin. I don't set foot in Austin other than during work hours, but nowadays I have daily stoppage at various points along my route. And I'm not the traffic, because I take public transit. My car is off the road, at least in Austin.
If you never drive into Austin, then you are in a minority of commuters, for sure. It's nice to know there are some who don't directly add their vehicle to the traffic problem, and more people doing as you do would help a lot. Of course, the city, state and federal government will have to pay to make this a reality and that doesn't seem likely under the current regime. Impossible, car only traffic is holding back Austin's future as a great city.
I'm glad you are excited about potentially moving to Austin, I was too. I'll share some takeaways of mine after living here for 6+ years now, like you I am a native Washingtonian.
* On a $500k house you will be paying in the neighborhood of $10k a year in property taxes in the City of Austin, that's not DC expensive, but it isn't exactly cheap either. Plus, if you lose the job, the property tax bill is still due.
* Austin is still the capital and seat of government of a huge state, politics do exist here and you will find a lot of the same city vs suburbs split that the DC area has. The sort of "every cubicle a kingdom" mentality and only being interested in getting to know people who can advance you somehow is thankfully much less here.
* I wouldn't call the weather in the winter warm, it was 15 degrees a day or two ago in the city with negative temperatures in the hills. There can be stretches of nice weather (lows in the 40's highs in the 60's) in the winter, but it is in no shape or way like a South Florida winter here. DC is colder on average and gets the occasional big snow, but other than that I don't find the subjective "feel" of the winter to be all that different here. It is shorter though.
* Summer lasts from May until October, and fall doesn't exist. Do not underestimate how miserably hot it is. It is in no way comparable to DC heat, which can be bad but always relents after a couple of weeks. It is 100 degrees here for months straight. You will miss fall terribly after a few seasons. Spring is nice.
* Traffic isn't as bad as DC, but it isn't great. Since neither of you have to commute, this will be less of an issue. But all those fun quirky things to do in Austin you've heard about are packed, if you want to do them I suggest living close in to down town. That's what I did when I first moved here.
* There are cultural things to do here, but much less so than DC. They are just different scale cities with different levels of world prominence. This may or may not be important to you.
* No pro sports. Again, may or may not be important.
* Outdoors - there are some truly beautiful things to see in central Texas, but in general, there is very little public land in Texas. These may be wide open spaces, but they are fenced off.
I know this is mainly a list of negatives and I don't want to give the wrong impression of Austin - there are definitely things that are great here, the people especially. Just don't let your desire to escape DC keep you from honestly assessing what a place has and what it doesn't. Unless you really want a city lifestyle consider buying a place in the hill country with some land and a cold spring on it and visiting Austin / SA on the weekends. Since there is no commuting concern you could really enjoy nature and the outdoors that way.
My block is a mixture of Texas natives and transplants who have been here a while (over 20 years). Overall, I think my neighborhood is probably 50/50 - native Texans (native Round Rockers even) and transplants who have been here on average 10 years. Newer residents however seem to be transplants who have lived here less than three years.
My husband is an Austin native. He overall doesn't have much of an opinion when it comes to transplants (obviously, he married one - me!), however he doesn't like when transplants impose changes to the Texas way of life. He doesn't like the increased traffic. These are feelings that he shares only with people who ask, not something that he aggressively announces to newcomers.
I'm a New Yorker, so for me to be anti-transplant would be absurd. I overall don't really care, but like my husband, don't really enjoy the increased traffic, prices, etc. that comes along with people moving into the area. Last year, my city's population has increased by triple the number of people than years prior. And with that comes more stop lights, school zones, and cars. I found success by taking the "when in Rome do as Romans do" approach. I'm not in New York anymore and if I wanted to live there, I would have stayed. I moved to a new place to start over. A new life.
My kids though are 100% Texan with a drawl. All they know is Texas. I'm the odd (wo)man out.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! I love your "when in Rome" take on the move.
I know this is mainly a list of negatives and I don't want to give the wrong impression of Austin - there are definitely things that are great here, the people especially. Just don't let your desire to escape DC keep you from honestly assessing what a place has and what it doesn't. Unless you really want a city lifestyle consider buying a place in the hill country with some land and a cold spring on it and visiting Austin / SA on the weekends. Since there is no commuting concern you could really enjoy nature and the outdoors that way.
These are wonderful insights - thank you!
We're not looking specifically for a city lifestyle, but I honestly hadn't even considered anything else I guess because of where we're coming from. Thus we haven't given any thought to buying a place with land outside of the city. Silly, because now that you mention it that sounds lovely! haha Only, I wonder how difficult it would be to make new friends living out in the boondocks? Might be a disadvantage? Dunno. Definitely a new option to consider! Our kids would LOVE having land to go explore and build forts or whatever in right in their own backyard!
Anyone have any recommendations for families needing decent schooling if we're thinking of going more rural?
I am a Washingtonian but my husband is from a small town by Houston. He’s been a trooper, putting up with living in the D.C. area for years now but my husband HATES it here. Too busy, too loud (he calls it noise warfare haha) and too career-focused. If you’re not all about upward mobility, power-grabbing, and politics it’s tough to fit in. We don’t fit in. At all. Lol
My husband is in tech and works remotely so we can literally go anywhere. Cost of living isn’t a big concern for us, though lower is always better. He’s stipulated a state with no income tax and I’ve stipulated warm weather but not Florida.
Back to his home state of Texas we go!
I’m not sure I could handle super small town living, and he doesn’t want to go anywhere near Houston. We have family in San Antonio and in Austin who both rave about their cities so we were comparing the two for our move. We’ve enjoyed our limited time in both places and the friendly people in Texas as a whole during our few brief visits.
Between the two cities, though, Austin sounded like the perfect fit for us (I can hear the “not another one!” groaning already but please bare with me. Lol) for several reasons, all based off of secondhand knowledge. Those reasons are:
1) A bit more left-leaning. A general live-and-let-live mentality for the area in which we raise our children is a must and heard Austin is just such a place.
2) Quirky culture (or really any kind of uniqueness to lend a sense of pride of place)
3) Laid-back (It would be great to be able to invite someone over for a weekend dinner or game night without 3+ weeks of advanced notice)
4) Outdoorsy outings nearby (lake, river, hiking)
5) The opportunity for having a community our family can be an active part of and build lasting relationships within. We’ve been told Austin still has a small(ish) town, community-nurturing feel even though it had grown so much. This one is huge for us. We want to belong when we move, not feel like outsiders.
6) Access to good schools and parks for our four kids. It’s my understanding that Austin parks are abundant and schools range from decent to outstanding.
Given these ideas, I was quite excited over the prospect of relocating to Austin this summer (June/July 2018) and digging in some roots! It sounded so perfect for us!
After coming here to begin researching neighborhoods, however, I find myself growing concerned....
First and worst, I‘m feeling like an intruder just for having considered moving to Austin. I’m also concerned that maybe the Austin I’ve had in my head is not really a place? Or is, at best, a dying place? Are transplants smiled at on the street but grumbled about being the cause of crowding and inflated COL in private? Can we find a sense of community in Austin if we’re willing to invest the time? Or are most people in Austin now just drifting through, as I’ve read here?
I apologize for the post length. Brevity isn’t my forte. I further apologize if my post comes across at all whiny or city-bashing. No disrespect is meant. I’m just curious.
I’d truly like to understand what Austin really is today and if it might be a welcoming place for my family to lay down roots. We don’t want to be an imposition on a place or to change a culture, we just want to find a place to call home.
My primary ask for current Austinites is this: Are some areas better than others for fitting in and building lasting community (I.e. less transient but not anti-transplant)? If so, what are they? Also, is the Austin I described above representative of the Austin you know, or just a delusion?
Thank you to any who take the time to read and respond!
I lived in Austin for one year and loved it. The area surrounding Lady Bird Lake is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts with a variety of activities, picnics, etc. My favorite was to park under the bridge by I-35
and Lady Bird Lake then run along the north side of the lakes to the far west end. From there, I
would veer off to Exposition Blvd. and go north then west to Mt. Bonnell. Then I would run back
down and return on the south side of the lake back to the I-35 bridge. It was a hard but great run.
That area was teeming with people just out and about enjoying the outdoors. Austin is unique in
having a setting like that centrally despite being a major metro region.
To be real, Austin does get really hot in the summer. It is not as humid as Florida but still pretty
intense. However, a lot of people go swimming in that lake. On the south side there was a small
creek with a waterfall that had many swimmers in the summer. The winters are also kind of cold.
It actually snowed a little when I was there.
The traffic was bad depending on the time of day and side of town. But in my opinion, Austin
is nowhere near as bad as Miami, FL at rush hour. On the cultural side, the downtown towards
the capital building like at Congress has many restaurants and concert venues. I also went
to a gym downtown. The bus routes are very practical from Congress to the rest of the city.
The "catch" to Austin may be the cost of living. San Antonio is relatively less expensive than Austin
for housing and rent. School quality can also vary. The higher quality schools are likely correlated
with higher housing costs.
But your husband has the advantage of tech jobs in Austin or San Antonio. If he knows Java,
Python, AWS Cloud Computing, Mobile App programming, cybersecurity, Microservices, test
automation, etc. then both cities have an extreme plethora of jobs. I almost got hired fast into
a Java SDET job in San Antonio but the IT recruiter got sick that day of arranging the interview.
So, I got hired quickly in Phoenix instead. But this is my home state, so I came back.
Only, I wonder how difficult it would be to make new friends living out in the boondocks?
There are few small towns around Austin that are fantastic. I have friends who bought a house/land outside Dripping Springs and enjoy the small town life and the country. Seems like it would actually be easier to make friends out there.
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"We have met the traffic, and it is us."
Silly, because now that you mention it that sounds lovely! haha Only, I wonder how difficult it would be to make new friends living out in the boondocks? Might be a disadvantage? Dunno. Definitely a new option to consider! Our kids would LOVE having land to go explore and build forts or whatever in right in their own backyard!
