From Madison WI to Austin TX? (Dallas, San Antonio: month to, houses, to buy)

[Saltinbanqui]

Hi everyone,

I am considering a job opportunity in Austin, TX and I wanted to hear the opinions of people who know both cities well. I have lived in Madison over the last 8+ years, and I only have good things to say about this city. However, I must say that the harsh winters are taking a toll, and every winter seems more difficult for me to tolerate. In any event, I won't make a decision just based on weather conditions - but certainly, the idea of living in a place where I won't freeze for almost 6 months of the year, is very appealing.

I'd like to know if Austin is more expensive than Madison and if public schools are as good as the ones we have here (it's pretty darn good). Ironically, I recently bought a home in Madison, and I'd be helpful to know if it's possible to buy a property in Austin for a comparable price ( ange of $300K for a 2,000 Sq Ft home).

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and ideas.

[Antny12]

There are plenty of very good schools all around the Austin metro. As far as the housing cost.. I mean you could definite find 2000sq ft houses for 300k.. just not in central Austin. I live in Leander (a northwest suburb) and you can find them throughout the metro. It’s reallt going to depend on where you want to live. Austin has great winters compared to Madison but keep in mind we have 6+ months of extremely hot weather. Now like most you will go from your ac house to your ac car to your ac work- so you manage. And the sun goes down so mornings and evenings are not as intense. Unlike cold weather there’s no warm up. With a 300k budget and that size house I’d look into cedar park/Leander, Georgetown, round rock if north and Kyle/buda if south depending on job location. I’d also look into northwest Austin that feed into Westwood/Anderson high schools (183/45). There’s pros and cons to each area. Any questions let me know!

[Saltinbanqui]

Thank you so much Antny! The potential job is in East Austin, but I have never been there, so I am not familiar with any areas in the city. I am Ok with living in the suburbs as long as it's not a terribly long commute to my job. I personally deal with heat much better than the cold, so again the weather is a big incentive in the decision, but obviously not the only factor.
Madison has a great public schools system and my kid is lucky to be attending one of the best-ranked schools in the State. As I pointed out, Madison is a great city which is making any decision hard – but I have the impression that Austin, being a bigger city, provides more cultural and professional options than Madison.

[bpvarian]

You may find our 100+ hot and humid summers equally as intolerable as your Madison winters...
There are not good public schools in East Austin - just saying. so you will have to commute - and traffic sucks, especially from areas where $300k will buy you 2k sqft (Austin's housing costs are more expensive than Madison's).

[ashbeeigh]

Come and visit before making any decisions, I am originally from San Antonio and lived in Wausau for a year and came back and it took about two years for me to not hate the hot summers again,

[Antny12]

If the job is in east Austin you’ll get a lot of reccomendations for Plfugerville (not the greatest of schools), round rock, And Georgetown. It really depends on these few things-

1) what commute time are comfortable for you?
2) are you okay with tolls? This will greatly expand your search- they are not nearly as expensive as they are in other parts of the country.
3) what time will you be commuting? During 7-9am-3-6pm? Or off hours.

If school district is one of the big ticket things are your list I’d still reccomend looking into cedar park/Leander/northwest Austin area. I commute from here to east Austin m-f and I do just fine. If I start later on a particular day then I just shoot down the toll roads. I’ve never been in traffic on the tolls in the 5+ years I’ve been here.

As far as Austin vs Madison other comparasions..

*Austin will generally be more expensive living wise however generally speaking you will probably make more here too (hell DQ, Rudy’s and company all pay $12 to start).

* Austin doesn’t have the greatest food diversity by any means. I’m from Chicago so in terms of Madison’s overall food scene I’m not sure but Austin is so far below Chicago in terms of food.

* architecture is pretty bland here. From the homes, to the buildings, to the stores.

* the metro in Austin seriously lacks in things to do for families HOWEVER this is greatly changing. We are getting a KALAHARI (I’m sure your familiar with them in the dells) in round rock, we are getting 2 nhl sized hockey rinks and a sports complex in cedar park. We have season tickets to the local AHL hockey team the Texas Stars (they play in cedar park) and it’s an absolute blast. We have a cool arcade place called pinballz. So it’s getting better.. no real aquarium. No real zoo. Dallas has those but even then nothing close to what we’re used too.. hell Scottsdale’s aquarium stomped The Dallas aquarium.

*worst drives in the country and it’s not even close. Incredibly rude, aggressive and me first attitude. I believe it’s a combination of people who’ve moved here from all over with different styles so to speak (New York city, LA, North Dakota etc). The road infrastructure is also pretty damn lousy for a city this size.

*keep in mind that schools rankings will flucate greatly in areas with higher Spanish speaking residents. Many students who speak mostly Spanish at home tend to have a more difficult time in school and this does reflect in many of the school statistics. Basically what I’m trying to say is really good schools and areas don’t always reflect that on paper due to Texas having a much higher Hispanic population who speak Spanish and struggle to transition.

*homeless. Not sure if it’s the liberal policy’s, people moving here thinking it’s heaven only to find out they can’t afford it, the cultural vibe of Austin (hippie) but my god there’s an incredible anount of homeless throughout the city limits so that will be new to you I’m sureZ
Overall we don’t regret anything and love we’re we live. It’s an exciting time to part of the growth that’s going on down here especially in our town. Definitely come down and check out the entire metro.

[Antny12]

Come down and visit the metro. I think Austin’s a great place to call home. We’ve been here for over 5+ years from Chicago and love it. We’ve started a family here. We’ve got our first home here. Our first purchased cars. Our first career jobs. It’s a exciting city to be in and even in our own small suburb it’s changing so much month to month. It’s cool to be apart of something like that. Good luck and ask any questions you want- I’ll answer whatever i can.

[Saltinbanqui]

This is really helpful. Most likely the company that I am talking to, will fly me there so I get to meet them and have the opportunity to learn more about Austin. But I have no interest in making them waste time or money if I foresee that we might lose the standard of living that we have fought so hard for, here in Madison.
If we decide to move to Austin, we will have to start a lot of things again: a new school for the kid, a new job hunt for my wife, a new a house.

Madison usually ranks as one of the best places to live in the country, but the long, bitter winters do take a toll on the quality of life in this part of the country. Last week it was SO COLD, they had to close the schools for almost a week. With that kind of cold is virtually impossible to do anything outside. As I type, I am looking at my frozen driveway that has a thick layer of ice.

Did you also leave here in this area? It'd be good to hear more of your thoughts comparing both cities.

Thank you again.

[cBach]

Come visit in early August and see if you can tolerate the heat. It will be sunny and 100+. If you can tolerate that then you'll probably like Austin.

[Saltinbanqui]

Based on what I read, the heat can be as much of a serious problem as the cold is here in Madison.