Has Austin peaked as a relocatee nirvana? (Houston, Dallas: condos, how much)

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by scongress1234

However, being in the business of sales, naturally a myopic mindset sets in, in which one just has in view the sales and output of the current year.

Reminds me of a business developer at the last engineering firm I worked at. She was very eco-conscious in her private life but her work goal as stated on her corporate bio was to "completely pave the earth".

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Reminds me of a business developer at the last engineering firm I worked at. She was very eco-conscious in her private life but her work goal as stated on her corporate bio was to "completely pave the earth".

I think that was Sherwin -Williams(paint company-s) motto....We paint the earth....at least before it folded.......maybe thats where she stole it from..
LOL!

[mwv]

Calling Austin an "relocatee nirvana" just sets up a straw man argument.

1.) The sheer number of people that have moved here from out-of-state in the last few years, along with the heavy traffic caused by the same.

Austin's population has only been surging since 2006. The area's economy was poor between 2001-2005 due to the tech bust. I suspect Austin will have another big move season (most people move May-August). I see OOS licenses all the time and from all regions of the country still, even now in the off season. You've also got the effect of the second baby boom generation entering the workforce after college (age 22-28 now) and many of them are looking to move to areas of the country that are "happening." Austin is one of those places.

2.) The vast increase in national franchises and big-box stores, squeezing out the locally based businesses, many unique, and germane to the Austin
weird vibe.

I see more local businesses than ever, in addition to the BB stores! Not only does S Congress and Hyde Park continue to expand, but there are new "hip" areas forming, like East Austin and North Loop/Burnet with each dozens of funky small businesses. Downtown remains to be seen because very few people live there still. West Campus is exploding with building, including some retail (with more to come.)

3.) The high-rising of the central city and environs, further eroding the less large old ambience that made Austin so livable in the past.

High-rise is making Austin more livable and more like a real city, while still retaining unique aspects.

4.) The backlash from the long-time residents, who seem to get more flustered with the influx and changes as the years go on, lending a palpable
tension to the vibe.

People always complain. Austin has been one of the very fastest growing cities in the USA for more than 3 decades. Yet Austin is still Austin, but just with changes and evolution. Some people might want to idealize the past, but it's foolish to take this too far. The world changes; people must keep things in context.

5.) The sheer amount of national hype and interest in Austin, which, like everything else, peaks and troughs, not unlike business cycles. As of this
date, there is not one city that maintained hype and growth indefinitely, and there is always a point where growth and hype ebbs and slows.

Of course. And your point? I don't think Austin is remotely close to leveling off, though it'll ebb and flow in growth over time for a variety of reasons.

6.) The national recession, which has yet to impact Austin to a marked degree, but very well may soon, as Austin is directly tied to the national
economy far more than in the past, when it was far more regional, and relied more on government and university employment.

Austin is tied more to the national economy, but unlike the tech bubble, Austin is not set up at this point for a particularly sharp drop. I suspect Austin and Texas as a whole will have a milder recession than almost everywhere else in the country. Texas will endure less direct impact from real estate, because prices will not fall nearly as much because they never went up that much to begin with.

[twange]

Originally Posted by mwv

Calling Austin an "relocatee nirvana" just sets up a straw man argument.

Let's take this further...is/was Austin that special? What the hell does that really mean and isn't that pretty subjective to begin with? It's still in America right? I like it, but every day I read someone's comments on this forum that feel otherwise. And don't give me the "well you should have seen it back when..." argument either. I'm sure there were folks then who didn't like it and left. In fact, my guess is that Austin always appealed more to specific types more than others, whereas now, there's more of a mixed bag. Good? Bad? Depends which type you are, really.

In fact, I think Cleveland is pretty special. Why? Because I'm from there, and my parents moved there from P.A. to start a new life, worked hard, bought a house and raised kids there. I met my wife there, and became a musician there, and watched my sports teams lose in spectacular fashion. I went to school there and forged great, lifelong friendships. I stuck up for it when it was a national joke, and I've watched it's slow, steady decline over the years.

People like what they know.

[mwv]

Originally Posted by twange

Let's take this further...is/was Austin that special? What the hell does that really mean and isn't that pretty subjective to begin with? It's still in America right? I like it, but every day I read someone's comments on this forum that feel otherwise. And don't give me the "well you should have seen it back when..." argument either. I'm sure there were folks then who didn't like it and left. In fact, my guess is that Austin always appealed more to specific types more than others, whereas now, there's more of a mixed bag. Good? Bad? Depends which type you are, really.

...

People like what they know.

You raise a point that irks me about other posters who seek 'absolute' comparisons between one place and another. Different people value different qualities and such is why there's no unqualified good or bad place, except maybe pathological cases like Detroit or Camden (etc.)

Austin is certainly not a good place to move if somebody likes the ocean and skiing for example. It's not an ideal place if someone wants a global cosmopolitan atmosphere.

[jimmyjack]

I agree with you 100% but our economy has shifted away from this as dramatically as the shift when my folks left the cotton fields of the family farm and moved to the big city to get jobs. Just as we once rewarded workers more than farmers, we now reward investors more than the workers they pay. Corporate culture is just as authentic as grass roots culture, its just a lot meaner for folks not in the investment class.

[TexasHorseLady]

I just mean that I would imagine, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that most agents would be 100% for rapid, undifferentiated growth, regardless if it ends up killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Consider yourself corrected. I suspect that I have contact with a lot more real estate agents on a daily basis than you do, and here, at least, the majority that I talk to are not interested in that kind of growth. Because, remember, among other things, we have to live with it, too - we don't get taken out of our boxes in the morning, wound up, and sent out to sell real estate, and then put away after work.

[brattpowered]

I would love to see the laid back character of Austin be preserved, but I still think that condo and apartment towers are better for our downtown than 7 dollar a space surface parking lots. And I think a family or a couple moving into a condo or apartment building downtown is better than them moving into a subdivision on an acre of formerly pristine Hill Country real estate. People are not going to stop moving here, and thus we will need to either build up or build out. I am for building up. Enough beautiful spaces have been lost to development.

Big box stores are another story. I would love to see them disappear.

[whitechocolate86]

Originally Posted by scongress1234

Somehow I get the impression that Austin is currently jumping the shark per relocatee interest and general Austin national buzz.
Some clues:
1.) The sheer number of people that have moved here from out-of-state in the last few years, along with the heavy traffic caused by the same.
2.) The vast increase in national franchises and big-box stores, squeezing out the locally based businesses, many unique, and germane to the Austin
weird vibe.
3.) The high-rising of the central city and environs, further eroding the less large old ambience that made Austin so livable in the past.
4.) The backlash from the long-time residents, who seem to get more flustered with the influx and changes as the years go on, lending a palpable
tension to the vibe.
5.) The sheer amount of national hype and interest in Austin, which, like everything else, peaks and troughs, not unlike business cycles. As of this
date, there is not one city that maintained hype and growth indefinitely, and there is always a point where growth and hype ebbs and slows.
6.) The national recession, which has yet to impact Austin to a marked degree, but very well may soon, as Austin is directly tied to the national
economy far more than in the past, when it was far more regional, and relied more on government and university employment.

So, what do you folks out there think? Is the sheer amount of interest at this point an indication that Austin's current growth spurt has jumped the shark?
What impact would a marked slowdown on the local economy and real estate market have on relocatee growth? How long can the growth sustain itself before it starts destroying the very things that have drawn relocatees to Austin in the first place? Will relocatees still be drawn here if the area becomes as national franchise orientated and nondescript as the cities they are running away from? Is there another place out there that could become the next Austin if the hype and buzz dissipate, and the shark jumps?

Well?

Yes, Keep the ex-calis from coming up here...pease...don't let 'em up here...and the ex-new yorkers...I'm sorry for your traffic situation, but seriously...I'm allergic to the yankee plague.

[imaterry78259]

Just look at the Austin/San Antonio corridor there is more cement than trees. The rush for these two cities to engulf cities like Boerne, New Braunfels, Wimberley,Dripping Springs is crazy