Moving from NYC suburbs to Austin- should we do it? (Galveston: beaches, swimming)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

THIS!! A thousand times - THIS! I moved here from Philadelphia 2 decades ago. And I still haven't adjusted or gotten used to these things. I miss the ocean. I miss mountains. I miss seasons. I miss being able to walk to just hop on a train. Etc., etc.

But there's also the less tangible things. The attitude here is just different. I'm not saying it's better or worse, just different. Things like sense of humor don't translate well. People in the NE tend to be more direct and honest and, in my opinion, more genuine. People here tend to be more superficial. Yes, they are nice, but it is more of a polite than genuinely nice, if that makes sense. The culture takes a lot of adjustment.

Philly has a beach and mountains, ya right lol

[cp102]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

THIS!! A thousand times - THIS! I moved here from Philadelphia 2 decades ago. And I still haven't adjusted or gotten used to these things. I miss the ocean. I miss mountains. I miss seasons. I miss being able to walk to just hop on a train. Etc., etc.

But there's also the less tangible things. The attitude here is just different. I'm not saying it's better or worse, just different. Things like sense of humor don't translate well. People in the NE tend to be more direct and honest and, in my opinion, more genuine. People here tend to be more superficial. Yes, they are nice, but it is more of a polite than genuinely nice, if that makes sense. The culture takes a lot of adjustment.

Wow I have lived all the world and and in many of U.S. states. I find the people of Texas genuinely warm and caring. They are polite they would prefer not to say something that would hurt your feelings. I am from New York where people say what they think, I always hated that. People from the Northeast can be direct but that often can be cutting.



As we were traveling from base to base my fondness memories were form Texas. Where men open a door to a store for a woman, they let you go first. I have been in states when men open door for themselves , and your struggling to open the door with a baby. Say what you like but I find Texans warm, caring , they make you feel like family.



As a New Yorker we can be cold, our sense of humor is different, we don't trust, thats why we don't understand the Texan mindset. All I can say is I hope you find a place that makes you happy. For me Texas is home!

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

I also saw something recently that said, "Austin, also known as northwest Houston..." If all the sprawl continues, it may be pretty accurate one day.

I don't know about Houston, but San Antonio for sure. Driving to see my parents in SA I can almost always count on their being traffic from San Marcos to home. And depending on the time of day, Buda to home.

[Snowpacked]

Originally Posted by Austin97

There is no place at 360/2222 that is worth going to happy hour for, especially from the east side.

If you are working on the east side all the best places are already there.

I might consider some central locations.

Interesting. Instead of validating the traffic issue and the ridiculous volume of humans invading that area you suggest that there is nothing worthy of patronizing in the area. Where do all the people moving there go? They are spending an awful lot of money to not have access to the prime amenities the downtown folks do.

[Aquitaine]

I don't begrudge IdleWile her (or his) experience as it's a good illustration of a set of characteristics that will send you back to the Northeast. But there are plenty of us yankees down here. I was born in Connecticut and moved to Austin from Brooklyn (with a pit stop in Central PA for 2 years) and have been here for 7 years.

It's not obvious to me from one well-articulated story that "people from the Northeast" have a harder time adjusting here. Certainly if you like snow and wintertime then you are definitely going to have more adjusting to do than somebody from Southern California.

I am also heavily involved in the local arts scene (theatre, specifically) and others who have pointed out that we lag behind not just NYC (no surprise) but also Houston and Dallas are correct. It is moving in the right direction but it's a chicken and egg problem. As the COL rises, the audience for cultural events is not growing quickly enough to be willing to pay increased ticket prices. It'll get there eventually but there is a lot of resistance to change and those who can't aren't going to last.

All of which is merely to say that no matter where you are coming from, you should quickly and easily get a list of reasons why people don't like Austin and why they leave. You've got many of them in this thread already. I love it but I don't have a commute. I grew up sailing and definitely miss the ocean, but I'm OK with the trade-offs.

If you know where you're going to be working and live nearby and can find schools you like at a price point that doesn't break the bank, you're more than halfway there.

[riaelise]

I commute to work. I did that in NYC too. I don't know what the big deal here is about that. I work downtown. Living really close to downtown while getting all of what I want right now at this age at the price point that is comfortable for me would be tough so guess what? I commute. I won't compromise when it comes to where I live. For our housing dollars, we don't want to live in a small house on a small lot just to be close to work. I very much love where I live, every bit of it. So I take the bus. It all comes down on what is important to you and what makes you happy.

Ultimately, I found my happy place here in Central Texas, despite what it lacks.

[texan2yankee]

Originally Posted by NYfamily77

Hi All, anyone here moved to escape crazyness and high cost of everyday NYC commuter life? If so, do you like it/regret it?
We are a family with two kids and two working parents (data science and marketing), just looking for ways to make life more manageable and less expensive. There are things we like about NYC — like access to culture, international community (we are Europeans) etc, but it’s crazy expensive in many ways -taxes on a 2000 sq ft home around $25k/year, this is not to mention that home is 70-90 years old and costs a fortune if you’re in a good school district.
Also everyday life is stressful, our average commute is considered good by NYC standards buts it’s 1 hr 15 mins door to door, or 2.5 hours per day spent on trains and subway.

Our major attractions to Austin :1) cost of living; 2) better everyday logistics-we hope of to spend under 40 mins commuting each way; 3) job market seems booming ; 4) culturally seems Austin is very interesting

What do you guys think??

Texan here. born and raised. I moved from texas to Manhattan for my career. We felt it was worth it to live in the city as a family. We chose manhattan over Austin or Texas when we were young for long-term, professional reasons and have no regrets, but there are always trade-offs.

We love Austin as retirees.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by cBach

Philly has a beach and mountains, ya right lol

It's a 45 minute drive from several beaches (like real ocean beaches, not lake beaches) and about an hour and a half to ski resorts. So, no, not right IN the city, but a hell of a lot closer than they are to Austin. Wake up one day and want to go to the beach? Sure! Or how about skiing in the winter? Sure! We'll be back before dinner! Never happen here.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

It's a 45 minute drive from several beaches (like real ocean beaches, not lake beaches) and about an hour and a half to ski resorts. So, no, not right IN the city, but a hell of a lot closer than they are to Austin. Wake up one day and want to go to the beach? Sure! Or how about skiing in the winter? Sure! We'll be back before dinner! Never happen here.

I went to school in CMU and there were "mountains" nearby. Worst skiing I've ever seen, tons of ice.

I've seen NJ beaches, I'll pass. I'll take Lake Travis on a summer day over NJ coast any day.

Now Philly has good pro sports and cheese steaks are yummy, I'll grant you that.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by cBach

I went to school in CMU and there were "mountains" nearby. Worst skiing I've ever seen, tons of ice.

I've seen NJ beaches, I'll pass. I'll take Lake Travis on a summer day over NJ coast any day.

Now Philly has good pro sports and cheese steaks are yummy, I'll grant you that.

Texas beaches aren't the world's prettiest either (Galveston, Port A, etc.). And I still have to drive 4 hours to get to them. You know PA has lakes too, right? Those aren't unique to Texas. So if you waned to spend a day at the lake in the Philly area, you can. Or you could take a quick day trip to the ocean. It's called options. Options that I was pointing out that the OP won't have here and will likely miss. And Pittsburgh is pretty damn far from Philly. The cities are not even remotely the same. Are PA ski resorts as good as Colorado, Utah, or others? No. But they're sure a hell of a lot better than the ones in Texas, you know, that don't exist.