Thinking of leaving Austin for Dallas or Houston? (San Antonio, Plano: appointed, transplants)

[Cows_are_cool123]

I moved here about 5 years ago and post pandemic have been really disappointed in what I see here. I’m thinking of moving to either Houston or Dallas. A couple complaints I have:

1. Housing costs are insane (and I make well into the 6 figure range)
2. Related to 1, so many young people seem like they have either left Austin or moved to the outer parts of the city to save money. Most of my friends/dates are either 40+ or 21-23 (college students). As an early 30s single young professional (male), making friends and dating here have not been easy.
3. The airport is tiny and has barely any flights compared to Dfw or bush
4. Related to 2/3, the city is still not taken seriously by those in NY/LA/SF. I don’t care about this by itself but I worry about job impact and this likely relates to the meeting young professionals issue I have
5. All the fun stuff is wildly spread out with almost nothing near the city center (except lady bird lake perhaps)

Now here’s what I see as pros of Austin:

1. Fun town in parts
2. Growing population and economy (so some of the above may get better)
3. Eclectic and authentic feel you can’t get in Houston or Dallas
4. People are geniuely pretty nice here

TLDR: thinking of leaving Austin and going to Dallas or Houston. Should I?

[Need4Camaro]

Only you can make that call.

Houston will be by far the most affordable but comes with inherited risks of Hurricanes and Flooding, but otherwise Houston offers a lot for the money.

Dallas is a business hub. While it’s not quite as expensive as Austin, the desirable areas are very close to Austin prices. It will probably be easier to find someone in their 30’s there because the city is focused on career growth which is often what someone in that age group is after. Someone in their 20’s is often focused on studies and college or going out and partying. Austin is becoming more and more catered around professionals with college youth high earners intermixed. I would say Austin does have its fair share of 30’s (it is the median age group here anyway) but they have to make a decent penny to live comfortably here so they either had to hit the ground running or relocate to a more affordable metro for career growth.

As for the airport, I agree it’s a bit lacking but it’s also only tied to a city of approximately 2 million people and not 6 - 8 Million like DFW and HOU.

I would say Austin is heavily recognized by Los Angeles, San Francisco, NYC, Seattle and places such as those. It seems to attract a lot of relocatees and talent from those places. The job market in Austin is not going to bust anytime soon barring a major disaster where you will find the same problems in just about any city of America.

I disagree that all the fun stuff is wildly spread out though. You’re going to find that in just about every American city. Austin for the most part does a fairly decent job in keeping everything centered in central Austin.

[atxcio]

Houston/Dallas are perfect if you love Texas but don’t like Austin. You will have a blast, and for cheap too if you score a house in one of their cool ‘burbs!

[Need4Camaro]

It really depends on what burbs. N.Dallas burbs are not cheap. You could easily spend as much on a house up there as you would in Austin or it’s burbs. Places like Westlake/Southlake (DFW) are probably among the most priciest places to in Texas, Frisco and W.Plano are averaging $600 - $700k home values which is neck and neck with Cedar Park and much further away from Downtown too.

S.Dallas burbs are more affordable but you are displaced from all of the white collar jobs if you’re in tech.

Another issue is, today a $100k annual salary just isn’t what it used to be when considering inflation, the cost of goods and the inevitable increase of home values. Today a $100k annual salary is yesterday’s $64k a year (approximately year 2000) when adjusting for inflation.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

It really depends on what burbs. N.Dallas burbs are not cheap. You could easily spend as much on a house up there as you would in Austin or it’s burbs. Places like Westlake/Southlake (DFW) are probably among the most priciest places to in Texas, Frisco and W.Plano are averaging $600 - $700k home values which is neck and neck with Cedar Park and much further away from Downtown too.

S.Dallas burbs are more affordable but you are displaced from all of the white collar jobs if you’re in tech.

Another issue is, today a $100k annual salary just isn’t what it used to be when considering inflation, the cost of goods and the inevitable increase of home values. Today a $100k annual salary is yesterday’s $64k a year (approximately year 2000) when adjusting for inflation.

I think you are agreeing with me? Dallas/Houston burbs 600/700k are the bargain of the century now? Price of Austin burbs but with the big city benefits? Fraction of the price of city limits of Austin?

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I think you are agreeing with me? Dallas/Houston burbs 600/700k are the bargain of the century now? Price of Austin burbs but with the big city benefits? Fraction of the price of city limits of Austin?

Eh .. I guess. I think AUS / DFW burbs are largely similar in terms of amenities with the exception that DFW burbs have better access to transit and better road systems overall. Job markets between the two in white collar fields are not lacking in either metro on a per capita level… but you gotta pay the premium to live near them. The intown areas get highly subjective depending on what you are searching for in a city. Austin is more vibrant and catered toward youth. Dallas is more corporate and catered toward careerism. There are youthful and vibrant scenes in Dallas proper but I think Austin is still in another world here. Also intown Dallas areas are also pretty expensive. Deep Ellum, Oak Lawn, Highland Park would probably run neck and neck with East Austin, Tarrytown and West Lake Hills.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Cows_are_cool123

I moved here about 5 years ago and post pandemic have been really disappointed in what I see here. I’m thinking of moving to either Houston or Dallas. A couple complaints I have:

1. Housing costs are insane (and I make well into the 6 figure range)
2. Related to 1, so many young people seem like they have either left Austin or moved to the outer parts of the city to save money. Most of my friends/dates are either 40+ or 21-23 (college students). As an early 30s single young professional (male), making friends and dating here have not been easy.
3. The airport is tiny and has barely any flights compared to Dfw or bush
4. Related to 2/3, the city is still not taken seriously by those in NY/LA/SF. I don’t care about this by itself but I worry about job impact and this likely relates to the meeting young professionals issue I have
5. All the fun stuff is wildly spread out with almost nothing near the city center (except lady bird lake perhaps)

1. I haven't done a big search on housing costs for Dallas or Houston, but I feel like they're on par for the Austin area. I know a couple in their late twenties/early 30s who moved from southeast Austin to Houston who were going to pay to pay the same amount (around 2k) for their new place in Houston that they were here in Austin before their rent went up for the renewal. They relocated because she's a lawyer and found the Houston market to be better for her skill set. What about San Antonio? Rent wise it's probably a few years behind Austin, probably like $1000 average 1/1 rent compared to our $1300 now. And then you can be one of those people that comes up to Austin because San Antonio is lame.

2. Austin comes off as being a transient city to me. People live here 1-5 years tops (seems like you, huh?). People I met within my first year or two here, who seemed settled, and even bought homes here, have recently relocated. I moved here at 30 and have been here 7 years and have not had a problem connecting to people my age. It really depends on what kinds of things you like doing. What is your circle like? What activities are you doing? Did COVID put a stop to you connecting to people in your age range? I won't fault that I do have a chunk of younger neighbors who I adore and younger friends in my running circle. I also have a few older friends as well, those I connected with primarily through church activities. Dating is lame. I will give you that. But, dating is lame period.

3. You have to remember that Austin is a small town showing off as a big city. It's not a hub. Of course, it's not going to have as many flights. Shoot, I still compare flights between ABIA and San Antonio when I fly. ABIA is trying, but again, we are a small town.

4. Who says we have to be taken seriously?

5. What "fun stuff" do you like to do?

Ultimately, as others have said, it's your choice. Go stay in an AirBnB in a few neighborhoods you like for a while in both cities. Find activities you like to do there. Maybe post in those forums to see what they think?

[texan2yankee]

From my experience of growing up in Dallas, living in Houston and now living in Austin.

Dallas is cliquey because many people grow up there and never leave (except temporarily for college) so have lots of old friends and don't need new relationships. You might find it difficult to make friends unless you already have friends in Dallas or have work colleagues willing to bring you into their singles friendship group.

Houston is a very different city to Dallas. There are more transplants from all over the country/world. Making new friends and dating is easier than Dallas if that is your goal. Also, if upward professional mobility is important Houston has more business prestige than Dallas. Austin has no prestige, imo.

I would never live in Austin if I wasn't married. This is a university town and a bedroom community suburb.

[CarnivalGal]

I can't really speak for Dallas, but Houston's prices have been going up pretty steadily too. It's not at Austin levels yet. I will say that I think Houston is MORE eclectic than Austin and is definitely more diverse.

[achtung baby]

I’m from NYC/Los Angeles, (so is my husband) and we both much prefer Houston to Austin.

Houston to us feels quite authentic and laid back, people here are overall very friendly and non-pretentious. I don’t know if it’s because we haven’t been spending enough time in Austin (kind of hard to when the traffic was just bottle-neck back to back.) we just haven’t felt the vibe that media was raving about. The 6th street area seems very energetic and fun but other than that no dice in being wowed away.

We chose between Dallas & Houston and spent enough time visiting both cities. Right off the bat we felt more connected to Houston, the energy and the coastal air spoke more to us. Houston is also very green and lush, we stay away from anywhere that looks brown, dark and has cold winter so naturally Houston wins.

To me Houston’s semi tropical/tropical air and very rich cultural amenities are among what I feel the most connected to. Any place you end up living, you have to feel connected to or it won’t make sense. For your long term wellbeing, you have to love where you are.