Austin Trip Report from a Californian June 2nd - June 5th

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by DWong

Ok this came from a previous poster about Austin, would you say these are true to some extent or just completely false?

1. Bad traffic, and a car is absolutely crucial hereYes
2. Becoming homogenized (anywhere USA)Yes, the suburbs are
3. Hellishly hot in the summerYep
4. Not very diverse-- not a lot of quality ethnic foodNo, about right for the size city we are
5. In Texas (Ignorance, backwardsness, crazy christian-fascists who want to control others' lives)Most of Texas is like that, Austin isn't...or hasn't been up to now.
6. Unattractive sprawl: Walmarts, highway access road developments, cookie cutter subdivisionsAbsolutely
7. Not as pretty as locals think it is, relative to the rest of the US.If we can keep the developers on a leash, it's a beautiful city
8. Far from the ocean, mountains, other worthwhile citiesFar is relative...4 hour drive to the Gulf
9. Almost no real walkable neighborhoods, and the few neighborhoods worth anything are becoming prohibitively expensive for most people Yes
10. Cops are out of control (probably not a concern if you are white/middle class though)

Don't taze me, bro

Many points you bring up are true, but it's important to distinguish between central Austin and the suburbs.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

I don't know about not doing dinner at Fliphappy. That Cuban Crepe looked pretty good to me. I LOVE Cuban Sandwiches and theirs looked right up there w/ the best of them even though it was on a crepe.

I LOVED their Airstream trailer set-up and all of the big trees. Bobby Flay showed up pulling a new Airstream and they were a lil ticked but in a good way. Okay...... gotta stop talking bout those crepes or I might have to make a day trip to Austin on Saturday

Honestly, we just didn't know about the place or we might have tried dinner there. As it was, we were going to Green Mesquite for some BBQ and to see a band... we just happened to park right next to FlipHappy and decided to try it on the way back. Had no idea about the tv show or anything.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by shaxs

Conclusion – I love Texas. Being native born and gone for 18 years, I want to come back. The biggest obstacle was whether or not I could get my SoCal since birth wife to move. Well guess what? She fell in love with Austin. She loved the school, the people, the area- everything except maybe the weather. .

my wife is from so cal too. She cried every day for the first 30 days she was here Then for the first year she compared everything in austin to so cal. shopping not as good etc.

Now 6 years later when we go to so cal she says it is way too crowded and the people arent friendly. I personally would love to move to so cal, but she loves austin now.

[shaxs]

Originally Posted by Austin97

my wife is from so cal too. She cried every day for the first 30 days she was here Then for the first year she compared everything in austin to so cal. shopping not as good etc.

Now 6 years later when we go to so cal she says it is way too crowded and the people arent friendly. I personally would love to move to so cal, but she loves austin now.

Good to hear she now loves it. SoCal isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[kittyhawk]

Originally Posted by jread

The relative humidity is not the indicator for the comfort of the air, the Dew Point is the best measure of that. Houston regularly sits at 70+ degree dew points which makes for absolute misery, while Austin's is usually in a comfortable range (60-ish). I mean, the relative humidity in San Diego is higher than it is in Austin most of the time, but it still "feels" a lot drier. Same concept. I personally grew up east of Houston and there is no comparison as far as "mugginess" between Houston and Austin; Houston is a LOT worse!

Well maybe its just me but Austin is just as uncomfortable as Houston during the summer. I suppose the futher east and towards the coast you go, the more humid (and the higher the dewpoint is). I'm sure you know this if you lived "east of Houston" as you said.

However, to say that Austin is "comfortable" during the summer for those who don't like heat is just plain silly and is exactly the kind of misinformation I was originally referring to.

[tashina]

couple things:

One..last year it was humid all over Texas. In general, I think Austin might be about the same or a little more humid than Dallas...this is just a nicer year for weather...last year was really weird.

Also:
"8) It is far from mountains and the ocean. That is true. So what? There are other things to do like the lakes, the hill country, and others. Again, it is just different. IT IS NOT CALIFORNIA. Which is great in my opinion. It is also close to other great cities. The DFW metroplex is only 3 hours away and San Antonio is not that far either."

I lived in Austin, and am now in Plano. I think it's much better in Dallas for Californians. Why have Dallas 3 hours away, when you can live in North Dallas and be 20 minutes away and have great shopping and fewer bugs and a billion trees (more than I saw in Austin even). And every other house has a pool. Seems much more Southern Californian to me. People are just as nice here as in Austin, but the city services are so much better and you have the choice of so many little funky towns or urban living or whatever you want. I don't want to come to the Austin forum just to talk it down, but I do want to post for California threads where Austin is the first Texas city that a Californian may see. I had to move to Austin first because of the job transfer, and I never liked Austin as much as San Diego. I actually do like Plano as much as San Diego. Just check out the Dallas area if you have a choice.

[TexasHorseLady]

Okay, here's a question. Why on earth (given a choice) would one move to Texas if one wanted to live in a place just like California? (Or vice versa, for that matter.) Seems to defeat the entire purpose of packing up and moving all of one's worldly belongings a thousand miles away from the place you came from.

[tashina]

"Why on earth (given a choice) would one move to Texas if one wanted to live in a place just like California?"

Umm...because a 2800 sq ft gorgeous house with tons of interior trim and character and a swimming pool in a lovely neighborhood (in Plano) is $230k and the same house in the area of San Diego I lived in (comparable area) would be what? 700k? 800k?

I love San Diego and all and I would have stayed there forever probably if I could have bought a (nice) house for $230k. Also, living in Texas, I don't have to work at all if I don't want to. Could lie by the pool all day. MUCH harder to do in San Diego.

I still love California, but it doesn't make sense monetarily. Sure, I'd still be there if it was the only place I could be happy. But I've found happiness in Plano and will visit my home town whenever I get too lonely.

[shaxs]

Oh Also, I am not allowed to but the forum name of the Realtor who helped me, but if you need a GREAT Realtor, PM me and I will give you her forum name or contact info. She was absolutely fabulous.

[jread]

Originally Posted by kittyhawk

Well maybe its just me but Austin is just as uncomfortable as Houston during the summer. I suppose the futher east and towards the coast you go, the more humid (and the higher the dewpoint is). I'm sure you know this if you lived "east of Houston" as you said.

However, to say that Austin is "comfortable" during the summer for those who don't like heat is just plain silly and is exactly the kind of misinformation I was originally referring to.

I said Austin was at a comfortable dew point, meaning the humidity is not oppressive like it is in Houston. You will NEVER hear me say that Austin is "comfortable" overall in the summer, though! In fact, I probably hate the summer more than anyone on this entire forum