Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-27-2007, 03:39 PM
 
46 posts, read 599,559 times
Reputation: 87

Advertisements

I thought it would be informative if those familiar with Austin, would list their top 5 positives and 5 negatives about the Austin Metro area. Thanks in advance.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-27-2007, 03:54 PM
 
Location: Brushy Creek
806 posts, read 2,883,889 times
Reputation: 556
If Austin was closer to, or by the gulf, I'd never leave....Only con I can think of. I'm a saltwater kind of guy. I won't bother with the Pros...Too many to mention and they've all been written about on this forum and elsewhere...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2007, 03:56 PM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,838,516 times
Reputation: 3672
For me...

Pros
- outdoor recreation
- scenery... hills, lakes, trees
- youthful population
- weather... sorry, I like hot weather
- laid-back atmosphere... who cares what designer you wear or what you drive (i.e. Dallas)

Cons
- traffic is terrible for a city this size
- big city amenities lacking... culture/arts mostly tied to the University, no pro sports, restaurant scene is so-so
- have to fly to larger airports (Houston, Dallas) to get most flights overseas and elsewhere
- even with zoning there are still too many billboards and ugliness along some freeways... this is a problem in many TX cities though

Can't think of a 5th con right now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2007, 04:05 PM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,838,516 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spookmeister View Post
If Austin was closer to, or by the gulf, I'd never leave....Only con I can think of. I'm a saltwater kind of guy. I won't bother with the Pros...Too many to mention and they've all been written about on this forum and elsewhere...
Good point!

If there was an Austin/Houston hybrid city (Austin's pros like hills and concern with keeping scenery combined with Houston's pros like big-city amenities), and that city was right on the Gulf (Houston's still an hour's drive to beaches)... I would never, ever leave that city!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2007, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Brushy Creek
806 posts, read 2,883,889 times
Reputation: 556
I'm still seeking that perfect opportunity in Corpus Christi. When it comes along... Greased lightning will have nothing on me!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2007, 04:49 PM
 
92 posts, read 761,504 times
Reputation: 32
I've been here a little less than a year and my biggest con is the traffic. The only other one I can think of is that housing prices are high.

There are way too many pros to list! But here are a few: people, hills, sites, restaurants, relaxed, safe, diversity, quirkiness....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2007, 05:31 PM
 
Location: Austin
70 posts, read 369,395 times
Reputation: 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dazed View Post
I've been here a little less than a year and my biggest con is the traffic. The only other one I can think of is that housing prices are high.
Not saying your wrong, but that's all relative. For instance, coming from Houston, the traffic's not so bad. Coming from CA, the housing prices are a steal! It's all about what you're used to!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2007, 10:19 PM
 
979 posts, read 2,954,904 times
Reputation: 621
Pros:
- Decent weather most of the year except during the extreme heat months
- Relatively affordable housing
- Lots of tech jobs
- Great texmex restaurants
- Laid back attitude. Dressing up here is dressing down.
- Nice scenery for Texas. Lakes, river, rolling hills to the West.
- Great downtown for a city this size: lots of stuff going on, safe, doesn't shutdown at 5pm.
- Outdoor oriented city. A good % of residents are into staying fit and enjoying outdoor activities.
- Great BBQ nearby
- Alamo Drafthouse
- Whole Foods @ 5th & Lamar
- Breakfast tacos



Cons:
- Property taxes
- Poor road infrastructure: the traffic in Austin seems like it is mostly due to lack of proper government planning.
- Weather during late July-October
- Too many texmex restaurants/not enough variety & quality in other restaurant choices
- Lack of direct flights
- Lack of nice movie theaters (Alamo drafthouse is great, but why can't we have an Arclight?). Regal stinks.
- No ocean
- No mountains/no skiing
- Panhandling problem has gotten much worse here since 2000.
- More zoning in some areas would be nice. Austin isn't Houston but some areas do look like it.
- Peet's coffee closed up shop and left. :^(
- Too much hype which is impossible for Austin to live up to.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2007, 02:27 PM
 
Location: Austin
4,105 posts, read 8,287,488 times
Reputation: 2134
Pros:
-Friendly and outgoing people, youthful and optimistic
-Great barbecue/Tex Mex
-American Dream is possible (house, car, job)
-Safe and mostly free of tension, laid back and casual
-Lots of great bars

Cons:
-A day's drive from anywhere else worthwhile
-Terrible suburban sprawl development and clueless drivers
-Hellfire weather in the summer
-"Beautiful" Hill Country consists of ugly scrublands and drying-up lakes
-Located in Texas
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2007, 07:42 PM
 
37 posts, read 161,251 times
Reputation: 20
Pros:
Scenery
Lakes
Housing prices are low
Overall cost of living is low
people
food!
people
nightlife
family life
people (did I already say that)
weather (I don't mind the 3 months in the summer)
airport (easy in and out)
No state tax (my paycheck is 10% larger!)
employment opportunities
toll roads

Cons:
I35 freeway
road system in general...always repairing
lack of ocean
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top