Does Austin really live up to the hype? (Denton: real estate, condos)

[travelknows]

After reading all the recent articles which cite Austin as "the place to live", one has to wonder if the city is actually that great. I've heard the traffic is terrible, it's excruciating hot, and it's becoming way over-crowded. Please offer some input. Be honest.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by travelknows

After reading all the recent articles which cite Austin as "the place to live", one has to wonder if the city is actually that great. I've heard the traffic is terrible, it's excruciating hot, and it's becoming way over-crowded. Please offer some input. Be honest.

As someone who lived there for six years and no longer lives there...no. The traffic is abominable, it's hotter than DFW, and it is over-crowded. 15 years ago it was perfect.

[llkltk]

I moved here from Seattle over seven years ago. Austin is okay, not as good as Seattle or San Francisco. It doesn't seem too overcrowded, the traffic isn't as bad as some other areas, I never really understand why people complain about it. The commute from the city to N. Austin is around 35 minutes which isn't bad at all. The negative part is that if you want to live in Austin proper, it will cost you. In my opinion, it is way to expensive for Texas. I hate that I have to pay 300K for some semi-custom home shoved on way too small of lot. But, hey, that's what you get here. If you want to live in the city, you'll get a small house that will cost you lots of money in repairs for around 450K. To me it's not worth it to live in the city for that kind of money for 1000 square feet. There isn't a whole lot to do besides eat in tex mex restaurants. In fact, I think the food here is actually nothing to write home about. I've eaten in so many pacific coast restaurants and the food cannot even begin to compare. i guess every town sucks in some way.

[artsyguy]

Hi

I've lived in Austin for about 8 weeks and I think the city is good but it is not some wonderful amazing paradise. I came from Denton, so Austin is like a nice wonderful gush of fresh air.

There is good shopping. The hill areas are beautiful and green. The churches are neat and very friendly. The UT campus is cool. The people around austin are pretty laid back and outwardly friendly. There is more people than the smaller cities, so you get more opinions, attitudes, and styles of life rather than just one. Austin is more democratic, so if you like democrats then you will like Austin.

On the bad side it is HOT but so is most all of Texas. The humidity is higher here than in DFW. It is pretty far from the ocean. There isn't much to do here but go to the nude beach or get drunk at the bars and dance clubs.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

Hi

I've lived in Austin for about 8 weeks and I think the city is good but it is not some wonderful amazing paradise. I came from Denton, so Austin is like a nice wonderful gush of fresh air.

There is good shopping. The hill areas are beautiful and green. The churches are neat and very friendly. The UT campus is cool. The people around austin are pretty laid back and outwardly friendly. There is more people than the smaller cities, so you get more opinions, attitudes, and styles of life rather than just one. Austin is more democratic, so if you like democrats then you will like Austin.

On the bad side it is HOT but so is most all of Texas. The humidity is higher here than in DFW. It is pretty far from the ocean. There isn't much to do here but go to the nude beach or get drunk at the bars and dance clubs.

We were thinking of moving to Denton or near to it in a year or two...what's wrong with the area? Why didn't you like it?

[OneDayInSomewhere]

There isn't much to do here but go to the nude beach or get drunk at the bars and dance clubs.

A nude beach? Seriously?

[pastrygirl]

Yes, Austin is one of the places to move to right now. I moved here a year and a half ago. I've really liked it so far, but am thinking about moving again. I'm from the northeast and just miss the 4 seasons too much. It is HOT, and humid, especially this year. But there are a ton of things to do, there is always something going on downtown, some show, festival, concert. And there are the 3 'lakes', the hill country, and numerous greenbelts to swim, hike, kayak, etc. Work is plentiful, but it's also crowded, housing prices are going way up, affordable housing being torn down, expensive condos going up, and lots o traffic. Generally the people are laid back, huge college town (UT), and funky, hippie, tattooed people are just the norm. Just depends what you're looking for in a city.

[guy cal]

Originally Posted by travelknows

After reading all the recent articles which cite Austin as "the place to live", one has to wonder if the city is actually that great. I've heard the traffic is terrible, it's excruciating hot, and it's becoming way over-crowded. Please offer some input. Be honest.

you are correct the trafic is god awful real estate taxes are thru the roof it is one of the most expensive tows in america to live in ten or twelve years ago it was a wonderful city and voted the no 1 city in america now there are thousand of illegals the schools in most cases are sub par if you are a conserative your lfe here will be a nightmare its a santuary cityits so liberal it would make al sharpton look lihe a klu klux clan member good luck

[artsyguy]

I was surprised at how liberal and progressive the non-denomination churches are in Austin. I even see a bunch of emo and punk looking guys at church

Originally Posted by guy cal

you are correct the trafic is god awful real estate taxes are thru the roof it is one of the most expensive tows in america to live in ten or twelve years ago it was a wonderful city and voted the no 1 city in america now there are thousand of illegals the schools in most cases are sub par if you are a conserative your lfe here will be a nightmare its a santuary cityits so liberal it would make al sharpton look lihe a klu klux clan member good luck

[rakun]