Austin vs. Seattle? (Parker, Magnolia, Vega: apartment complex, rental, month-to-month)

[Mike78613]

Originally Posted by anjim

Hey Mike,
Thanks for replying. I think I will love it there as well and I love the sun and heat, so there is no problem there. It is super gray here in seattle. July and August is great, but the other ten months-not so much! Is there any place I could live w/out having a car in Austin? I would be renting for a while, before buying. Thanks for any info!

I'm not sure, I have to commute by vehicle

I guess it really has to depend on where you will be working at. There is a lot of "Capital Metro bus stations" around Austin. Check them out at:

Capital Metro Transit - Austin, Texas

[anjim]

Thanks for the info. I can really live any place as I am my own boss the metro info will be very helpful. Thanks again.

[Mckellyb]

Yeah, it's good to hear a balance of comments. Like others, I lived in the PNW for a few years, five, actually, from '00-'05. We were in the Portland-area, which is like the PNW's funky weather training area. Clouds and incessant drizzle from September to June. There are a couple of months in the winter when I didn't see our house's exterior in the light unless it was the weekend. A nice combination of short daylight hours and cloudcover.

Now summer was lovely. 2-3 months of clear skies, sun, everything is green. Here are some odd things. Portland and Dallas, Dallas, Texas, not Dallas, Oregon, have almost idential rainfall totals...around 35 inches. Portland receives theirs over the course of 8 months...Dallas gets it in 8 days. If you don't want dead grass come summertime, you'd better have a sprinkler system...which is difficult to process until you've been there a couple of years.

I found the state/local government there to be more than a little socialist, as well, which went all over me. "You can't cut down a tree on your own property without county approval, first." Um, you're kidding, right? Wait, I'm not allowed to pump my own gasoline, either?! The funny thing is a straight answer is never given when questions arise.

This is Moronegon, er, Oregon, however, not WA.

Density is rewarded up that way. Maximum people on minimal land. There isn't really a reason for it, other than someone apparently wanted to construct an urban Shangri La in which private vehicle ownership is punished. Didn't work. Again, Portland. Seattle has some bona-fide geographical restrictions.

I couldn't tolerate it, so we moved, much to my wife's dismay, as she's a hardcore gardener.

There are upsides, however. You can grow pretty much anything which resides on the planet. I'd swear I could plant a pebble and grow a road, which the area desperately needs. The ocean is close, though you'll not likely want to visit much of the year...windy and cold is the weather of the day for 3/4 of the year. The remaining 1/4 is a tossup.

Gardening tip. If you want to grow squash for a family of 6, plant one seed for one plant. Even then, you might get rather tired of it. A dozen plants supplied more squash than our entire neighborhood could use.

Interesting facts about Seattle. Highest per-capita sales for sunglasses. Yeah, 'cause you forgot where you left them, last year.... I want to say it has the higest rate of depression, too, though that may have changed with the housing market falling apart in other places. Vegas should be rather high on the list, for more than a few reasons....

Texas, mind you, isn't for everyone, and for anyone deciding to try it here, it is imperitive you not say, "it wasn't like this back home", or, "where I'm from, we do it this way". If you have that attitude, you will likely be outright disliked, much less welcomed. Think about how you'd feel if someone from Texas, or anywhere else for that matter, moved to your 'hood would be treated if they did the same.

I'm unsure as to what it is about Texas which gives outsiders the idea it is a blank canvas to do with what they think is correct. We have our own ways, traditions, ideas, entertainment, concept of what Americanized Italian food should be, etcetera. Remember, it's the only US state which has also been an independent country...don't make us take it back to that status... 8-P

Oh, and if you compare housing costs...you may think they are not using the same currency.

After doing some quick math on Canby, OR, vs. Buda, TX, the tax rates (income/property vs. sales/property) wind up being about the same, though in OR, you pay tax on every single cent you earn, vs. TX where you pay tax only on what you spend. This can be a huge benefit in certain cases. The overall cost-of-living is lower here (i.e. housing removed), but it's slowly evening out across the country, save for the obvious places...San Francisco, Chi-town, NYC, Boston, the giant places.

[anjim]

Thanks for the gardening info. I had actually started to get into gardening, but we decided to move soon, so that would be kind of pointless. I heard it was great gardening in Oregon with the exception of Bend? Not sure if that's true? I'm glad the gardening is good in Texas! As for saying "we did such and such this way back home" -that would not likely come out of my mouth. I'm moving because my love for Seattle has ended. I don't want to be any place that is like Seattle. I did grow up here, but I have lived in many other places and when I move to other places I am there and that is where I want to be. I try to accept change, not resist it. I am a person that adapts quite well. So I am looking forward to exploring a new place and to meeting great people. I do have family in Austin so they will help in getting me aquainted with the city.

[Mckellyb]

Originally Posted by anjim

Thanks for the gardening info. I had actually started to get into gardening, but we decided to move soon, so that would be kind of pointless. I heard it was great gardening in Oregon with the exception of Bend? Not sure if that's true? I'm glad the gardening is good in Texas! As for saying "we did such and such this way back home" -that would not likely come out of my mouth. I'm moving because my love for Seattle has ended. I don't want to be any place that is like Seattle. I did grow up here, but I have lived in many other places and when I move to other places I am there and that is where I want to be. I try to accept change, not resist it. I am a person that adapts quite well. So I am looking forward to exploring a new place and to meeting great people. I do have family in Austin so they will help in getting me aquainted with the city.

Bend is east of the Cascade mountains, so it's actual desert, even though it's not ultra-hot. It's high desert, much like eastern Colorado, and you don't hear of crops growing there.... Good reason for it.

Eastern Oregon is essentially way northern Nevada. Really, it is.

Now, you can do gardening in TX, but beware, come August, if we're having a hot year, you'll have pre-stewed tomotoes to pick.

What's interesting about the, "that's not how we do it in X", that can apply to Dallas referring to Ft. Worth, San Antonio referring to Austin, and Houston referring to anywhere....

Yeah, I, like a most "true" Texans, am not big on Houston. ;-) They's just different, y'know... Must be the humidity.

[jread]

Mckellyb, were you talking about great gardening in Oregon or in Texas? I assumed Oregon due to the mild climate and abundant rain. I've found gardening to be great in East Texas but absolutely terrible here in Austin (shallow, rocky soil... not enough moisture).

[Mckellyb]

Originally Posted by jread

Mckellyb, were you talking about great gardening in Oregon or in Texas? I assumed Oregon due to the mild climate and abundant rain. I've found gardening to be great in East Texas but absolutely terrible here in Austin (shallow, rocky soil... not enough moisture).

Oregon, though Central Texas shouldn't be too bad, although you will have to do a large amount of soil prep or outright soil changing, and man-made irrigation is a given.

What I'd do, well, what I'm going to do, as I know it's something I'll tackle in the future, is dig up an area of the yard my wife wants as a garden, probably to six inches deep, maybe 8, remove it and I'll put down good soil in its place. This should last indefinitely. Home Depot isn't going to cut it, I'll probably wind up having a full yard delivered.

I'm likely going to regret saying this...and volunteering to make a good gardening area...though I likes me some home-grown veggies.

[jwb123]

I love gardening here - I have been able to grow much more here than in WA. The really neat and pretty plants to look at, usually need a lot of sun...

[jread]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I love gardening here - I have been able to grow much more here than in WA. The really neat and pretty plants to look at, usually need a lot of sun...

What plants are you growing and what are you doing to take care of them? Our lawn has only a few inches of top soil, then the after that it's just caliche and rocks. I had to use a pick axe to plant our trees (which was ridiculous). I've also had trouble maintaining the lawn without having to dump tons of water on it during the warm months (with the exception of this past summer). I'm in Southwest Austin which is considerably rockier than the eastern or northern areas.

[jwb123]

I am having a great deal of luck in particular, with my crape myrtles, butterfly iris, agapanthis, lantana, clematis and jasmine.... but haven't really had any of my plants die on me. For where I am, full sun items have been the happiest. My roses are doing well. My avacado and peach trees look GREAT - but no fruit yet.

I just planted some mexican hair, and this whitish/green shrub thing with purple flowers... I don't remember the name.

I also have ajuga as filler/ground cover and hostas as well as a couple of other hardy shade loving things in a few areas.

I did what the poster above said, and built up the beds a bit with good soil, and took some rock and clay out.

I don't have to water too much really... and my grass is gorgeous. I have St. Augustine. I water 2-3 times a week, for 10 minutes a zone.