Seattle to Austin…?

[love roses]

I gotcha jread, sorry to be so general..but places like Wimberly will eventually have some suburban sprawl, too. But I do know what you mean by cookie cutter. If I could have my way, I'd be in something as unique as possible. That's why we liked living in park hill in denver, because there were so many unique areas. Cheesman Park, Capital Hill,...We have some friends there that bought a turn of the century victorian and have done an awesome job restoring it.

[ATX1991]

Ok, a couple of things here:

I moved to Seattle in 2003 and moved back here in 2005. I spent one year downtown at 1st Ave and Broad Street and the other year out on Mercer Island. I really liked both of my Seattle homes for different reasons, but I really like Austin the best.

I currently live in Round Rock, which is apparently a horrible and cruel place to live. Haha.

I find Round Rock to be convenient to work, affordable, lots of shopping, schools are great, and it's very safe. However, you said you are looking for a walking neighborhood. I am not sure you'll find one this way (at least not what you are used to). In fact, most cities in the South don't really lend themselves to be 'walking cities'. They're simply too large/spread out and they developed much differently than most cities on the coasts did. For a point of comparison, Austin proper is over 3 times the size of Seattle. Austin currently has around 5500 people living downtown. Seattle has over 22,000. so one can see why we are mostly drivers down here.

That said, downtown Austin is really changing (and moving in that dense/mixed use direction). However, you won't be walking to Pike Street like we used to for quite some time. In fact, unless you want to pay a premium (e.g. buying groceries at Whole Foods), you'll be driving to the grocery store, too. I imagine as people move downtown, demand for services will increase in parallel and that will help.

There are lots of hidden gems in and around Austin, and if you are not looking for BIG, you can still find a couple deals on the East side. I think there might be some things you can find down south, as well. Austin is pretty easy to get around, and the outdoor opportunities abound. Like I said, I live in Round Rock, love the outdoors, live on a greenbelt, have big trees, grill all the time, and enjoy my organic garden. It works for me. For you, though, closer to downtown might be a better fit based on what you are used to and what you are looking for. I love it down there as well (the restaurants, the shops, the people, the neighborhoods, etc), but the benefits of being here outweigh a move (but that's just me).

One thing for sure - moving to Austin is a great move. Good luck!

[brattpowered]

I hate to tell you this, but I think you will be pretty disappointed in Austin as a whole. Granted, there are some older, walkable neighborhoods (that are very expensive) but they are few and far between, and car dependency is the status quo here-- even for people who live in the central city. Most people here seem to get off on road trips to Wal*Mart and the roar of their mighty engines. Austin is nothing like Seattle when it comes to walkability.

If you do choose to come down here, here are some of the neighborhoods you can live in to have the kind of lifestyle you are used to: Clarksville, near Lynn and 12th St; Hyde Park, near 43rd and Duval; West/North Campus, on Guadalupe from MLK to 30th st; S Congress near Mary Street, and vicinity; and portions of W 6th and Congress Ave downtown. Please keep in mind that these neighborhoods constitute a fraction of the available housing stock in Austin, and are relatively expensive.

Most of downtown is government office-fortresses and surface parking lots, so you may want to steer clear. The only real walkable area downtown is an overgrown fraternity drunk-tank (Sixth Street). Not much for walkability.

p.s. You can get quality seafood here, at a place called Quality Seafood. I am from New England and I can tell you, you won't be disappointed.

[malarkey]

Originally Posted by brattpowered

p.s. You can get quality seafood here, at a place called Quality Seafood. I am from New England and I can tell you, you won't be disappointed.

yay!! I'm happy to hear that, brattpowered. Access to good seafood is extremely important to me, as after 20 yrs of Seattle living, I'm primarily a seafood eater. I know I won't be seeing the same types, but that's OK.

[malarkey]

Originally Posted by ATX1991

For a point of comparison, Austin proper is over 3 times the size of Seattle. Austin currently has around 5500 people living downtown. Seattle has over 22,000. so one can see why we are mostly drivers down here.

One thing for sure - moving to Austin is a great move. Good luck!

Wow, so even though the population is less, it's spread out over more land. that makes sense, as Seattle as always been limited by its geography. But IMO that's part of what makes Seattle a beautiful city, all that water would be concrete and buildings if it weren't there.

Seattle is much more density driven these days. Anything new that goes up is going to be highrise condos on top with retail on the bottom. They actively allow houses zoned single family to have rental units. The old days of "the bank won't lend money on that because you have an illegal rental" are long over.

[Txstar]

Although austin is pretty spread out, there is ton's of development in downtown that will hoepfully bring thousands of people to live in downtown (that is the city's plan). Austin's skyline is going to look a lot different in a couple of years with several highrise residental buildings and some of those will be Austin's new tallest skyscrapers.

[brattpowered]

Malarkey-- I've been to Seattle, and you can actually get a lot of the same seafood here: Oysters, clams, shrimp, etc. They are all trucked in from the gulf. The place I mentioned (Quality Seafood) brings their fish in daily, and is a restaurant attached to a wholesale fish market--so you know it's always fresh. You can also get some other types of seafood in Austin, like catfish and crawfish. If you haven't tried poboy sandwiches yet, you can get plenty of those here too.

[mark456]

I wanted to get some insight into why people left seattle? Why move to Austin over other cities?

Could anyone give a comparison:
- pros/cons of living in seattle and austin
- friendliness of the people
- diversity (caucasion, indian, asian, greek)
- nightlife
- single life (seems as though seattle and austin are good places for singles)
- traffic
- weather

Thanks!

[love roses]

I've never lived in Seattle, but as for diversity in a Texas City, I think Houston has a more diverse population than Austin.

[malarkey]

Originally Posted by mark456

I wanted to get some insight into why people left seattle? Why move to Austin over other cities?

Could anyone give a comparison:
- pros/cons of living in seattle and austin
- friendliness of the people
- diversity (caucasion, indian, asian, greek)
- nightlife
- single life (seems as though seattle and austin are good places for singles)
- traffic
- weather

Thanks!

I'll take a stab at this:

Seattle:

lovely city, surrounded by salt water, fresh water & mountains
fabulous local seafood
lots of farmers markets
lots of artisan foods (ok, so I'm a foodie)
good diversity
liberal, progressive
decent economy, lots of high tech
close to the ocean, close to Vancouver BC, close to Portland OR
9-10 months of gray skies and drizzle & lotsa MUD and potential depression. believe me, if you are coming from a sunny clime, you WILL notice a difference in your energy level and attitude
Very Expensive cost of living & housing, I can't afford neighborhoods I DON'T want to live in
Traffic among the nations worst
nightlife, yes, but its mostly a young scene like 6th St is
Public transportation not great
takes a long time to make friends here
single life, well yes, if you live in city. less so if you live in the burbs with all the families.