Austin versus similar size markets (Houston, Dallas: crime, how much, job market)

[eepstein]

I am so sick and tired of hearing people tell me how much better Austin is than nearly every other metro area of similar size. I guess I am looking for someone to actually put up some FACTS here about how Austin is any better than similar size cities. I have ever heard people say that Austin is better than metro areas 3 and 4 times its size (Dallas, Houston). Complete crap. Anyways, I wanted to compare a few of these "lesser" cities that I have either lived in phyiscally, or spent large amounts of time in. Lets take a look at some of those "other" cities that people on this board seem to love to bash.

We have Omaha, KC, and Tulsa--lets just go with those cities.

1.) Austin has the hillbilly country and it's "glorious". It is a fact that all of the cities mentioned above have significant areas of rolling hills with trees surrounding their cities (or just outside) of these cities. They, too offer lots of hiking opportunities and other outdoor activities.

2.) Austin has Lake Travis within the glorious hillbilly country. Once again, each of the other cities has several large lakes nearby with lots of boating opps for people.

3.) Austin has a large university. Again, all of these other cities do as well--KC has MULITPLE large universities throughout its metro area. Not as large as UT, but only slightly smaller in many cases.

4.) Austin has great nightlife. This is probably the ONLY thing that Austin can better cities of similar size. True, it does have 6th street, but KC has Westport, Omaha has old market district, and Tulsa has numerous bars and clubs in its downtown area. People party in all of these cities as well.
All of these other cities ALSO have live music venues.

5.) Austin has a great job market. That isn't so much true anymore. Probably not much better than the other cities--many cities in the midwest didn't get hit as hard as other parts of the country. There are high tech offerings in ALL of the other cities as well.

Now lets take a look at all of the area's AUstin FAILS when it is compared.

Austin has by far the worst traffic of these cities
Austin has the worst freeway network (horse and buggy roadsystem)
Austin has the worst public transportation
Austin has the highest housing prices
Austin has the smallest airport (with KC being the largest of the bunch)
Austin has the least amount of biking trails of any of these other cities

From what I can see, the ONLY reason to live in Austin over these other cities would be. A) Warmer winters B) Slightly lower overall crime C) Better public image (heavily boosted by the media)

So, WHY are people moving here?? Is it based on any REAL differences???

[jobert]

I have spent time in those other cities, and thought they were okay, but found them not to my liking after a while. KC was better for gay people and water fountains, Tulsa had more casinos, Omaha had better steak restaurants, but I found the women to be more "handsome" in each of these places. Sorry to be superficial, but the sunshine and attractiveness of people in Austin are two QOL issues that are important to me. Personal preference, though. I can't stand KC barbeque and the underlying chicago-prohibition-mafia -legacy culture in the dining and historical attractions. Omaha was a wasteland outside of town, and it seems that no one has built anything or bought a car in Omaha since 1973 for some reason - wtf? Tulsa is Oklahoma, and that's just unpatriotic. There are not enough attractions near Tulsa to make it worth it, unless you like the ozarks 3 hours away, or the beach 8 hours away. I don't consider Austin as "fly-over" like I would those others with it's proximity to 3 of the 10 largest cities in the country a puddle-jumper, or 2.5 hour car ride away.


Why do you dislike a town so much that you've lived in for 14 years?

[shankaupas]

Oh now I see your point, I'm booking my one way ticket to Omaha.

[Paulmmm]

I'm not going to take the bait of getting into an argument of where Austin stands in relationship to other cities, especially with someone who constantly bashes Austin in almost every post. But just out of curiosity, why did you start this thread? Do you hope to learn something? To prove to others that they're wrong and you're right? To discourage others from moving here? To get suggestions on how your time can be happier here? To tell others here who think they're happy that they're really not? What's the point?

I don't think there's anything wrong with you believing that Austin is overrated and you don't like being here, but I can't understand why you think there is something wrong with people believing it isn't overrated and who do like being here. What do you get by telling others that what they feel is "complete crap?"

[atxcio]

Omaha and Tulsa aren't similar-sized metros to Austin. KC is.

If you are so tired of hearing about how great Austin is, best I can recommend is to move to another city. I hear Omaha is nice.

[hoffdano]

eepstein - It has long been obvious you detest Austin and everything about it. You must wake up every morning in a bad mood.

I feel bad for you because most of us here wake up happy.

My biggest problem though with much of what you post is that you want to tout some objective reason why Austin sucks so much but so often your opinions AREN'T backed by facts. Air pollution, water quality, crime, blah blah blah.

Any attempt to be taken seriously is compromised by comments like "hillbilly country."

I'll pick one thing you listed. Omaha's airport is decidedly smaller than ABIA by any measure. 397 flights per week vs. 302 per day. More than twice as many passengers per year to/from ABIA. 20 gates in Omaha vs. 25. Please explain how Omaha's airport is bigger (or better).

Another - lakes. Austin has a collection of lakes for residents to choose from. Omaha has just a few - the largest is just 900 acres. Lake Manawa, the closest, is 772 acres. It is only 11 feet deep. How can you say Omaha has lots of boating opportunities?

KC on the other hand looks like some very nice lakes are nearby.

Omaha and KC probably are very good places to live. I have not one thing bad to say about them. For many people Omaha and KC may be GREAT places to live.

But I'm not interested in chasing data for this topic.

Many people seem to like it here, even with the faults. I don't think those of us that like here have blogs or websites telling the US to move here. Neither do we say other fine cities suck.

[txtoal]

LOL, Jobert, I couldn't stop laughing at the gays and water fountain comment. No disrespect to anyone, but just reading it made me laugh.

Eepstein, why are you still in Austin or even Texas for that matter? You obviously hate it here. If you are that unhappy, why don't you move? Just an honest question.

[jobert]

Funny, but truthful. KC has the second most gay people per capita of any major US city second to SF. It also has the second most fountains per capita of any other city in the world - second to Rome. My wife and I pretty much were deciding between Austin and KC, but Austin nosed out ahead due to climate and culture.

[tongpa-nyi]

Originally Posted by eepstein

I am so sick and tired of hearing people tell me how much better Austin is than nearly every other metro area of similar size.
...
From what I can see, the ONLY reason to live in Austin over these other cities would be. A) Warmer winters B) Slightly lower overall crime C) Better public image (heavily boosted by the media)

So, WHY are people moving here?? Is it based on any REAL differences???

Why do you stay here?

Who is telling you that Austin is better than other places? I've lived here since 1990 and I encounter someone saying Austin is better about once a year. I do hear people often say that they love Austin. So do I. So I choose to live here.

Seems like you should do all you can to move somewhere that you'd find more enjoyable, or is it possible that you would take your attitude with you and find things to hate about any other city you might live in?

Please accept my apologies if you're literally stuck here. That can't be fun if that's your situation.

[txtoal]

Jobert, really? I thought Dallas had the most after SF? Sure seems like there are alot here but the statics may have changed.