Relocating to Austin: a compilation of positives and negatives?

[eepstein]

Here's my replies in red.

Originally Posted by busterbrown73

My finance and I will be relocating to Austin this early spring and want to get some recent input on the metro area compared to other cities. I thought I'd pose the question, what makes Austin a sought after place to live and what should one consider before moving here from another big city like Detroit or Denver. Advantages and possible disadvantages (understanding that each may be ones own personal perspective). Things we'd love to get feedback on are:
1. Cost of living
Fairly affordable assuming you are from either of the coasts. If you are coming from midwest, southeast you will find housing prices to actually be higher than many other cities. Stay in the burbs for cheaper housing.
2. Housing prices
Most reasonable in the burbs. Make sure you stay west of I-35 if you can.
3. Crime
Mostly safe west of 35. Although nothing that could compare to the ghettos in San Antonio and Houston, i would still avoid any area east of 35 in central and south travis county.

4. Schools
Best schools are in Avery Ranch and Steiner. City of Austin is mostly average.
5. Things that make Austin unique
Very little, although most people on this board would try to make you think otherwise. Austin is a pretty basic everyday midsize town. Most of it's city amenties are actually far less than nearly every other metro area of similar size.
6. Pet friendly?
Cant really comment. I do know that there seem to be a lot of muts around these parts. But no more than any other place.

7. Commute times and traffic congestion
Mostly horrible unless you can benifit from the tollroads. The city of Austin has the among the worst transportation network of most cities HALF it's size. And no plans to do anything about it.

8. Shopping and night life
Mostly non existant with the exception of 6th street. Do yourself a favor and make than short drive to Dallas for shopping. You won't be disappointed.

9. Receptive and friendly culture?
Um no. I find most people in Austin to quite arrogant and full of themselves. They want you to bow to Austin just as they do. They worship UT and will shun you if you dont share the same beliefs. You will sometimes hear those comments like "OMG, north austin and round rock are like Dallas!!" Um, so that is a compliment??

10. Weather
Depends what you are used to. Coming from California, it's god awful. However, most winters dont get snow like this one. As I type this, the 2 inches of snow from yesterday is likely gone already. Summers are very hot, but luckily not very humid. Winters are constantly up and down with temps. NightFreezes are fairly regular in Dec-Feb.

Thanks again in advance.

[CAtoTX09]

Originally Posted by tongpa-nyi

At the risk of offending some people, I've especially noticed the impatience and intolerance coming from transplants from the west coast, where the sense of entitlement seems to course through people's blood. I'm from California myself and one of the charms of Austin for me was always that it's so much friendlier than California.

I think it depends where you're from specifically. California is a big place. Some areas are very friendly while others are downright unfriendly.

We moved from very laid-back coastal Orange County to San Antonio and nearly seven months later, we're sad to report that San Antonio is nowhere near as friendly. People are more polite on the surface (holding doors, saying "sir" and "ma'am", etc) but don't seem to have any interest in going any deeper than that. And people drive much more unfriendly/road rage than we experienced in OC.

Maybe Austin is better....

[nomore07]

tongpa-nyi, Javeing, and CAtoTX09 made some excellent points. The city has changed drastically over the past decade. Some attribute it to growth alone, but I believe it also comes from the personalities of those moving here and where they came from. I have lived in cities which were 4x more dense, yet these behaviors were less frequent or were handled differently.

[JERiv]

On the "Houston is dead on weekends", I can only base it on my visit. We stayed in the city itself, and walked around during the day. We couldn't even find places to eat, as all the restaurants were closed. It's like the city emptied for the weekend.

That doesn't happen in Austin.

I'm sure there's "stuff to do" somewhere in Houston (it's a big place). We did go to the zoo, for example, which is outside the city. But the city itself was pretty much empty.

[tongpa-nyi]

Originally Posted by JERiv

On the "Houston is dead on weekends", I can only base it on my visit. We stayed in the city itself, and walked around during the day.

Downtown Houston is a ghost town at night and on weekends, relative to other cities. It's something the city has tried to work on but there are so many "happening" areas near downtown, it's almost a pointless exercise. It's too bad you weren't aware of where to go for activities outside of the jaw-dropping cluster of skyscrapers in midtown.

[txtoal]

I agree with nomore07. All cities in TX have changed regarding the mass of personalities that have transplanted to TX. I try to keep an open mind but it is hard sometimes, especially being a native Texan.