Please give me 10 reasons why NOT to move to the Austin area. (Marshall: RV park, rental)

[AK123]

Originally Posted by MJT

I've been in Austin 25 years now, and it is quickly becoming the snottiest, most aggressive, pretentious city on the planet. I HATE it. The Hill Country is beautiful, but nothing like the Pacific Northwest. The people here are rude beyond comparison, with a Texas-size appetite for entitlement and vulgarity. I'm here by necessity, not by choice, and I'd leave in a heartbeat if I could. Austin is nothing like it used to be, and certainly not what people make it out to be.

Sorry to hear about that... I thought Austin was great in the early 90's but it's gone downhill since then. Maybe all those people moving there? It's the city's own fault though, and the national media for over-hyping the place. We ended up in Houston and like it better in many ways, miss Austin's scenery though.

[imaterry78259]

I like the Downtown Whole Food store- the best GS in the USA. I hate that the Austinite think there city is the best thing since slice bread

[jread]

I've only been in Austin for 7-years and have noticed that it's drastically different from the way it used to be. Some of this is good (densification of downtown, projects such as Mueller) and some of it is bad (snotty people, worse traffic, more conservative). Only time will tell "who" Austin will be when it's finally done redefining itself.

[Trainwreck20]

snotty people

That is mainly due to the allergies .

[love roses]

I thought we were doing good with not having too many snotty people, but I ran into two this week who were just too snotty for their own good. One was in the grocery store (who I did talk back to) and the other one was in a parking lot. You know the ones:" I'm in too much of a hurry to wait for you to complete backing out of this parking space, so I'm going to go around you no matter that you already made it out of the space and are turning your wheel to get around them and drive forward." So Mr. hurry pants tries to go down another lane in the parking lot to beat me to the main road, and then ends up 3 cars behind me anyway. The other one, at the store tried to gripe at me for going past her on an aisle. She made an uncalled for comment, and I wasn't in the greatest mood myself, so I answered back. I wanted to say something about her not being from here, but who really knows? Natives can be grouchy too.

[austin-steve]

snotty people

I was scratching my head over the "snotty people" comments, searching my memory for examples.

Oh, of course one can encounter rude idiots in Austin. Impatient, selfish people propogate the planet, and Austin is no exception.

Overall though, unless it's like the "frog in boiling water" syndrome and I just haven't noticed, I think Austin remains as friendly and cheerful as it was when I moved here in the mid-1980s.

Steve

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

I like the Downtown Whole Food store- the best GS in the USA. I hate that the Austinite think there city is the best thing since slice bread

Short and sweet. Your message, that is. I agree with all of it. Through this forum and some of the feedback I've received, I'm learning to moderate my own snootiness (I can't stop being snotty for reasons explained by Trainwreck), but I've tended to be snooty in my anti-snootiness campaign.

So goes the world. We always tend to dislike in others what we need to deal with in ourselves. I hate the fact that Austin is becoming more snooty, which is a sure sign that I'm probably part of the problem, not the solution. I need to get over my anti-Dominion complex. But I won't. I'm pathologically fixated on the ills created by materialism and income disparity, and I wish the world had more artists, poets, dancers and musicians, and fewer lawyers and salespeople. Alas... I'm on the wrong planet. Perhaps I'll be reincarnated as a dog and will learn to love the pleasures lavished upon me by a real estate developer, thus generating a more positive attitude in my heart towards these humans who are simply trying to make a living while solving the problem of housing people.

Everyone is welcome on this planet, nobody gave me the right to turn it into a private nightclub where I can pick and choose who gets to live here. But don't we all sometimes wish we had that power? To simply look at someone and say "Sorry, you're creepy, move to another city!"

[Trainwreck20]

I think I would have to agree with Steve....the difference between 'snotty' and impatient or rude is key. I think Austin has gotten a lot more impatient, but I am not sure that I can think of an example of 'snotty'.

snotty - used colloquially of one who is overly conceited or arrogant.

Edit: Actually, sitting here thinking about it, I can recall a couple of 'snotty' incidents over the last couple of years...but I don't think that there is more than before, there have always been a few .

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

snotty - used colloquially of one who is overly conceited or arrogant.

Edit: Actually, sitting here thinking about it, I can recall a couple of 'snotty' incidents over the last couple of years...but I don't think that there is more than before, there have always been a few .

Since 1990 my encounters my "snotty" (or "snooty" as I prefer ) have most certainly increased. Perhaps it's because I'm snooty and I tend to go to places that attract snooty people...?

Examples of this can be most easily found in restaurants. In 1990, I never encountered impatient customers who demanded instant service and wouldn't jawbone with the waitstaff. Now I see impatient demanding behavior on a regular basis, and I especially notice it from newcomers who are accustomed to the fast-paced urban efficiency of places like Los Angeles and New York. They have to be trained to slow down and chat with people, enjoy the moment instead of looking at their watches every 30 seconds to see how long it's taking for them to get the Argentinian Malbec they ordered, as they look askance (with blood pressure soaring) at their waitperson casually chatting to someone at another table.

This is what I don't want to lose in Austin. I love the fact that I can stand in a grocery store checkout line and get a group conversation going with customers and workers, all laughing together, slowing things down, knowing that none of us will see each other again. But we're appreciating each other in that moment and taking our minds off of whatever problems and agendas were preoccupying us.

It's healthier to put a priority on community and communication rather than constantly being goal-oriented and treating others as mere instruments to achieve our end game. Cuz, lets face, it, the end game is death. No exceptions, we all share that in common. So, let's enjoy life together.

[austinese]

Overall though, unless it's like the "frog in boiling water" syndrome and I just haven't notived, I think Austin remains as friendly and cheerful as it was when I moved here in the mid-1980s.

I agree. I think Austin is still more friendly than not, but it is definitely not a utopia totally devoid of unpleasant people, or more accurately, people who act in an unpleasant manner at times.

As with any place, there's the image and then the reality. Apparently, Austin still has the image of a laid-back, liberal oasis where everyone is easy-going and friendly. Some people now swoon nostalgically about the old Austin that they miss so much. Maybe I came here too late ('83), and therefore missed the "magic" of the old Austin, but whatever this magic was I really think that it was probably only magical for people who were in a certain place in life at the time. Maybe the town worked well for young single people on a limited income who loved music and hanging out at Barton Springs pool. I mean for how long can one frequent hang-outs like the Armadillo and Liberty Lunch, bar-hop on 6th street, and eat bland Tex-Mex food? (As John Kelso noted in one of his columns, it seemed as if the same cook worked for each and every Tex-Mex place in town) Sure, Austin used to be much more affordable, but I don't know for how long one can remain content with the limited choices and lack of dynamism that seem to accompany affordability.