Please give me 10 reasons why NOT to move to the Austin area. (Cedar Park: sales, to rent)

[brattpowered]

Originally Posted by sberdrow

Compareable actress:

Pac NW.....Scarlett johansen

Hill country...Lassie

I think Benji would be a better fit here...

[artsyguy]

Austin is somewhat boring.

[therewego]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

Austin is somewhat boring.

That is what I thought too. I can't believe someone else agrees. Yes, it is boring after you have done 6th street a few times, there is only Zilker park, and what museums? It is a college town....

[Bryceton]

i cant think of one reason why not to move to austin, big city and one of the safest too(thats going off cities i've been in) except cops AND TRAFFIC!!!

[JDTD]

Originally Posted by noplacelikeWA

We moved to TX (actually live in SA but spend tons of time in Austin) from north Seattle in April 2006, my DH is a Snohomish County native and I lived in the PNW for 21years, so heres my view since moving.

1. It's really downright ugly, (when compared to the PNW)
2. The infrastructure is a joke which fuels the traffic and bad driver problems
3. You have to drive everywhere to do anything
4. Because of the heat nobody does much outdoors except after dark
5. Locals get all excited about wild flowers growing along the highway (they actually stop and take family portraits) because there really is nothing else to enjoy about the landscape (when compared to the PNW)
6. The pools and waterparks are only open when school is out so even though it 80 degrees out from April to October, you can only cool off in the pools from June 1st to August 15th.
7. Count on driving a good distance (1+hrs) to get to the waterparks, theme parks, or beach
8. The property taxes are insane, and you will not save any $ over buying something here, you'll just get more house for your $
9. The best scenery they have to offer is in the hill country and it really is not impressive (when compared to the PNW)
10. The bugs also keep people indoors alot, mosquitoes and june bugs are everywhere

I LOVE all the sunshine and the heat, but I miss everything else about the PNW terribly. Good luck!

I live in the PNW right now (Snohomish County, WA). I thoroughly agree that Hill Country is nothing compared to the mountains of the PNW, but you can only see/enjoy them a couple months out of the year. Property taxes too high? Have you been to the PNW lately. You have to make 150-200,000 to even live "normal" here. Everyone...go on realtor. com and compare. Holy crap...you can't buy a shack in WA for what you can buy a really nice house in TX for. The average cost of a house in Seattle is like 500,000. And believe me...it's average. There are some places where you can't buy a 2,000 square foot house on .15 acres for under 650-700,000. Traffic? You want to see traffic, move to the PNW. I drove in Austin during rush hour here a while back. Absolutely freakin' nothing compared to the PNW's "normal" traffic. You have to drive everywhere to do anything? Uhhh...where exaclty did you live in Sno. Co.? There is nothing within an hour drive from here (in some cases that's only 10 miles) other than Wal Mart's, Casino's and chain-restaurants. At least there are water parks, theme parks, etc. down there. There is one waterpark that I know of up here. It's about a 1-1.5 hour commute on a good day, and it can be enjoyed for about 1-2 months (except this summer when we had 3 weeks of sun). Because of the heat, no one does much outdoors until after dark? At least you can go out after dark down there. It has been raining here for, I don't know...months. It's not going to stop for at least 3-4 more. Oh...I'm sorry...it hailed today and was about 40 degrees (32 with the wind-chill). Don't forget how little they put into the schools and our kids up here in the PNW. Gas is about 35 cents a gallon more expensive in the PNW. At one point, Diesel was about 70 cents a gallon more than TX. Food is about 25 percent higher up here. Overall taxes are much higher up here. The only thing...only thing that is better (that I can find) is the mountains up here.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by JDTD

I live in the PNW right now (Snohomish County, WA). I thoroughly agree that Hill Country is nothing compared to the mountains of the PNW, but you can only see/enjoy them a couple months out of the year. Property taxes too high? Have you been to the PNW lately. You have to make 150-200,000 to even live "normal" here. Everyone...go on realtor. com and compare. Holy crap...you can't buy a shack in WA for what you can buy a really nice house in TX for. The average cost of a house in Seattle is like 500,000. And believe me...it's average. There are some places where you can't buy a 2,000 square foot house on .15 acres for under 650-700,000. Traffic? You want to see traffic, move to the PNW. I drove in Austin during rush hour here a while back. Absolutely freakin' nothing compared to the PNW's "normal" traffic. You have to drive everywhere to do anything? Uhhh...where exaclty did you live in Sno. Co.? There is nothing within an hour drive from here (in some cases that's only 10 miles) other than Wal Mart's, Casino's and chain-restaurants. At least there are water parks, theme parks, etc. down there. There is one waterpark that I know of up here. It's about a 1-1.5 hour commute on a good day, and it can be enjoyed for about 1-2 months (except this summer when we had 3 weeks of sun). Because of the heat, no one does much outdoors until after dark? At least you can go out after dark down there. It has been raining here for, I don't know...months. It's not going to stop for at least 3-4 more. Oh...I'm sorry...it hailed today and was about 40 degrees (32 with the wind-chill). Don't forget how little they put into the schools and our kids up here in the PNW. Gas is about 35 cents a gallon more expensive in the PNW. At one point, Diesel was about 70 cents a gallon more than TX. Food is about 25 percent higher up here. Overall taxes are much higher up here. The only thing...only thing that is better (that I can find) is the mountains up here.

property taxes higher in Texas, food is not more expensive in PNW. I recommend you try out austin in a 3 month rental agreement in oh lets say July-Sept. Then if you still like it, then you are a good fit. Traffic in Austin can be quite challenging, and the drivers are much worst. It is true about the quality of home you can get in Austin. Then again, why not give Portland ORegon a try if you like the PNW but cant afford Seattle.

[jwb123]

food is not more expensive in PNW.

Actually, yes, it really is more expensive compared to the Austin area.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

Actually, yes, it really is more expensive compared to the Austin area.

my food bill was $110 a week in both.

[jwb123]

Our bill has drastically decreased by at least $50 a week.

[ehill03]

This year, Travel & Leisure ranked Austin #2 in "cheap eats", second only to New Orleans. Of course, Portland was ranked #7- which isn't too shabby either.
America's Favorite Cities 2007 | Food/Dining | Cheap eats | Travel + Leisure