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Old 05-19-2010, 08:48 PM
 
12 posts, read 27,718 times
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I've been planning my relocation to Austin for a looong time and now that my move date is nearing I'm getting cold feet...crazy nerves... Why does Austin have the reputation it has? Why is it a wonderful place to live? Why should anyone live there?
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Old 05-19-2010, 09:04 PM
 
648 posts, read 1,964,654 times
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Where are you moving from? What do you want in a home?

I like it b/c I found the perfect job for me, my extended family lives here and it is not TOO big of a city.....YET.
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Old 05-19-2010, 09:17 PM
 
12 posts, read 27,718 times
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Well, i'm not looking for a permanent home right now. I plan to attend the community college. I'm just looking for an apartment. A cheaper one at that. This will be my first time living on my own, and in a city, and my family wont be close. I guess i'm just looking for some reassurance...
I've heard amazing amazing things about Austin.
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Old 05-20-2010, 06:43 AM
 
Location: Broomfield, CO
1,445 posts, read 3,268,154 times
Reputation: 913
You've heard amazing things about Austin?? From whom?? Oh wait, maybe its the city chamber talking to the media again. Yes I do have some amazing things to tell you about Austin. Ready??

It is truly amazing that Austin is:

1.) The largest city in the country with only one major interstate freeway

2.) A city with no forms of entertainment besides the 6th street district

3.) A city with no amusement parks, no zoo, no aquarium, no professional sports teams.

4.) among the most congested cities in the country.

5.) plagued by a completely disfunctional city council who doesn't give a damn about anyone but the rich

6.) a city in general who turns a blind eye to growth and does nothing to make it more efficient

7.) a city with more huge gas guzzling vehicles than any other city in the nation.

8.) a city that claims to be green, but has some of the most anti-environmental practices (mainly of their residents) in the nation.

9.) a city whose population is always putting down superior cities (Dallas and Houston)

10.) a city that will never amount to anything other than "4th largest in the state"

I totally agree that Austin IS amazing!!!


Quote:
Originally Posted by jubilee827 View Post
Well, i'm not looking for a permanent home right now. I plan to attend the community college. I'm just looking for an apartment. A cheaper one at that. This will be my first time living on my own, and in a city, and my family wont be close. I guess i'm just looking for some reassurance...
I've heard amazing amazing things about Austin.
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Old 05-20-2010, 07:47 AM
 
Location: 78747
3,202 posts, read 6,020,012 times
Reputation: 915
I love this town, and am glad I moved here. This topic has been discussed in-depth on other threads, and I would suggest running a search for topics like "what makes austin great", etc.

I hope you make the right move for you, and if it's Austin, then "Welcome"

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Old 05-20-2010, 07:57 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX!!!!
3,757 posts, read 9,060,121 times
Reputation: 1762
Are you moving from out of state or are you at TX resident? I am not sure if the rule is the same but when we first moved here 11 years ago, I learned that in order to attend classes at any higher educational institution (even community colleges) you needed to be here at least a year or you would ALWAYS be considered an out of state resident for the purposes of tuition. So if you planned to move onto a four year institution here in TX and you are from out of state, you would need to pay out of state tuition until you completed your education. This is something to consider if you are coming from out of state.

But to answer your initial question: I like living here because it has lots of sunshine and a reasonable cost of living. I also like that the ambient culture is friendly and outgoing. I wouldn't take eepstein's post too seriously, as you can see from the list, a person who cannot find any entertainment here with the exception of sixth street isn't trying at all or has a very narrow view of what is "entertainment."
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Old 05-20-2010, 08:36 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
2,101 posts, read 4,527,489 times
Reputation: 2738
Quote:
Originally Posted by eepstein View Post
You've heard amazing things about Austin?? From whom?? Oh wait, maybe its the city chamber talking to the media again. Yes I do have some amazing things to tell you about Austin. Ready??

It is truly amazing that Austin is:

1.) The largest city in the country with only one major interstate freeway

2.) A city with no forms of entertainment besides the 6th street district

3.) A city with no amusement parks, no zoo, no aquarium, no professional sports teams.

4.) among the most congested cities in the country.

5.) plagued by a completely disfunctional city council who doesn't give a damn about anyone but the rich

6.) a city in general who turns a blind eye to growth and does nothing to make it more efficient

7.) a city with more huge gas guzzling vehicles than any other city in the nation.

8.) a city that claims to be green, but has some of the most anti-environmental practices (mainly of their residents) in the nation.

9.) a city whose population is always putting down superior cities (Dallas and Houston)

10.) a city that will never amount to anything other than "4th largest in the state"

I totally agree that Austin IS amazing!!!
FYI, eepstein and artsguy are this board's trolls. They always have exaggerated negative things to say about Austin. I'm not sure why they waste their time and everyone's time with their unsubstantiated claims, but I would take their comments with a grain of salt.

I've lived in Austin for 2/3 of my life. I like the fact that Austin has a good balance between the slow-paced life of a small town and the fast-paced life of a large city. I've lived in larger cities (Boston, San Francisco) and small towns in my life, and to me, Austin has the best balance of affordability and personality.

Sure, Austin has it's share of flaws (my biggest complaint is the lack of world-class art institutions and the really bad traffic), but I can live with them.

To the original poster: I highly recommend that you spend some time in Austin before moving here to make sure that you like it here. Where are you living now, and what prompted you to pick Austin?
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Old 05-20-2010, 09:04 AM
 
61 posts, read 173,162 times
Reputation: 60
Quote:
Originally Posted by eepstein View Post
You've heard amazing things about Austin?? From whom?? Oh wait, maybe its the city chamber talking to the media again. Yes I do have some amazing things to tell you about Austin. Ready??

It is truly amazing that Austin is:

1.) The largest city in the country with only one major interstate freeway

2.) A city with no forms of entertainment besides the 6th street district

3.) A city with no amusement parks, no zoo, no aquarium, no professional sports teams.

4.) among the most congested cities in the country.

5.) plagued by a completely disfunctional city council who doesn't give a damn about anyone but the rich

6.) a city in general who turns a blind eye to growth and does nothing to make it more efficient

7.) a city with more huge gas guzzling vehicles than any other city in the nation.

8.) a city that claims to be green, but has some of the most anti-environmental practices (mainly of their residents) in the nation.

9.) a city whose population is always putting down superior cities (Dallas and Houston)

10.) a city that will never amount to anything other than "4th largest in the state"

I totally agree that Austin IS amazing!!!
So why on Earth did you move here?
It is funny to me that you say folks in Austin are always putting down Dallas and Houston. That is just not true. They are all very different places. They are what there are and Austin is what it is. I lived in Dallas for five years. But it is just not where I would what to spend the rest of my life. That does not mean anything is wrong with it. It was just not for me. I guess if you spend your life look at your glass as half full then you will never find the place that is right for you. So let me ask you this? Why are you not in the place where you would love to be? Hmmmm!!!
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Old 05-20-2010, 09:32 AM
 
61 posts, read 173,162 times
Reputation: 60
Quote:
Originally Posted by jubilee827 View Post
I've been planning my relocation to Austin for a looong time and now that my move date is nearing I'm getting cold feet...crazy nerves... Why does Austin have the reputation it has? Why is it a wonderful place to live? Why should anyone live there?
I think you should come here for a week or two and see if you think you might like it first. I myself do love it here and plan to stay in or around Austin the rest of my life. Why because it has what I am looking for in a city. What some folks say are the things that they might not like about it,in most cases are some of the things I do like about it. It is best to see for yourself and then decide. Here is a link to my youtube channel where I have hundreds of videos shot in around Austin that might help give you a little feel of it and things to around it. Good Luck with what ever you choose to do!
YouTube - TexasHighDef's Channel
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Old 05-20-2010, 09:52 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,404,950 times
Reputation: 24745
I read your question last night, OP, and realized that it is one that is hard to answer for someone who's been here for a few decades. Austin has some great things going for it (artsy guy and eepstein notwithstanding), but what I love about it is more of an overall feel. Yes, there's a lot of things to do - so many things that sometimes it's hard to choose which one to do any given day. Yes, we have some very nice museums, and we have probably the best access to the ones in other cities, being nicely located to reach the ones in San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston within just a couple/three hour's drive, at most. Lots of good restaurants (I'm an organizer and member of a Foodies group that in addition to having potlucks, dines out regularly and we've found a lot of good ones in varying price ranges from really cheap to pretty darned expensive). The people are really friendly, for the most part, enough so that it's remarked upon by most (not all) people who come here as being unusual in their experience. You will want to check on the tuition at ACC as far as residence is concerned - it may be that you have to be in residence for a year in order to get in-state rates, and I know from my daughter's experience that zip codes are important for ACC.

That being said, welcome to Austin! Ignore the naysayers, come here, and see if you like it.
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