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Why would you move to Austin ??????? Do yourself a favor and DO NOT move here. I am counting the days to get out of this "city" Check this out:Moderator cut: link removed, please read our terms of service. Read the comments at the bottom, Austin General SperlingViews
Repeating yourself much on multiple threads. Good luck on moving to Australia, which is more like TX than any other U.S. state, except that there are several million more people in the state of TX than there are in the country of Australia. Sydney is, in parts, a fabulous city, but to live anywhere within a mile of the harbor, you will pay WAY more than $1500 a month for a one bedroom. My friend in Pott's Point pays a little less than that a week! Sydney - delightful and delicious, but home of the $25 Martini, and nowhere else in the world have I paid $700 for lunch for 2 - granted it was at Quay and we had a bottle of wine each! And anymore than a mile from the harbor with the exception of the beach communities, you might as well be in Round Rock! You think Austin sprawls, try the western suburbs of Sydney - Parramatta could easily win an award for the ugliest stretch of suburban sprawl in the world! All the biggish Australian cities I have been to, and I have been to all of them except Darwin, which does not really count, have way more in common with Austin than with Chicago with the exception of Central Melbourne and very few parts of Sydney - King's Cross, Pott's Point, Double Bay, Bondi, a few blocks in the Inner West, and the beach sections of the Eastern suburbs! Sydney is essentially Houston with much prettier topography, and way better architecture - the Opera House and harbor bridges are truly beautiful, along with that I.M. Pei terracotta building, but otherwise same size, same weather, much worse museums and high cultural amenities, and at 4 or 5 times the price of Houston. So unless your Australian husband is seriously loaded, if you hate Austin, almost anywhere in Oz, will be the same, if not worse! Just a head's up!! And read John Birmingham's history of Sydney - Leviathan - before you go!
Last edited by Yac; 06-21-2010 at 06:43 AM..
Reason: grammar
Is there good public transportation? Do you need a car to get around the city?
Thanks
No. Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn
Its nice to see that it works for some people. I'm wondering how many of the people here who say its bad have actually tried to use it in recent years. I know I'm guilty of this, I have not used it in ages.
Could we be perpetuating a myth saying its all bad? Certainly it could work for some people if they chose there work and home locations carefully with mass transit in mind.
It's just plain bad - my wife and I live very close to downtown and have used it pretty extensively. It's generally accepted by most users that Captial Metro is a poorly-run transportation organization and is generally an embarrassment to Austin, serving the least common denominator - i.e. those with no other choice. The city deserves much better. Dallas blows away anything Austin has which is ironic since Austin likes to pretend to be "green" and "progressive" and Austinites LOVE to ridicule Dallas. Just a bunch of hogwash really As for biking...yeah, you can do that some but when it's 100 degrees for a month, it won't work unless: a.) you don't need to look decent for your job or b.) your place of employment has showers c.) you have a safe route, not a given depending on where you live and work - i.e. you may live close to where you work, but the routes are unsafe.
As for planning where you work/live to take advantage of PT, that's not too realistic for most people. Jobs change, people move, families grow/change. The margin of error here is so low that one change (a spouse gets a new job, for example) and the whole balance is ruined. That's not a good system. If it only works for a small percentage of people, then it isn't good.
Put your money where your mouth is Austin. Until then, get rid of your skinny girl pants, douchey Brooklyn-wannabe-bands, snarky green-itude and fix the damn public transportation, sidewalks and bike lanes. No excuses! Until then, you are a poser.
I like living here a lot (for many reasons) but this is a major shortcoming and simply unacceptable.
It's just plain bad - my wife and I live very close to downtown and have used it pretty extensively. It's generally accepted by most users that Captial Metro is a poorly-run transportation organization and is generally an embarrassment to Austin, serving the least common denominator - i.e. those with no other choice. The city deserves much better. Dallas blows away anything Austin has which is ironic since Austin likes to pretend to be "green" and "progressive" and Austinites LOVE to ridicule Dallas. Just a bunch of hogwash really As for biking...yeah, you can do that some but when it's 100 degrees for a month, it won't work unless: a.) you don't need to look decent for your job or b.) your place of employment has showers c.) you have a safe route, not a given depending on where you live and work - i.e. you may live close to where you work, but the routes are unsafe.
As for planning where you work/live to take advantage of PT, that's not too realistic for most people. Jobs change, people move, families grow/change. The margin of error here is so low that one change (a spouse gets a new job, for example) and the whole balance is ruined. That's not a good system. If it only works for a small percentage of people, then it isn't good.
Put your money where your mouth is Austin. Until then, get rid of your skinny girl pants, douchey Brooklyn-wannabe-bands, snarky green-itude and fix the damn public transportation, sidewalks and bike lanes. No excuses! Until then, you are a poser.
I like living here a lot (for many reasons) but this is a major shortcoming and simply unacceptable.
OK - to get back on topic. I lived for a year here without a car - Public transportation is bad!
I just read in Community Impact for Williamson County that Georgetown is in serious talks with Cap Metro and another company to get rail East of 35. Georgetown says they will take whichever group that comes up with the best idea first and start work on it. This line is supposed to be part of the larger one to San Antonio. There are supposed to be stops by Dell Diamond and Stone Hill Center in Pflugerville and then near the airport as well. I want to keep my fingers crossed and be hopeful here, because this could happen before I'm 90 yrs. old and too decrepit to take a train anywhere
New to the Austin board. I don't live here, but would love to visit someday (maybe next year.) How is sewrvice within the downtown area? I would probably visit some clubs (Stubbs or Emos.) Is downtown small enough to where I might not need a bus? What about walking to Zilker Park (whee the Austin City Limits Festival is held I believe.) Is that walkable to and from downtown? Of course I went on the ACL website and it did say hat they do have a shuttle to and from Republic Square.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,043,145 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by eepstein
Austin has no form of public transportation and most likely never will. Best that you buy a brand new Tahoe and sit in miles and miles of traffic! It's the Austin way!
Okay, before I just thought you hated Austin. But now, I actually think you're discrediting it based off your hate for the city, come on man, say things that are realistic.
Austin does have commuter rail, and yes right now it does not have light rail.
^^ As you can see, Capital METRORail is already built and done. Lone Star Commuter Rail will connect Austin to San Antonio and everything in between the two. (It's being processed as we speak- plans are being laid out and such)
And the Green Line you see is going to be Austin's light rail system called "Urban Rail". So if you want to go around saying "it probably never will" you're already wrong because it does, and it will continue to expand and improve upon it.
New to the Austin board. I don't live here, but would love to visit someday (maybe next year.) How is sewrvice within the downtown area? I would probably visit some clubs (Stubbs or Emos.) Is downtown small enough to where I might not need a bus? What about walking to Zilker Park (whee the Austin City Limits Festival is held I believe.) Is that walkable to and from downtown? Of course I went on the ACL website and it did say hat they do have a shuttle to and from Republic Square.
Yes, downtown Austin is definitely small enough to walk the entire area, ditto for walking from Zilker to downtown (though it's just a bit further). Best thing to do is to take a look on the mapping site of your choice (e.g. google maps, mapquest, etc). I work downtown near 6th and Congress and routinely walk to the eastern edge of downtown (good Korean restaurant there) or to Whole Foods on the western edge. Lots of folks like to use the shuttle because they don't like walking the distance in 95 degree heat esp. after being out in the sun all day and tanking up on beer, and I can't really blame them, but it is definitely walkable. Then again I've been known to walk from downtown to UT in the middle of the day in biz casual clothing, so my perspective might be a bit different than others. Can't really speak to the bus service downtown since I've never felt the need to use it.
Austin does have commuter rail, and yes right now it does not have light rail.
And yes, there are future plans to expand it and add other lines (just see for yourself);
As you can see, Capital METRORail is already built and done. Lone Star Commuter Rail will connect Austin to San Antonio and everything in between the two. (It's being processed as we speak- plans are being laid out and such)
And the Green Line you see is going to be Austin's light rail system called "Urban Rail". So if you want to go around saying "it probably never will" you're already wrong because it does, and it will continue to expand and improve upon it.
Look, it's nice that you're trying to take up for the new Commuter Rail - since you were directing your response to eepstein (one of the Blue Ribbon Austin haters on this forum), I won't pick on you - but it's pretty common knowledge here that the Redline is lame for a myriad of reasons: poor planning and placement, VERY LIMITED SCHEDULE, shameless political maneuvering, mismanagement of funds, and a general wasting of community goodwill and perspective towards public transportation here. The project may actually hurt Austin's progress towards future PT development as CM's reputation is close to rock bottom right now. Any argument FOR Austin's PT should NOT include the redline commuter line. In fact, it will mostly serve to rile up anti-PT discussions.
Please, don't cause us any more harm (even if it's unintended )!
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,043,145 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by twange
Look, it's nice that you're trying to take up for the new Commuter Rail - since you were directing your response to eepstein (one of the Blue Ribbon Austin haters on this forum), I won't pick on you - but it's pretty common knowledge here that the Redline is lame for a myriad of reasons: poor planning and placement, VERY LIMITED SCHEDULE, shameless political maneuvering, mismanagement of funds, and a general wasting of community goodwill and perspective towards public transportation here. The project may actually hurt Austin's progress towards future PT development as CM's reputation is close to rock bottom right now. Any argument FOR Austin's PT should NOT include the redline commuter line. In fact, it will mostly serve to rile up anti-PT discussions.
Please, don't cause us any more harm (even if it's unintended )!
I wasn't out to defend it. If you look at his post that I quoted in my last post, you'll see what I high lighted. I wasn't trying to even say that Austin's transportation system is efficient. I was just trying to debunk his idea that "Austin does not have public transportation, and never will."
It does have public transportation, now if it's good or bad, that's in none of our control but to say it doesn't is like saying El Paso is more important than Dallas.
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As for biking...yeah, you can do that some but when it's 100 degrees for a month, it won't work unless: a.) you don't need to look decent for your job or b.) your place of employment has showers c.) you have a safe route, not a given depending on where you live and work - i.e. you may live close to where you work, but the routes are unsafe.
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