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I was wondering if there are any Phoenicians who were originally from Austin, TX and if so what they like about Phoenix more than Austin? I am seriously planning a relocation retirement to Phoenix but several people told me also to look at Austin. Any opinions of comparing the two?
I was wondering if there are any Phoenicians who were originally from Austin, TX and if so what they like about Phoenix more than Austin? I am seriously planning a relocation retirement to Phoenix but several people told me also to look at Austin. Any opinions of comparing the two?
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Austin in the early 90's. It just had a completely different vibe than what the city has now. I think people "discovered" how unique Austin was, only 20 years later. Now, Austin seems like a sanitized version of what it once was. However, I think the same can be said about Phoenix. While I didn't live in Phoenix until 1.5 years ago (lived in Tucson), I was practically up here twice a month. I think Phoenix grew too fast for its own good. While Phoenix doesn't have as much of a downtown core as Austin has, there has been a more concentrated effort to improve downtown in the past 5 years than the past 20. In any case, the Phoenix metro still has more to offer than Austin.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Everytime I hear about somebody who visits Phoenix I always hear more about Scottsdale & Tempe than the actually city of Phoenix itself.
It should be interesting to see what happens in Phoenix over the next decade with different urban planning in mind (light rail expansion, downtown improvements etc...). Think of it this way; when Boston, Philly, & NYC were having explosive growth during the peak of European Immigration at the turn of the 20th century those cities were total cesspools, unsanitary, overcrowded etc. They came into their own and cleaned up their act in years following, one example being subway construction. Not saying Phoenix is cesspool but it just hasn't matured yet.
Like Phoenix, Austin also grew a bit too fast and doesn't have the infrastucture in place to support explosive growth. Downtown Austin and neighborhoods on its periphery are great, but with so few and freeways (narrow ones at that, especially compared with other Texas cities) and one light rail line with limited service they are going to have to come up with some big plans eventually.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 10-02-2011 at 04:47 PM..
Everytime I hear about somebody who visits Phoenix I always hear more about Scottsdale & Tempe than the actually city of Phoenix itself.
It should be interesting to see what happens in Phoenix over the next decade with different urban planning in mind (light rail expansion, downtown improvements etc...). Think of it this way; when Boston, Philly, & NYC were having explosive growth during the peak of European Immigration at the turn of the 20th century those cities were total cesspools, unsanitary, overcrowded etc. They came into their own and cleaned up their act in years following, one example being subway construction. Not saying Phoenix is cesspool but it just hasn't matured yet.
Like Phoenix, Austin also grew a bit too fast and doesn't have the infrastucture in place to support explosive growth. Downtown Austin and neighborhoods on its periphery are great, but with so few and freeways (narrow ones at that, especially compared with other Texas cities) and one light rail line with limited service they are going to have to come up with some big plans eventually.
Well, naturally. I mean Scottsdale and Tempe have always been touted as the places to go eat and party in the valley, and while Phoenix has started to concentrate more on its downtown now, both Scottsdale and Tempe have also continued to forge ahead with their growth as well. While I would like to see downtown Phoenix have more retail, Scottsdale Fashion Square and Biltmore Fashion Park have really already established themselves as the shopping/dining destinations in the valley, followed by other pockets (Desert Ridge, Kierland Commons, Arrowhead, etc).
Downtown Phoenix had the potential at one point to be a more walkable area, but sadly tore down much of its infrastructure over the years. Now it is trying to rebuild itself and was on a good pace until the recession hit. The addition of the downtown ASU campus and light-rail have certainly brought more people to downtown and many more restaurants and bars have opened up. The Jackson Street Entertainment District was envisioned to make use of the area south of downtown, but it, like many other projects, was delayed/put on hold, etc. due to the recession.
I haven't heard of much new home construction which is a great thing figuring the house market sucks; however (I believe) July was one of the strongest months ever in the valley for home sales, which just basically means people are moving back into existing homes. I have a feeling that more people will be considering downtown and midtown as living destinations in the future and I think some of the projects that haven't come to fruition may start slowly popping up again (even if envisioned differently) as the existing condos and lofts have started to fill up.
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