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Austin is my fav US City to visit its an amazing place. Not sure if I would want to live there thou. Its a great party town thou and the women are gorgeous and friendly.. its an amazing place to be.
It's all about whom people know. Many of people in the larger metros in the north east have friends or family that have moved to the Raleigh and Research Triangle region over the last couple of decades. And word of mouth is still the best form of Marketing! So when the green grass so to speak of the Triangle is talked about it moves straight to the top of the list of places to move when people start looking. A great reputation is hard to beat. It's the reason why cities like Raleigh and Austin have flourished and cities like Birmingham or Richmond haven't. That combined with the moderate climate and extremely varied jobs arenas. Government, BioPharma, IT,(That what it has in common with Austin) also Research, Medical, and the top notch Universities close by sealed the deal. Oh and of course easy access to the tallest mountains on the east coast and some of the nicest beaches on the east coast and decent cost of living sealed the deal.
I just hope the triangle starts to get proactive in smart growth planning and built it before they come, because after they arrive then it's an endless game of catch-up.
Be interesting, except for you're wrong - Richmond is flourishing. And frankly, reminds me much more of Austin, which is why I moved to Richmond over the triangle
Well in some way Raleigh is like Austin when it comes to having plenty of bike lanes, jogging trails but what Raleigh lacks more is the weirdness ambience that Austin has.. weirdness in example of having such an open minded city with people of vast interests in a conservative state with more cosmopolitan, very hippy, gay friendlier, you can find someone extremely liberal and conservative and people get along for the most part.
both cities practice healthier lifestyles than most cities.
I love Raleigh tho, It's very very green and lush. Austin is lush too and a lot more hills than Raleigh.
Austin tho is booming three times faster than Raleigh so it would take a while for Raleigh to be considered equivalent with Raleigh in many things.
Well in some way Raleigh is like Austin when it comes to having plenty of bike lanes, jogging trails but what Raleigh lacks more is the weirdness ambience that Austin has.. weirdness in example of having such an open minded city with people of vast interests in a conservative state with more cosmopolitan, very hippy, gay friendlier, you can find someone extremely liberal and conservative and people get along for the most part.
There really is nothing "weird" about Austin. Just because some merchandising campaign claims it to be, it really isn't weird at all in reality. That's just a bunch of tired hype geared towards selling t-shirts and bumper stickers. At one point in time, many years ago, when no one outside of Texas really even gave Austin a second thought, it was a quirky, eccentric city with some very colorful and unique characters congregating downtown and along the drag, but that version of Austin is long gone. Richard Linklater's "Slacker" snapshot of Austin is just fodder for rose-tinted nostalgia in the context of 2014.
All those things you listed; cosmopolitan, hippies, gay-friendly, and a mix of liberals and conservatives... can all be found in equal amounts in at least 3 other large Texas cities right off the top of my head. I'm not exactly clear on how those things make Austin "weird". They just make Austin modern.
I'm not sure if Raleigh lacks such modern qualities or not. I've never been there.
There really is nothing "weird" about Austin. Just because some merchandising campaign claims it to be, it really isn't weird at all in reality. That's just a bunch of tired hype geared towards selling t-shirts and bumper stickers. At one point in time, many years ago, when no one outside of Texas really even gave Austin a second thought, it was a quirky, eccentric city with some very colorful and unique characters congregating downtown and along the drag, but that version of Austin is long gone. Richard Linklater's "Slacker" snapshot of Austin is just fodder for rose-tinted nostalgia in the context of 2014.
All those things you listed; cosmopolitan, hippies, gay-friendly, and a mix of liberals and conservatives... can all be found in equal amounts in at least 3 other large Texas cities right off the top of my head. I'm not exactly clear on how those things make Austin "weird". They just make Austin modern.
I'm not sure if Raleigh lacks such modern qualities or not. I've never been there.
You don't think Austin is weird then cheers to you
Austin isn't weird, maybe its weird by Texas socially conservative standards. Keep Austin weird is just a marketing slogan to sell T shirts and its image around the world.
Asheville is weirder than Austin. When I went to Austin, I expected something along the lines of Asheville. However, I got a city that reminded me of Atlanta, didn't really think it was similar to Raleigh when I was there but I see it now.
Raleigh does not now or ever aspire to be the next Austin. As a metro Raleigh is ahead with a diverse economy, job growth, and higher education that far exceeds Austin. As a city (core), Raleigh could use some help, but those things are happening slowly. I hope to see both cities with modern light rail systems in the next decade. That will be the game changer.
At one point in time, many years ago, when no one outside of Texas really even gave Austin a second thought, it was a quirky, eccentric city with some very colorful and unique characters congregating downtown and along the drag, but that version of Austin is long gone.
Spoken like a long-time Austinite! We've been saying Austin was better 10-20 years ago since the 70's.
No one seems to listen, though.
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