Scottsdale vs. Austin (traffic, fun nightlife for employees) (live, best, state)
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I may hire my first employees in the next half-year for a tech firm I am working on. Currently, I live in New York City but I've crossed that off my list for a permanent "headquarters" location for a number of reasons.
My question, for those who have been to both (and NOT considering the political slants of each place) which would you rather live in if you were a 30 year old tech worker and why? I am particularly interested in the night life of each location, not for me but for my employees. Which is a place that will keep employees active and never bored? I've read that Scottsdale is the "South Beach of the Desert" and we all know that Austin is very much "hipster central" these days.
Another specific concern is traffic. If I were to locate the business near Scottsdale Airport or in Central/North Scottsdale, or any of the usual upscale techie sports in Austin, which city has the worse traffic today? I really hate traffic, and even intend to keep office hours that aren't at rush hour to avoid it. I've heard that Austin is getting worse and worse and worse with their traffic, but that Phoenix has always been bad (but does that include Scottsdale?).
I'm aware that there are more tech workers in Austin than Scottsdale by a country mile, but I don't foresee that it will be a problem to attract the right people to either Austin or Scottsdale.
I'm also aware that Austin is very progressive, whereas Scottsdale is very conservative. I myself am a centrist who generally votes for moderates if I can. It doesn't particularly bother me to live among wildly liberal people or even wildly conservative people as long as they aren't overtly religious nuts.
Taxes seem to largely even out. Arizona has an income tax and Texas doesn't, but Texas has higher property taxes than Arizona. Utilities are cheap (and half the price of NYC) in both states.
Austin has better nightlife, but Scottsdale is an overall better city if you ask me. Austin's traffic is, far and away, MUCH worse than Scottsdale's. But do us a favor... if you move here, do your part to conserve water so we can all enjoy the desert for as long as we can. ;-)
Screw Austin than IMO, Scottsdales traffic is awful enough. That surprises me that Austin has more traffic issues since it doesn't sit in a metro area of almost 4 million people
if you move here, do your part to conserve water so we can all enjoy the desert for as long as we can. ;-)
Definitely will, BIG CATS! I was worried about the water issue too. Obviously Scottsdale is in a desert, and Austin has had bad droughts for several years.
This isn't even a compression- yeah Austin has bad traffic during rush hour but in terms of overall city wise and night life wise Austin wins by an absolute landslide
I found this breakdown by day of traffic in every metro. It looks like on the worst days, 7.1 minutes get added to an Austin commute for traffic, and 2.3 minutes in Phoenix. That's an extra 24% of your driving time tacked on for congestion in Austin, and 8% in Phoenix. Austin is just as bad as here in New York City! Surprising. So the traffic issue is settled, Phoenix has around 1/3rd of the congestion of Austin despite being a bigger metro.
But, it seems like the general consensus here is that Austin is better for nightlife than Scottsdale. Is that the case?
What are some things to do in Austin they don't have in Scottsdale, and what are some things in Scottsdale they don't have in Austin? And here's a third criterion, which is better for outdoorsy activities?
And a fourth, which feels hotter in the summer?
I like dry heat, like a dry sauna, so in my mind I am leaning toward Scottsdale. Yet I'm still very open to Austin.
On a typical day depending on where my jobsite is, traffic adds a half hour to an hour both ways. I think your Scottsdale info is extremely off. Scottsdale is one of my least favorite areas to try to commute through.
My gf's family is from Austin, Austin is a really laid back city that has a lot of hipsters, govt workers and college kids but its laid back in general, all the time I visited Scottsdale it seems pretty superficial and upscale not as bad as Miami Beach. Tempe where Arizona St is more a party locate but its mostly drunk and rowdy college kids so take your pick. I personally like Austin better for fun and nightlife, traffic is bad in both cities.
On a typical day depending on where my jobsite is, traffic adds a half hour to an hour both ways. I think your Scottsdale info is extremely off. Scottsdale is one of my least favorite areas to try to commute through.
How far are you commuting? That was actually data for the entire Phoenix metro that looked pretty non-congested, so does Scottsdale have the worst traffic in the metro then?
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