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Austin has some beautiful surroundings, but I'm going to have to go with Atlanta. Atlanta and Charlotte are my 2 favorite cities in terms of beautiful tree cover widespread throughout the city. But Austin would be in my 10 in this category.
Agreed. Charlotte's scenery is wonderful and Atlanta is close behind. Both best Austin, which is no slouch in its own right.
Atlanta overall, but the hill country in West Austin is more interesting with a California-ish look and I like the fact that there’s water and outdoor recreation right downtown in Austin. It’s very in your face and is a big part of the culture there.
I'll go with Atlanta. Much more uniformly hilly and better tree cover. The Hill Country seems somewhat barren by comparison and the east side of Austin is prairie.
Atlanta is more uniformly scenic. East Austin looks anywhere Texas. West Austin is very beautiful though. Capital of TX Hwy looks pretty much like a Californian road, same for 620 through Lakeway and Beecave. FM2222 between FM620 and MoPac (Loop 1) is also very scenic. There are views of Downtown along through the hills on Loop 360 that are quite beautiful in Austin. Westlake Hills, Lakeway and Lago Vista areas is also a very hilly, lush and lake filled suburb. West Austin can probably compete with the suburban areas of Atlanta fairly well but cannot compete with Blueridge area.
I would say Austin has some surprisingly very urban scenic areas much closer to Downtown due to Town Lake (The Colorado River) and Hill Country being very adjacent to Downtown. Austin's downtown seems to take on a more unique setting than Atlanta's downtown IMO. Atlanta overall though is far more well rounded as a metro though. Austin has nothing comparable to the Blue Ridge region though. Both cities are actually heavily forested, Austin however turns brown much more regularly and the trees are not as tall. Both cities cater exceedingly to parks, trails, green belts and beltways. I'd say with the exception of Atlanta's beltline, they're about equal overall in this category, Atlanta's Beltline is above anything Austin has in terms of Greenbelts however. Austin however is more conservative about removing trees than Atlanta is which is kind of shocking, but Austin is alot more strict about it.
Overall, Austin is still only in the very beginning of the subtropical zone that encompasses Atlanta (which is deep into it), doesn't receive nearly as much precipitation and doesn't always stay green. Atlanta is overall the more green, forested, and more uniformly hilly city.
Atlanta is more uniformly scenic. East Austin looks anywhere Texas. West Austin is very beautiful though. Capital of TX Hwy looks pretty much like a Californian road, same for 620 through Lakeway and Beecave. FM2222 between FM620 and MoPac (Loop 1) is also very scenic. There are views of Downtown along through the hills on Loop 360 that are quite beautiful in Austin. Westlake Hills, Lakeway and Lago Vista areas is also a very hilly, lush and lake filled suburb. West Austin can probably compete with the suburban areas of Atlanta fairly well but cannot compete with Blueridge area.
East Austin is really nice in the spring. It has deeper soil than West Austin, and much lusher vegetation. I'd say East Austin looks more like Atlanta, actually. West Austin looks more southwestern.
For the comparison, in the sense of easily accessible nature Austin having the Barton Creek Greenbelt and Town Lake directly adjacent downtown makes it competitive with most any city in the country. In terms of day trips, Austin is average overall and probably loses to Atlanta handedly. The hill country is nice, but nothing amazing on a national level, and in other directions there isn't a lot.
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