Austin or Denver or Indianapolis ??? (living, best, cost, state)

[Californiaescape]

Just a quick little bit about me... 31 single white female, with 15 years experience in customer service management ( both office and retail ). I used to be married and had a $20 an hour job and lived by the beach ... Dream come true right ? Well I just finalized my divorce, was laid off from my job, and due to the changes in my finances have had to move from the beach to the desert. Although I am southern California born and raised , I did travel a tiny bit while married. There's no point for me to stay in California and pay what we pay when the desert is all I can afford . I've been researching and I can get a lot more for my money in other states . Because I'm single without children and still fairly young and between jobs at the moment i'm in the position to be able to pick up and go anywhere. I'm really hoping you can help me decide between the three places I've narrowed it down to after about three months of researching them. I have been to Colorado briefly and spent about three weeks in Texas before. I am never been to Indiana but my mother will be moving there because she bought a retirement home there which makes me add it to my list.

Right now I would have to say Austin is in the lead just based on the research I've been doing on my own. I know it's not near Dallas but when I visited Dallas it was very nice IMO.. At Least the parts I saw. Austin was recently named the number 2 place to live in the United States, right behind Denver. I love The Austin vibe and I'm very into music. I did visit the San Antonio Riverwalk and if it's anything like that I loved it. I'm wondering if Austin is anything like Portland with the keep it weird vibe. I would love to visit the Hamilton pools and I've been looking at apartments online and they seem about what I would like to pay for something decent/safe. My main concern would be the heat and humidity because even though I'm living in the CA desert I think Texas is even hotter ! I'm also tattooed and I feel like I would fit in there. I've only visited Denver for a short time and would love to know more about it. Seems like the apartments cost a bit more than Texas and I'm not sure if that's due to more amenities or for what reason. Seems like there is a lot of outdoor recreation like hiking and biking in I love that sort of thing so I might fit in. I definitely want to hear more about Denver and my only concern is the snow ... Being able to tolerate it and driving it as I've never had to do before. Indianapolis did make the best places to live list... I think it was number 47 though. A friend of mine who lives there says there's a lot of crime in the city which sort of scares me but I researched Carmel which is a close by suburb and it seems amazing. I looked at apartments there and they were also in the range of what I wanted to spend for what I'm looking for. The town looked clean and well run and there is a recreation center indoors with everything from the running track to waterpark. The man allure of Indiana is just that my mom will be retiring there . It's definitely the farthest away from the rest of my friends and family here in California which is a concern. Plus I've heard that towards the east coast the humidity is pretty bad and we don't really have that here so I'm not sure what to make of it.

I want to make this move while I'm single and in between jobs because once I'm tied down to something good I know I'll just be stuck forever with overpriced California living . If You could just give me the basics .. The main pros and cons of each place... I would so appreciate it. I've looked at apartment prices and minimum wages and unemployment rates already. But I really want to hear it straight from the locals! How hard is it to find work when you have a decent resume and how far do most people usually have to commute and how worth it is it to tolerate the weather for the quality of life you receive .

I do ask that people don't start World War III bashing each other on my thread as I've seen them do you time and again on other people's threads because everyone thinks their opinion is the only one that matters. Let's please be respectful and stick to the topic !! Also please don't just write the generic "don't move here". Seems like a lot of people on this thread are only on here to deter people from moving to the area which is just sad.

[Shakeesha]

I would rule Indianapolis out because it has the most crime and least job opportunities. Denver and Austin are great cities for singles.

[Californiaescape]

Thank you! If I went with Indianapolis I would actually go to the nearby carmel, which is a suburb Close by. It was rated the best place to live in 2012. But thank you about the heads up on crime... Everything looks so perfect in pictures!

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by Californiaescape

Thank you! If I went with Indianapolis I would actually go to the nearby carmel, which is a suburb Close by. It was rated the best place to live in 2012. But thank you about the heads up on crime... Everything looks so perfect in pictures!

Don't get sucked into the "Best Places" lists. Really visit these cities and see for yourself. The weirdness in some cities have been eroded over time due to an influx of transplants and corporate relocations. Keep that in mind.

[gt87]

I think you really need to visit each city if you can, especially since it seems you've never really spent any considerable amount of time in these places. Ultimately the only person that knows which city is going to be best for you is you. In my opinion I'd go with Indy. I despise these new/hipster/trendy/cool areas like Austin and not really big on Denver either. But I'm sure many people would disagree with me on here and call Austin or Denver a utopia and give a thousand reasons why.

Indy has a decent job market and certainly less competition than Austin or Denver. Indy is much cheaper than the others, so your buck will go further. Indy also has nightlife and entertainment options just like any other city of comparable size. Plus you have your mom close if you ever need her or if she ever needs you, or if you just want to have some family around. Good luck!

[centralaustinite]

Austin is now the most expensive rental and real estate market in Texas, it will be more costly than Indy for sure. Tattoos aren't an issue here. And yes, our summers are loong (May to October) and late July, all of August, and the first half of September can be very hot (100+) and we do not cool down at night, temps can stay above 90 until midnight, lows of about 77 in the hour before dawn. Some people can handle the heat just fine, others cannot. Only you can judge. I would also recommend visiting before making a decision. good luck

[beaste]

I'm a 32 single black male and Denver and Austin are in the running for me so maybe I can offer you some advice

Born and raised in the South. Atlanta. Moved to San Antonio a few years back for my job in technology and now I am fortunate to have a high salary and opportunity to work remote. I've been to both cities but of course I'm closer to Austin.

Austin:
+Definitely a "young" city where people are coming from all over the country, especially California, to make it their home
+Thriving music scene
+Active nightlife
+Great career opportunities if you work in technology. Dell HQ here. Facebook, Google, IBM offices here and plenty of startups.
+Very active and health conscious people despite being in Texas "one of the fattest states"
+No state income tax in Texas which will offer you overall a low cost of living.
+Very tattoo friendly

-Overpopulation of the infrastructure which is causing a number of problems
-Increased traffic
-Housing is getting more expensive
-Traffic is getting progressively worse
-Hot summers. Nuff said
-Lacks diversity. Austin is incredibly white and I feel that it is geared more for the hipster scene and bro-grammers. Even the music scene isn't that diverse being mostly rock bands. I mean I'm saying this as a black male who have lived and seen more diverse cities. This has been posted to ad nauseum but you are seeing other ethnicities in Austin grow in population while blacks are leaving Austin for places like Houston or even outside of Austin. I think it has more to do with economics more than anything but it'd be nice to find more variety of food outside of Tex Mex and BBQ. Maybe I need to explore more.


Denver I've visited but I don't have enough experience to tell you too much about it. I'd say Boulder is tattoo friendly and Denver would be too. It is a very progressive city. I slightly like Denver more because I am partial to four seasons and it seems to offer a bit more diversity than Austin. Denver would be more expensive but you get more amenities like access to outdoor activities that Austin cannot offer.

I'm almost certain that there's a higher ratio of men compared to women in Denver so maybe that would work in your favor

But like I said I think there are better people here that can expound on Denver and I hope they chime in because I'm curious as well.

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by Californiaescape

Thank you! If I went with Indianapolis I would actually go to the nearby carmel, which is a suburb Close by. It was rated the best place to live in 2012. But thank you about the heads up on crime... Everything looks so perfect in pictures!

Just so you know, the person you replied to is notorious on this forum for hating Indianapolis. Personally, I'd say Denver and Austin are obviously way more popular/hipster, and offer more in outdoor recreational opportunities. Indianapolis is a very good city for the Midwest, but won't achieve Austin or Denver type status anytime soon IMO. It isn't as conservative as the rest of Indiana, but not as liberal as Austin or Denver. I agree with other posters and say you should visit each and decide.

[Californiaescape]

I appreciate all the feedback everyone is giving. If I visited each city and spent time in each place I may never actually get around to moving because I would have to build up a savings all over again. I already visited Oregon and Washington and because it's so close to California I was hoping to make that work. Bellevue and Seattle were great but I just could not deal with the darkness of the sky all the time. The rain isn't so much and issue as having no son is. There's only so much money I can spend trying to find my next new place. If I had lots of extra money I wouldn't be moving away from beautiful California in the first place living by the beach out here is absolute heaven aside from our traffic. Of course it's extremely expensive. So the more information you can give me the better!!

[beaste]

If you like activities on the water then I'd suggest Austin.