From Boston. Trouble Deciding between Austin or Dallas

[smuboy86]

Hmm, go for Dallas. Austin is still a very small city. Although they have hipster music, the arts scene in Austin is laughable. No major art museums, no zoo, no professional sports, and infrastructure is abysmal. As a side note just had 3 friends move to Dallas from Austin where they went to UT, all of them said the same thing, they had outgrown Austin and were ready to live in a real city.

[padcrasher]

Originally Posted by justme02

When taking in the suburbs, there are several times as many Asians in Dallas area vs Austin area even leaving out Fort Worth. The concentration of Asians is also higher in Dallas vs. Austin by that same metric. Austin only comes out on top when only taking city propers into account.

As far as immigration is concerned, even excluding Mexican immigration, immigration into the Dallas area is over 4x higher than the Austin area.

Great! Then the OP can check out the "cosmopolitan" sterile suburb of Flower Mound where many Asians reside along with all those virtually non existent, ethic businesses. Then downtown Austin, along the lakes, meet the people walking down the streets, in the parks, hanging out, live music, etc. and decide for themselves what area is more "cosmopolitan"......LOL

[TrueDat]

No one said anything negative about Austin -- I even said I would choose it if the outdoors were key -- but you had to start throwing insults around.

Regarding Austin being one of the most literate cities, that's cool. But that hardly means cosmopolitan.
Iceland is the world's most literate country per capita* and would you say it's the most cosmopolitan? Didn't think so.

*News From Nowhere | Harper's Magazine

[padcrasher]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

No one said anything negative about Austin -- I even said I would choose it if the outdoors were key -- but you had to start throwing insults around.

Regarding Austin being one of the most literate cities, that's cool. But that hardly means cosmopolitan.
Iceland is the world's most literate country per capita* and would you say it's the most cosmopolitan? Didn't think so.

*News From Nowhere | Harper's Magazine

Yes I would say being well read falls right in line with being cosmopolitan

Per Webster's website, COSMOPOLITAN:


1
: having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing
2
: having wide international sophistication : worldly
3
: composed of persons, constituents, or elements from all or many parts of the world
4
: found in most parts of the world and under varied ecological conditions <a cosmopolitan herb>

And people from Iceland are very worldly. As traveled and educated as they, your average Icelander is one of the best examples of a cosmopolitan person....LOL

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by amillion3147

Why ask about Boston when I am asking about the cities mentioned? Maybe you should check out the Boston forum. Are you thinking about moving to Boston lol?

As a transplant from MA living in TX, I lol'd when I saw this response. I also got a little homesick. Yeah, you can take the girl out of Boston, but...

Seriously, If you are in the health care field, you can do well in any of the major city in Texas. Normally, I would recommend Dallas (well Dallas-Fort Worth), because it is much bigger and more diverse. After reading your post, though, I would recommend Austin. It is truly the antithesis of East Texas/Beaumont. I live in San Antonio, and I love it here. I go up to Austin once every few months. It's full of transplants from the coasts, so that makes it friendly. It's so easy to walk into any restaurant or bar, and within 10 minutes, you find yourself having a conversation with someone about anything. Many posters here will say a social life in Austin is dead once you hit 25, but it's simply not true. Don't rule out Houston or San Antonio, either.

[TrueDat]

Originally Posted by padcrasher

Yes I would say being well read falls right in line with being cosmopolitan

Per Webster's website, COSMOPOLITAN:


1
: having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing
2
: having wide international sophistication : worldly
3
: composed of persons, constituents, or elements from all or many parts of the world
4
: found in most parts of the world and under varied ecological conditions <a cosmopolitan herb>

And people from Iceland are very worldly. As traveled and educated as they, your average Icelander is one of the best examples of a cosmopolitan person....LOL

This is getting off-topic and I like Iceland well enough (though it lacks a lot of No. 3 of the definition and would you say it's more cosmopolitan than Paris or NYC because people read more?) but why are the museums and arts -- beyond indie-rock -- not all that great in Austin? That, too, is a measure of cosmopolitanism.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

[quote=padcrasher;28919307]Great! Then the OP can check out the "cosmopolitan" sterile suburb of Flower Mound where many Asians reside along with all those virtually non existent, ethic businesses. Then downtown Austin, along the lakes, meet the people walking down the streets, in the parks, hanging out, live music, etc. and decide for themselves what area is more "cosmopolitan"......LOL[/

It's a difference of style and ethnic breakdown. There are tons of ethnic owned business in the suburbs just to the north and west of Dallas. Way more than anywhere in the Austin area. The Asian community in Dallas is simply more suburban in nature, but much larger as well. Don't see how that makes the area less cosmopolitan. The Dallas area is more diverse.

Austin has a better downtown and more to do outdoors.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

As a transplant from MA living in TX, I lol'd when I saw this response. I also got a little homesick. Yeah, you can take the girl out of Boston, but...

Seriously, If you are in the health care field, you can do well in any of the major city in Texas. Normally, I would recommend Dallas (well Dallas-Fort Worth), because it is much bigger and more diverse. After reading your post, though, I would recommend Austin. It is truly the antithesis of East Texas/Beaumont. I live in San Antonio, and I love it here. I go up to Austin once every few months. It's full of transplants from the coasts, so that makes it friendly. It's so easy to walk into any restaurant or bar, and within 10 minutes, you find yourself having a conversation with someone about anything. Many posters here will say a social life in Austin is dead once you hit 25, but it's simply not true. Don't rule out Houston or San Antonio, either.

I'm an ex Bostonian too - in fact doing very similar work as you are in DFW. I spent 15 years in the Fens and South End servicing all major med ctrs primarily BWH/MGH.

I find DFW to be a very boring place myself. Imagine Boston - but with no college scene, no downtown energy, no Charles River, no ocean, no history, and no nearby big cities. That's Dallas. There is a section in Dallas called Uptown which would a weak substitute for Downtown Boston, but that's about it here. Oh, and no trees! Essentially is more like a much larger version of Beaumont than it is similar to BOS.

You won't find anything in tx similar to BOS, but I agree w the PP Austin is better bet.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by xS☺Be

I'm an ex Bostonian too - in fact doing very similar work as you are in DFW. I spent 15 years in the Fens and South End servicing all major med ctrs primarily BWH/MGH.

I find DFW to be a very boring place myself. Imagine Boston - but with no college scene, no downtown energy, no Charles River, no ocean, no history, and no nearby big cities. That's Dallas. There is a section in Dallas called Uptown which would a weak substitute for Downtown Boston, but that's about it here. Oh, and no trees! Essentially is more like a much larger version of Beaumont than it is similar to BOS.
.

Even if your going to compare Dallas to a much smaller city, Beaumont isnt the best one. Beaumont is much more like Houston than Dallas. If youre going to compare Dallas to a city that size, its much more like Waco or even Wichita, KS than Beaumont. But even then, its nothing like those places.

To me, as a native Californian, where Dallas falls short is outdoor activities. They do try, they really do, but the scenery is kind of bland and there isnt much to work with. Where Dallas doesnt fall short, is food, diversity, shopping, nightlife, and quality of suburbs. There are a few cool neighborhoods as well, but compared to an East Coast city or Chicago, Dallas will fall short.

Austin does better when it comes to outdoor activities, the nightlife is more concentrated and geared to a younger and edgier crowd, and there is a significant yuppie vibe, but other than that, I think the Dallas area is going to offer more.