Relocation from NYC to Texas: Houston, Dallas, or Austin? (Howe: new home, centers)

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by AK123

And where are these people you are polling?

I'm guessing they are outside of the state (or at least outside of Houston/Dallas) and have never lived in these places.

Austin is a media darling the last several years, but please remember media perception is not the same as reality. Reality is Austin is not in the same league as Houston/Dallas in many ways, being that it started as a college town / state capital. It's been growing a lot but not without some pretty serious growing pains. It is hard to compare it to the big league cities (of course, not everyone needs a big league city, so Austin's fine for that.)

Despite what you heard from those who probably know little of these places, Dallas and Houston are basically interchangeable (especially to someone from out of state) and the demographics are extremely similar. The main differences would be that Dallas is more dry while Houston is more lush/green, and also more humid/rainy. Dallas is landlocked on the plains while Houston is situated between plains, pine forest and coastal. IMO Dallas is more sterile and a little contrived, while Houston is more genuine and live-and-let-live. Both have the big city amenities (arts/culture, museums, zoo, etc) that Austin does not.

Once again, going off polling random people outside the areas can be really misleading. They are likely going of perception and what cities have marketed themselves the most (or have not marketed themselves because they don't feel the need to be a tourist destination or already get more visitors than the other cities - that would be Houston.)

You might check the latest Travel + Leisure survey instead... it may surprise you (especially Houston vs Dallas). America's Favorite Cities 2010 - City Comparison - Houston vs Dallas | Travel + Leisure

Oh, the irony....

America's Favorite Cities 2010 - City Comparison - Austin vs Houston | Travel + Leisure



And I love all these "big city amenities" you miss out on by living in Austin. Those are what exactly? An underutilized public transportation system? A busy, bustling downtown area....oh, no, wait...that's Austin. The best public parks in the state....wait, that's Austin again. Wait, I heard something about Austin not having museums. Only that's not true either.
Austin is a bit overrated, but it does plenty of things better than both Dallas and Houston, especially if you're younger. No city has a monopoly on anything over the other two, so I'm not sure why it's worth everybody on this forum getting so bent out of shape that Austin is the transplant favorite of Texas.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

Oh, the irony....

America's Favorite Cities 2010 - City Comparison - Austin vs Houston | Travel + Leisure



And I love all these "big city amenities" you miss out on by living in Austin. Those are what exactly? An underutilized public transportation system? A busy, bustling downtown area....oh, no, wait...that's Austin. The best public parks in the state....wait, that's Austin again. Wait, I heard something about Austin not having museums. Only that's not true either.
Austin is a bit overrated, but it does plenty of things better than both Dallas and Houston, especially if you're younger. No city has a monopoly on anything over the other two, so I'm not sure why it's worth everybody on this forum getting so bent out of shape that Austin is the transplant favorite of Texas.

Austin has the best public parks in the state??? Since when???

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

Austin has the best public parks in the state??? Since when???

Best urban parks, I should say. And since I've been alive.

[Willsson]

a downtown that isn't a ghost town on evenings/weekends, a good bar/music scene, some cool walkable areas of town

Austin

[Willsson]

Originally Posted by AK123

And where are these people you are polling?

I'm guessing they are outside of the state (or at least outside of Houston/Dallas) and have never lived in these places.

Austin is a media darling the last several years, but please remember media perception is not the same as reality. Reality is Austin is not in the same league as Houston/Dallas in many ways, being that it started as a college town / state capital. It's been growing a lot but not without some pretty serious growing pains. It is hard to compare it to the big league cities (of course, not everyone needs a big league city, so Austin's fine for that.)

Despite what you heard from those who probably know little of these places, Dallas and Houston are basically interchangeable (especially to someone from out of state) and the demographics are extremely similar. The main differences would be that Dallas is more dry while Houston is more lush/green, and also more humid/rainy. Dallas is landlocked on the plains while Houston is situated between plains, pine forest and coastal. IMO Dallas is more sterile and a little contrived, while Houston is more genuine and live-and-let-live. Both have the big city amenities (arts/culture, museums, zoo, etc) that Austin does not.

Once again, going off polling random people outside the areas can be really misleading. They are likely going of perception and what cities have marketed themselves the most (or have not marketed themselves because they don't feel the need to be a tourist destination or already get more visitors than the other cities - that would be Houston.)

You might check the latest Travel + Leisure survey instead... it may surprise you (especially Houston vs Dallas). America's Favorite Cities 2010 - City Comparison - Houston vs Dallas | Travel + Leisure

I lived 25 adult years in Houston followed by ten in Dallas. I would tend to agree with much of AK123's post. My response in the previous post is based entirely on the quoted criteria.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

Oh, the irony....

America's Favorite Cities 2010 - City Comparison - Austin vs Houston | Travel + Leisure

What's ironic? Or even surprising? Considering all the love Austin gets from the media, top 10 lists etc. in comparison. I brought up T+L because of the Dallas vs Houston comment the OP made regarding what others had told him. Sort of disproves what he said, doesn't it.

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

And I love all these "big city amenities" you miss out on by living in Austin. Those are what exactly? An underutilized public transportation system? A busy, bustling downtown area....oh, no, wait...that's Austin. The best public parks in the state....wait, that's Austin again. Wait, I heard something about Austin not having museums. Only that's not true either.
Austin is a bit overrated, but it does plenty of things better than both Dallas and Houston, especially if you're younger. No city has a monopoly on anything over the other two, so I'm not sure why it's worth everybody on this forum getting so bent out of shape that Austin is the transplant favorite of Texas.

Seriously? Houston has a downtown theatre district second in size only to NYC's Broadway. Austin has no such thing.
Austin's museums are not even comparable to what there is in Houston. And where is Austin's museum district? Real zoo? Planetarium? (Funny, even your Austin-Houston comparison link on T+L agrees with that in the Culture category.)
The restaurant scene is also not very comparable, as Houston's is normally ranked in the top 10.
Then there's the fact Houston is much more international, cosmopolitan, and a real global city. That comes with a lot.
Are you actually going to deny any of that? Let's compare Albany to NYC and Sacramento to Los Angeles next. Not exactly the same, but you get the idea. If you don't, I honestly think you don't know much about these amenities.

And Houston's public transit (I assume you mean rail) is not underutilized, maybe you are mixing it up with Dallas.

Really, I've lived in both places, so I'm not just pulling these things out of the air. Have you?

[stan4]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

And I love all these "big city amenities" you miss out on by living in Austin. Those are what exactly? An underutilized public transportation system? A busy, bustling downtown area....oh, no, wait...that's Austin. The best public parks in the state....wait, that's Austin again. Wait, I heard something about Austin not having museums. Only that's not true either.

Yeah, and I love fighting the crowds to get to those parks (if they really are so great). I super loved having to circle the Whole Foods over and over and over and over waiting for parking space to open up. I love standing outside all those bustling downtown restaurants and bars for hours before getting to go in and get sub-par food and horrendous service. FUN!

And what amenities? How about just being able to walk into a grocery store and being able to get WHATEVER YOU WANT. The selection...how many different asian centers do Houston and Dallas have? How many awesome restaurants? How about about a million direct flights all over the world? How about a medical super-specialist?

We're talking about real world grown-up amenities that some of us really enjoy.

I loved Austin for a lot of reasons. But it's not for everyone. And just like you do give some stuff up by moving to a bigger city like Dallas or Houston, you do give up a lot by moving to Austin.

The op just has to decide what is worth it to him/her.

[Scitats]

Originally Posted by stan4

Yeah, but the op wants to live near or in downtown. As a lifelong car lover, let me tell you, Austin is a horrendous place to own a nice car (unless you just love getting door dings and having your suspension tore up every five seconds). There isn't even a place to get your Ferrari serviced there. I got so scared for my car and so sick of there being no parking, I actually bought a motorcycle to navigate the inner Austin area.

this post is kinda ridiculous . Oh, and you can get your ferrari serviced at Ferrari of Austin just north of downtown.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by Scitats

this post is kinda ridiculous . Oh, and you can get your ferrari serviced at Ferrari of Austin just north of downtown.

Well, that must have just opened. Yup. 4/25/2010.

And no, it's not...live in Austin proper (near downtown and university area) and see how long your car stays nice. Most people I know have stopped caring.

[jr1038]

Originally Posted by stan4

Yeah, and I love fighting the crowds to get to those parks (if they really are so great). I super loved having to circle the Whole Foods over and over and over and over waiting for parking space to open up. I love standing outside all those bustling downtown restaurants and bars for hours before getting to go in and get sub-par food and horrendous service. FUN!

And what amenities? How about just being able to walk into a grocery store and being able to get WHATEVER YOU WANT. The selection...how many different asian centers do Houston and Dallas have? How many awesome restaurants? How about about a million direct flights all over the world? How about a medical super-specialist?

We're talking about real world grown-up amenities that some of us really enjoy.

I loved Austin for a lot of reasons. But it's not for everyone. And just like you do give some stuff up by moving to a bigger city like Dallas or Houston, you do give up a lot by moving to Austin.

The op just has to decide what is worth it to him/her.

I certainly understand your point, but pointing out things like a "medical super-specialist" or "awesome restaurants" as things that Austin doesn't have sounds a bit ignorant - because it does. Indeed, for a city its size Austin has more than its fair share of truly "awesome" restaurants (and parks). No doubt Houston and Dallas do as well.

Of course, Austin does not have many other "big city" amenities like good museums or light rail or major league sports or international flights. Austin is simply in a different tier by virtue of its size and history (i.e., it was a small, sleepy college town 30 years ago). That's why it's always an exercise in futility to compare Austin to those two - in many if not most ways it simply doesn't compare, despite the best efforts of some Austin boosters.

What I don't understand is why people try to compare them directly in the first place, and also why some boosters (like ClarenceBodiker) even bother pretending that Austin offers everything that Dallas and Houston do. If Austinites want to be prideful, they should consider how many cities Austin has passed, so to speak, in its rapid ascension over the past few decades - that's staggering progress and no one would deny that.

FWIW, in the time I lived in Austin, I never even once - in probably a hundred visits - circled the parking lot of Whole Foods over and over waiting to park.