Will a Montanan be welcome in Texas? (Houston, Dallas: fit in, 2014)

[AT-AT28]

Hey all, i'm just starting some research into moving outa my longtime home state of Montana and maybe thinking about starting the next section of my early 30's bachelorhood in Austin TX as it seems to be a big epicenter of IT industry growth and people in my age category along with more computer and gaming geeks. And yes, that means hipsters which I am already accustomed to mostly in my black sheep town that is Missoula.

Been thinking about moving to the Portland area for many years since my college days in 2000, but the past year as i've been doing more research into the job market, namely IT that Portland is really having some issues maintaining anything worthy of a decent job market, let alone for an IT proffessionall like myself looking for the next step up in work and paygrade. But mostly, I've always been wanting A LOT more opportunities to meet new people and friends in a larger scale city that has a much bigger geek/nerd population for me to go to gaming and tech conventions, LAN parties, Cosplay and stuf to that effect.
On top of that,time and time again, in tech forum after tech forum and google searching I keep hearing about Austin, Texas is just a very rapidly growing and boom city with a healthy IT industry with job positions needing to be filled.

That being said, I'm not a huge political player in regards to how I live my life, i'd be best classified as a centrist as I have a more republican and Lutheran church upbringing and became more open minded and liberal as I got older. I'm pretty much a balanced person of living a mindset "Do, feel and believe what you want on your own business, and i'll do the same" So in short, I'm not looking to rock the ethical and political boat if I do end up coming down there.

So that begs the question, will I be accepted or at least tolerated with that kind of mindset being from way up north, or am I already in trouble from not being a native Texan? I don't know much about the Texan way of thinking other then what the media has fed me over the years. Everything from texans being closed minded die hard conservatives wearing 2 guns at a time with a cowboy hat ready to beat/kill a gay man at a moments notice, to very warm and welcoming hospitality open minded and loving people that rivals some of the nicer parts of the south. I also assume this just also depends on the city/area like Austin vs Houston apparently is a day in night difference of peoples mindset and life outlooks.

Again, that just what i've heard over the years *shrug*

[Austinite101]

You seem like you'd fit in Austin pretty well with the whole tech/nerdy thing going on and such. It's also pretty live and let live, which you seem to fit. I wouldn't worry as much about whether a state as a whole would accept you because you won't be living in the state as a whole, only a specific city.

Yeah, Texas has a lot more of those types of people that you mentioned than most states, but that is a small minority of Texans. They are even more insignificant the more urban the area.

[AT-AT28]

Yeah, it kinda sounds like Austin it the "Black Sheep" of Texas which is ironically the label for my town in the conservative state of Montana being Missoula lol.

How long have you lived in the Austin area? Can you tell me a bit more about how the job industry is in general and anything in regards to IT boom I keep hearing down there? I understand there can be some really hot and nasty weather down their with humidity that being a Montanan, I' am not used to, so thats gonna be a real hard for me to adjust too. But the photo's i've pulled up I was really surprised how green and widespread the vegetation is around Austin, its very pretty! Considering I grew up in the rockies, I'm used to and prefer being around vegetation, a desert setting would drive me insane as thats what I hear Dallas is more like.

I also heard the traffic is also pretty horrendous in the Austin area. I guess I basically can't get away from that since moving from a town of 60k to an area of over 800k population, so pro's and con's.

[Willsson]

You'll do fine in Austin but you'll need to leave a sign in your Montana front yard stating...

You can all go to Hell and I'm going to Texas

Michael Dell will keep a light on for ya'

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by AT-AT28

Yeah, it kinda sounds like Austin it the "Black Sheep" of Texas which is ironically the label for my town in the conservative state of Montana being Missoula lol.

How long have you lived in the Austin area? Can you tell me a bit more about how the job industry is in general and anything in regards to IT boom I keep hearing down there? I understand there can be some really hot and nasty weather down their with humidity that being a Montanan, I' am not used to, so thats gonna be a real hard for me to adjust too. But the photo's i've pulled up I was really surprised how green and widespread the vegetation is around Austin, its very pretty! Considering I grew up in the rockies, I'm used to and prefer being around vegetation, a desert setting would drive me insane as thats what I hear Dallas is more like.

I also heard the traffic is also pretty horrendous in the Austin area. I guess I basically can't get away from that since moving from a town of 60k to an area of over 800k population, so pro's and con's.

While I'm young, I've lived in (Downtown) Austin for my entire life. Austin's unemployment rate is really low and that can be good or bad depending on the situation. The job market can get really competitive because UT-Austin is churning out thousands of college graduates every year, many of whom decide to jump into the Austin labor force. Many high profile companies such as Apple are also increasing their IT workforce in Austin due to the large educated population that Austin has.

And yeah, Austin can be really lush depending on the time. Other times, due to prolonged droughts, it can be dry. And Dallas isn't in a desert setting really. It's just really flat.

And yes the traffic can be terrible. Always live as close to where you will work as possible.

[LCSDays]

Never heard Missoula described that way.

Interesting.

[sxrckr]

OP, you'd fit in central-ish Austin, but also the central-ish areas of Houston and Dallas where there are also lots of young people and new professionals. The last two don't market themselves like Austin does, so many people are pleasantly surprised who move to these.
There are also smaller Texas cities that you may like, but they may not be exciting enough for you and are harder to find good employment.

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by Austinite101

While I'm young, I've lived in (Downtown) Austin for my entire life.

Really? I recall you stating several times about living in Tokyo and you appeared to be quite proud of that fact. So which is it? You lived your entire life in Austin and just forgot about the time you lived in Tokyo or do you just say what pops into your head at the moment?

Hey girl, you might want to make somewhat of an effort at being credible.

Originally Posted by Austinite101

I carry throwing knives. When I was living in Tokyo, I learned to knife throw. I can easily put a blade 3 inches into a skull several meters away and end someone if I wanted to.

Originally Posted by Austinite101

You see, that's just it. I wouldn't be "just as happy" anywhere else. I want to be an Austinite. Now, if Austin were to fall off of the face of the universe while I was away, then yes, I would probably move back to Tokyo or live in SF or NYC. But here Austin stands.

Originally Posted by Austinite101

No, but I lived in Japan for a few years when I was younger and I became fairly integrated into Japanese society.

[Qazulight]

Originally Posted by AT-AT28

Hey all, i'm just starting some research into moving outa my longtime home state of Montana and maybe thinking about starting the next section of my early 30's bachelorhood in Austin TX as it seems to be a big epicenter of IT industry growth and people in my age category along with more computer and gaming geeks. And yes, that means hipsters which I am already accustomed to mostly in my black sheep town that is Missoula.

Been thinking about moving to the Portland area for many years since my college days in 2000, but the past year as i've been doing more research into the job market, namely IT that Portland is really having some issues maintaining anything worthy of a decent job market, let alone for an IT proffessionall like myself looking for the next step up in work and paygrade. But mostly, I've always been wanting A LOT more opportunities to meet new people and friends in a larger scale city that has a much bigger geek/nerd population for me to go to gaming and tech conventions, LAN parties, Cosplay and stuf to that effect.
On top of that,time and time again, in tech forum after tech forum and google searching I keep hearing about Austin, Texas is just a very rapidly growing and boom city with a healthy IT industry with job positions needing to be filled.

That being said, I'm not a huge political player in regards to how I live my life, i'd be best classified as a centrist as I have a more republican and Lutheran church upbringing and became more open minded and liberal as I got older. I'm pretty much a balanced person of living a mindset "Do, feel and believe what you want on your own business, and i'll do the same" So in short, I'm not looking to rock the ethical and political boat if I do end up coming down there.

So that begs the question, will I be accepted or at least tolerated with that kind of mindset being from way up north, or am I already in trouble from not being a native Texan? I don't know much about the Texan way of thinking other then what the media has fed me over the years. Everything from texans being closed minded die hard conservatives wearing 2 guns at a time with a cowboy hat ready to beat/kill a gay man at a moments notice, to very warm and welcoming hospitality open minded and loving people that rivals some of the nicer parts of the south. I also assume this just also depends on the city/area like Austin vs Houston apparently is a day in night difference of peoples mindset and life outlooks.

Again, that just what i've heard over the years *shrug*

I don't know. If you bring some snow an cool weather you might at least be allowed to stay, but otherwise you may be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.

Seriously, I have been told that when kids hear Texans talk about Texas what they picture is really Montana. So I can't really see why you would want to move.

On the other hand, a move is a life expanding experience and I always recommend it to those that can and have ambition.

Cheers
Qazulight

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by AT-AT28

Yeah, it kinda sounds like Austin it the "Black Sheep" of Texas which is ironically the label for my town in the conservative state of Montana being Missoula lol.

How long have you lived in the Austin area? Can you tell me a bit more about how the job industry is in general and anything in regards to IT boom I keep hearing down there? I understand there can be some really hot and nasty weather down their with humidity that being a Montanan, I' am not used to, so thats gonna be a real hard for me to adjust too. But the photo's i've pulled up I was really surprised how green and widespread the vegetation is around Austin, its very pretty! Considering I grew up in the rockies, I'm used to and prefer being around vegetation, a desert setting would drive me insane as thats what I hear Dallas is more like.

I also heard the traffic is also pretty horrendous in the Austin area. I guess I basically can't get away from that since moving from a town of 60k to an area of over 800k population, so pro's and con's.

Austin is more desert like than Dallas. It sits further west in a somewhat drier part of the state. I wouldn't call either city "lush", but they're sufficiently green and wet.