Two summers ago we went to Texas on vacation. It was my first time in Texas and I absolutely fell in love with it. It's beautiful and the people were great. Ever since then, I've been on a subtle campaign to convince my family to move there. After considerable research, I've decided Austin might be the best for my family, considering what DH does for a living, the cost of housing, two teenagers who will be going to college in 4-6 years etc. We are planning to go there and check it out this summer - we can't make any quick moves due to a family situation - but we'd like to move in about a year. So, can anyone tell me about Austin? Pros, cons etc? Thanks.

I live in Houston, rather live there. The economy of Texas is the strongest in nation.

Ex-semi-Texan here. I lived in Austin for about 8 years while going to grad school at UT and I loved it. It would have been even more cool if I'd been more social because there is a ton to do. Not just clubs and music, but more nature-oriented stuff than you'd think--hiking, swimming, floating down rivers in inner tubes, caves, etc. Austin was the perfect place for me to leave TSCC and get politically radicalized too.

I'm at Fort Hood, an hour north of Austin.
Austin is the best city in Texas.
Has hilly woodsy parts, lakes, culture, and a university-government-technology economy.

The economy is great. The state is run by Republicans. Austin is the most liberal place I think. I am sure College Station has its charms too.

I'm in Houston--a lot of stuff to do around Houston but it is spread out like Los Angeles area. So nobody walks in Houston if they can help it. You get used to 20-30 minute drives to get most places if you live out "in the country" or one of the many suburban areas. 40-60 minute drives take you across town depending on where you are headed. One hour commutes to work are not uncommon.

San Antonio is a very vibrant and interesting place. Very pretty with the river walk going through downtown. We visit there often.

Galveston is a fun place close to Houston (couple of hours).

The Baptist presence is relatively strong in Texas generally, but it is a southern state after all.

Hi, DH and I live in Austin. We love it!
The food is great! There's lots to do as stated above. The house prices are fantastic. With any city and its suburbs, give yourselves some time to explore where you want to settle... each area has its own "feel".

Unfortunately, I'd actually have to go so far as to say that compared to where I grew up and other places I've lived, Austin is highly segregated. West of the MoPac expressway is all white and delightsome, east of I-35 is mostly African American (north) and Mexican American (south). There are some racially/ethnically mixed neighborhoods and pockets of students tucked around here and there.

I live in San Antonio, one of the two cities in Texas where I would be willing to live. Austin is the other. San Antonio is a beautiful city, much more Catholic than Baptist, and with lots of history. Austin is more liberal, more high-tech, and definitely cooler.

Texas native here who lived in the Santa Clara Valley for almost seven years (1978-85).
Austin's motto: Keep Austin weird! Californians usually like it over other areas of Texas. My take: Nice place to visit but I would not live there again. The Austin-San Antonio corridor is going to ruin--that is, being overbuilt. Everyone wants a piece of the Hill Country lifestyle and it's just not the same any longer. Too many people and too much development.

My suggestions: Tyler or Lufkin (East Texas), Corpus Christi (Gulf Coast), or Llano or Marble Falls (Hill Country).
If I could retire where I want, I'd rather live in Alpine, Van Horn, or San Angelo.
P.S. I've lived in Midland, Corpus Christi, Houston, Dallas, Tyler, Austin (Buda), and Collin County.

You will like Texas. My daughter went to college there and loved it and worked there for a time recently. She was in Dallas. Anyhow, enjoy it. What a big wide-open exciting place. The Univ. of Texas is okay from what I saw but pretty bland looking-bldg wise- IMO. But it is the people who make it great. San Antonio is cool also.

Take a look at the Georgetown/Round Rock area if Austin is your destination.

Austin is a great town, but it is definitely different than the rest of Texas. Fort Worth is the best of all worlds in Texas. It is actually much larger than Salt Lake City, and yet it feels smaller. It also gives you all of the major city amenities since it sort of melds into Dallas...and yet it lacks many of the Dallas downsides.

Welcome to Texas! (Just don't tell too many people how great it is. :-) )

...but not everyone is fond of hot weather. Give me the northern climate any day. I'd be miserable in a place that hot and dry, no matter how strong the economy was.

and if the temperature dropped below 45, it was unusually cold. It was normal to have a number of summer days over 100. What DH, who served his mission in the south but not in Texas, worries about is the humidity. But I agree with you about the hot and dry. When DH and I lived in Salt Lake when we first married, I could handle the temps but the dry - that was tough for me. Austin has a descent amount of rainfall, according to the websites, so I think I can handle it better than the hot and dry.

I wouldn't mind the Fort Worth/Dallas area - we really liked it when we were there - but DH's fanatically TBM sister lives in that area and I'd like a little cushion. She's really nice but I'm trying to get away from people who think they are responsible for my spiritual life and she'd be butting in all the time. We need to be at least 1-2 hours away from family.

I lived in Ft Worth for 22 years and loved it. Dallas is pretentious and the saying is, "Ft Worth is where the west begins, and Dallas is where the east peters out."

Austin is the place to go if you want to live in a pretty area, but because it is a popular area job competition is FIERCE and wages can be a bit lower than in Houston or elsewhere.

Be sure to visit during the summer months to ensure that you can tolerate the heat and humidity, IT CAN GET VERY HOT, and at times it does not cool down at night very much. That is especially true for HOUSTON,

My brother has lived in AUSTIN for years and Loves it, My sister lives in Houston and likes it okay as well.

Austin is a fun town, but traffic is terrible and property taxes are very high. As others have said, there is a lot to do and is great for families. Just be sure y'all can handle 105 degree temps in the summer on a regular basis. And, as we Texans say, there are only two seasons here: Hot and Hotter Than Hell. ;)

I've been in Texas since 1978. It has it's plusses and minuses. Take Houston for example. Some of the nicest folks you'll ever find, but the infrastructure was designed by a moron and June - September is diaper rash weather.

Austin's been touted as one of the most liveable cities in the entire US. I like it, but wouldn't want to live there. I'd miss the arts district, major league sports and low-cost (comparatively) housing.

I think 105 degrees is overstated. I think I've only seen that 2 or 3 times since I moved here.

I ride a Harley, and you can't beat Texas for some of the best cruising areas in the US. The hill country west of Austin is outstanding.

Ron

Sorry, Ron, I gotta disagree with you on the temperature. I've been here since 1999 and we easily hit that every summer, especially when you factor in the 70-80% humidity and heat index and the "island effect" of all the concrete in the city itself. It hit 112 in September 2000 and we had all kinds of power blackouts from everybody running their AC at full power. Actually, the year 2000 had 42 days of triple-digit temps. 2008 had 50 days. Etc, etc.

"Diaper rash weather" - that's funny! And too true!

Okay, I'm not going to argue the point. I've been to several sites that all record the highest ever temp in Houston as 106 in 1962.

Regardless, it's hot and sticky.

Ron

Houston is a nice place with lots of cultural and ethnic diversity. It's a really big spread out megalopolis and is (sightly) more moderate than most of Texas -- the new mayor is a lesbian. Lots of art, theatre, classical music, art/foreign cinema, etc. Austin isn't too far of a drive either. All the good dance clubs are in the Montrose area west of the city centre. Neiman-Marcus, Saks, Nordstroms, are in the Galleria area. Traffic can be bad - I-45 goes right through downtown and has horrific rush hour traffic jams. Beltway 8 and I-610 are the main ring roads around the city and you can use them to get around.

Austion is further inland, so less efffect from the tropical storms and Hirricans. THe housing is higher than Houston (where I live). It is very liberal for Texas.
I don't know if you do this where you live, but the majority of holidays here are celebrated with fireworks. Unfortunitly where I live ( techinically outside of town) It's legal and ppl will keep it up until the wee hours, Easter being the exception so far.
No state income tax either BTW.

I live in Houston and it is a great city. Whatever you want, it is here! Austin and San Antonio are my favorite places, though!

Fair warning: if you are from California you don't know about frontage roads, so be careful, they are a bit scary, but once you get the hang of them, they are a great help in getting about town! All the big cities have them!

Some things you should know about Texas:

#1: it has the highest number of uninsured people in the nation. They are not illegal aliens, they have jobs, they just cannot afford health insurance and Texas doesn't believe in requiring employers to carry it.

#2: it spends the least amount of money on it's poor than any other state in the union, specifically children. Texas has the most people living in poverty in the USA--and most of the poor are actually working--they're known as the working poor.

#3: the schools rank 47--only Mississippi, Alabama and one of the Carolinas have schools that rank worse. The dropout rate hovers at nearly 40% and the state has it's own state test that when compared nationally shows that Texas kids lag behind the national average in every single subject. Next year they will, in their brand spanking new textbooks (in the schools that can afford them, since paying for the football and basketball teams first is priority #1) approved by the ultra right wing State Board of Education not be studying Thomas Jefferson, who penned the Declaration of Independance, among other things and is one of the Fathers of our country--he's too liberal and has been marginalized in the textbooks--but they will be studying the positive aspects of slavery in America. No, this is not a joke.

#4: it has very low property taxes and no state income tax! Yay! This means that city and school taxes are through the roof--my monthly Principal and Interest on my mortgage is only $776 due to low housing prices and low interest rates. Yay! Add in all those taxes and the insurance (think hurricanes, even though I live far away from the coast) and my actual payment is $1400 Boo! (and yes, I shop around every year to get the best insurance price).

But realistically, the economy is headed for disaster. The state is 25 billion in the red and will be cutting education and medicare/medicaid and state jobs to balance the budget without any new taxes (on the state level).

Each individual school district budget will be cut in the millions (some hundreds of millions)--4 community colleges will be closed. A prison will be closed. With the medicare/medicaid cuts, hospitals will be downsizing. With the state cuts, construction contracts for highway, bridge and other infrastructure repairwork will be cancelled, social services (think Child Protective Services and Foodstamps, which many of our military families depend on because military pay is so low) will be cut, state parks closed or use radically curtailed, and there will be fewer police and fire fighters on the job.

So, if you are in education. law enforcement, fire fighting, any type of social services, forestry, construction (think highways, etc.) or medicine, do not come here. There will be no jobs and massive unemployment very soon.

But we will continue to have low property taxes, and with all these cuts, no new taxes on the state level! Yay! (Cities, counties and schools will probably levy massive new sales and MUD taxes, but thats another issue).

the textbook thing is very frustrating... people around here shoot off fireworks at people's houses for 4th of July and New Year's, 4th of July is like the war of 1812 no joke! Austin is the most liberal but the traffic is terrible! The area around Austin is wonderful but getting built up and gentrified. The people here are the friendliest and nicest people, very welcoming. The best part about Texas is you are free more or less to do what you want, the worst part about Texas is people are free to do what you want! Lots of littering, some people's idea of taking out the trash is putting it in the back of the pickup truck and letting it blow out on the highway. Texas in the summer is HOT, 100 degree days are common but you don't have to shovel sunshine. Texas has it's faults but I love it.

Don't forget the guns!

I love having the neighbors shoot at armadillos in MY YARD!

And having my neighbor arrested (and released!!!) after shooting and killing his own daughter because he thought she was a burglar. And the other neighbor whose son took his gun next door and shot and killed one of the kids watching tv . . . (great neighborhood, look us up on the internet).

No, nobody went to jail. After all, this is Texas.

The thing about Texas is you have to balance the great people, places and fun with the insanity. And that's a tough call.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2011 02:19PM by nwmcare.

Texas is the last state in the union in which the following argument still holds-up in court.

"Well, yer honor, Billy needed shootin!"

"CASE DISMISSED!"

It ain't immoral, its tradition!

Timothy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2011 02:29PM by Timothy.

TIMOTHY! I think I'm in love!

I'm familiar with the concept of insanity. At least Texas balances it out with great people and fun.

And don't forget the dude who called 911, said the neighbor's house was being robbed, the 911 operator said don't shoot 'em, then you hear bang-bang. I shot 'em.

He went free. Shot them bastards!

Ron

People have talked about the heat but not about air conditioning. AC is absolutely required between April and October (give or take).

Four community colleges have been put up for discussion for closing, but nothing is a done deal yet. The big universities keep the lights on by making TV network deals like UT recently made for 10 million dollars. A&M tries to monetize the value of its faculty and is headed down the road to being purely a teaching institution. Every able researcher will leave. The middling colleges and universities will scramble. Texas has the biggest CC system next to California's. They followed California's lead on building a public CC system back in the 60s and 70s,

Oh, and don't forget we have an express lane to the juice chamber for pedophiles and other miscreants. Forget about our DNA labs being fucked up tho.

Ron

I grew up in the California Bay Area and have lived here for the last thirty years. My wife grew up in the west Texas towns of Alpine, Del Rio and El Paso. She doesn't care for those towns but she LOVES Austin (to visit) and summer vacations on the beach at Galveston.

Austin is like the Sun. Its nice to have close but not too close for the reasons like traffic that others have mentioned. My daughter is at UT Austin and loves it. The campus area reminds me of a rather toned-down Berkeley.

Of course the gulf coast is nice for a visit, but one doesn't want to be there for a hurricane and that can include Houston.

When my wife retires (she's a teacher) I really wouldn't mind trying west Texas, but I don't think she'd agree. Fredericksburg or New Braunfels might be a good compromise. If you want to be near a REAL Mormon community, you can at least see one from Eldorado.

Avoid the Fort Hood area if at all possible. This area isn't the pleasant alternative to Texas that Austin is. This area is very transient due to frequent military deployments and transfers and crime is just out of control.

Hi Otremer...tell your wife hi..from a fellow West Texan. I grew up in Marfa...used to go fishing at Amistad in Del Rio and I also lived in El Paso. I live in East Texas now...too humid...too red neck for me. My son has lived in Austin for years but he says it is getting too crowded and to many outsiders moving in. Austin is losing its weirdness...too bad.

i'm not a Texan but i'm definitely an Austinite! the only city worth living if you're gonna live in Texas. what i love about Austin:

-the people (the segregation thing is true but i have been in all parts of town and treated the same, unlike Houston where the people i have been around all drive Mercedes and sneered at my Honda)
-the restaurants kick ass
-lots of outdoorsy stuff to do, several state parks within 60 min drive
-you go to a fancy show or 5 star restaurant and see everything from jeans to tuxes.
-no snow, got enough of that growin' up thank you
-better weather as in Houston is always humid/hurricanes, Dallas gets some snow, Austin is reasonably sheltered we do have some flash floods now and then but i live away from those areas
-HOT summers, love it hot it could be 110 year round for me
-you can garden year round easily
-lots of good locally produced stuff

advice:
-AIR CONDITIONING
-like anywhere come check it out before you commit
-many of us are completely ashamed of the textbook thing, totally embarrassed and fought it like hell to no avail. same thing goes for our guv (trying to keep it nonpolitical per board rules)

forgot to mention: Austin Community College is here (along with UT, St Eds, Concordia) very good CC with lots of locations, great teachers, small class sizes.

I'm so sorry I came on so negative--Texas isn't totally terrible. I have a child in Austin (medical school) right now and I truly love Austin. If my husband and I had a choice (jobwise) that is where we would be, it is a fabulous city--Texas or not!!!

But I have lived in Texas over 20 years now, after 20 years spent traveling the world and 10 in the southwest and feel confident in reviewing the current status of Texas.

If you have college age kids, be very careful about the college thing! Over the past 4 years the tuition at state colleges and universities has risen something like 400% (some type of deregulation--we sent child #3 out of state, it was cheaper, even at out of state tuition rates!).

While University of Houston is looking for Top Tier status, A & M is on the verge of loosing theirs, and Baylor (although a private school) is always on the verge of loosing accredidation--depends on whether their current president is sane or fundamentalist. Their medical school is in deep kimchee right now--can't get a hosptial system to sponsor their residents and med students (although that is more about greed than anything else). The researchers and their grants at all the major state universities are all leaving and going to states with schools and state governments that are more stable.

One of the budget targets is student loans--if you will be depending on those, you will be in hot water. Especially if you are new to the state! They were hard enough to get before the current budget crisis--now they are on the chopping block again!

Best BB around for learning about Texas.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/texas/

Go there, then pick a city. It's the best around.

Ron

I, personally, am not a huge fan of Austin. It's very political and the traffic is horrible. The cost of housing is much higher there than in the rest of the state.

If you don't mind being in a small city, look at San Angelo. It's not as "BibleBelty" as Abilene, but it has a good healthcare base, an excellent state college, and a wonderful culture. I have yet to meet a person who dislikes San Angelo.