Hot take: Austin is a top tier city
-
8/28/2023
The city continues to grow quickly, which a lot of people don't like. I get it, you fall in love with a city, and it's growing so fast that you don't recognize the same neighborhoods 5-10 years later. People complain that X restaurant closed and ignore the 10 new ones that popped up when they redevelop the old industrial parts of town. Austin is for creative and adventurous types who enjoy trying new places and neighborhoods. Those who aren't will more enjoy other cities that are not growing as much.
Cost of living keeps going up, more than some other cities. You can still find <$150K homes within an hour of Austin in 2023. In 2023, you can still find $1 tacos and <$2 pints of strawberries, but these are not the norm. Mostly it's expensive to live in the city--with a lot of new wealth in the city, the most desirable neighborhoods are very expensive. The areas that were outside the city limits 5 yeas ago are now new housing developments--mostly to the south and east.
Austin encourages entrepreneurs with tons of events for small businesses and startups throughout the year. Most new businesses in town are small businesses, popups, and food trucks. If you're not experiencing this, you're going to the wrong parts of town.
The infrastructure is following the growth. The highways are already being rebuilt twice 10 years. The Airport has been renovated and continues to be grown to support the growing city. Bike lanes continue to be added into the city. It's refreshing that most power lines are buried or being buried, which cleans up the appearance of the sky, which many cities don't address.
Weather: Mild 6-8 months of the year, with July and Aug being pretty brutal if you don't like hot weather. Winter is mild with maybe 1 hard freeze a couple days and sometimes a dusting of snow. Spring is gorgeous with wild flowers across the city in public spaces, then it crisps up for July and August. Late summer and Fall greens back up with a second growing season.
Culture: Austin is an outdoors city--tons of hiking, water activities, biking lanes and trails across the city. You can grab kayak/paddleboard rentals for <$10 any day of the week. The city has a okay sports scene with UT games and FC. Live music is everywhere, indoors and out. Most popup events and park events have music as part of them. The arts and museum scene is below average, but not the worst. There is a good amount of street art open studios events throughout the city.
Food: The restaurant scene is above average. You can find top tier options for just about any genre. Mexican and BBQ are common all over the city. Produce and beef are big in Texas, so fresh beef and fruits are great all year. My wife is a food reviewer and compares Austin to other, much larger cities for quality.
Jimmy | Austin, TX