Austin is not where you want to be
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9/7/2014
I lived in the Austin area for 30 of the past 35 years. I left for good in June 2014. I will never return. I am writing this to warn anyone thinking about moving to Austin. Don't do it.
There's three reasons for not moving to Austin: population growth, traffic, and climate.
Population growth: In 1980, Austin was a sleepy little college town of about 300,000 people. It is now (2014) a metropolitan area of about 2 million, about to surpass the San Antonio area in population. Austin will continue growing because it's one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. People want to move to Austin because Austin has this image of being hip, hot, and happening. You sit in traffic on I-35 in Austin and Austin suddenly loses its appeal.
Traffic: Austin is about 20 years behind on building highways. Take a look at a map of Austin and San Antonio. Who has the better highway system? San Antonio, hands down. The traffic on Austin main thoroughfare, I-35, is woefully congested, even on the weekends. Other main roads like MoPac, highway 260, FM 2222, etc. have almost as bad traffic congestion during rush hours. Downtown Austin can be hard to navigate during certain hours of week days.
Weather: I remember back in the 80's and 90's Austin had somewhat cooler and wetter summers. The average number of days 100 or more is 12, but, in the last few years, the number of days 100 or more has significantly increased. There was a year, 2011 I think, where Austin had 67 days 100 or more. In August 2014, the number of days in that month alone 100 or more was 15. Also, Austin has been in a drought, along with most of the state, for the past four years. Lake Travis at one time was at 34% of its capacity recently. Winters are mild in Austin, but the summers are about six months along, with plenty of humidity.
Austin is not where you want to be.
Michael | Grandville, MI