Reviews & Comments
Dallas, TX
Lived in Dallas for 6 months -
5/25/2006I lived in Dallas for 6 months and really enjoyed it.
The Good:
-lots of entertainment venues
-reasonable housing
-pretty good light rail system
-great job market
-traffic is better than most major cities I've driven in
The Bad:
-I met more psychos than any other place I have ever lived before
-My wife's car got broken into at the library of all places
-people are very superficial, but if you enter into conversations without any expectations of sincerity, you won't be disappointed
-police don't really seem to concerned with helping people, but then, I guess this just goes along with the general selfishness of the rest of the population
Lewiston, ID
Grew up Here -
5/25/2006I grew up in Lewiston in the 80's and early 90's. There is some stuff to do like fishing, rafting, and skiing at nearby resorts. If you don't like the outdoors you probably won't have much fun as there aren't many other attractions. The Potlatch paper mill emits a noxious stench every day of the year. Most of the time this is carried down the river by the wind, but when the wind stops, a thick fog can build up in the valley that makes everything smell like rotten eggs (and there's no getting away from it unless you stay indoors all day).
The general climate is varied, but it doesn't change at the drop of a hat like in other places. The main thing is it's only 700 feet above sea level, so there's very little (sometimes no) snow in the winter, and intense dry heat in the summer. It's not uncommon for temperatures to reach 20 deg F in the winter and 100 deg F in the summer. Very little precipitation here (12" annually), so the only time you'll see much green is in the spring.
I didn't notice a whole lot of crime, but there is a marijuana problem and I wouldn't be surprised if the meth craze hit too. I guess that's just a side effect of not having much to do for the non-outdoors type people.
Pay sucks in this city! Unfortunately, the housing is slightly above the national average to boot. The city of Clarkston is directly across the Snake River and many people from Clarkston are forced to seek employment in Lewiston which decreases the job pool.
The people of the Lewis-Clark valley are a bit strange. I don't mean that in a bad way. They're friendly, but very untrusting at the same time. There are also racist undertones throughout the attitudes of some of the locals. It's not blatant, but it's there.
There is a 2-4 year college with a pretty good baseball team in the valley. Also, the civic theatre is quite impressive. Parks are very nice and streets are fairly clean.
I know it sounds like I hate this city, but I really miss it. It is where I grew up after all. I think, as with a lot of cities, you have to learn how to appreciate the good and deal with (not ignore) the bad.
Austin, TX
Nice City, Bad Traffic -
5/22/2006Austin has plenty of things to do. The univeristy offers many different sights as well as the capital complex, the downtown music scene, the outdoor activities, and the many many restaurants. If you learn the traffic back roads you can get around pretty easily, but if you're stuck on the major thoroughfares only, it can take over an hour to drive up to 5 miles on a bad day.