Austin is highly Overrated - 11/11/2020
I've lived here for 12 years, and it's not worth it. The cost of living here is very high, at least compared to the rest of South, and there are definitely better places to live in Texas. I'm moving because how high the property taxes have raised over the years, which have made it unaffordable for anyone from the lower-middle class range to live. There is a decent amount of things do here in terms of outdoor activities, but most other cities have better scenery and parks. Many forests around the Austin area, if you would even call them that, are predominantly just 10ft cedar trees. Austin is very segregated so most of Austin isn't very diverse, especially the north side. If you make upwards of 100K a year, then moving to the Westlake/Barton creek area might not as bad, but you have to deal with the rich snooty people who live there. Aside from the west side. I wouldn't move here. I'm moving back up to the North for those Read More

Doesn't live up to the hype - 9/6/2020
Agree with poster about being a "fake woke" city. Austin seems like a liberal city in many ways, and the younger millennials are a big part of that. But it is also the capital city of a Rupublican/regressive state and it has a strangle hold that keeps it from being what the most residents wish it to be. And there are also a number of the "true" (sarcasm) Texans with their trucks (that haul and hold nothing... ever!) and guns. My tolerance for these types is really wearing thin.

As far as people claiming it is so friendly here.... it is an act. Like so many places that put on that "Southern charm", they are sweet to your face and talking smack about you as soon as you are out of earshot. We still feel more kinship to friends back on the coast, even though we cannot se them very often.

I am fortunate to make good money here in tech, but I have almost always worked for companies headquartered in California that pay better. We have been here 14 years now and Read More

'The Truman Show' w/High Taxes & Hot Summers - 9/6/2020
I agree with Jay and some others:
Positives: Sunny, dry weather with little rain. Winters are mild with many 50F plus days, fairly safe, plenty of chain stores and shopping centers, good community college system(ACC), good music scene, UT Austin. Texas State University. It's growing so if you've bought a house, you're reaping rewards. Fairly low crime. Everything looks fairly new. etc.
Negatives: Very hot summers (hits 100F plus many days) from June through September. Little rain so a garden, water, is expensive. High property taxes. Heavy traffic. Slackers, deadbeats and potheads. Bubbas further out. Homeless at intersections, camping in tents, panhandling, doing drugs, stealing bikes, etc.. Lack of culture and history compared to the NE. Once you're in Austin, it's hard to get anywhere else. It's not like the NE, where you can drive to Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC in a day. Once you live in Austin, you're sort of stuck there. Unless, you want to drive to Read More

Fake woke city with typical southern slave wages - 8/4/2020
Lived in Austin for 2 years and looking back realized its extremely overrated. Ill give 5 short reasons why:

1) Austin historically was a sleepy college town. No different than Tallahassee FL where im at now. Its now overran by corporate tech companies outsourcing their crappy Cali jobs and hasnt grown beyond that. Austin is not some metropolis like NYC, DC, San Fran or LA. Its not even on the level of second tier cities like Chicago, Seattle, or even Atlanta. Its a 3rd/4th tier city in terms of career opportinities. Your never going to get far working here.

2) This place is so fake woke its not even funny. Minorities are segregated into east austin and most companies mostly hire whites. This is a neocon/conservative leaning city that doesnt like diversity but pretends to like liberals since corporations here need good PR. Its mostly white people here with very little cultural diversity.

3) Low wage state. Its still part of the south and its Read More

Liberals, Looks Nice, White People - 7/23/2020
Moved to Austin in 2012. It's 2018 and I'm sitting at my apt hot tub talking to these 2 college girls. I ask them why they like Austin.

They tell me:

'It looks nice!'
'We're liberals!'
'White people!

Pretty much summed up my experience of Read More

Hopeful but Still a Bit Overrated - 7/9/2020
I'm pretty torn about Austin. On one hand, people are casually polite and courteous but on the other hand fairly stuck up for no reason. However, bar and restaurant staff are really friendly for the most part - and that makes a huge difference compared to where I used to live which was the opposite (Denver).

It's definitely fairly easy to live here with access to tons of bars and live music venues. Food here is OK but not terribly exciting. Food Trucks seem to be the core of good eating for the most part.

I'm also definitely extremely impressed by the quality of health care at hospitals, specialists, and whatnot. Nobody seems to talk about that. Facilities are really clean and straightforward as well (even during COVID-19).

As for the other people who live here: a little too snobbish & aloof for my tastes. People are really cliquey and it's tough to meet friends overall. I think the worst part are some of the management people that run Read More

Homeless skyrocketing Traffic, everythin Expensive - 5/4/2020
I've lived in this City for 2 years with my wife, moving from cold cloudy Boston in sunny Texas. Living here we have noticed that weather is not as steady as we thought, although is lot warmer than Massachusetts lot more sunshine and drier climate. City offers a lot of opportunities, jobs, outside sitting caffe's and cool restaurants. Here you will meet few respectful people that will make your day and while driving in the city in beautiful sunny day get cut off maybe 3 or 4 times from rude drivers that make absolutely no sense and don't belong behind the wheel.
Here is the only city in the World that after calling 911 they tell you do you want the police there? And police never shows up unless you call 2 -3 times..
Rent and house prices are absolutely over expensive. Traffic is horrible due to infrastructure. Highway 35 is taking forever to be finished by contracts that are milking our tax money and elected politicians that don't set deadlines and fire the contractors. Read More

Austin: A Geographic Example of Dunning-Kruger - 3/1/2020
I have lived in this dump for nearly three years and I am counting down the days until I leave. I moved to this dump in the fall of 2017 to attend UT, which is admittedly an excellent institution. It's a world-class university about which I cannot say enough good things. That said, UT is a rose surrounded by a manure field.

This dump is overcrowded to the point of absurdity. Apparently no civil engineer was consulted when "leaders" decided to grow the city at all costs and not consider infrastructure whatsoever. Forget being a bicycle commuter to beat the traffic. You're basically taking a gamble with your life if you are biking or walking due to the recklessness of drivers in this dump. The bus system is not completely awful, but do expect to be crammed into a bus next to the dregs of society, namely hipsters who don't wear deodorant and have their pits smelling like an anchovy's vag. There is a useless rail system which only serves the north side of town.
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This City is for LOSERS - 2/18/2020
Been here 6 to 7 months and already planning on moving back to the West Coast.

The biggest turnoffs have been apartment and condo associations who lie through their teeth (especially CA transplants like myself) just to make a buck. Although it's cheaper than the coasts, so does management going along with it (ignoring maintenance calls for bugs and not taking ownership for regular defects). It's stressful and would be illegal in California - but then again it's Texas so they can get away with it I guess.

Other than that - Other mainline things are harder to get in Austin than CA like access to good Mechanics and Doctors. Dating here is also freaking stupid too. Most of the Women here have their head shoved so far up their a** you'd think it be Miami or something (EG: Bumble is *Crickets*).

Traffic is also dumb with ridiculous lane and road closures and people driving big trucks and cutting people off. Heck, even the Postal Workers lack Read More

Gangs from Deep South and Realtors from California - 2/18/2020
Did not like! Maybe if we were making more than 80k a year and could afford to live in cushy, cozy West Austin with bongo banging Hollywood elite? Maybe if we didn't have kids and so didn't mind living next to trap houses and hostile, staring, mobs of black and Hispanic gangsters *everywhere* on the East South and North sides? So, you live out of town and drive an hour through Dante's Inferno of Traffic to get to a bunch of crowded, hot, filthy, sticky beer tacky piss smelly bars where 20 year old from all over the world have come to complete with each other about who is more this, more that, more more more whatever. Enjoy music? Yeah but I have a band. Have a band? Yeah but my band is signed. I know more people, etc. In the libraries, people compete about who writes and has been published. In the grocery, who has healthier shit in their cart and can shop without acknowledging a single human throughout the entire experience. But mainly, it's the shitty gangsters who ultimately Read More