You get the Austin experience you can afford
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8/26/2018
I have lived here 6 years now. I am a Texan and grew up in the Dallas area, lived in Fort Worth and Houston for many years but my heart always belonged to Austin. It is laid back and a happy place. Houston has a good vibe too but Austin has a small city charm. It is a very young progressive city and highly educated. The traffic can definitely suck at times but no where near as bad as Houston or Dallas mainly because it is probably not as far to where you are heading. I love the rolling hills and starry skies at night as well as all the fireflies. My daughter attended great public schools downtown and was ranked high. She chose UT which is very difficult to get into and has made all A's for 2 years now but she studies a lot. No 6th street for her which most locals avoid preferring smaller less noisy venues. I live by Zilker Park wgich is our crown jewel. So one of the biggest issues is actual house prices vs what people moving here think they are because they group Austin with many nearby towns for average home price. My tiny yard and home is about $600 a sq foot. A tiny empty lot is $600K. The HGTV Austin give away house is next to me. It is 2100 sq ft on a lot as small as mine and just resold for $1.3 million. New homes go for about $700 a sq foot. My neighborhood is incredible but it is pricey. I am surrounded by parks and top ranked restaurants not just in Austin but all of Texas. I say all this not to brag because I bought before it went crazy (I paid about $280 sq ft which I thought at the time was crazy) and would not be able to pay these prices now but to explain that this is the Austin in the movies and pics that lures you here and then you find out the costs but don't want to give up on your dream of living here so you buy in a farther out cookie cutter suburb and then spend time commuting to all the cool places. It's a trade off but one you should be aware of but the schools in these places are some of the best in Texas. The homes and yards are way bigger then mine. In closing Austin downtown is great to live in for young people sharing rent but for families who need space unless you have a lot of money you will be in a suburb.
Teri | Austin, TX