Depends on what you're looking for..
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6/10/2007
I think the problem with these surveys that rank best cities to live is they
try to be all things to all people. They do have seperate rankings for retirement areas and family-orientated cities and such, but most surveys are one-size-fits-all. Most surveys Austin ends up on are those same generic ones. I've been out in Austin for awhile, and there are very good and bad things about it. First, just because an area is growing fast doesn't mean its a great place to live. Greater Phoenix is a hellhole, and is also the fastest growing area outside of Vegas, another awful place to live as well.
Austin is growing fast, like the others, but its a great place considering
the pace of growth. All fast growing cities will have awful traffic. It simply goes with the territory, as it takes time for the infrastructure to catch up, if it ever does. All fast-growing cities will also have many transient neighborhoods, with many huge apartment complexes on the outskirts,
and the lack of defined neighborhoods due to the newness, along with reams
of big-box stores and malls with the same identical franchises all over.
These are all Austins' worst faults as well. They have bad traffic, a "malling and big-boxing of America" look, many undefined, ugly new areas
with mega-apartments for many miles, etc.
That being said, its quite beautiful considering, after all is said. It's
VERY safe, the safest big city by far I've ever seen. A very intelligent
population. Almost TOO many things to do. One of the best music and club
scenes in the US. Very beautiful neighborhoods in the old sections, like Hyde
Park around the university, South Congress, Barton Springs-Riverside, and the hilly west areas. And the people, once you get them out of their cars,
are extremely friendly.
Its a very young city. Besides the college, there are many young folks in tech jobs, or working in service jobs in clubs, restuarants, and stores.
I'm 35, and feel like I'm just on the cusp of being too old out here, but I
still enjoy it. Over 35, trust me, you might feel a little old out here.
The ratio of men and women is skewed a bit towards men, per the tech jobs and
all, but the sexes are pretty even under 25, and prob more women than men under 23 or so(college). I wouldn't recommend male singles over about
30 though, as the pool of available single women over 25 really drops off, and single women over 30 are almost non-existant. If you are a single female under 30 , this would be a mecca for y
scott | South Holland, IL