Unbiased view of Austin
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6/26/2008
I've been living in Austin for four years now, courtesy of my Austinite husband. I originally come from NYC. There are a lot of plusses to this city, namely the climate, the laid back lifestyle, and lower crime rate (when compared to other major metropolitan areas). I especially like the people themselves more so than anything else - I was never really into the whole "weird" thing. There are also quite a few minuses that people really need to consider. Namely, the public transportation system is not completely there, so expect to spend $$$ on gas if you don't live central or downtown. The downtown area, while not for lacking in the housing department, is woefully lacking in things you'd see in other downtowns like movie theatres every two blocks, meseums by the mile, tons of grocery stores and big box retail. You will have to drive for those. Then there's traffic - even if you live central, expect to spend thirty minutes to get to work thanks to snarling traffic on the major highways. People think Austin has "cheap" housing. It USED to be, but thanks to transplants like myself who treated real estate like trips to the mall, the average home price is not all that cheap when you will be making LESS than what you were paid elsewhere. My Austinite husband commented that the average home price is way too high for salaries. Then again, I'm talking about average joes here, I'm sure the big money software developers etc. don't share the same struggles. I can feel for the Texan though, who watches himself being priced right out of his home courtesy of property taxes. Crime is on the lower side, esp. when comparing Austin to a place like NYC. At the same time, there IS typical city crime.
In relation to Houston and San Antonio, Austin is way more expensive, yet both of those cities are bigger. Austin is an attractive city, which is why I am not wholly sold on the downtown revitalization. I think they're trying too hard to make Austin something that it is not. All of the buildings are the same hip, modern clones of buildings from other cities. Nothing uniquely Austin about 'em. I definitely would give this city a recommendation, just don't come down here with big blinders on your eyes.
Tetsuko | Round Rock, TX