'The Truman Show' w/High Taxes & Hot Summers
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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 San Antonio, Houston or Dallas. Or, check out an over-hyped tourist town like Fredericksberg, Salado, etc. So-so airport, because it's hard to get direct flights, although clean and new. Most flights stop first in Houston, Dallas, etc.
Overall: I find Austin to be dull. And, downtown to be a lot like the movie, 'The Truman Show'. There's just not the richness of the NE in Austin. If you're fine living in a suburb in a cookie cutter home, and have kids that you want to be safe, go to public school, hang out in your neighborhood and shop at chain stores, and attend in-state colleges, it may be great for you.
DEFA | Austin, TX