Just propaganda that you are reading Josh…..nothing fishy. I’ve been here since 1988 and the negative comments are all true.
TCI | Pflugerville, TX | Report Abuse

I’ve been here since 1988. All the negative comments are true. It used to be really clean in Austin compared to other places like NYC…..now, it looks like slums due to all the homeless tenting all over the city.
TCI | Pflugerville, TX | Report Abuse

Actually I disagree. You clearly haven't been down here living through it. I'm convinced that the city of Austin must spend a fortune on PR in order to fool lots of money to come here. I really can't figure it out. But the review was spot on.
Jj | | Report Abuse

I've been to Austin and have friends who live there. I haven't seen anything negative like others claim. Cost of living was actually cheaper than where I live in Virginia and Austin is considered the next Silicon Valley with all the startups, musicians, and migration of Silicon Valley to Austin.
Daniel | Williamsburg, VA | Report Abuse

I've been to Austin many times and I don't see the negativity being claimed. I walked by City Hall and the long park along the river where I see people jogging everyday with lots of trees and greenery. Downtown has lots of restaurants and musical festivals for aspiring artists and bands. The South by South West festival every year is great. The restaurants and food are great. Now the Pandemic may have caused a lot of restaurants to go under, but not to say they can't reopen and come back. Between USAA HQ, Electronic Arts/Bioware HQ is there, Elon Musk moved Tesla HQ and SpaceX HQ there.
Daniel | Williamsburg, VA | Report Abuse

spoken by someone who doesn't live in austin i get it. part of our negativity is most likely sour grapes, mourning what austin used to be and objecting to what it has become....might as well be anywhere else USA instead of a sane, artistic, kind place to live
Michael | Austin, TX | Report Abuse

btw, i have not seen a website this ssssslllllllooooooooowwwww in years
Michael | Austin, TX | Report Abuse

"Californians trying to ruin texas"...Lmao...(typical backward small town mentality)...Texas dont have anything to ruin my guy, people will come here and leave just as fast. I've lived all over the place, Los Angeles for 30 years and various other states. Nothing is cool about texas, and Austin is like a sad attempt at being a cheap version of Portland. People leave cali simply because it has become extremely unaffordable, but it really is the best state to live, which is why it is so expensive. Its funny how everyone I have met here in texas actually envy's california, yet they are stuck here in nowheresville. The weather here alone will make most people leave. I might try Colorado next or Montana. There are a lot of better states than texas. Texas is backward, ignorant, trapped in the past ( no legal MMJ), Its boring as hell, it rains too much, and its too humid. You can keep it.
michael | Caldwell, TX | Report Abuse

"Californians trying to ruin texas"...Lmao...(typical backward small town mentality)...Texas dont have anything to ruin my guy, people will come here and leave just as fast. I've lived all over the place, Los Angeles for 30 years and various other states. Nothing is cool about texas, and Austin is like a sad attempt at being a cheap version of Portland. People leave cali simply because it has become extremely unaffordable, but it really is the best state to live, which is why it is so expensive. Its funny how everyone I have met here in texas actually envy's california, yet they are stuck here in nowheresville. The weather here alone will make most people leave. I might try Colorado next or Montana. There are a lot of better states than texas. Texas is backward, ignorant, trapped in the past ( no legal MMJ), Its boring as hell, it rains too much, and its too humid. You can keep it.
michael | Caldwell, TX | Report Abuse

The idea of Austin is what you are getting reviews of most of the time. The idea of Austin is grand slam, rivaled by none, absolute awesome. But what it is and has become vastly differ in a lot of cases to what you read about and see in reviews. Austin absolutely does have a lot of really cool and attractive qualities to it. Make no mistake, the city can be a fun and friendly time for just about anyone. Living here is a different thing though and evolving rapidly. I have lived here about 8 years so I can’t speak to what it was prior, but I can see glimpses of it. Just from my time here, the city is a completely different place. There absolutely is a massive homeless, drug, and crime problem in the Austin proper area and it continues to get worse and worse as time goes on. The reason for this is politics, the influence of political media in regards to economics, and the cities understanding of growth and opportunity. Regardless of where you sit on these aspects, it just is what it is. This is the reason you find “the natives vs the libs” arguing most of the time. Obviously, if you were born and raised somewhere that had a distinct style and type of life that you desired, you would not want that to change. The absolute only way to know if this is the place for you, is to come here and spend a little time as it is developing and changing so rapidly it would be hard to get a full understanding any other way. The prices are rising, the “bad areas” are expanding, but it is doable in a relatively comfortable and easy way. If you are young and single, closer to Austin and more specifically south Austin, is the way to go. If you are older and have a family, north of Austin in Round Rock area is the way to go. If you are more Liberal or more Conservative, you will find many like minded people who share the same views. Same goes for the non political. Obviously, this is mostly my opinion, but for a gauge of who this is coming from, I am a Libertarian, musician, artist, working family man in my late 30’s with a household income a little over $100k. I have lived in Austin, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Portland OR. Hope this helps!
thomas | Round Rock, TX | Report Abuse