Thinking about moving to Texas. (Austin or Dallas)

[Franz316]

Dallas DFW is basically one giant sprawling suburb where one area is no more unique than the another. It is literally subdivision after subdivision as far as the eye can see once you get outside downtown. There are few nice walkable areas but mostly everything is spread out.

DFW also has a lot of natural gas drilling within its city limits, even inside neighborhoods. It has the worst air quality in the state(worse than Houston). VOC levels exceed safe levels on a many days.

If you like a more compact, slightly less car dependent city then Austin is better. If you do have to drive though, look out because the traffic is really bad. If you want to live in a suburb, then Dallas.

 

[CrackRabbit]

The only really bad thing about Austin, as others have mentioned, is the traffic.
The only place I have been in that I have experienced worse traffic is LA and it is 10x Austin's size.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

You couldn't pay me to live in either one. Traffic is a result of too many people living and working in one area. So saying traffic is a problem is a nice way of saying it's overpopulated. Your best bet is to find a suburb that's relatively close to where you work and commute to work. Then you can enjoy the benefits of the city when you want and still have some peace at home.

 

[smackababy]

:hmm: Not sure if serious.

10 years ago it was. Every bar had a live band that played a bunch of crap 70s blues rock covers. SRV was always on the setlist.

I imagine now it is a bunch of 40 somethings reliving the 80s now instead. So, we probably have a bunch of hair metal and depeche mode covers.

 

[Crusty]

10 years ago it was. Every bar had a live band that played a bunch of crap 70s blues rock covers. SRV was always on the setlist.

I imagine now it is a bunch of 40 somethings reliving the 80s now instead. So, we probably have a bunch of hair metal and depeche mode covers.

I think you're completely out of touch with the music scene in Austin, even 10 years ago.

 

[CrackRabbit]

You couldn't pay me to live in either one. Traffic is a result of too many people living and working in one area. So saying traffic is a problem is a nice way of saying it's overpopulated. Your best bet is to find a suburb that's relatively close to where you work and commute to work. Then you can enjoy the benefits of the city when you want and still have some peace at home.

Not true, Austin and LA's problems are that the infrastructure is 50-ish years old and not meant to handle the traffic load that has built up over the years.
LA is slowly starting to fix the problem areas by widening the freeways where it can and building better interchanges.
Austin decided (or more to say Rick Perry ordered TXDOT) to go full retard and build a bunch of mostly useless toll roads.

 

[ElFenix]

Not true, Austin and LA's problems are that the infrastructure is 50-ish years old and not meant to handle the traffic load that has built up over the years.
LA is slowly starting to fix the problem areas by widening the freeways where it can and building better interchanges.
Austin decided (or more to say Rick Perry ordered TXDOT) to go full retard and build a bunch of mostly useless toll roads.

austin is in its situation because they thought that if they didn't build roads it would somehow keep people from using cars.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Not true, Austin and LA's problems are that the infrastructure is 50-ish years old and not meant to handle the traffic load that has built up over the years.
LA is slowly starting to fix the problem areas by widening the freeways where it can and building better interchanges.
Austin decided (or more to say Rick Perry ordered TXDOT) to go full retard and build a bunch of mostly useless toll roads.

To be fair he is also working on praying it away.

 

[Sonikku]

Go with Arlen Texas.

 

[Gibsons]

To be fair he is also working on praying it away.

Hey, it almost worked for the drought.

 

[Newbian]

Are you a white male that likes truck nuts then anywhere in texas is your place to go unless you are against them then austin is. 😉

 

[smackababy]

I think you're completely out of touch with the music scene in Austin, even 10 years ago.

Perhaps, I was going to the wrong places. However, there was quite a lot of awful blues rock every night of the week, readily available. If you are denying that, I wager if you have ever been to Austin.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Perhaps, I was going to the wrong places. However, there was quite a lot of awful blues rock every night of the week, readily available. If you are denying that, I wager if you have ever been to Austin.

Depends on what you are looking to as "music". It's all subjective anyhow.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

To be fair he is also working on praying it away.

Just because I don't enjoy living in overpopulated areas I'm praying it away? I didn't need a prayer to realize living in the big city is a miserable existence. I figured that out on my own just fine. Like I said you couldn't pay me to live in either one. Once I can figure out a way to never travel back into the city I'll be completely happy. I was almost at that point at one time and am working back towards it.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Just because I don't enjoy living in overpopulated areas I'm praying it away? I didn't need a prayer to realize living in the big city is a miserable existence. I figured that out on my own just fine. Like I said you couldn't pay me to live in either one. Once I can figure out a way to never travel back into the city I'll be completely happy. I was almost at that point at one time and am working back towards it.

He was talking about Rick Perry... 😕

I get where you're coming from, I think it would be awesome to have 10-15 acres of land a good distance from anywhere to do with what I wanted, but for most people living near enough to a larger city has more advantages than disadvantages.

 

[smackababy]

He was talking about Rick Perry... 😕

I get where you're coming from, I think it would be awesome to have 10-15 acres of land a good distance from anywhere to do with what I wanted, but for most people living near enough to a larger city has more advantages than disadvantages.

This is what my father did quite a few years ago. He bought a place a few miles outside of a small town (about 30 minutes outside Austin). He loves it. In 2005, they still didn't have access to anything beyond dial up in his area; but, other than that, it was nice. The area even had water (although, he did have a septic tank).

 

[SSSnail]

Make sure you're vaccinated against affluenza...

 

[SMOGZINN]

He was talking about Rick Perry... 😕

Yes, I was refering to Rick Perry. Much of my family lives on a ranch in a town of 15 people. I know the advantages and disadvantages of Urban vs. Rural, and they both have some of each.

 

[HumblePie]

Well, I'm someone that has lived in all the major towns in Texas. San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Houston. I have relatives in all those areas as well.

Most have done the run down for you. But I can elaborate a little more.

Austin:
State capitol. Heavy democratic. Very much like NY politics there. Big college town. Many crowded streets with tons of the "college" and young adult vibe everywhere. Bar galore around places like 6th street. Traffic sucks if you have to use IH35 which goes through the middle of town from north to south. Otherwise traffic is OK just about everywhere else. Shopping is good, but not in the city itself. You'll find yourself heading out to Roundrock, or Buda, or Kyle a lot to places like Ikea, Fry's, Cabelas or whatever big specialty store you like to visit as none of that is in the city proper. Everything in the city proper is that "indy" feel along with the stores. It does have some nice tourist areas like around the capitol building. IT jobs are big here. Especially for gaming companies and start ups.

Dallas:
Twin cities really with that bastard child of Arlington nearby. Which means everything is really spread out. Traffic is both good and bad. The city feels like it has split personality majorly. Very democratic in parts, and very republican in others. Just depends on where you are. Again, whatever you would like to find in Dallas is going to be there, you just may have to do a bit of driving to get there. All the major cities in Texas are spread out some, but Dallas is the most sprawled. As I said about the duality of the city, you'll see places that look worse than the worst 3d world country as far as bums, dilapidated buildings and refuse everywhere. Then with a bit of driving you'll see multimillion dollar homes and some of the most beautiful and richest looking places. Prices on houses vary based on basically where you are wanting to live. Still, for nice house at a reasonable price you'll be commuting from outside the city in one of the suburbs as most of my relatives do. IT jobs aren't as big here of all the major cities. However, due to the sheer size of the city there are plenty of IT jobs available.

Houston:
Another dual nature city like Dallas, but the difference is that where Dallas is a bit more segregated in how places are located, Houston is not. You'll see 30 million dollar homes sharing a fence like with a 30K home that is about to fall down. Zoning in Houston was almost non existent. Traffic is literally the WORST in Houston than all the cities. I can you when I was living there of the many times I had 2-3 hour commutes to work that take less than 10 minutes when there is no traffic. It was common for that to happen. Houston is sprawled like Dallas, but not nearly as much. Housing prices in Houston I think are the highest off all the places. Houston is an oil port town turned massive. There is FAR more to do in Houston in my opinion than any other major town when it comes to recreation. Again the major problem is the traffic of getting anywhere, and the feeling that no matter what street you are on it feels like a bad street. Crime wise I think it's the worse of the major cities in Texas. If you like gambling though it is not far from Lousiana. Which means not far from Mardi Gras. For IT jobs it is as eclectic as the city. There are tons, but most have to do with the oil industry. Houston is more republican than democratic if memory serves me where but there are areas that are heavily D.

San Antonio:
The little town pretending to be all grown up. San Antonio is a very big military and tourist trap of a town. Beyond tourist things it lacks much of the sheer recreational things to do that the other cities have. Traffic is the lightest overall of all the major cities although there are some hotspots here and there. Housing prices are mostly cheap as well depending upon the area. REALLY cheap if you live outside the Bexar county. You can get a lot of house for your money with low taxes. San Antonio is mostly separated into South Side and North Side. South Side has commonly been the crime ridden bad area. It's not as bad as it used to be though especially with some urban development there in recent years such as Southpark Mall. There is a lot of suburban housing in massive development all over the place. I did mention it is a tourist trap right? Well, the majority of tourist are mexican nationals. While the other cities get some as well, San Antonio is the hot spot destination for them every time Mexico has a national holiday. Of which don't always coincide with US holidays as expected. San Antonio has less to look at surprisingly for a tourist trap of a city in my opinion though. Much of it has that small town feel, but much of it has that want to be a big town feel as well. Money politically is spent like that as well with San Antonio try to lately spend massive amounts of money on these huge sweeping highway exchanges. The inner political system is heavy D, but the outer areas are definitely R. IT jobs are mostly military or contractor based. Although there are some indish places like Rackspace and USAA. IT pay is all over the place as well comparatively.

Overall Texas is a mostly R state. Smaller municipalities have some heavy political D representation. There is no income taxes. Only sales and property taxes. Some areas are pretty expensive to buy a house, not as bad as places in NY, and some areas are downright cheap. My house would go for 4 times as much in NY or places in CA. At least. IT jobs here run the gambit from gaming shops, little mom and pop stuff, indy start ups, google wannabes, military contracts, and well established IBM feeling places. I mean the programmers are expected to wear the white shirt, black slacks, with black tie look. It really all depends on where you are in life and what you are looking to get out of it.

Looking for laid back small town feel? San Antonio or better yet, the smaller towns near there like New Braunfels or Seguin. Although the other cities have their small towns outside them as well, but commuting into town for an IT job for those places suck worse.

Looking for that young adult cafe, bars, live music everywhere with a grunge feel while having that packed in a sardine cane feel too? Austin is your best bet. IT jobs also reflect that feeling there more as well on average.

Looking for everything you could want and having everything in it's proper place feel? Mostly Dallas. But if you don't mind it being mixed up a bit more then that would be Houston.

One last note though. San Antonio is the only city that has no toll roads or ticket cameras all over. Supposedly has vowed never to do either of those, but who knows what the future holds.

 

[DesiPower]

I would suggest Austin, Dallas had become very big and has many problems that NY has

 

[Crusty]

Perhaps, I was going to the wrong places. However, there was quite a lot of awful blues rock every night of the week, readily available. If you are denying that, I wager if you have ever been to Austin.

I've been living in Austin for 10yrs now...

And yes, there are plenty of blues being played in Austin, especially if you only focus on dirty 6th during the week. But that's not all it has to offer... you can find any genre of music you would like on a weekly basis you just need to open your eyes a bit and explore venues outside of 6th st downtown.

Have you ever heard of SXSW? There's got to be at least 1000+ bands that play over the course of a week in the springtime, it is a massive event for the music industry.

There's also several music festivals held throughout the year(ACL, Fun Fun Fun Fest).

PBS records Austin City Limits the TV show downtown and films some of the largest touring acts in the US as well as some of the smallest local Austin bands.

You are sadly mistaken if you think the extent of the music scene in Austin is a bunch of poorly imitated SRV riffs.

For example, Shakey Graves. Music starts about 1:30 in.

 

[ElFenix]

Houston is more republican than democratic if memory serves me where but there are areas that are heavily D.

more to the point, houston is heavily democratic itself (no republican mayor since reconstruction) surrounded by heavily republican burbs. but then, pretty much every major city area in texas is that way, even austin.

now, the type of democrats are different between houston and austin. austin's democrats are more typically your intellectual left-coast types, whereas houston's democrats are blue-collar, new deal coalition types. i'd imagine dallas is more similar to houston, in that regard.

 

[smackababy]

I've been living in Austin for 10yrs now...

And yes, there are plenty of blues being played in Austin, especially if you only focus on dirty 6th during the week. But that's not all it has to offer... you can find any genre of music you would like on a weekly basis you just need to open your eyes a bit and explore venues outside of 6th st downtown.

Have you ever heard of SXSW? There's got to be at least 1000+ bands that play over the course of a week in the springtime, it is a massive event for the music industry.

There's also several music festivals held throughout the year(ACL, Fun Fun Fun Fest).

PBS records Austin City Limits the TV show downtown and films some of the largest touring acts in the US as well as some of the smallest local Austin bands.

You are sadly mistaken if you think the extent of the music scene in Austin is a bunch of poorly imitated SRV riffs.

For example, Shakey Graves. Music starts about 1:30 in.

Festivals are hardly indicative of the scene. The vast majority of local bars (and pretty much every single one on 6th street, sadly) had blues bands. Unless you were going to a genre specific venue, there is (or at least was) a very good chance it was a blues rock band.

While, my statement about all bands being blues rock bands was hyperbole (and really a product of me hating blues rock bands and SRV), there is still a vastly high proportion of blues rock compared to other places. I would imagine that has changed though, since it was mostly the 40 something, grew up with Lyndard Skynard and SRV generation in those bands. The 40 somethings of today are probably playing hair metal and new wave.


I also wager the population of hipsters in Austin is extremely high. There was already and annoyingly high emo / scenester crowd and a ton of yuppies. I think those two bread hipsters. They don't want to be their parents, who strove for upper middle class status and try to be as unique as them at the same time (following the same trend of being as unique as a group dressing alike for the sake of uniqueness can) and instead of being far to fashion forward, are not fashion backwards.

 

[Crusty]

Festivals are hardly indicative of the scene. The vast majority of local bars (and pretty much every single one on 6th street, sadly) had blues bands. Unless you were going to a genre specific venue, there is (or at least was) a very good chance it was a blues rock band.

While, my statement about all bands being blues rock bands was hyperbole (and really a product of me hating blues rock bands and SRV), there is still a vastly high proportion of blues rock compared to other places. I would imagine that has changed though, since it was mostly the 40 something, grew up with Lyndard Skynard and SRV generation in those bands. The 40 somethings of today are probably playing hair metal and new wave.

The problem is that you are associating the 'music scene' with '6th street'. The music scene has expanded so much beyond 6th st and the SRV days. If all you do is cruise the bars on 6th, then yes you're going to hear a shit load of blues... and most of it just mediocre.

The entire east side of Austin has exploded with venues, there's now Rainey St that has at least half a dozen venues as well.

Do you like beloved patriot Tonk? The Broken Spoke is world famous, and I would hardly classify that as blues.

 

[HumblePie]

more to the point, houston is heavily democratic itself (no republican mayor since reconstruction) surrounded by heavily republican burbs. but then, pretty much every major city area in texas is that way, even austin.

now, the type of democrats are different between houston and austin. austin's democrats are more typically your intellectual left-coast types, whereas houston's democrats are blue-collar, new deal coalition types. i'd imagine dallas is more similar to houston, in that regard.

Yah, pretty much.