Thinking about moving to Texas. (Austin or Dallas)

[Cheesemoo]

Austin hands down.

 

[lozina]

Okay so after reading your responses which I am truly grateful for and doing some more research I am pretty set on moving to Austin. I am going to take a vacation for a week in January to scout out the area, check out the real estate and try to get a first impression for the area.

I spoke to my current boss about it and at least for a while (6 months+) I will continue to work on projects for him remotely. He has other sub contractors working on projects for him like this who have been doing it for years so I imagine if we are both happy with the arrangement I could stay like this for the foreseeable future.

I am thinking I will probably rent or maybe buy an apartment in downtown Austin initially, with a plan to buy a house in a surburb once I feel I am really comfortable with living there and staying there, and am able to see all the surrounding areas.

If any of you Austin natives are willing to meet up with me in January (probably mid-month) and tell me more about your home town I'll buy you a beer!

P.S. One other thing that's pretty important to me is the outdoors activities I do here at home, particularly hiking and kayaking. I wonder how it would be to drive the ~3 hrs to Corpus Christi for the beaches and kayaking there, or even the Colorado river nearby? And I wonder how good are the parks in the area... is it really flat? I would prefer some decently rugged elevation changes for a good hiking experience.

 

[smackababy]

There are some decent river spots and Corpus Christi is a shit hole. But, you can go to the first Whataburger. The elevation isn't massively changing, but it is hilly in areas. There are some hiking spots (can't comment on the quality, as I never did any of it) around Austin. If you are willing to make the trip, it gets really hilly and nice westward. Also, stay away from Nuevo Lorado and most border towns. They are pretty close (maybe 4 hours) and dangerous as shit, especially for someone not familiar with the area.

 

[smackababy]

Also, the best food you're ever going to eat is going to come from a trailer and be referred to as a "roach coach". Don't think this is some euphemism either, because it probably has a roach infestation. But, that doesn't matter, because once you eat it, you will not care what is in it. A friend of mine found a used band-aid in a burrito once; the stand owner refunded his money and made him a new burrito. That one tasted just fine.

 

[Crusty]

Okay so after reading your responses which I am truly grateful for and doing some more research I am pretty set on moving to Austin. I am going to take a vacation for a week in January to scout out the area, check out the real estate and try to get a first impression for the area.

I spoke to my current boss about it and at least for a while (6 months+) I will continue to work on projects for him remotely. He has other sub contractors working on projects for him like this who have been doing it for years so I imagine if we are both happy with the arrangement I could stay like this for the foreseeable future.

I am thinking I will probably rent or maybe buy an apartment in downtown Austin initially, with a plan to buy a house in a surburb once I feel I am really comfortable with living there and staying there, and am able to see all the surrounding areas.

If any of you Austin natives are willing to meet up with me in January (probably mid-month) and tell me more about your home town I'll buy you a beer!

P.S. One other thing that's pretty important to me is the outdoors activities I do here at home, particularly hiking and kayaking. I wonder how it would be to drive the ~3 hrs to Corpus Christi for the beaches and kayaking there, or even the Colorado river nearby? And I wonder how good are the parks in the area... is it really flat? I would prefer some decently rugged elevation changes for a good hiking experience.

The terrain in Austin is divided by I-35. To the east is flat nothingness, to the west are hills, creeks, caves etc. Check out google maps with 'terrain' turned on to see what I'm talking about.


Outdoor activities can be had literally in the middle of the city. You can hike the Barton Creek Greenbelt for weeks and still not see all of it. Kayak on Town Lake or Lake Austin. Water skiing or wake boarding on Lake Austin. Drunken tubing down any number of rivers in the area.