My lease is comming to an end very soon and it is getting to the point where I need to have another apartment to move in to. Dallas has been my home for the last five years, but it may be time to move on. Here’s why:
I don’t really have anything holding me here. I was up for a promotion that would have made me lots of money, but it is not to be. See a pit rant comming soon. I have a couple of friends that live in the area, but I don’t get to see them much because of work schedules. My job is very portable and I can transfer to a restaraunt in Austin if I decide to go.
My girlfriend is going to school in Austin and I would like to go to grad school at Ut if I can get in and I don’t think that it could hurt to get involved with the prospective department events there. I only know one person in Austin that I keep track of and that is my girlfriend. I love her a lot, but I don’t know that she should be the inpetus for me packing up and moving to a strange town. We wouldn’t be living together or anything, just in the same town.
So. Convince me. I have leanings both ways depending on mood so fice away. Knock me off of the fence!
Austin’s a great town, with the only real drawback being the torpor-inducing summer heat (but since you’re in Dallas, you’ve experienced a great portion of that. And, hey, we’ve got the various lakes for cooling off with, as well as Barton Springs Pool.
The restaurants here are pretty amazing, as well. You probably wouldn’t have a hard time finding work, should you try to change restaurants.
Move to Austin.
You’re young - see the world, explore new options while you can.
I went to UT and I think on the whole, Austin is a more fun place to be. That is to say, if you move around the downtown area. My family lives in North Austin and what with the traffic and young kids and such, they never make it downtown very much. IMO, North Austin might as well be ‘anywhere’, Usa. It doesn’t have any of the Austin feel to it.
The only thing I can say would be to explore your living options first. When I was there, it was hard to get a place near UT that wasn’t outrageous in $$. I would also explore grad school in UT. It can be hard to get into and involve a waiting period.
If I had to live in Texas, it would be in Austin. I’ve been to Dallas and it can’t hold a candle to Austin. If you like live music, Austin is arguably the live music capital of the United States. If there isn’t a band playing somewhere, there’s one setting up or just tearing down. Check out Junior Brown for some of the most amazing guitar work you’ll ever hear. Think note perfect Jimi Hendrix that turns into fast chicken pickin’ country. Then head out to the Original Pancake House and have a stack of Swedish pancakes.
Do yourself a favor and hit Celebration out on Lover’s Lane before leaving Dallas. It’s worth a shot, but then get your @ss to @ustin! It’s a University town and has the museums and attractions to prove it.
Dallasite piping up: I suppose I should advise you to stay, but I can’t - Austin rocks. If I didn’t have so much holding me here, I’d move there in a second.
Have fun!
The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum opened sometime in recent years. It’s a nice museum, but I don’t think I’d move to Austin just for it.
What you have in Austin is the Hill Country, lots of live music (we had a BatDope there this year at the same time as SXSW - that was great) and lakes nearby. And bats. And Zilker park and Deep Eddy. And, of course, UT.
Be forewarned: traffic sucks in Austin! Dallas and Houston, while much bigger, are much easier to get around. There’s a reason for this. Both Dallas and Houston have been big cities for a long time and have been workin’ the traffic problem for the better part of the last century. Austin is a big city, but it only became so recently (the growth started in ~1981) and the infrastructure has not been keeping up. Also, large parts of the city, mostly to the north and south, are new and relatively soulless.
That being said, I think you could very well enjoy it. I lived there for almost six years, and I enjoyed it then. But it was a different place before its economy switched from being pretty much just the state government and the University to being one where commercial interests are vital. I still visit 10-12 times a year.
I’d recommend you do some serious scouting for housing with an eye for what your commute might involve. Good luck!
I have lived in Dallas for almost 9 years now. In the entire time that I have been here, I have only heard one person say that they would rather be in Dallas than Austin. From what I can tell, most of Texas would live in Austin if they could.
I just want to add that I will also be moving from Dallas to Austin, probably at the end of the month, assuming I can close on the house I am looking at.
At this point I suppose that I am obliged to confess that one of the museums I went to was rather strange.
It was odd to hear my pal’s girlfriend go on about all of the statuary on display. Nice as it was, they were all casting from molds of the famous originals. Sort of like going to a place that has big color photographs of all the paintings in the Louvre.
A few weeks ago I went to San Anotnio, rob, and a thought that struck me was how completely different are the characters of Texas’ four largest cities (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin). San Antonio actually reminded me somewhat of Austin before the boomtown growth started ~20 years ago.
How odd. I had a boyfriend ask me to move with him from Austin to Dallas (we broke up). I would add an emphatic vote for Austin (having just moved from there to Houston), but I would also like to add a word of caution. Once you’re there, meet as many people as possible. Form a circle of friends other than your girlfriend. Get involved with UT. Go to grad school. I don’t know how stable your relationship with your girlfriend is, but she should not be the only reason you move to a new city. What if you broke up? You’d have moved to a new city where you knew one person, who is no longer in your life. If you’re the type of person who meets new people easily and can fit in anywhere (i.e. you won’t be dependent on your girlfriend for your social life), then by all means, move to Austin. And while you’re there, check out Juan in a Million down on Cesar Chavez, and get the Don Juan El Taco Grands for $2. It will feed you for 2 days. Also, housing is a bitch. Get an apartment locator (there are tons of free ones) and start looking now. Places like College Park do pot luck roommates, but I don’t reccommend it because ofthis. If you want further advice on where to live and where not to live, I’d be happy to help you out, as I had three apartments there.
