I didn’t realize that there were this many Austin Dopers. Has there ever been an Austin Doper get together?
And, last week we found out the next Real World is gonna take place here! It’s 'supposed to start airing in June 2005 so you can watch that and see attractive young people getting drunk in Austin…
To be honest, Austin is not sounding like my kind of place. Cold weather and snow are my favorites (though I knew, without being told, Austin didn’t have them). I absolutely loathe hot weather, though I bear it much better if it doesn’t come with smothering humidity (as it does where I live). I am not used to heavy traffic. I must live in a house–I am completely and totally fed up with sharing walls with strangers.
Culturally, I am used to having pretty good shopping options close by. I enjoy art museums, foreign films, and symphony concerts enormously. I like coffee shops and second-hand book stores. Clubs, festivals, and amateur anything are less interesting to me.
The comments continue to be interesting; I will of course take the job if nothing better comes up, though so far the reports on weather and traffic put Austin at rather a disadvantage.
HMMMM. Not sure the single girl appreciates that.
Sorry to double-post, realized I hadn’t said the most pertinent things in my previous post. I am from central Indiana, therefore used to very hot/humid summers and rather cold winters. I’m used to having Indianapolis and Chicago close at hand, so that’s what I meant by good shopping–Williams-Sonoma, Banana Republic, and all that good stuff. I don’t expect Saks or Bloomies; hate going in them. I do love good restaurants and cooking at home, so some interesting grocery stores (which are largely not present here–there is a Trader Joe’s in Indy) would be great.
Yeah, I think you might dislike Austin too. It’s basically hot eight months out of the year. And while I don’t really consider it all that humid, it’s probably more humid than Indiana.
On the other hand, we do have pretty good shopping, both with chain store and interesting boutiques. And we’re getting an IKEA in 2007! (I’m really, really excited about this one) As Lightin’ noted, Whole Foods and Central Market are amazing grocery stores. You can find houses for rent but if they’re central, they’re gonna be smaller, older houses. Some of the central neighborhoods have carriage houses too.
And, yeah, there are gorgeous girls here but the guys, wow :eek: That’s the first thing I noticed when I moved here. There’s all types, lots of outdoorsy atheletic guys as well as plenty of cute geeky types.
I agree, Austin may not be the best fit. The arts in Austin are only now getting out from under the wing of the University of Texas and don’t have the appeal that they enjoy in larger cities. While there are a few art museums, they don’t have the support that most big-city museums enjoy. Austin has a well-respected theater community, but most of the stuff is on a smaller scale.
Of the cities in Texas (just in case you get other job offers from the state), I’d think that you would enjoy Houston or maybe Dallas far more than you would enjoy Austin. Houston especially has an entire theater district, along with the requisite opera, symphony and theater community, though it does share a climate with Calcutta. Of course, all of Texas is hot for most of the year.
I’ve always preferred Houston to Austin, at least as a place to live. Austin people have a tendency to think they’re extremely hot shit because they live in Austin. And there’re are a lot of people putting forth a lot of effort to be quirky, which can get old real fast. It used to be much nicer when there were more natives around, but now there’re too many transplanted northerners, and they’re way too, um, northern. Houston has the same problem. It’s just not as friendly as it was (though it still beats the hell out of Philadelphia). Mind you, I’m one of the northerners who ruined the place.
When I talk about friendliness, I mean face-to-face friendliness. Underneath, there are dark things going on. Look at how the law is meted out in Texas, and you’ll need to put those sweaters back on.
Speaking of which, I’ve never been as cold in the north as I have been in Texas. Until very recently, houses here weren’t very well insulated, so they’re energy sieves. Drafty as hell. Also, it’s not uncommon in winter to have a breezy humid or rainy day in the mid 30s, which for my money is about as chilly as it gets. And I’ve never seen glare ice as bad as Austin gets, made worse by the fact that it’s hilly. They don’t have any salt to lay down, just cinder. It doesn’t work.
Still and all, I’d say go visit the place and see what you think. It really only takes a few days to get a good feel for the place, and you might like it.
Sorry, that should have been “Houston has an entire museum district, along with…”
Actually, it has both, although applying the term “district” in either case is something that the city fathers dreamed up for marketing purposes.
I hate that folks seem to have turned Sattua off toward living in Austin. It is hotter than heck in the summer and the traffic is a bit cumbersome, but it’s not as bad as some would say. Houston has a rush hour that starts at three and lasts until 7:30. Nothing in or near Austin is as bad as Houston on a good day.
Austin has wonderful shopping close at hand. There are the usual shopping malls that feature ordinary and upscale stores. Barton Creek recently added a Nordstrom’s. There’s a Neiman-Marcus Last Call, too. I too am excited about IKEA coming to the area. San Marcos has an enormous outlet mall with every name brand you can imagine. Austin has numerous locally-owned shops and boutiques that can suit any taste. The restaurants are wonderful with a wide variety of choices. Of course, there are an enormous number of Mexican and “Tex-Mex” places. There is a vibrant theater community. If you like funky stuff, Austin has lots for you. There is also more tame, ordinary fare. The University of Texas offers immense choices in high-quality theater, music, art, and sports entertainment. Check out The Austin Chronicle to get a feel for the arts and political flavor of the place. The Chron is the weekly tabloid with the best arts listings in town. The daily paper is The Austin American-Statesman . It can give you an idea about the place as well.
San Antonio is about two hours south for even more shopping choices. There, you can find Macy’s, Bloomie’s, et al. Houston is three hours east with all its “cultural” opportunities. It should be noted that in the 1980’s, Austin made a studied attempt at not becoming another Houston. “Houstonization” was the buzz-word the politicians threw around. Mexico is about four hours south of Austin. The border region is vastly different than the US/Canada border. I think that every American should come to South Texas and see what it looks like when the first world comes up against the Third World. Not that it’s a horrible place, exactly, but it is an eye-opening experience. Besides, there is lots of interesting shopping and entertainment to be had south of the river.
Come on down, ya’ hear?
Don’t fall for it, Sattua - they’re trying to make you not like it right off the bat so you won’t come down and see how great it is. :dubious:
I’ve been to Austin a couple of times and have enjoyed myself thoroughly. Great food, lots of music, laid back, nice folks. Maybe you can grab a friend or two and go down there for a couple days.
Any city big enough to field a good symphony orchestra, quality art museums, an arthouse film scene, used book stores, and so on is going to have a major traffic problem of one type or another. That’s part of the deal. When you can drive through a city unimpeded - that’s when you need to not live there.
The weather and allergies could be a problem, though.
And if your jonesin’ for winter just hop on a plane to someplace in Colorado.
Shoot, I’m not trying to turn her off o’Austin; heck, I think it’s a fabulous city. But she says she loathes hot weather, and, dang, we sure have a lot of it down here.
Harumph! Well, looking at my post from yesterday, I guess it’s obvious I wasn’t in the greatest mood. Everything I said was true (although the part about Austinites thinking they’re hot shit and/or dying to be eccentric is only true for some), but it sure didn’t convey how I feel about the place on balance. I guess I’m still pissed off that they tore down Armadillo World Headquarters to put up a hotel.
Anyway, I like the place. It’s beautiful along the river, and a lot of the older parts of town are really nice, if a bit pricy for what you get. There are a number of very nice parks, and a great night life with the best music scene by far in Texas, as others have said. And the restaurants are quite good. I also like the fact that it’s on the edge of the hill country, which is quite lovely.
If high temps are a deal breaker, then avoid it. But you could do a whole lot worse. I’d suggest you visit in early spring, when the weather is usually lovely, and see if you think it’s worth 3 or 4 months a year of really hot weather.
There, that’s better.
Well, we had a lot of hot weather until about ninety minutes ago. The temperature has dropped more than 25 degrees in the last hour and a half. That’s Texas weather! It was almost eighty at 2:30PM. It’s now 52 at 4:30PM. Gotta love it.
Really? I haven’t been outside all day. Dang it, I wore a short skirt and bare legs to work, I’m gonna be freezing…
I was raised in Nebraska and spent about 10 years in Austin. I now live in Chicago. I absolutely hate the summer and heat, love the winter and snow. I don’t know how I made it as long as I did in Austin (well, I do. The 9-year college plan. That’s how I made it!!). If I ever had the opportunity to move back to Austin, I would probably turn it down because of the weather. It is HOT starting in April and it doesn’t cool down to anything approaching Midwestern levels until December. And it will come with awe-inspiring humidity.
Then it rains, and winters are like walking out into a cold shower.
Now, there is a lot to recommend Austin. All the plusses listed here are true. Even though moving back to the Midwest was the best thing I ever did, there are times I really miss it. But because you and I seem to be similar in many respects, I’d head to Madison, WI. It’s the Austin of the North.
So, uh, Tremorviolet- how YOU doin’?
Yeah, yeah, that might have worked if you hadn’t upped and MOVED! 
It’s hot. Every year it drives me batshit crazy by mid-July and I don’t get back in my head until late October. Now that works for me, but your mileage may vary.
Coming from Houston, the restaurants and museums in Austin are seriously lacking, but live music and cinema are superior. Austin’s big enough that you don’t really have to make any shopping sacrifices that can’t be solved by heading to Houston or Dallas when the mood strikes. Or Amazon.com.