Quote Originally Posted by TheCrow:
according to some internet research and various articles over the years, it is being said that austin's job market and cost of living combo is among the country's best. San jose, ca is also way up there when it comes to the job market but the cost of living is still sky high. Anyone in austin texas right now that care to offer opinion? Would you say the town is culturally diverse?
One thing i can share with you about southern california and i'm sure many people who are here with me can agree is that yes this place can come across as being culturally diverse but each culture tends to stick to their own. In other words for the most part you have the happy community in west hollywood but you've got some people who aren't as open to them. I'm not happy or bisexual but i like the feeling of people who are open to many different cultural backgrounds. Many different ethnic backgrounds are well represented here also but again, too many of them feel too comfortable sticking to their own in my opinion.
Southern california can be a very tough place to settle unless you were born and raised here, have some contacts like friends or relatives, and even the job market here is very tough. Would you say that austin is good for someone who wants to start all over? What about someone who just finished high school and college?
I grew up in Houston but went to college at Texas State University in San Marcos which is 28 miles down I-35...I now live in North Carolina but moved from San Marcos 15 months ago. However, having lived right outside of Austin for 4 years I know a little bit about it. In terms of the job market? From what I hear it's "booming/thriving" compared to most places in the US. Dell's headquarters is in Austin.
The University of Texas at Austin is a big part of the city, the student population is roughly 50,000. Austin is an incredibly liberal city, ironic because it's the capital of the most conservative state in the country...but it's one of the more liberal cities in the country for sure (The University of Texas is very liberal).
Austin is also "The Live Music Capital of the World" and I believe it, they have a couple HUGE music festivals every year 1) ACL (Austin City Limits) and 2) SXSW (South by Southwest).
There is a fairly large happy community in Austin and it's definitely not frowned upon at all and is very common.
There is a fairly large Deaf Community in Austin (The Texas School for the Deaf is in the heart of Austin).
Marijuana smoking is extremely common in Austin (But then again, where isn't it?)....they also have a festival once a year called "Marley Fest" which is basically a giant sort of Woodstock type thing where tons of people get together, listen to music, and smoke weed, and the cops just watch.
Austin is in the/surrounded by the Texas Hill Country which is very scenic and very beautiful (rolling hills and such)...not like the other parts of the state where it is extremely flat.
There seems to be a fairly large number of homeless people in Austin (but again, what city doesn't have a large number of homeless people?) But it does seem to be a bit more prevalent in Austin.
Austin is home to 6th Street which is basically like a mini Bourbon Street, just a little smaller and you can't drink in the streets in Texas. But 6th Street does NOT smell nearly as bad as Bourbon Street does, it's a lot of fun but on Thursday-Saturday nights usually draws a huge college crowd and a fair number of "shady characters".
Austin's motto is "Keep Austin Weird" by the way...
Austin is an extremely active/healthy/green city. You will find tons of joggers, swimmers, and especially cyclists (you have to be careful with these because there are tons of them)...organic type stuff very popular, along with vegetarian and vegan type stuff as well. Recycling is huge (like I said, very green).
Austin is a good size city but much smaller than San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. But the location of Austin is great. Basically a 1 hour drive to San Antonio, 2 hours 15 mins from Houston and 3.5-4 hours from Dallas. So that is always nice.
Austin has a large number of different ethnicities---I'm not too sure of the demographics but it is very diverse.
Traffic in Austin sucks big time. (I-35 at rush hour is miserable)
North Austin is much nicer than South Austin, suburbs like Round Rock in North Austin are really growing quickly.
I know this isn't the most helpful bit of information but hopefully it can give you a feel for the city and what it has to offer...at least a little bit. It's a super fun city for sure filled with lots of friendly people. But very different and very liberal----let me know if you have any more questions.
hope to see yall here 1 day
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