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I was born in the Bay Area (South City) and live in Austin. Austin is awesome, been here 15 years. However like a lot of Austinite transplants I am a Bad Texan because I only really like the Austin area, the rest of the state can suck it. My wife is from San Antonio and that is about the only other city I can stand to visit. Pros: Sure as poo poo cheaper than where you are, across the board, though you may find you won't get the same salary for the same kind of job (there is a reason Silicon Valley outsources here). If you can come close to 300k though you will live like a king. Fair number of Cowboy hippies. Not what I'd call Bay area flower children by a long shot but similar aesthetics. Awesome food (and not just tex-mex, poo poo I don't even consider Austin a hotbed for that anyway). Good schools if you move to the right area. Real estate is super important to research here because Texas has no state income tax, which means schools are funded by property taxes alone, which means the better the neighborhood the better the schools (usually). Property taxes are high though not nearly as high as property taxes + income taxes where you live. Note the school situation is generally true in a lot of states since so much funding comes from property taxes everywhere, but it is especially pronounced here. A lot less traffic. Until more CA transplants move here and ruin it like Denver, anyway. Hot high-tech workforce/opportunities. College town - UT in the middle of the city, the far more conservative A&M about 1.5 hours outside of town. Plus Texas Tech, Baylor, etc. A pretty bangin' cultural scene overall. They don't call it the live music capital of the world for nothing. Rapidly developing North City area which in some ways is becoming more hip than downtown. Cons Weather. Hope you like baking hot summers. On the pro side, winters are even milder - a lot milder, actually - than SFO. And Spring/Autumn can be quite pleasant. Perhaps the sharpest concentration of blue-state commie hippies and red-state extremists in the US. There is Austin, and then there is the rest of Texas, and you will have no trouble telling who is who. I actually like this part since I'm technically neither and having two extremes constantly at war at the local level is entertaining to watch but if you are super in to hanging around with only people who agree with you on Very Important Issues! then you are in for a shock. Property taxes add a lot to home ownership (and also drive rent costs) however coming from the Bay area I don't think you will find that a concern. You will probably be shocked by the kind of house you can get for half of the same price out there. You are a long way from anywhere. I mean, you can drive 3 hours to Dallas or Houston if you want....San Antonio is the closest, and probably best, large city. Otherwise you are flying. Austin's airport is actually one of my favorites and you can get direct flights to both coasts however your options compared to SFO are much more limited. Ixian fucked around with this message at 01:25 on May 8, 2017 |
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May 8, 2017 01:22
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 09:51 |
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:congestion on 35 is now approaching Toronto levels is the only thing i would add to the con list Mopac isn't any great shakes either, though the new toll lane helps. I live north of the city, so I just pay the toll on 130 to get downtown, or past it. Which is maybe something that should also be added (toll roads). Texas loves toll roads.
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May 8, 2017 02:01
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