For those living in, or who have lived in Austin, is Austin cool?

I've heard the live music scene is happening, and the movie slacker makes it look kind of liberal and cool. I know it is Texas after all, and that there's probably a hick element to contend with. Just wondering what y'all think.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area right now, and I'm just looking for any place where I don't have to pay $ 850 for a studio apartment.

No.

i like austin, and i know people, different kinds of people, who live there and like it

it has a self-consciously 'artsy' thing about it, and conversely the main drag can be very spring-breakish on the wrong night. but it also has an unselfconsciously weird thing about it. and i think it's easy to live there.

and you are only about 30mi from lockhart, home of some extremely great barbecue. there's good barbecue elsewhere in texas, but i never et anything better than the brisket ends at kreuz market or the ribs at smitty's. the salt lick is over in driftwood as well, and it is quite good.

Allow me to continue...

Actually, Austin is pretty cool. And a beautiful city to boot. I love visiting, but I don't think I could live there.

The music scene has really gone downhill and I personally don't see anything happening to change that path anytime soon.

SXSW? It gets old really quickly. And if you look at the line-ups over the past few years, you will also notice a decline of substance.

It's also expensive. Not SFCA expensive, but it's up there.

As of 1 September, smoking will be outlawed in all bars/restaurants. Fortunately, most places have patios or outdoor seating. This, however, is not true of bars/clubs on the "strip" (i.e. 6th Street.) SXSW should be interesting next year.

You know, the last time I was in Austin it sort of reminded me of San Francisco.

But what do I know? I live in Houston. It's filthy, sprawling, HOT....

I hate it here, I never want to leave.

Remember that Slacker was made 15 years ago. Since then, Austin is steadily becoming just another large city in Texas, but with higher property value! Which translates to higher rents.

I do love Austin, but it's not what it used to be, It still has some of it's original charms; a relaxed, smaller city pace, low crime rate, support of local business, thriving live music, beautiful locale, a diverse population & local oddballs, a great university, progressive people and yes, fine barbeque. But slowly these individual characteristics are eroding to the overdeveloped-gentrified-sprawling-strip-mall-same 10 stores and restaurants that most of the country is becoming.

Don't let me dissuade you though, get a Southwest flight out of Oakland and see if it suits you. I would come this time of year so you know what to expect weather-wise. It may be a bit of a shock coming from San Fransico in August to Texas in August or even from San Fransico in August to Texas in October.

The coolest thing about Austin are the bats that live under the Congress Ave. bridge and the locals' ability to understand and appreciate the benefits of having them there. Hooray for bats! Go watch them if you ever get a chance - it's so awesome. I seem to recall they are only there during the warmer months.

Wasn't the latest season of MTV's "The Real World" filmed there? I don't live in Austin, and when I visited (for SXSW) I had a great time, and a crowd of mostly locals who had never heard of my band reacted with surprising enthusiasm. Generally, all the Austinians I met were really nice and surprisingly (maybe only to a person from Los Angeles) nice. The city's relatively clean, seems to have a centralized "downtown", and the weather's pretty nice. Still, I've gotta think that a city is in its cultural decline once it has been featured on MTV's "The Real World".

By the way, it's nice to have internet. First time in weeks I've been able to read the EA forum!

themajormiller wrote:It's also expensive. Not SFCA expensive, but it's up there.

really? my old roommate from DC just moved to asstown this past week, and he's been emailing me all kinda real estate crap, houses he's looking at buying. he's managed to find a whole mess of single-family homes for around $150 each or so. to me that seems insanely cheap.

i only visitied austin once, for work, and was only there a few days. i wasn't too blown away. but one of my best friends just moved there for no reason other than he likes it, so i know it can't be bad.

I loved Austin the few times I visted it. I might end up there some day. Does anyone know what the rent ranges are for 2/3 bedroom apts/houses? Or is there a site someone can point me to?

Thanks,
John W.

blue wrote:is Austin cool?

no, actually i hear it's quite hot.

sorry, i couldn't resist.