Hi fellow fchatters, as the title goes, I'm looking to hear what it's like living in Austin... What's a nice area by the river? Where are your favorite food spots? Good Ferrari/Porsche/McLaren dealerships in the area? Where are the good windy, driving roads? Weather throughout the year? Is it hospitable for an asian american? Some context for your thoughtful consideration: • I currently live in the city of San Francisco, the average cost of real-estate in my specific neighborhood is about $2,000/sq ft. • Obvious goal to leave California would be to get more house for the buck and new construction • Ideal range price range $2-3M (prefer not to go higher to leave adequate budget for new automotive purchases since theoretically, I'd be getting more house • Strong predisposition for a modern home • Prefer to be next to a large body of water Your insights are greatly appreciated and thank you in advance! Cheers.
Moved here 5 1/2 years ago from Alamo across the bay. In town by or on the river in the very nice neighborhoods I would not expect real estate prices to be lower, if so not by much. As for food. Many of us from outside the area are kind of amused locals consider it a foodie area. Not by your and my standards. After BBQ and Tex/Mex it gets thin fast. I have had some good Indian food though. Dealerships....no comment. Well except a client of mine loves the Porsche dealer but he is a serial Porsche buyer. The Hill Country west of town down towards San Antonio and to the west of there there is a lot of good driving. As for weather I like hot so I love it. It actually was hotter in Alamo but for a much shorter part of the year. Visit in August and see for yourself. Way different than SF. Hard to say. Not a huge Chinese community here. Not nearly as diverse as the Bay Area. I had some black neighbors, both professionals, nice people who really didn't like it and moved back to Houston. Kids were getting a hard time in school etc. I am white so no one seems to care. Pretty good size Gay population though that surprises most Californians. Not going to be a lot of interest in hearing anything about California not surprisingly. Come here because you want to be in Texas. Its different and for good reason. Frankly many Californians feel more at home in Arizona, Much more similar culturally.
You really need to hear from IPO1 on here but these are my takeaways from visiting a few times recently. What's a nice area by the river? Where are your favorite food spots? As Rifledriver stated great BBQ and decent steakhouses. Good Ferrari/Porsche/McLaren dealerships in the area? The Ferrari dealership there is tiny unless they have expanded or moved recently. Where are the good windy, driving roads? Weather throughout the year? Is it hospitable for an asian american? Cant see why it wouldn't be, pretty eclectic demographic. • I currently live in the city of San Francisco, the average cost of real-estate in my specific neighborhood is about $2,000/sq ft. Should be much cheaper in Austin. • Obvious goal to leave California would be to get more house for the buck and new construction • Ideal range price range $2-3M (prefer not to go higher to leave adequate budget for new automotive purchases since theoretically, I'd be getting more house • Strong predisposition for a modern home • Prefer to be next to a large body of water One thing to be aware of is that the city has been taken over by the homeless. If you are coming from norcal then you will be accustomed to this.
Yes. The totally inept city government will be very familiar and make you feel like you are in San Francisco. I live out west of town so it doesn't effect me on a daily basis. My other half actually wrote the Governor(Very out of charterer for her) and told him he needn't have any fear of Californians screwing up Texas, they are doing a damn fine job on their own.
Just left Austin after 25 years there. Glad to be away from the traffic. There's a ton of fun roads west of town. You've got COTA in your backyard and a great dealership. Should be able to find a nice abode near Lake Austin (Colorado River, actually) in your price point. River Place is a great neighborhood, IMHO.
I grew up in Austin, but primarily I spent my time up north. I think we need more details to better answer this. Are you willing to commute, what are you willing to commute, do you need a family setting, do you want a variety of food or specific dining experience, how many sqft are you looking for, okay with a remodel, that type fo thing. Also city-data forum has some pretty helpful people at times. I’m thinking you should start on the west side near the 360 loop (Capitol of TX hwy), near Town Lake. Good luck!
Work commute will be limited; will mostly be remote from home. Food just needs to be good, doesn't really matter if its fine dining or a hole in the wall, need all that variety. Not willing to deal with remodeling, looking for turnkey. Thanks for the city-data link, going to check it out!
Definitely one of the reasons I thought of Austin. Another option I'm exploring is SoCal...but there are specific big cons there I find hard to turn a blind eye to.
Just respect it when you get here and never forget why you left where you are leaving...... If you need city access the above area is not that bad but i prefer to be more west.
I don’t live in Sacramento, where it’s the worst and imho the sensationalism by the media has skewed the facts; in reality LA homelessness is by far worse than SF. I blame the better SoCal weather.
You have just become accustomed to it and the incrementalism that got it to where it is now. My sister still lives there and her position is the same as yours. I went back for the first time in 5 years recently and could not believe what I saw. Yes, it really is that bad. Get out of California and you will learn just how bad it has really become. If on the other hand you like it there, stay. You won't like it here.
I have lived here for for almost fifty years and had never heard of Hatley Park Acres... had to Google it. That neighborhood is in the village of Rollingwood, and might be a good match. Very close to downtown, but it's actually a separate city and not subject to the stupid, wild-ass decisions that Austin's city clowncil makes. The few houses that are on technically on the water are actually on a cliff overlooking the water and the city. They all have views to die for and are huge. If they ever come up for sale, I suspect the prices are $10+ million. That said, Rollingwood is close to the action and may be where we move in the not too distant future.
Bee Cave and Spanish Oaks. Very private high end homes near Lake Travis. Or look Directly in Lake Travis. Very active Ferrari club and activities. Dealer won Ferrari Dealer of the Year from Ferrari. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I never said it was good; I was comparing a rotten apple to another rotten apple, also why Seattle is not under consideration.
Nothing personal against anyone here--I don't know any of you personally. My comments are in general. I lived in Austin 30 years and was one of those who has seen it go into the toilet with the masses from CA and other states. Is what it is. I get it. Few Texans left in Austin and those that are seem to be leaving. Austin is not a great place to live anymore (then again if you're coming from a dump like CA then it looks like heaven).
One man's garbage is another man's treasure as they say. I'd like to hear what exactly went downhill? On my many business visits, Austin didn't strike me as heaven...I saw it more with the lens of compromise ie that I'm going to get more mileage on my dollar and more opportunity to pursue other joys in life, but I'm also going to have to give up a lot of things I enjoy in the bay area e.g. wine country, impeccable food from ALL cuisines and not just bbq.
OK, I'll take a stab at this. Keep in mind that I've been in Austin for a bit more than 20 years with a sidetrip to Marin for a couple of years during that time (tough to come back to Texas after that one!). I also live in a closer-in neighborhood that's North of the River. Outside of your primary criteria, what are some of your interests besides Ferraris? Do you have kids? If so, is access to quality public education a consideration? Just going off of your guidelines/desires, I'd offer the following: What's a nice area by the river? Given your stated pricepoint, I'd consider River Place, the very bottom of Steiner Ranch, Greenshores/Ski Shores, The Courtyard area neighborhoods, Westlake, Davenport, Rob Roy, and River Hills. Dramatic price differences between "ON" the lake and near the lake. Where are your favorite food spots? Lot's of good food, but definitely not to the degree of Houston, Dallas, and ESPECIALLY the Bay Area. The only issue is that the types of neighborhoods that you mention wanting to be in tend to be a pretty good distance away from the really good, solid ethnic food options. Good Ferrari/Porsche/McLaren dealerships in the area? Ferrari of Austin, Porsche of Austin (building a new dealership at the moment which is looking really sharp), there's not an official McLaren dealership in town that I'm aware of, but hey, we're only a couple of hours from Houston which does AND they have incredible food options that you can check out while you're there. Where are the good windy, driving roads? Not a ton of options close in unfortunately. As Austin's population has increased, the resulting traffic has made it quite difficult to find quiet, empty roads to enjoy in the area. Interestingly, there are more open, empty roads to enjoy Northeast of town in areas that have historically been dedicated to farming. Weather throughout the year? Stupid hot and more humidity than we would like in the Summer. Expect challenging temps from May to October. The rest of the year is very hospitable. Is it hospitable for an asian american? I think so. However, I'm white so can't really say for sure. There's a decent Asian community in the area, but nothing like you're used to I'm sure. Our friends that are Asian are all in the tech industry (or education) and each of them say that they really like it here. Austin's not a bad place, but it really depends on what you're looking for and what your ultimate goals are outside of more house for the dollar. Austin's downtown has changed dramatically over the last 10 years. It's not what I originally enjoyed about downtown, but it has grown into a real City and has been really well executed overall. If I were to choose a different place at this point, I'd look for something smaller with great access to the outdoors and a bit more emptiness. Marin (or North of there), the Central Coast of California or Reno, Nevada are a few that come to mind for me. Scottsdale is kind of cool as well. You definitely should come check it out. I do suggest August or September as great times to visit as you'll get to see our weather at our worst. Good luck in your search! 2cam
Is Austin the only area in Texas you would consider? I live in Plano, im originally from NJ.. I would say that the population in northern DFW is very much comprised of both west coast and east coast expats (yes I know these are people from the same country, but its the best way to explain it). I would say good roads and places to travel to, Check, good food from hole in the wall to fine dining, Check, good areas to build turnkey and quality construction, check, large Asian American population, and what seems to be a fairly large and active exotic car community with good dealerships and private service facilities. The only downside is that lakes is the best we have here, everything else is a drive. But perhaps a good excuse to take the cars out for a good ride to get to a fun destination. If you haven't looked into the DFW area but would be open to it, I would highly recommend checking it out. Its a different feel here then Austin, don't get me wrong I love to take a drive and hangout in Austin for a day or 2 but then I like to come back home.
