How much longer does Austin have? (Houston, Dallas: crime, tax, to live in)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ognend

Believe it, I am lodging an official protest with Jesus about this weather (and I am not even a believer). I mean, come on, we have gone from extreme drought to extreme flooding - neither of them are good. If you love the rains so much in such quantities perhaps you should move to the PNW or Florida, you are right in time for the hurricane season...

This is the nature of TX weather. Back in Fall 2004 it was raining everyday that November and there were rescues in the creeks. The rains in 2007 filled Lake Travis up all the way to the top and they had to open the flood gates. There were no 100 degree days that year and most of June and July were in the 80's with some 70's as highs.

In 2011 we only had 7 inches of rain the whole year, on par with Phoenix or Las Vegas, with their temps to boot, over 90 days of 100+ weather and at least half the year over 80.

There is a saying which the old timers always told me about Texas: "When it rains it never stops, when it stops it never rains."

Unlike places like the Northeast or the Midwest where fronts bring precipitation regularly, Texas is totally dependent upon El Nino and La Nino cycles, just like California. In El Nino cycles, we get dumped on. In La Nino cycles we suffer droughts.

If you don't like it, you can always move to Arizona or Nevada where you are guaranteed more sunshine. But this is, frankly, the nature of TX weather.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by cBach

This is the nature of TX weather. Back in Fall 2004 it was raining everyday that November and there were rescues in the creeks. The rains in 2007 filled Lake Travis up all the way to the top and they had to open the flood gates. There were no 100 degree days that year and most of June and July were in the 80's with some 70's as highs.

In 2011 we only had 7 inches of rain the whole year, on par with Phoenix or Las Vegas, with their temps to boot, over 90 days of 100+ weather and at least half the year over 80.

There is a saying which the old timers always told me about Texas: "When it rains it never stops, when it stops it never rains."

Unlike places like the Northeast or the Midwest where fronts bring precipitation regularly, Texas is totally dependent upon El Nino and La Nino cycles, just like California. In El Nino cycles, we get dumped on. In La Nino cycles we suffer droughts.

If you don't like it, you can always move to Arizona or Nevada where you are guaranteed more sunshine. But this is, frankly, the nature of TX weather.

I guess as a transplant from the Northeast I'm still getting used to the wild swing of the pendulum weather. I think many people do appreciate the rains and the lower temps...but this last storm was downright destructive. I guess that's the dark side of Texas weather patterns...every now and then a random thunderstorm will blow through and cause massive damage. My old neighborhood suffered major damage. At least half the houses suffered some form of damage from flying debris taking out parts of the siding, roof damage, water, and one caught on fire due to a lightening strike. A tree narrowly missed a person's living room.

As an aside, the lower water crossing threat is very real! My neighborhood runs parallel to Brushy Creek. In fact, the creek gets wider and deeper around our section. Outside of the hood is a small two lane county road and the only thing that separates you from the creek is a small dip of concrete slab with no rails and is more of a footbridge than anything else. It ALWAYS gets flooded and if you're even thinking of driving at night on this county road to get into the neighborhood, you can easily get swept away and drowned.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by riaelise

I guess as a transplant from the Northeast I'm still getting used to the wild swing of the pendulum weather. I think many people do appreciate the rains and the lower temps...but this last storm was downright destructive. I guess that's the dark side of Texas weather patterns...every now and then a random thunderstorm will blow through and cause massive damage. My old neighborhood suffered major damage. At least half the houses suffered some form of damage from flying debris taking out parts of the siding, roof damage, water, and one caught on fire due to a lightening strike. A tree narrowly missed a person's living room.

As an aside, the lower water crossing threat is very real! My neighborhood runs parallel to Brushy Creek. In fact, the creek gets wider and deeper around our section. Outside of the hood is a small two lane county road and the only thing that separates you from the creek is a small dip of concrete slab with no rails and is more of a footbridge than anything else. It ALWAYS gets flooded and if you're even thinking of driving at night on this county road to get into the neighborhood, you can easily get swept away and drowned.

Yes, it's hard to get used to. Next year will probably be La Nino and back to 100 degree weather everyday. People will be complaining that it never rains.

[ognend]

Originally Posted by cBach

If you don't like it, you can always move to Arizona or Nevada where you are guaranteed more sunshine. But this is, frankly, the nature of TX weather.

Cool - that's precisely what I intend to do - not Arizona or Nevada but New Mexico.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ognend

Cool - that's precisely what I intend to do - not Arizona or Nevada but New Mexico.

New Mexico is on the short list for retirement options for me.

[creepy]

Yep it is already a very different city than it was even 5 years ago. If you drive around S. 1st and Mary street are and S. Congress there is a wealthy, normal whiteness that is palatable. Just a very different vibe. People are touristy and grinning and walking wearing their expensive clothes.

But there are still pockets of the old stuff for me here and there. I am just an ole' punk and don't get out as much but all the old bands from the 80's have re-formed and still get the same crowds plus some new ones mixed in. Fans of old school Austin punk, garage, noise.

The restaurant scene has exploded. I was trying some of them out but due to budget constraints had to give that up for awhile. Seeing Dog and Duck torn down, Fran's demolished and S. Lamar turned into Condoville is a real drag. It does not look like Austin.

[ToddATX]

Originally Posted by creepy

The restaurant scene has exploded. I was trying some of them out but due to budget constraints had to give that up for awhile. Seeing Dog and Duck torn down, Fran's demolished and S. Lamar turned into Condoville is a real drag. It does not look like Austin.

That doesn't make us any different from any other city. North Spring/The Woodlands don't look anything like they did when I was growing up in the Houston area. The parts of Dallas where my fiance grew up look nothing like they did when she was growing up. On the flip side, I have friends who grew up in Detroit and it also looks nothing like it did when they were growing up, but in the opposite direction of Houston and Austin.

There is also a tendency in humanity towards nostalgia, but what people here in Austin don't seem to get is the fact that nostalgia is all that it is. All. cities. always. change. You are either growing, declining, or dead. Things change. Welcome to the world, planet earth, population all of us.

[dbsteel]

Originally Posted by Leaving Arizona

I knew Austin was losing its uniqueness when, as we scouted locations back in November, we saw these monster multi-phase developments (Mayfield Ranches, I'm looking at you, primarily... but there are a lot of them) with tiny lots and cruddy cracker-box houses.

Now, granted, we're part of the influx, but we come here with job offer in hand, not to move here blindly because we're running away from Cali or the east coast. We'd have been here two years ago, except it was really bad timing on our part. That said, Austin has been on The List for many years and for many reasons, not the least of which is that it's only a two hour flight to Phoenix if we need to rush back for the elderly parents... and not because we're looking for a utopia touted by Austin area PR that, if it existed, is being crowded out in the wake of this boom.

But it makes me sad because this is what happened to my hometown. The flood came in and wrecked it, took what made it a great place to grow up and live and raise kids, because some politicos and businessmen got greedy. The people who came weren't happy because it wasn't what they were used to, and took what they didn't like and made it the way it was where they came from. It's depressing as hell. It destroyed the character of the place. And once the bottom fell out with the crash, it went to hell. Now my home state has a governor who has no connection to the history or character of the state, but just a lot of money that bought him the office (it was true of his opponent as well). Sad.

I hate to see it happen here, too. I'm sorry, native and long-time Austinites - I feel your pain.

I have said forever that Austin is doing nothing but becoming another Phoenix, which was the "it" place in the late 80s and 90s when everyone was flocking there. You hit the nail right on the head.

[homeinatx]

Originally Posted by ToddATX

That doesn't make us any different from any other city. North Spring/The Woodlands don't look anything like they did when I was growing up in the Houston area. The parts of Dallas where my fiance grew up look nothing like they did when she was growing up. On the flip side, I have friends who grew up in Detroit and it also looks nothing like it did when they were growing up, but in the opposite direction of Houston and Austin.

There is also a tendency in humanity towards nostalgia, but what people here in Austin don't seem to get is the fact that nostalgia is all that it is. All. cities. always. change. You are either growing, declining, or dead. Things change. Welcome to the world, planet earth, population all of us.

And nostalgia ain't what it used to be either

[cBach]

But everyone isn't nostalgic about their area. You don't hear Houstonians clamoring for circa 1987 Houston or New Yorkers clamoring for circa 1978 NYC.

But Austinites say every period before the current period was better. In other words, it's a constant decline in quality of life. In other cities there are ebbs and flows.

In mathematical terms, other cities follow sines and cosines. In Austin it is a linear decline. That seems unique to Austin.