Apparently not all Californians love Austin (Houston, San Antonio: utilities, tax, live in)

[JT24hr]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Austin is pretty white. I was shocked that black people were missing around Downtown Austin when I attended a conference several years ago. In Houston, you would encounter ethnic diversity after the first few seconds of people watching.



He just named ethnicities easily found in California that have large numbers in Houston:

• Second largest Vietnamese population after Orange County
  
• The only sizable Filipino population in the South (the consulate reopened after a 25-year absence last year--yea, no more trips to far-flung Los Angeles!!!)
  
• Iranians (Umm, did somebody say oil?)
  
• Palestinians (Jerusalem Halal Meats--see the contradiction in this ethnic grocery store?)

He painted with a broad brush by labeling all of Texas in the next sentence:



...but he wasn't living in Houston, so I wouldn't blame him for thinking that all of Texas was bland from his vantage point in Austin.

San Jose is larger than OC btw.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by JT24hr

San Jose is larger than OC btw.

Most stats say SJ has been third for a while.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Most stats say SJ has been third for a while.

Nope.

Houston has the third largest Vietnamese population after OC and SJ and no stat has ever said otherwise.

[ScoPro]

Our descendants will all be a shade of brown in a couple more centuries, so I don’t really care what the race quotas are.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Our descendants will all be a shade of brown in a couple more centuries, so I don’t really care what the race quotas are.

It doesn't have as much to do with skin color as much as culture. And cultural diversity is definitely lacking in Austin. Even among the white population. There really isn't a notable Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, etc. population here. You don't hear bagpipes, St. Patrick's Day is hardly recognized, I can't find a restaurant that serves pierogies (and most people don't even know what they are), etc.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

It doesn't have as much to do with skin color as much as culture. And cultural diversity is definitely lacking in Austin. Even among the white population. There really isn't a notable Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, etc. population here. You don't hear bagpipes, St. Patrick's Day is hardly recognized, I can't find a restaurant that serves pierogies (and most people don't even know what they are), etc.

Do you mean immigrant Irish, Italian, etc.? I don't know that there are a ton of those anywhere, due to various visa limitations. There definitely isn't Irish, Russian, etc 'communities' within Austin but I do know quite a few Indian, Chinese, and Russian people that live in my neighborhood. Not saying Austin is diverse, but what diversity it has is integrated pretty much into the city as a whole and not a specific area, which makes it less visible.

By the way, I don't know how odd it is that I know 7 or 8 people that play bagpipes, but one is a co-worker and used to (pre-Covid) practice on the top of the parking garage. You could hear it for a mile! Her family (not her) is in a band that competes in Scotland every year and there is a robust bagpipe community in the area. They play in about a dozen places on St. Patty's day and weekend, and do shifts with other members of their organization to cover all the places.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

It doesn't have as much to do with skin color as much as culture. And cultural diversity is definitely lacking in Austin. Even among the white population. There really isn't a notable Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, etc. population here. You don't hear bagpipes, St. Patrick's Day is hardly recognized, I can't find a restaurant that serves pierogies (and most people don't even know what they are), etc.

Beg to differ.
I once took a “riverboat” cruise up & down Lake Austin with two groups - a school faculty and an Irish social club - and had the privilege of listening to their piper stroll around the deck almost the entire time playing the pipes.

Plenty of Latinx culture in Austin, along with the German & Czech, plus a growing Asian presence.

Never have seen a pierogie though. My background is mostly German.

[Trainwreck20]

Oh, btw, I finally read the original linked article. I doubt that he/she is representative of most CA's that move here - I have never met one that whiny or clueless :P. While there are some points there for sure, their examples were exaggerated or just wrong or missed important details.

I.e. on average, electricity is 8.6 c/kW in TX, in CA it is 16.9 (U.S Energy Info Admin, Nov 2020). I am sure there is quite a bit of variation, but I think Bee Cave is on PEC? If so, they are currently right at 8.62 c/kWh. Sure, you use more in TX, but to get to $400 a month on PEC, they would have to burn through 4,500 kWh. Granted, our house is 2/3 the size of the house they bought, but we keep it *much* more comfortable than that and use 1,400 in our worst months. Now, sure, a pool will use some, but that is sheer volume, not cost.

Not sure who the water was in 2016. If it was Aqua Texas or similar, then that might be right. Right now, it is West Travis County PUA and the hookup fee is $29.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by turf3

With 45 years of residence in Texas, and 15 years of residence in New England, the idea that customer service is better in the Northeast than in Texas is laughable.

For real. Homeboy needs to head to the Bowash corridor if he wants to see real crappy service.

[R1070]

I think a lot of Californians that end up in Austin and expect it to be just like their West Coast cities based on hype, will be disappointed. On the other hand the ones that move to Houston and DFW tend to be pleasantly surprised by the cities as they are not nearly as hyped up and the higher expectations aren’t set before moving.