Thinking of leaving Austin for Dallas or Houston? (Buffalo: tornadoes, to live)

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by ForgotTheMilk

Touche

These are fun, but I couldn't imagine flying in from out-of-town just to visit these unless you had other family here.

I guess, but depends on where you are coming from or what your interests are. Last time we were there there was an international tour group staying in the museum district. They were mainly from Germany but a few other places, as well.

I was born south of Houston many (many) years ago and still like to go down to the west end of Galveston to use a cast net to catch some bait and then fish out in the bay .

[achtung baby]

Originally Posted by ForgotTheMilk

Man, what are all the visitors coming and doing? I can't think of anything I'd recommend out-of-towners to do here in Houston.

I don’t know about others but I got so busy just by spending time in the museum district for days.

And food/dining. Lots of exotic and rich variety of food.

And house porn, driving around River Oaks and Tanglewood area are a feast to the eyes.

Off topic (since it’s the Austin sub-forum.) but Houston is far more interesting than many “touristy” cities, and this is coming from a person who lived in Europe/Bi-coastal America/Pacific Asia my whole life.

[Dub D]

Do you live near fun stuff? You can move to Dallas, Houston, Boise, Seattle, whatever. If you live in the surburbs in whatever city as a single dude, you will get bored. I'm speaking from personal experience.

I'm not much older than you and make as much as you. I sold my house and moved closer to 'fun stuff'. My life is way more enjoyable. I'll worry about having a house when I'm settled down. The 'gotta have a house!!!' is a very Texas thing. But it's not that affordable anymore.

Hell, I got a recruiter message for a job in North FL paying 140k. I'm guessing it's Jacksonville. Even there the housing in good areas is 400k. I quickly declined that offer. Money ain't everything. Especially when you're already bored.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by walker1962

The one thing to consider about the north Dallas suburbs is there are more employment centers than areas north of Downtown Austin. So one can live there and work at more Fortune 500 companies than one would find in Austin's suburbs. I worked for awhile as JPMorgan Chase's new campus (2017 opened) in Plano. Capital One, Toyota, Fannie Mae BofA, NTT Data, FedEx Office, Dr. Pepper, Liberty Mutual, Frito Lay, USAA, Prosperity Bank for example, all have big offices there.

also even for tech the total number of IT jobs is larger in dallas than austin. They arent startup type jobs, but they are bread and butter corporate IT.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

I am using School Digger to find high school rankings.
Here is what I found

Round Rock High School 157/1861
Dripping Springs High School 246/1861
Leader High School 610/1861
Cedar Park High School 249/1861
Georgetown High School 836 /186
Pflugerville High School 911/1861


Houston and Dallas suburbs had many schools in top 5% and 10% but majority of the Austin suburbs I looked at did not have good ranking. Only Round Rock was in top 10%.

Perhaps you were looking at different rankings or different suburbs.

You pretty much missed all the best ones. Some rankings (eg. usnews has westwood and vandegrift in the top 100)

Westlake high school - 61
westwood (RRISD) - 126
vandegrift (leander) - 151

Many of the houston/dallas suburb highly ranked schools are actually magnets and charters. If you search for open enrollment schools only you will see the austin suburbs ranking at the top.

This is an example of such a list
https://www.hdavidballinger.com/best...ools-texas.php

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by Cows_are_cool123

TLDR: thinking of leaving Austin and going to Dallas or Houston. Should I?

I moved from Austin to DFW this year and love it. Just getting away from the Austin City Council was worth the move. Dallas doesn't hate cars as the Austin City Council does. Dallas builds roads to support where people CHOOSE to live.

And there are tons more restaurants in DFW.

[WellTraveled1988]

Late to the party, but my thoughts are in RED. I think you have good points honestly

Originally Posted by Cows_are_cool123

I moved here about 5 years ago and post pandemic have been really disappointed in what I see here. I’m thinking of moving to either Houston or Dallas. A couple complaints I have:

1. Housing costs are insane (and I make well into the 6 figure range) Eh, EVERY metro worth a damn will be like this dude. To buy anything "decent" you're looking at $500k+ easy. Try New England where it's $1.2M+ and come back to me bro lol
2. Related to 1, so many young people seem like they have either left Austin or moved to the outer parts of the city to save money. Most of my friends/dates are either 40+ or 21-23 (college students). As an early 30s single young professional (male), making friends and dating here have not been easy. What means are you using? Have you tried sports leagues? Dating apps are hit or miss but also a numbers game, I've always done pretty well here so I can't say for everyone.
3. The airport is tiny and has barely any flights compared to Dfw or bush. 100% agree with you
4. Related to 2/3, the city is still not taken seriously by those in NY/LA/SF. I don’t care about this by itself but I worry about job impact and this likely relates to the meeting young professionals issue I have. I think you're pretty spot on.
5. All the fun stuff is wildly spread out with almost nothing near the city center (except lady bird lake perhaps)

Now here’s what I see as pros of Austin:

1. Fun town in parts
2. Growing population and economy (so some of the above may get better)
3. Eclectic and authentic feel you can’t get in Houston or Dallas
4. People are geniuely pretty nice here

TLDR: thinking of leaving Austin and going to Dallas or Houston. Should I?

I think it comes down to what you're looking for. Texas isn't the ONLY the State in the US, you realize that right? What I liked about ATX is the active/health focused culture for a "Texas metro" that you can't really find in the South or Texas. You'd have to look for Upper Midwest (Chicago, Minneapolis, etc), East Coast (tons of options) and West Coast (tons of options again obviously) for that type of "vibe".

For me. I had to be around other active people, other Bros (i'm mid 30s, male, make $200k+ but VERY active), lakes, rivers, beaches, mountains, etc. I can't be couped up in an "eating and drinking" culture like Dallas and Houston.

[WellTraveled1988]

Originally Posted by Roadking2003

I moved from Austin to DFW this year and love it. Just getting away from the Austin City Council was worth the move. Dallas doesn't hate cars as the Austin City Council does. Dallas builds roads to support where people CHOOSE to live.

And there are tons more restaurants in DFW.

I respect this comment, but hilariously, it proves me right about the "eating and drinking" culture of Dallas.

It's not wrong to like that, but not what everyone wants.

There is also a reason that Dallas is the SECOND fattest metro in Texas.

[WellTraveled1988]

Originally Posted by Ice_Major

I lived in DFW for 6 ½ years, Austin for 7, and spend a lot of time in Houston due to the work, so I have experience with all three. I would say look at your life goals, needs, and wants. Then spend a decent amount of time in each city to really get a feel.

^this guy nailed it. I 100% agree with his post.

It really comes down to what you're looking for in life. For me, for a "Texas metro/city", what I liked about Austin was how it was the most active/health/fitness focused out of ALL of the metros by far.

Dating/meeting friends in your 30s is a "toss up" and I agree most have their own friends. When I moved home to DFW, after 8 years away, I basically just hung around Southlake/Highland Village/West Plano where I already had a LOT of friends/family/connects from over the years LOL.

I would have people approach me at the gym, groceries, restaurants and I would politely just keep convos short (but FRIENDLY) because I already had my own social circle and friends. It wasn't anything personal, just how it is. In my 30s, letting someone "new" into my friends/social circle will require something organic like being in the same sports (hockey/lacrosse) league, meeting at say a Stars game or concert, fraternity connect, work related, etc. I will be 100% honest that it's also probably more difficult in Texas because there isn't a huge hockey, lacrosse, boating, sailing, etc culture like when I lived in New England and the Upper Midwest. (And yes there are Bros in their 30s who make good money and keep FIT and have camaraderie by playing league lacrosse and hockey)

For dating, I can't say. I have always done pretty well to be honest LOL. I will say that, as I kept very fit into my mid 30s, I noticed that I still do/did attract college aged women, even when I went home to DFW. This is flattering and could be a good and bad thing to be honest.

For professional reasons, if you're in tech/SaaS and hoping to "scale and sell", then Austin beats BOTH Dallas and Houston to be hoenst.

[SerlingHitchcockJPeele]

Houston's too HOT, Dallas is too Uppity, Austin's too Weird... Go with a sure winner SAN ANTONIO!