Considering relocating to Austin from San Diego (Corpus Christi, Spring: apartment complexes, rent)

[muddaerf]

My hubbie and I are considering relocating to Austin and we are extremely excited about the prospect of relocating to a new area. He is a video game designer and I work in Human Resources. Does anyone happen to know what the job front looks like in Austin for game designers? Because we're used to such a high cost of living in San Diego, I'm hoping that the salary differences aren't that dramatic, especially in the video game industry. Does anyone happen to know how the salaries compare for HR jobs?

Also, I've been looking at houses and I'm trying to gauge how far the 'burbs are from the city center. An area that looks really lovely is the Lake Travis area but I wanted to get some other opinions about areas that weren't too far from downtown (in case I want to go back to school or our jobs take us downtown). Does anyone have suggestions about some nice and affordable (housing in the $200-350K range) areas (preferrably not in the boondocks and with a little bit of a city feel).

If we do decide to move, we would likely end up relocating to an apartment/condo in the downtown area first... what are the "hip" locations? We would like to really experience downtown city living (we currently live in a small beach community) and would like to live in an area where you can walk to everything and not have to drive around so much except for work.

How is the morning traffic on the highways? Does it snow in Austin? How far is the ocean/closest beach? (Okay, I realize the middle question may sound ridiculous to some but I have lived in So. Cal my whole life and am clueless when it comes to snow in general).

Any help/insight that you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated. The city looks beautiful!

[AustinGuy]

Video game designer salaries should be close to what they are in San Diego. Austin has a large and growing game development industry so this is a great place to move to if that is his niche.

No, it doesn't snow here. The gulf beaches aren't really in the same league as what you have in San Diego, and I think the closest one is 4+ hours away. You can always hang out at Lake Travis though if you need to see some water.

You might want to look into the South Congress area (sometimes called SoCo) for your first rental. It is very close to downtown, and it also has many things within walking distance.

Good luck! Personally, I think San Diego is an amazing place, so I imagine it would be tough to leave.

[Rnelson]

You will love Lake Travis and living next to the lake always has it perks. For the kids you could have your boat in the water after school and pull them around on the tube everyday if you wish in the spring and summer. I was raised next to the lake and it bring back the best memories and i could only wish my kids have the chance to grow up in the out doors and splashing around in the same water as i did.

Texas coast is no San Diego but we have some special small towns on the coast that some people fall in love with. If you and your husband like to fish some of the best fishing in the world is located 3 1/2 hours away. I would recommend that you visit port A and rent a condo for the weekend. Great weekend get out of town trip (: Sometimes i just go down to port A to eat some good sea food....

[AustinTraveler]

Living on the Lake would be great but their housing budget is $200-350K so I don't think that would work.

I think you have the right idea by renting first. I would look for something right downtown or in the SoCo area like the previous poster said. SoCo (South Congress) is just over the bridge from downtown. Keep in mind that downtown is small. Another area would be Clarksville which is a great place and you can walk to shops, restaurants, and Whole Foods. You can also look at the neighborhoods just north of downtown. I know there is an apartment building just behind Central Market that looks good. I think it's part of the Gables, which is a large company here with many beautiful apartment complexes. Renting is a great way to figure out where you want to live.

Good luck!

[jslatch]

Originally Posted by muddaerf

Also, I've been looking at houses and I'm trying to gauge how far the 'burbs are from the city center. An area that looks really lovely is the Lake Travis area but I wanted to get some other opinions about areas that weren't too far from downtown (in case I want to go back to school or our jobs take us downtown). Does anyone have suggestions about some nice and affordable (housing in the $200-350K range) areas (preferrably not in the boondocks and with a little bit of a city feel).

If we do decide to move, we would likely end up relocating to an apartment/condo in the downtown area first... what are the "hip" locations? We would like to really experience downtown city living (we currently live in a small beach community) and would like to live in an area where you can walk to everything and not have to drive around so much except for work.

How is the morning traffic on the highways? Does it snow in Austin? How far is the ocean/closest beach? (Okay, I realize the middle question may sound ridiculous to some but I have lived in So. Cal my whole life and am clueless when it comes to snow in general).

Any help/insight that you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated. The city looks beautiful!

Personally, I love living right in Austin as opposed to the burbs. The traffic won't shock you coming from SoCal, but it's hard to beat a 5 minute commute (we live 2+ miles north of campus, and my husband is a grad student... I work from home). I wouldn't exactly call our neighborhood hip, unless you've got two young children... then, we're the definition of cool

For hip, I'd go to South Congress or Clarksville as the previous posters suggest or look into a downtown loft. The prices are higher, but it would certainly be fun to live down there. Zilker is another area that is cool, but it's not as walkable.

Even though there are definitely neighborhoods that are walkable (particularly South Congress if you live close enough to Congress Avenue), you'll still need a car (or bike) for most of your transportation needs. Parking isn't that bad, although the last time we went out at night downtown, we noticed that the parking garages all raised their prices by at least 50% from a few months ago. Eek!

[muddaerf]

Thanks so much, everyone! This is all really great information! We are definitely excited about the potential for a change and Austin sounds like a great place...

Thanks again!
Christy

[TanikaW]

350K could easily get you a house in Lake Travis. Check out Lakeway and Steiner Ranch. Both have lake access. Do a mls search on 78732....if you liked San Diego you will love Steiner. It feels alot like the OC with sidewalks, etc. 30 minutes to downtown....You can rent in the Mansion apartments which are located inside of Steiner Ranch to give you good feel for the area.

www.steinerranch.com
www.steinerranch.org

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by muddaerf

How far is the ocean/closest beach?

We just moved to the Austin area from LA. We were missing the ocean, so last week we drove out to Corpus Christi. We stayed one night at a hotel on North Padre Island. My expectations were pretty low, I'd heard the Texas gulf beaches weren't all that great. But it was nicer than we'd expected. Not in the same league as the Florida gulf coast beaches, but good enough for an ocean fix (lakes just don't do it for me). And it was deserted! Probably because it's December and it's cold, but still... we're used to the always crowded Santa Monica area beaches, so this was a nice change. We will definitely go back at other times of the year to check it out again.

It took about four hours to drive there from Georgetown. There was some traffic in downtown Austin that slowed us down, but otherwise it was a pretty straight shot. Boring drive, though!

[tashina]

I was in born and raised in San Diego and moved to Austin last year (I'm in my 40's). I live in Southwest Austin which is like a whole 'nother place. It's not city really, more suburban I suppose, but with more personality than San Diego suburban (like some mutant cross between Santee in the 80's and Clairemont Blvd now, but with hills and trees). We can get to downtown in 15 minutes but we get to live in the hills of Hill Country and it's very pretty. There are plenty of big box stores around, but they are grouped together and not as interspersed with neighborhoods as SD.

Coming from San Diego, here's what I most notice: lots and lots of trees here - every spare inch of land that isn't built on yet in the Hill Country is trees (mostly live oaks and juniper ashe that they call cedar). Very few flowers - shockingly few for a San Diegan. Almost no palm trees which I really miss. Much more laid back here. Oh, and the children here are polite and nice and amazingly different. I lived in Temecula for 18 months and there the kids were (live most San Diego kids) all over the street and rude to adults and basically thought they were the center of the universe. Here they are actually respectful and even though I don't have kids, I really notice that.

The weather is nice overall. There is actually weather here. As a native San Diegan, I thought weather was only in movies and on TV. But no, there are really big lightning storms and hail and sometimes you wake up and it's 25 degrees outside in the winter. Then 3 days later, it's 80 degrees. The July/August time is certainly just a time to be gotten though alive. It's not that it's hot every day, it's that it doesn't cool off at night. Last July/August there was about a month where it did not get below 75 day OR NIGHT. That means at 5 am it was 75! Also, instead of it being spring pretty much until June gloom is over in July, Spring here starts in February and it's pretty much summer as you would know it by April. April-June is like a San Diego summer except with big thunderstorms. Then July/Aug is hot with lots of humidity compared to SD. Overall I love the weather here and would easily take the summer here over the June gloom and no weather of San Diego.

I loved San Diego growing up in the 70's. Austin is very much like that now. I've lived in San Diego, San Francisco, and London. I'm happy here.

[tygr]

Hey Tashina!
Thanks for the candid post- you can't know how much it enlightened me!
Holla from Lemon Grove in the SD!
;o)