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Old 10-01-2009, 05:04 PM
 
25 posts, read 68,077 times
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Is there such a place???

*Walking/biking town
*Counter Culture
*Artists
*Progressive thinking
*Affordable
*Bohemian
*Diverse culturally
*Good public schools
*Holistic lifestyle?
*Whole Foods Market/Community gardens/farmer's markets

I really want to ditch my car and go back to a more simple way of life. I am considering Austin, TX ; Portland, Oregon ; North Carolina (Asheville, Charlotte, Cary). Any suggestions??? Oh yeah and I am a single mom...if that matters, from Cambridge/Boston originally currently in an armpit of Rhode Island.
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Old 10-01-2009, 05:55 PM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,190,100 times
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Have you consider Boulder CO?

No matter where you look, that particular combination comes with a pretty hefty price tag (especially if you want/need good public schools).

Depending on your definition of diverse, you could pull together your combination in Austin, but it would be tricky, and involve a fairly substantial income.

good luck!
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Old 10-01-2009, 06:16 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX!!!!
3,757 posts, read 9,095,378 times
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Hey I used to live in the same part of RI! Honestly, I think you would have difficulty without a car here. You might be able to get by in Portland without one. I wouldn't call Austin a biking/walking town. There are many that ride bikes, but honestly there are so many yahoos yacking on their cell phones here I would never get on a bike in traffic in this city.
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Old 10-01-2009, 06:37 PM
 
Location: Formerly TX, UT and CT - Currently NC
484 posts, read 1,590,570 times
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I've lived in Austin (majority of my life, born and raised) and I've lived in North Carolina (lived there last year) so here's my take.. (I can't say anything about Portland though, only visited there, not lived there)

1) Walking/Biking Towns: Chapel Hill, NC and Cary, NC are big "biking/walking" towns, I'm pretty sure. There are a lot of bike trails, a lot of places to walk/bike, and a lot of people that enjoy doing things like that. However, in my opinion, the walking/biking is concentrated solely in those areas. Raleigh (unless it's North Raleigh) I wouldn't recommend biking in, no way I'd ever bike/walk around Durham, and Charlotte I'm honestly not too familiar with. In Austin, there is a lot more variety of places to bike/walk and the weather is nice year round (NC winters can get cold, NC has a lot more rainy days, etc) so you're more likely to use those amenities in a place like Austin. However, if you're talking about neighborhood kind of walking/biking, more neighborhoods in the Cary/Raleigh/Chapel Hill area of NC have sidewalks than they do in Austin. Austin does have a lot of trails though.

2) Counter Culture: If you're talking about culture meaning like historical culture, etc. no body takes more pride in their state than Texans (and it's very obvious, haha). Austin has a great amount of cultural and historical things to do (from museums, places to visit, festivals, influences, etc). Much more than North Carolina, in my opinion. However, if you're talking about ethnic culture influences, Austin, because of where it's located tends to have a more hispanic culture. No, Austin is NOT full of Latinos/Hispanics like many think. It's not like that at all. But the influences are there. Lots of Mexican restaurants, Spanish attractions, Spanish speakers, and latino culture but it's not overwhelming at ALL. The population in Austin is still very predominately Caucasian. In North Carolina, I found it to be very African American culturally based (specifically in Durham and Charlotte, not so much in Cary, and a little bit in Raleigh). There are a lot more specifically African American schools, restaurants, churches, colleges, etc.

3) Artists: The first place I think of when I think of artists and that way of life is Chapel Hill, NC. Also, right outside Chapel Hill is Carborro and downtown Carborro NC is a lot like that as well. If you're an artist type, you'd fit in fine there. Raleigh, Cary, Charlotte, etc. is really not artsy at all. Austin definitely is, but no where near the amount as Chapel Hill. Regardless, the "art feel" very much exists in Austin.

4) Progressive Thinking: I'm honestly not sure what you mean by progressive thinking. It can mean several things.

5) Affordable: Austin is extremely affordable, especially when in comparison to NC. North Carolina, primarily areas such as Charlotte and Raleigh are pretty expensive when compared to a place such as Austin. For example- You can easily find a 2,500 square foot, 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom house in Austin in a really nice area for around $175,000. In Cary, NC that would cost around $250,000-$300,000. I would recommend googling a cost of living comparison website and comparing the two.

6) Bohemian: This kind of goes back to what I said about artists. It's definitely found, accepted, and you'd fit in in Austin, but it's more predominately known/recognized in a place like Chapel Hill, NC. It ISN'T found in Charlotte, Raleigh, Cary, etc. Only really in the Chapel Hill area so if you weren't considering that (it's about 15 minutes from Cary and 20-25 from Raleigh by the way) then I'd say Austin, for sure.

7) Diverse Culturally: See #2.

8) Good public schools: Cary, NC has great public schools. When we lived in Cary, our children did fine in the public schools there. Charlotte NC has terrible schools. I don't know much about Asheville schools. Raleigh I think are ok, but not fantastic by any means. Austin public schools are fantastic. They have some of the best ISD's (independent school districts) in the country. They have wonderful teachers, the kids seem to fit right in no matter who they are, and academically they have really high rated standardized test scores. Austin has a lot of school districts, and all are wonderful. However, I recommend Eanes ISD. They have some of the best schools in the state.

9) Holistic Lifestyle: Also reminds me of Chapel Hill, NC and Austin, TX. It's about equal. However, I think in Austin it's more accepted.

10) Whole Foods/Markets/etc.: Definitely Austin. In the Raleigh area (Cary, and Chapel Hill also) there is one farmers market (but it's big) and several Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Fresh Markets. However, the lifestyle in general isn't really valued or recognized there. In Austin, it's completely different. Austin even has organically based restaurants, etc. Also, Whole Foods is based in Austin Texas..meaning they are everywhere. There's a really wide variety of farmers markets, local markets/co-ops (another thing NC doesn't have), etc.

If you have any more questions let me know. Good luck!
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Old 10-01-2009, 07:21 PM
 
2,627 posts, read 6,601,322 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasBlonde View Post
5) Affordable: Austin is extremely affordable, especially when in comparison to NC. North Carolina, primarily areas such as Charlotte and Raleigh are pretty expensive when compared to a place such as Austin. For example- You can easily find a 2,500 square foot, 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom house in Austin in a really nice area for around $175,000. In Cary, NC that would cost around $250,000-$300,000. I would recommend googling a cost of living comparison website and comparing the two.
You can find a house like that in the Austin area out in the suburbs, but not in the city of Austin. Unfortunately, you would pretty much have to throw out all of your other requirements other than good schools to get anything that size in that price range. Austin would fit what you're looking for, but as others have stated, it's very pricey to get into an area where you could actually survive without a car, unless you take the bus I guess.

Last edited by mark311; 10-01-2009 at 07:29 PM..
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Old 10-01-2009, 07:49 PM
 
25 posts, read 68,077 times
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Thank you so much everyone. Texasblonde...that is very good information...thanks for taking the time.

I am not in the financial position to buy a home so I will be renting. I don't know if that changes anything.

And I have heard nice things about colorado too!! I would be open to it. But I don't know enough about the place. I think a road trip is in order...before I ditch the car of course!
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Old 10-01-2009, 08:30 PM
 
Location: Formerly TX, UT and CT - Currently NC
484 posts, read 1,590,570 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanilla32 View Post
Thank you so much everyone. Texasblonde...that is very good information...thanks for taking the time.

I am not in the financial position to buy a home so I will be renting. I don't know if that changes anything.

And I have heard nice things about colorado too!! I would be open to it. But I don't know enough about the place. I think a road trip is in order...before I ditch the car of course!
You're welcome If you're renting, it doesn't change things TOO much in Austin..there are a lot of places to rent. In Chapel Hill (I know I referenced that a lot) most of the places to rent are RIGHT on UNC's campus. Austin has a lot of family-friendly rental communities.
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Old 10-01-2009, 10:47 PM
 
7,746 posts, read 15,223,806 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanilla32 View Post
Is there such a place???

*Walking/biking town
*Counter Culture
*Artists
*Progressive thinking
*Affordable
*Bohemian
*Diverse culturally
*Good public schools
*Holistic lifestyle?
*Whole Foods Market/Community gardens/farmer's markets

I really want to ditch my car and go back to a more simple way of life. I am considering Austin, TX ; Portland, Oregon ; North Carolina (Asheville, Charlotte, Cary). Any suggestions??? Oh yeah and I am a single mom...if that matters, from Cambridge/Boston originally currently in an armpit of Rhode Island.

You cant really live without a car in Austin.
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Old 10-02-2009, 05:31 AM
 
25 posts, read 68,077 times
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Can you tell me any bad areas of Austin to stay away from???
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Old 10-02-2009, 05:55 AM
 
Location: NW Austin
1,133 posts, read 4,200,682 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanilla32 View Post
Can you tell me any bad areas of Austin to stay away from???
I think that I've heard to stay away from North Central -- not sure where the boundaries are though. Also some people say stay out of East Austin (east of I-35). It's an older neighborhood that is "up and coming" but the schools aren't very good.

You'd probably be interested in central austin or just south of the river.

On your list of places, I wouldn't think that any of them are really places that you could go car free all the time. It's unfortunate.
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