Austin vs Houston

[AustinTraveler]

Hey Everyone,

Let's keep this thread Austin v. Houston please. There are enough of these city vs. city threads out there to keep them city specific.

Thanks,

AT

[aggies07]

Wow, this is a tough choice! Both cities are awesome, I have many friends from both areas at school and visit both regularly. Beautiful people, weather(esp. in the winter) beautiful parks, great economy, lots of culture etc. I guess I would choose Houston, because of the.... skyline. Either way you would do great living in either city!

[Supernova7]

I understand what you're saying. It's been VERY DIFFICULT as each city offers a little of what I'm seeking. However, after doing much research I'm beginning to lean more towards one of them. Nonetheless, it's been a challenge for sure.

[zdg]

Originally Posted by Supernova7

I understand what you're saying. It's been VERY DIFFICULT as each city offers a little of what I'm seeking. However, after doing much research I'm beginning to lean more towards one of them. Nonetheless, it's been a challenge for sure.

I'm late getting to this discussion, but I'm having a similar problem.

I lived in Austin for 9 years and am now currently in Houston (West U, inside the loop) where we've been for 14 months now. First of all, forget the people who talk about Katy, Buda, Kyle, the Woodlands, etc. Those are called suburbs and have literally nothing to do with either Austin or Houston. You can live in the suburbs anywhere on Earth, you don't need to move to Texas for that.

We're considering moving back to Austin (which I used to love) and I'm thoroughly depressed thinking about it.

The food in Austin is awful. There are only about 16 restaurants that would be considered even remotely "fine dining" and only one or two of those are truly top-notch dining choices. Houston has hundreds.

As someone else pointed out, the biggest problem with Austin is that it is all talk, no action. Austin has always taken a lot of pride in being "ultra liberal, but not THAT kind of ultra liberal." It's supposedly open and tolerant and progressive. The problem is...once you live there long enough, you'll see that it has a very immature attitude toward actual problems. Austin's collective answer to all problems seems to be "I don't WANNA!" Traffic congestion? Let's just turn the other way. The city was clearly engineered to be a small college town that grew too fast. It can't handle the people that moved in during the 90s and has done almost nothing to fix the problem yet.

Austin talks the big talk, but what I was amazed by when we moved (reluctantly) to Houston was that Houston was so far superior in all the areas that Austin claims to have the crown for in Texas. Houston has better bars, better music venues, significantly better food, exponentially more diversity, better museums, better art, A zoo (notice I didn't say BETTER zoo, I say A zoo)...it goes on and on like this.

In Houston, I can eat food from any nation in the world at multiple restaurants. In Austin, I'm lucky if I can find a decent gyro (we're not talking bizarre ethnic food here, people).

Austin has a lot of advantages. The schools are light years better and the people (in general) are much more highly educated. A lot more PhDs and professionals in Austin (per capita). But with that, comes the attitude. Austin is one of the worst customer service cities in the South. Service with a snarl. Houston is the opposite. Kind, courteous, helpful. People hold the elevator for you in Houston and let you into traffic. Good luck seeing that in Austin for some reason.

Bottomline is this...Austin is a large town. Houston is a big city. That's really all you need to know. Because the politics and tolerance are almost exactly the same, once you find the right neighborhood in either place. 14 months ago, I begged my wife to move back to Austin. Then I spent a year in Houston. Now I can't believe we're "taking a step back" and considering Austin. Hope that helps.

[Texas Mack]

Austin seems more cozy, a little sleep eyed and playful where as Houston seems more mature--friendly and inviting, but in a slightly more formal way.

And in terms of recreation, I would think that both are pretty similar. Austin has hills that are great for biking and hiking while Houston is near the coast and has not only a lot of coastline to enjoy but a lot of greenery in which to tool around.

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by zdg

I'm late getting to this discussion, but I'm having a similar problem.

I lived in Austin for 9 years and am now currently in Houston (West U, inside the loop) where we've been for 14 months now. First of all, forget the people who talk about Katy, Buda, Kyle, the Woodlands, etc. Those are called suburbs and have literally nothing to do with either Austin or Houston. You can live in the suburbs anywhere on Earth, you don't need to move to Texas for that.

We're considering moving back to Austin (which I used to love) and I'm thoroughly depressed thinking about it.

The food in Austin is awful. There are only about 16 restaurants that would be considered even remotely "fine dining" and only one or two of those are truly top-notch dining choices. Houston has hundreds.

As someone else pointed out, the biggest problem with Austin is that it is all talk, no action. Austin has always taken a lot of pride in being "ultra liberal, but not THAT kind of ultra liberal." It's supposedly open and tolerant and progressive. The problem is...once you live there long enough, you'll see that it has a very immature attitude toward actual problems. Austin's collective answer to all problems seems to be "I don't WANNA!" Traffic congestion? Let's just turn the other way. The city was clearly engineered to be a small college town that grew too fast. It can't handle the people that moved in during the 90s and has done almost nothing to fix the problem yet.

Austin talks the big talk, but what I was amazed by when we moved (reluctantly) to Houston was that Houston was so far superior in all the areas that Austin claims to have the crown for in Texas. Houston has better bars, better music venues, significantly better food, exponentially more diversity, better museums, better art, A zoo (notice I didn't say BETTER zoo, I say A zoo)...it goes on and on like this.

In Houston, I can eat food from any nation in the world at multiple restaurants. In Austin, I'm lucky if I can find a decent gyro (we're not talking bizarre ethnic food here, people).

Austin has a lot of advantages. The schools are light years better and the people (in general) are much more highly educated. A lot more PhDs and professionals in Austin (per capita). But with that, comes the attitude. Austin is one of the worst customer service cities in the South. Service with a snarl. Houston is the opposite. Kind, courteous, helpful. People hold the elevator for you in Houston and let you into traffic. Good luck seeing that in Austin for some reason.

Bottomline is this...Austin is a large town. Houston is a big city. That's really all you need to know. Because the politics and tolerance are almost exactly the same, once you find the right neighborhood in either place. 14 months ago, I begged my wife to move back to Austin. Then I spent a year in Houston. Now I can't believe we're "taking a step back" and considering Austin. Hope that helps.

This entire post is pretty spot-on. Austin just has better PR!

[Robert123]

Ok, Supernova,

Gay male here-- just read your list of what activities you like, how you like to spend your time. If weather is not an issue for you, I would choose Chicago.
Thrift stores, eclectic vibe, cheap theater, small trendy coffee shops, all in a nice afternoon's WALKABLE outing (I'm a Chicago native, and if the weather wasn't so horrific there, I never would have left--now in San Antonio, and won't comment further about that. Words cannot describe my experience here.) I've also been hearing more about Dallas as being a great alternative. The reason I'd be attracted to a culture like Dallas, in which people have "attitude," is that people with attitude tend to be motivated; they are achievers, and I'm like that myself. There is nothing more frustrating than being a yankee over-achiever in a lazy, laid-back Southern city with a small town feel. Please consider that factor when you decide where to move. If you have a stong, energetic vibe, the wrong culture can weigh you down. Houston would be a good option too, but I did visit Montrose with a friend, and there was a little strip of three thrift stores, and the main drag in Montrose was only a mile or so long, and I thought, jeez, is this it? I would definitely visit first. Also, I'm wary of the financial costs of dealing with upcoming climate issues. In my psychic view, one (more) bad storm and the insurance industry is going to make Houston as unaffordable as Florida is currently (that's why all of the Floridians are moving to Atlanta). Good luck!