Moving to Austin, TX

[Octopod]

Any of you guys ever go to Barton Springs? I used to go swimming there when I was a kid. I remember it was awesome for rope swings and had some smaller waterfalls. McKinney Falls was cool too. When I moved back to Austin as an adult I barely did any of the fun stuff I used to do as a kid.

And hey, hot weather means half naked chicks.

[wip3outguy7]

Totally agree with the hipster comments. A lot of the residents living in downtown and just south tend to think Austin is the shit and they are the shit for living there. The attitude fades as you get further away. I wouldn't worry about it much because unless you are making six figures, you won't be living there.

It took my wife and I awhile to settle in and make friends. I would say it took about a year and a half. We made the mistake of initially moving to the 620 area around Lake Travis. We were more likely to be run over by an overpriced SUV than to have a conversation with an interesting person. Life has been much more pleasant since moving to North Austin. Where we live now could almost be considered Round Rock, TX.

Traffic can be a pain. The advice I give to anyone when moving to a new place is this: Live close to work, or work close to where you live. If you guys move to the UT campus area, try to find work nearby. Commuting in Austin during rush hour is horrible. Many friends tell me it takes 2 hours to cross Austin proper at these times. I tend to work odd hours so I don't notice it as much as the 8 to 5ers do. AM and PM rush hours last about an hour longer than they should as a result. We only have 3 actual freeways here and the Tollway will only help if you are headed to the airport.

The music scene here is impressive. I haven't had as much time to partake as I had wanted, though. Austin claims to be the "live music capital of the world". I'm not sure if that's true but you definitely will not run out of shows to see or genres to explore.

[wip3outguy7]

Any of you guys ever go to Barton Springs? I used to go swimming there when I was a kid. I remember it was awesome for rope swings and had some smaller waterfalls. McKinney Falls was cool too. When I moved back to Austin as an adult I barely did any of the fun stuff I used to do as a kid.

I've been to Barton a few times. It's a really nice park and I'm glad they are keeping it up. McKinney Falls is still around and very nice after a few days of rain. Pedernales and Enchanted Rock are a short drive away if you want to get your remote hiking/camping fix.

And hey, hot weather means half naked chicks.

LOL. Half naked, sun dried chicks.

[Flake]

Life has been much more pleasant since moving to North Austin. Where we live now could almost be considered Round Rock, TX.

Yeah, Round Rock is infinitely more enjoyable. I try to get up that way as often as I can to see the Round Rock Express play ball at Dell. It's like my girl friend and I breathe a sigh of relief once we get past exit 240 and start seeing signs for Phlugerville.

If I was living in Austin instead of out in the 'burbs, I'd definitely vote for either Southern Austin (around the Brody area) or Northern Austin like wipeout. Just commute to Austin proper and save your sanity.

[onemanfilmcrew]

[quote="Flake"]I live in San Marcos (15 min south of Austin) and spend a decent amount of time there with a buddy (who is a chemist at UT, coincidentally).

It's a great town except for three things: It's expensive, traffic sucks, and the hipster scene is all but unbearable.

However, it does have its own chain of retro game stores called 'game over games' and these are the most impressive, professional, and reliable retro stores I've ever seen. It makes up for the trendy ass posers and a lot of the traffic any day of the week.

[url]http://www.gameovervideogames.com/[/url]

Anything else you'd like to know?

Edit: Just realized wip3outguy7 posted almost the exact same message as me. I'm late to the party but hopefully appreciated none the less.[/quote]



It's kind of funny because my girlfriend is going there to join the Chemistry department. She just got her PhD.

Thanks to all who have chimed in. Question though, can anybody give me the names of the local papers/alt-weeklies or any other local job websites? I need to start looking for work.

[Octopod]

I know there is the Austin American Statesman...

When I last lived in Austin I lived not too far from UT campus and it was nice being able to take the 'dillo(free bus service). I guess it depends on what you prefer but I like living closer to the heart of a city. At the same time, Austin does have relatively low crime but it is also the only place someone was shot multiple times not 30 feet from me and I was saw another person get out of their car and run up to another car stopped at an off ramp red light and stab them repeatedly through the window. I imagine that those were not random acts of violence though, I have no doubt they were most likely gang related. Of course that stuff happens everywhere.

[wip3outguy7]

It's kind of funny because my girlfriend is going there to join the Chemistry department. She just got her PhD.

Thanks to all who have chimed in. Question though, can anybody give me the names of the local papers/alt-weeklies or any other local job websites? I need to start looking for work.

Oh! Congrats to her on the PhD.

Yeah, the Austin American Statesman is really the only official paper here. It would be worth a shot to check out http://austin.craigslist.org/
A lot of local companies use it over Monster. Several of my friends have gotten well paying jobs with companies like Samsung, Apple and Time Warner through Craig's listings. Austin has a very strong IT industry. Apple, Dell, IBM and Samsung all have a very strong presence here.

[Flake]

It's kind of funny because my girlfriend is going there to join the Chemistry department. She just got her PhD.

Thanks to all who have chimed in. Question though, can anybody give me the names of the local papers/alt-weeklies or any other local job websites? I need to start looking for work.

She'll probably end up being my friends boss. If she meets a big guy named James, that's my buddy. He's worth mentioning as he's the guy who got me into Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger back in the day.

Ummm...it won't help you ahead of time, but when you get here 'The Onion' is both free and the most reliable newspaper around. Also the Austin Chronicle ain't too shabby.

[8bit]

5 Things I recommend doing in Austin

1) Barton Springs, Hamilton Pool, Town Lake

2) Happy Hour eating and drinking at Trudys, 219 West, Saba, McCormick and Schmits,

3) 6th Street bar hopping!

4) Attending UT sports events

5) Shopping on Congress Ave.

[Flake]

Just out of curiosity...how many Racketboy users from the Austin area are there?