My Humble Opinion After One Month of Austin Life.
If you know my story, you know I am taking one year off from my career as a landscape designer to travel the country (and hopefully, the world) for 1–2 month stays at a time. From moving around as a child, to experiencing my formative years in Maryland, to starting my career in Fort Lauderdale, FL, I finally landed my first “temporary” stay on this journey in Austin, TX.
I’d be lying if I said the whole buzz about certain Californians shouting “Austin or Bust” had nothing to do with our choice to spend some time here. Why did I take this buzz to heart? Because I love the state of California, and I thought, well damn — if Californians will leave their paradise for Austin, it must be something worth checking out!
Now as we close out our one-month stay in Austin, I will provide some pros and cons to living in the city.
TLDR; Pros: Cool neighborhood vibes, Awesome local businesses, Awesome for biking. Cons: Gentrification, Food is hit or miss, Can be very crowded, Geography and proximity. Overall: Scroll to the bottom to read where I suggest moving to instead.
Pro 1. Cool Neighborhood Vibes
You don’t see a ton of cookie cutter homes in Austin, and you should love that. Each home — whether well-executed or not — has been customized with love by the various owners. And newer construction homes tend to be the eco-modern style that maintains some neighborhood charm rather than starkly modern homes that just lack…luster. You’ll have a lot of fun biking or driving around the neighborhoods and seeing what the residents have done. There always seems to be an intriguing coffee shop or restaurant around the corner as well, no matter where you are.
Con 1. Gentrification
We lived in East Austin in the Holly neighborhood. We learned quickly that the neighborhood is growing very quickly with many new homeowners tearing down old homes and replacing them with the aforementioned modern style. While this does give the neighborhood an interesting eclectic feel, you know the undertones are darker with gentrification ravaging the character and affordability of what used to be a largely Latinx community. We felt totally safe in Holly, but largely because young professionals are scootering around it everywhere going to the hippest new businesses nearby.
Pro 2. Tons of Local Businesses — Eye-Catching and Always Interesting
With Austin growing more rapidly than ever, businesses are booming. This is great for the average consumer, because as businesses compete for your attention, you have more exciting things to look at and experience! I would confidently say no matter where you live in Austin you will have several amazing local businesses near you. I got such a kick out of observing the Austin streets, as many local business would boast unique neon signs (see Todd Sanders, world famous artist and owner of studio “Roadhouse Relics”), and often very curated and cute/funky/weird interior design that would transport you to a different world for just a moment. Outdoor dining is huge in Austin, somewhat in part to the lively food truck scene, which means a lot of businesses invest in awesome outdoor dining patios/gardens (see: Cosmic Coffee and Beer Garden).
Con 2. You Might Need to Depend on Yelp for Reliable Dining
Now this could be seen as a pro and a con. I am personally a huge Yelp person — I’m Elite Gold after all — so I am used to searching often. The bummer was that most of the businesses in town were ranked 3.5 stars or lower. At first I thought, huh maybe the community around here is just really picky because this food and place looks so awesome! However I realized quickly that Yelp is 99% on point for Austin restaurants. Sometimes we would risk it on a 3.5 star place and regret it. Often we would go to a 4 star place that looked promising and realize Yelp was exactly on the ball and we wouldn’t really return. Have Yelp by your side, seek out the 4.5+ star places, and you’ll be in perfect hands.
Pro 3. It’s Pretty Awesome for Biking
I didn’t even bring my bike. In fact I sold my bike before moving here (was trying to be a minimalist, hehe). However after the first day being here I was convinced I needed one to accompany my boyfriend on his. We had an awesome time getting around on bikes. Lady Bird Lake has a very continuous path around its entirety (a combination of fine gravel, pavement, and bridges). The awesome thing about this path, is that it serves as like a bike highway to get you anywhere around the city and minimize any time you need to spend on the streets. I can’t speak for the entire city, but East Austin was pretty good for biking on the streets. They had designated bike lanes on some of the more major roads, and comfortably wide neighborhood streets to maneuver. There’s ample bike parking wherever you go.
Another cool place we found was the Veloway. I kind of stumbled upon this while researching where I could go rollerblading around town. This definitely fit the bill. It was a bit of a drive — about 25 minutes out of the city — but it was worth it to check out, especially if you like inline skating like me! Well, I’m a beginner, so this place was even better because it was challenging, but doable (highly recommend you bring a friend though…) and kept me off the streets with the danger of cars. If you like biking this is a great place for a workout because you can just haul ass around the 3 mile loop.
Con 3. Everything is CROWDED!
That thing you wanted to do? Yeah…if you can’t go on a weekday at an off-time, you may be out of luck. This was very frustrating for us because we know COVID is still in the background of all of our travels, so we try to avoid crowds as much as we can (we also just don’t really like huge crowds and lines lol). We thought since we are no longer tied to our 9–5 that we’d have no problems getting to eat, drink, and see what we wanted to, when we wanted to. However we were disappointed oftentimes to see that crowds were ALWAYS around, even at random times during weekdays. So trying to tick off those 4.5 star restaurants and sights becomes tricky when you have to compete with crowds.
Sometimes we would be in a pinch on a weekend where we needed food and would want to try something popular. Forget about it! Expect to fight for parking and wait in a long line with sold out popular items.
The toughest places to get to (even on weekdays/odd hours)? Parking on South Congress, Terry Blacks BBQ, Granny’s Tacos, Barton Springs Pool.
A Final Con: Why Austin isn’t the Best Place for California-Lovers to Move (and Where Is)
This one takes a step back and looks more broadly at what Austin has to offer in terms of its climate, geography, and proximity.
Climate
July was really hot. What a shocker. But call me optimistic; I thought it was going to be dry in Texas! Not more humid than it was coming from South Florida lol. Pair that with the 90+ degree hot sunny weather and it was quite uncomfortable most days. The mosquitoes seemed to adore this weather so it was often difficult to escape them. At least in East Austin.
With outdoor dining still being the status quo in the city, sometimes you had to bear the heat and mosquitoes while trying to enjoy your meal. We managed to still enjoy several bike rides throughout the hot days, but we were just taking 2 or 3 showers on those days!
Proximity
Austin is in decent proximity to some cool nearby cities. Fredericksburg was a pretty lively small town with seemingly endless wineries to explore. San Antonio was just awesome for a day trip with the best pit stops ever — the San Antonio Missions. Houston isn’t too far away and Dallas neither.
However in terms of nature, Austin is…well…not close to much. It is 6 hours away from the closest National Park and 3.5 hours away from the ocean. The most interesting nature it has is in the Texas Hill Country, which I really enjoyed, but I would be lying if I said it would satisfy my adventuring needs beyond 1 year or so.
Geography
The good news, Austin never gets quite too cold. The average temperature range due to its location is 43–97 degrees. The bad news, Austin is landlocked. Sure it has the Colorado River-turned-Lake (Lady Bird Lake/Lake Travis) but, honestly, it’s not much of an amenity due to the toxic algae growths and murky color.
Where Californian’s and California-Lovers Should Move Instead?
Now I’m not saying in any way that Austin is a bad place to live. What I am arguing, is that it’s not an improvement over most parts of California. And for someone like me who strives to someday live in the great state of California, I don’t think I would be satisfied with Austin as a consolation prize.
For this reason, I would recommend Cali-Lovers pick Florida instead.
Yes I said it. Hate on Florida all you want, but I know Florida has everything Californians are looking for.
Low taxes, great weather, laid back lifestyle, and the best beaches in the country.
Florida boasts some of the most unique and interesting natural parks in the country. With three National Parks — Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas — you have plenty to check off your bucket list. It has unmatched snorkeling opportunities, and, while it may not have the sea lions that Californians have grown to love — you can find dolphins (my personal favorite), iguanas, sea turtles, manatees, alligators, and more. In my opinion, the most unique experience you can do is explore the springs nearby Orlando in Ocala. I will write an article on that in the near future and come back and link it here.
There are endless fantastic cities in Florida. While they may not be of the caliber of those in California, they may be worth the discount on taxes. Living in Fort Lauderdale I can say it was an amazing small city to romp around and do everything at. And with Miami only a 40 minute drive away, you couldn’t ask for anything better. Sanibel Island is great for those who want a small town feel with a gorgeous beach, and of course for the artists, writers, and boaters, Key West is your place!
And yes, I have gotten sh*t before for being the “poster child” lover of Florida, but I DO love California slightly more. So I can say with certainty that Florida is the next best thing and, in my opinion, is a better option than Austin!
