Austin Mamas

[happyhippie]

What's it like there? What do you love about your city? What do you not love?

My DH wants to uproot us & move to TX. He has a good job opportunity. It seems as though housing is cheapish outside of the main part of town. Are the suburbs nice? Is it reasonable to get from outer areas, to downtown for work?

Are public schools good?

Are you sad when people move to your town??

Give me the low down.

Best wishes. 

[luckiest]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Austin.  I've never met a soul who didn't.  I always hear Austin compared to Portland and sometimes Boulder; if you like those towns, you'll probably love Austin.

It's quirky (town motto "Keep Austin Weird" is plastered everywhere), everyone is incredibly friendly, it's pretty young (big college town), hip, liberal (though we ARE in Texas, so there are some pockets of conservatives).  It's very outdoorsy.  Tons to do outside - parks, walking around Town Lake (excuse me, Ladybird Lake), Barton Springs (which is topless - another testament to our hippie tendencies), TONS of live music everywhere you turn, great thrifting, awesome community feel.  

Austin is growing very very fast, and sometimes I hear locals complain about the congestion, the outsiders - but really, that's rare, and on the whole everyone is very warm and welcoming.  I can totally see Austinites being perceived as elitist, too cool for school, etc, from an outsider's perspective.  But no, I'm not sad when people move here, I'm always trying to convince people to move!  Come on down!

DS is only 5.5 months, and I moved here when I was 18, so I can't attest to the public schools.  

It is very tempting to live on the outskirts because there is a huge difference in rent/housing prices between central Austin (which I consider to be N of 71, S of 183, E of Mopac, W of 35 - makes a lovely little rectangle on a map) and areas like Round Rock, Wells Branch, Pflugerville, etc, BUT in my opinion, it's worth the extra couple hundred (if you can spare it) to live closer in.  As for commute, DH works downtown, and we live near the Arboretum (183 and 360 if you're looking at a map), and it's about a 40 minute commute each way.  Not the best.  We considered moving to Wells Branch because we could find a comparable house to rent for $300 less than we pay now, but found the commute to be prohibitive.  You might come close to making up the difference in gas, plus the invaluable wasted family time!  Mopac and 35 both get really congested, as does 360 if you're looking that far west.

Oh - there's a light rail that you may be tempted to rely on - please don't.  It was a great idea, and it may get there eventually, but right now it's inconsistent and needs work.

If you do end up going to the 'burbs, go north, not south.  Also beware of cheap East Austin - parts of it are beautiful and gentrified (Upper Boggy Creek, Mueller is a fantastic new development), but there are a lot of cars on cinderblocks, half torn down chain link fences, etc.  I actually really like East Austin, even the crummy parts, but it just doesn't seem very kid-friendly.

If you visit, beware that Austin is not a love-at-first-sight city.  It isn't NY or San Francisco with gorgeous views and big tourist attractions.  To get a good vibe of the city, walk around South Congress, see the bats (there's a huge colony of bats that live under a bridge), Barton Springs/Zilker Park, and eat from a food cart (snowcones from Sno Beach on Barton Springs Rd).

Also, we celebrate Eeyore's birthday.  What's not to love?

[happyhippie]

luckiest! What an awesome response! Thank you thank you! That is way more than I knew before. 

Too bad about the light rail system 

The music scene is highly desirable! 

Thank you so so much for helping me get more excited about the prospective move!

Congrats on the baby!!

Off to research....

[luckiest]

Glad I could help!  

I do have one more thing to add - it's HOT.  I don't know where you're coming from, but it can be downright miserable if you aren't used to it.  Well, and even if you are.  June, July, August...especially August...It's bad.  Gross, disgustingly humid.  Walk outside and you're immediately wearing a wet blanket and breathing soup.  

BUT!

http://youtu.be/m-LX0zK4iUY

This happens!  For free!  Every Sunday!  Jo's Coffee Sinner's Brunch, on S Congress.  Good coffee, good music, kid and dog friendly, dancing in the parking lot.  I, personally, could not ask for more.

[kristandthekids]

Despite the thread title, a lot of Austin info ended up getting posted in this thread.

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1307956/corporal-punishment-in-texas-schools-or-we-might-be-moving-to-austin-and-i-am-freaking-out