First of all I want to address the two other reviews on here. The one saying the "gun violence is too high" has clearly never lived anywhere else. Austin I believe is one of the safest cities in the country. I don't think any neighborhood in the city is a "no go" though you might run into more trouble in Riverside or North Lamar or Stassney. I've lived a few different places and Austin really does not have ghettos. No public housing at all, to my knowledge, only some Section 8/Voucher.
Secondly the guy who said "Pros: Everything, Cons: Nothing" is...not correct.
Anyway, Austin is a fun place to visit. Your enjoyment of the city will depend heavily on what you do and how comfortable you are driving everywhere. To live an urban lifestyle, you're pretty much going to need to be a programmer. Not much wiggle room on that. For true affordability, you're going to have to live way out in Williamson County or WAY down south and put up with Austin traffic. I would compare it to Atlanta just on a smaller scale.
Summers are *hot.* If you're from a humid area and think "Oh it's a dry heat" you're in for a rude awakening. We have just enough humidity mixed in with the raw heat to make it pretty miserable. Don't really have much in the way of seasons. No real fall colors. Almost never snows. The last 2 years have been freak events and then it ends up icing and snowing TOO MUCH and half the city loses power. It maybe snowed an inch every 5 years when I was growing up there.
Just FYI, Austin hasn't been weird since the death of Lesli over 10 years ago. It's become way more gentrified and yuppie (or DINK, I guess is the new term). It's really not weird hardly at all anymore. It reminds me more of Seattle South, with more sun but no mountains and ocean.
Hope this helps.
Pros
Fun vibe
Relatively "affordable," if you're coming from LA
No income tax
Not much crime
Some nature
Growing
Cons
They'll get you with the property taxes
Sales tax is a little high
Hot as hell in summer
No seasons
Getting very expensive
Not really that diverse
Growing A LOT
Traffic is a real b*tch
3 users found this helpful
Bushra
1 year ago
6 / 10
Austin maybe was safe 10 years ago. Not now.
Bushra
1 year ago
6 / 10
Austin has 3 really problematic issue
1. Lack of public transportation. Less walkability. Everything is far.
3. Homeless issue.
4. Very expensive.
Pros
Good university.
Job
Nice winter
Cons
Public transport bad. Dont folkow timetable. Few in number. Few route.
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The average rent of a single-bedroom apartment located in the city center. This indicates how much of your salary would be allocated to rent expenses, and the general cost of living of the city. Source: numbeo.com, 2024.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reflects the value and productivity of an economy. It measures the market value of all the final goods and services produced annually. To reflect the differences in the cost of living and inflation rates, we show the GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP). Sources: Wikipedia, CIA World Factbook, 2024.
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There are mountains at a distance of maximum 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the city. Mountains are considered to have an elevation of at least 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Source: Wikipedia, 2024; city's official website, 2024.
The World Heritage List includes 962 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. Source: UNESCO, 2024.
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A cheaper single ticket will allow you to move through the city for less money. Whether you are a visitor or a resident, it will help your economy. Source: Official city's public transport website, 2024.
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The subway rate or number of kilometers of subway per number of inhabitants indicates how well developed the subway network is. Source: Wikipedia, 2024.
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The number of international embassies indicates the importance of a city for political, diplomatic and lobbying issues. Source: city's official website, 2024.
An indicator of how safe people feel walking alone in the city during the night, with 1 being very unsafe and 10 being very safe. Source: numbeo.com, 2024
An indicator of how safe people feel walking alone in the city during the day, with 1 being very unsafe and 10 being very safe. Source: numbeo.com, 2024
An indicator of how worried people are about having things stolen from their car, with 1 being not worried and 10 being very worried. Source: numbeo.com, 2024
An indicator of how worried people are about having their home broken into, with 1 being not worried and 10 being very worried. Source: numbeo.com, 2024
The average rent of a three-bedroom apartment located in the city center. This indicates how much of your salary would be allocated to rent expenses, and the general cost of living of the city. Source: numbeo.com, 2024.
Comments
Alek
1 year ago
6 / 10
Not a lot to worry about but only offers so much
Alek
1 year ago
6 / 10
First of all I want to address the two other reviews on here. The one saying the "gun violence is too high" has clearly never lived anywhere else. Austin I believe is one of the safest cities in the country. I don't think any neighborhood in the city is a "no go" though you might run into more trouble in Riverside or North Lamar or Stassney. I've lived a few different places and Austin really does not have ghettos. No public housing at all, to my knowledge, only some Section 8/Voucher. Secondly the guy who said "Pros: Everything, Cons: Nothing" is...not correct. Anyway, Austin is a fun place to visit. Your enjoyment of the city will depend heavily on what you do and how comfortable you are driving everywhere. To live an urban lifestyle, you're pretty much going to need to be a programmer. Not much wiggle room on that. For true affordability, you're going to have to live way out in Williamson County or WAY down south and put up with Austin traffic. I would compare it to Atlanta just on a smaller scale. Summers are *hot.* If you're from a humid area and think "Oh it's a dry heat" you're in for a rude awakening. We have just enough humidity mixed in with the raw heat to make it pretty miserable. Don't really have much in the way of seasons. No real fall colors. Almost never snows. The last 2 years have been freak events and then it ends up icing and snowing TOO MUCH and half the city loses power. It maybe snowed an inch every 5 years when I was growing up there. Just FYI, Austin hasn't been weird since the death of Lesli over 10 years ago. It's become way more gentrified and yuppie (or DINK, I guess is the new term). It's really not weird hardly at all anymore. It reminds me more of Seattle South, with more sun but no mountains and ocean. Hope this helps.
Pros
Cons
Bushra
1 year ago
6 / 10
Austin maybe was safe 10 years ago. Not now.
Bushra
1 year ago
6 / 10
Austin has 3 really problematic issue 1. Lack of public transportation. Less walkability. Everything is far. 3. Homeless issue. 4. Very expensive.
Pros
Cons
Samuel
1 year ago
10 / 10
LOVE IT
Samuel
1 year ago
10 / 10
Pros
Cons