Austin, TX City Reviews

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Austin, TX city reviews

  • AreaVibes Contributor reviewed Austin, TX
  • November 24, 2011
Austin, TX: Where Beer and Exercise Join Forces
City rating
Recommended for Couples, Families
  • Attractions
  • Community
  • Nightlife
  • Restaurants
  • Shopping
I've lived in Austin for the last five years. Austin is the perfect amalgam of eclectic and struggling artists, exciting nightlife, urban appeal, abundant nature, and high powered executives. Austin is a city where the man stepping out of the Maserati in the Armani suit most likely has a full-sleeve tattoo under his dress shirt. Almost everyone has a dog that seems more human than canine. In the same city block, you can find people kayaking in Ladybird Lake, fixed gear enthusiasts biking in the middle of the street, and college students stumbling home from the night before. Austin is packed to the brim with restaurants and food trailers, each hipper, smaller, and more crowded than the one before it. There are multiple greenbelts for fans of the outdoors and the downtown area caters to people who love to drink.

Austin is a party town filled with tons of young, ambitious, driven, and beautiful people. It is a city where on any given Saturday, the sun is shining and everyone is hungover, yet they all seem to be starting pickup soccer games, hiking trails, and jogging in the bike lanes. Yes, Austin is a city of fit, healthy, and intelligent individuals. Although, what else would you expect in a city with a combined student population well over 60,000?

Austins only downfall concerns the oppressive heat that blankets the city from May to September every year. Each summer is hotter than the last, and hundred degree days are the norm. In fact, Austin is so hot that we often end up with sweat-inducing weather sprinkled into October, November, December, and January. The summer of 2011 was the hottest on record and felt unbearable, and Ive lived in Texas all my life.
Keepin' it weird.
City rating
Recommended for Singles, Couples, Families
  • Attractions
  • Community
  • Nightlife
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I've been to Austin countless times over the years and am absolutely in love with it. The city motto is "Keep Austin Weird". It's like a small San Francisco. The mix of bohemian, tattooed kids with Masters degrees, fitness/health freaks, business people and politicians is amazing, and yes...weird. This being Texas, everyone is pretty friendly and you can find someone to hang out with whatever your hobbies are.

Independently owned shops, restaurants, and music venues are tucked away everywhere in this eclectic city. Every time you explore you can find something new even though the city itself is rather small. Austin and it's inhabitants are big on green, healthy living. On any given day you'll see a huge amount of people riding their bikes or walking. There are some great parks and trails to walk/ride/run through. The city is also host to several big events like SXSW and the ACL Music Festival. There's always something going on: bar hopping on 6th street, small live music events at Stubb's BBQ/Mohawk's/etc, or hitting up the kooky Toy Joy for random, fun gifts.

As with everything, there are some downsides. The traffic in Austin is horrendous. To navigate you've quickly got to become good at traveling through side streets as you want to avoid 35 and MOPAC at all costs. Housing is also fairly expensive. You wouldn't expect it from such a small city, but small houses will easily cost you upwards of $300,000. Rent is also a bit pricey, though there are quite a few excellent properties to choose from.

All in all, Austin is an amazing city. You've got all the fun and excitement of a larger city, but with a friendly, small-town feel. It's definitely worth visiting and if you can find a way to move there it's a great city to live in.
Is Austin the tech hub of the midwest?
City rating
Recommended for Singles, Couples, Families
  • Attractions
  • Community
  • Nightlife
  • Restaurants
  • Shopping
I live just down the road on I-35 from Austin in San Antonio, but frequently visit Austin and love that city for a variety of reasons:

1. Austin is often compared to Silicon Valley (San Francisco) because of the abundant tech companies, startups and venture capital and angel investors in the area. Austin has a thriving startup community and is a great place to start and build a company. There is more access to technical people and web developers compared to other areas.

2. Green living. If you are all bout green living and eco-friendliness, then Austin is the place for you. Lots of people walk or ride bikes to work, and Whole Foods has their corporate headquarters there. Everyone there just seems to be green-minded and less wasteful. In San Antonio, everyone get's in their Suburban to go down the road to get milk.

3. Health and fitness. Austin has some great parks and recreations centers like Zelker Park, which has a large walking/bike trail, a river for kyaking or boating, playing fields and so much more. Everyone in Austin seems interested in their health and fitness. Most parks in San Antonio are empty :(

However, Austin does have a couple of drawbacks as well. After all, you can't have everything :)

1. Traffic is horrible. Austin has some of the worst traffic in Texas, and trying to get through downtown and get to the north side of Austin is a nightmare. Even the MoPac highway is congested.

2. Real estate is quite pricey. A lot of the properties here are very expensive, and could cost upwards of $300-400K for something like a bungalow. For the size of Austin, you just wouldn't expect real estate prices that high, but they are! I'm sure you can find deals out there, but Texas hasn't had the same real estate downfall as other states, and so a lot of Texas cities are "holding their own" as a result.
  • AreaVibes Contributor reviewed Austin, TX
  • April 29, 2010
Awed by Austin, Texas
City rating
Recommended for Singles, Couples, Families
  • Attractions
  • Community
  • Nightlife
  • Restaurants
  • Shopping
I have traveled to Austin, Texas, many times and always enjoyed myself. The biggest issue in the city is the traffic situation as it can quickly come to a stand still.

If you enjoy the outdoors, the hiking trails and flying bats are wonderful experiences that you should not pass up. Additionally, there is plenty of shopping destinations to choose from with a wide variety of designers represented. There is also a wide range of specialty restaurants in Austin. I have never had a problem finding some new and interesting food to try while I'm there.

The nightlife in Austin can be crazy, especially on 6th Street. However, there is always a cultural event taking place as well. For example, Austin City Live is a long-running music show out of Austin. Additionally, the city hosts its own film festival each year. As you can see, there is a wide variety of events happening around Austin at any one moment and the local people who call Austin home are always willing to be friendly and helpful to visitors.