Look at this little titty baby (I Moved My Family to Austin and Regretted It)

[Sbbruin 21853]

[MissingInAction 25078]

Guy moved into our complex right before summer in march last year. He complained about the trees shading all the parking because birds were shitting on his car.

Of course this was followed by, "in California blah blah, I'm a cunt....."

Told him he will want to move back in a couple months anyway once the heat sets in.

[Jerry Callo 8703]

Right before summer in Texas is February.

[High Plains Drifter 11049]

 

I was born in Austin (Brackenridge Hospital holla) and lived in or near there for 40 years. Attended and was employed by UT for 20 of those 40. Almost 20 years ago I got the fuck out.

 

This guy is a fucking douchbag who needs to be punched in his cunt, but that doesn't change the fact that many of his points are spot on.

Face it, Austin sucks.

It is a traffic-clogged hellhole populated with rude douchebags (present company excluded of course).
 

That city is dead to me. If I and my wife didn't have family there (mom, three sisters and their families, SIL and her family), I would never go back.

 

 

[High Plains Drifter 11049]

 

So, please y'all, tell us why you love Austin. I'm all ears.

[ABSR 5312]

5 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

So, please y'all, tell us why you love Austin. I'm all ears.

Because you left.

[High Plains Drifter 11049]

 

you can have it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Dennis Taylor 18828]

8 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I was born in Austin (Brackenridge Hospital holla) and lived in or near there for 40 years. Attended and was employed by UT for 20 of those 40. Almost 20 years ago I got the fuck out.

 

This guy is a fucking douchbag who needs to be punched in his cunt, but that doesn't change the fact that many of his points are spot on.

Face it, Austin sucks.

It is a traffic-clogged hellhole populated with rude douchebags (present company excluded of course).
 

That city is dead to me. If I and my wife didn't have family there (mom, three sisters and their families, SIL and her family), I would never go back.

 

 

[Hornius Emeritus 12462]

Austin is passe'.

New York City is the new Austin:   https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-02-03/cheap-rent-makes-new-york-a-better-deal-than-austin

[Armybrat 40849]

12 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

So, please y'all, tell us why you love Austin. I'm all ears.

I moved out in ‘95.

[AUS-97HORN 11763]

2 hours ago, Armybrat said:

I moved out in ‘95.

holy shit, that was the year they installed the Moon Towers... that must have been pretty cool to watch.

 

although Im pretty sure the city limits in 1895 went only as far North as 38th St

Edited February 4, 2021 by AUS-97HORN

[orange dream 1252]

On 1/22/2021 at 12:28 PM, Celery Man said:

 

 

[Disco Strangler 1877]

4 hours ago, Armybrat said:

I moved out in ‘95.

Were you the Servant Girl Annihilator?  You left ten years after the last killing in 1885, so the timeline is plausible.  

[CHIEF 5089]

Left Austin 18 years ago.

Things I don't miss: Traffic, high housing costs, high property taxes, having to wait over an hour to eat somewhere nice on the weekend, crazy neighbors, and tract homes on 55' wide lots.

Things I do miss: Ethnic food, Sugar's and the Yellow Rose, Plucker's, being 15 minutes away on game day, hot college ass, the clear water on Lake Travis, Devil's Cove, the interesting neighbors from other countries, black people, neighborhood watering holes (we only have one), live music, and really good guitar shops.

CHIEF

[ztejas 43452]

1 minute ago, CHIEF said:

Things I do miss: Ethnic food, the interesting neighbors from other countries, black people

Where do you live now? Utah?

[CHIEF 5089]

6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Where do you live now? Utah?

Granbury, kinda like Utah, but without "garments". We actually had some Utah mormons that lived across the street while in Austin, the wife was hot, and they don't believe in window coverings.

CHIEF

[ztejas 43452]

On 1/25/2021 at 12:45 PM, DonkeyCigars said:

Move to Tulsa or Memphis if you want small town, eclectic living these days.

I've never head of Memphis being propositioned as an Austin alternative. Probably because they have very little in common. 

Is St. Louis "eclectic"?

 

[SimonBolivar 10958]

I'm not from Austin and have never lived in the Metro area, but I'm there 1 or 2 times a month and have no idea what he's talking about with rude people. Lake Travis HS has 3,200 students. Sure it's a traditional football powerhouse, but that's just nuts to claim that a school like that is just a football factory and doesn't have anything to offer other students.

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by SimonBolivar

[UpperWestside 6165]

I know some people who enjoyed moving to Texas from other places and gladly welcomed hot weather. I grew up there and remember full well the oppressive summer heat. I dealt with it by swimming a lot or going to the lake with my family on the weekend. All of my family is in Texas and my brother is in our hometown raising his family because he wants his daughter to experience life like we did as kids and have some room to roam out in the country. I think that’s awesome.

I do not think the man is wrong about everything he said, but it sounds like he probably should have stayed either in California or picked somewhere with a colder climate that has no humidity. It sounds like the entirety of his research in moving to Austin was one that was related to hype and that is never a good reason to move somewhere. Also he could have just gotten a hotel in Austin for two weeks in July or August, discovered what scathing heat feels like, and just saved a bunch of money by not moving there. 

[DonkeyCigars 143]

49 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I've never head of Memphis being propositioned as an Austin alternative. Probably because they have very little in common. 

Is St. Louis "eclectic"?

 

Nothing in common with new Austin for sure, but there is a burgeoning scene in East Memphis mostly driven by Amazon (which is being driven by FedEx) and a bunch of Rhodes grads I think to try and make Memphis not a crime-ridden, urban scary place for those whose only experience may or may not have been a Beale St. jaunt before or after an Ole Miss game or something like that (and Beale St > Dirty 6th).

St. Louis is a great city as well and they have a really cool revitalization effort downtown near the stadium and Clayton is a nice community, but I wouldn't call it eclectic (a word I use to imply a strong creative subtext with arts/music/literature/film/food) which, again, was an attempt to draw as close to a modern day comparison to old Austin as I could think of.

Pre-covid I was in a different city every week and have gotten to enjoy a lot of American cities in a way that happens when you don't have to pay a mortgage and taxes in it, so I feel like I have a decent pulse, but I'm open to hearing how I am wrong from you. Because as an uber driver in a single city, I bet you have a lot of good current and up to date input 😛

Edited February 4, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[DonkeyCigars 143]

54 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I've never head of Memphis being propositioned as an Austin alternative. Probably because they have very little in common. 

Is St. Louis "eclectic"?

 

Also, a few months ago I had to be in Memphis on a deal and had a better dining experience than I've ever had in Austin, which was very surprising to me too (for anyone who is into the sort of thing):

https://ejensen.com/

Edited February 4, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[honolulu horn 6158]

Grew up in Austin and went to Lake Travis High when it was a 2A school with about 350 students. Moved out after graduating from UT. The city has grown and changed so much it's pretty much unrecognizable. Not just with roads and suburbs, etc, but with a change in culture and a gradual piece-by-piece elimination of so many of the things and institutions that made Austin unique. But I still say it's a great city if you've never lived there and don't know what it used to be like. If you want to live in a big city, Austin's a great choice. 

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

There's a difference between being an Austin hater and one of Austin's jilted lovers. That's me; I used to believe it had a magic to it. Hasn't felt that way to me since the 1990s. I can't fucking stand it there now.

I was born in Austin and raised moving back and forth between Nashville and Houston, and I kind of hate what all three of those cities have become. Houston the least because it the least room to fall, and it's so huge and ethnic and truly weird, there is always something really cool going on somewhere. You just probably aren't there, but when you are, it's amazing. 

[Nivek 16930]

I missed Austin when I left in 2004. Rare visits since have brought back a little nostalgia and it is still a great place but just not for me.

[kilroydos 267]

4 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

Nothing in common with new Austin for sure, but there is a burgeoning scene in East Memphis mostly driven by Amazon (which is being driven by FedEx) and a bunch of Rhodes grads I think to try and make Memphis not a crime-ridden, urban scary place for those whose only experience may or may not have been a Beale St. jaunt before or after an Ole Miss game or something like that (and Beale St > Dirty 6th).

St. Louis is a great city as well and they have a really cool revitalization effort downtown near the stadium and Clayton is a nice community, but I wouldn't call it eclectic (a word I use to imply a strong creative subtext with arts/music/literature/film/food) which, again, was an attempt to draw as close to a modern day comparison to old Austin as I could think of.

Pre-covid I was in a different city every week and have gotten to enjoy a lot of American cities in a way that happens when you don't have to pay a mortgage and taxes in it, so I feel like I have a decent pulse, but I'm open to hearing how I am wrong from you. Because as an uber driver in a single city, I bet you have a lot of good current and up to date input 😛

The problem in St. Louis is that the actual eclectic, energetic arts and music areas are spread too far apart and are still dropped in the middle of areas that don't feel safe all the time.  The Grove is getting better, but it's too far from the Loop, which is the old version, and too far from Cherokee St., which is the new version.

[Stunns38 3460]

I moved out in ‘95.

Damn, Congress Ave was still full of shit and horse-drawn carriages.

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

Native Austinite... born in Brackenridge Hospital (checking in) all the way up to graduating UT. 10th generation Tejano so fam has been in Texas and Austin quite some time. 

Moved away a few years after graduating. Other than going to games and seeing fam, I can’t stand it. It’s not Austin anymore. I call it CaliRado. It’s all commercial now and has no heart. 

East Side is almost all gentrified and hardly any good Mexican food there anymore.

It wasn’t built/structured to be a million person city. It was built as a college town and administrative city.

A few things I miss off the top of my head: Holiday House, Tower and Top Notch burgers. Deep Eddy. Aquafest. Flying kites at Zilker Park. Chilling at Chicano Park.
People there are no longer weird (read: educated hippies). Just socially awkward misfits and douchenozzles from other states. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by JerrysJheriCurl

[Guest Lobo]

Only time you worry about a Texan is when they quit bitchin' about Austin.  /Lt.Col.Tall

[Armybrat 40849]

7 hours ago, Stunns38 said:

Damn, Congress Ave was still full of shit and horse-drawn carriages.

Well, there weren’t any carriages but 11th & Congress had plenty of the shit piled high just like it does today. (/cr)

[South Austin 52509]

14 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I was born in Austin and raised moving back and forth between Nashville and Houston, and I kind of hate what all three of those cities have become. Houston the least because it the least room to fall, and it's so huge and ethnic and truly weird, there is always something really cool going on somewhere. You just probably aren't there, but when you are, it's amazing. 

The bitching about Austin is not unique to Austin. It’s bitching about the growth of metropolitan areas and, here, the urbanization of Texas.  The poster above mentioned Nashville and Houston. Same with those places and most everywhere.

Try Seattle. The last time I was there it was crowded with residential tower projects, and it looks like every city in America is choosing from the same small pool of uninspiring architects. It’s not the same Seattle of 20 or 30 years ago, and it’s as relatively unaffordable as Austin.

And what he said about Houston in the quote above — same with Austin. There’s a lot going on in the city, outside of the douchey bars on Rainey Street, that still makes Austin fun and vibrant. Go look for it instead of wishing you were back in San Diego getting taxed out of your ass.

The one legitimate criticism of Austin is the lack of diversity, particularly with the black population. It seems to have gotten marginally better over the past 5-10 years, maybe just because of the sheer overall population growth.  But for all it’s liberal politics, Austin has historically been a white city.

Edited February 5, 2021 by South Austin

[ztejas 43452]

15 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

Nothing in common with new Austin for sure, but there is a burgeoning scene in East Memphis mostly driven by Amazon (which is being driven by FedEx) and a bunch of Rhodes grads I think to try and make Memphis not a crime-ridden, urban scary place for those whose only experience may or may not have been a Beale St. jaunt before or after an Ole Miss game or something like that (and Beale St > Dirty 6th).

St. Louis is a great city as well and they have a really cool revitalization effort downtown near the stadium and Clayton is a nice community, but I wouldn't call it eclectic (a word I use to imply a strong creative subtext with arts/music/literature/film/food) which, again, was an attempt to draw as close to a modern day comparison to old Austin as I could think of.

Pre-covid I was in a different city every week and have gotten to enjoy a lot of American cities in a way that happens when you don't have to pay a mortgage and taxes in it, so I feel like I have a decent pulse, but I'm open to hearing how I am wrong from you. Because as an uber driver in a single city, I bet you have a lot of good current and up to date input 😛

Save the ad hominem shtick. It's misplaced and no one gives a fuck. If you were attempting to draw modern comparisons to old Austin then I missed that in your initial post, in which case I have little input on Memphis 2021 vs. Austin 1995 - outside of this https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tn/memphis/crime#description

St. Louis sucks and you aren't changing my opinion on that. That's a widely held belief (especially among people from there) and I'm not straying from the pack there - and I'm not talking about nice 3 day weekends you may have had. If you want to go live in St. Louis be my guest. Or take a solo road trip across Asia minor - seems like that might be your cup of tea.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

30 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Save the ad hominem shtick. It's misplaced and no one gives a fuck. If you were attempting to draw modern comparisons to old Austin then I missed that in your initial post, in which case I have little input on Memphis 2021 vs. Austin 1995 - outside of this https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tn/memphis/crime#description

St. Louis sucks and you aren't changing my opinion on that. That's a widely held belief (especially among people from there) and I'm not straying from the pack there - and I'm not talking about nice 3 day weekends you may have had. If you want to go live in St. Louis be my guest. Or take a solo road trip across Asia minor - seems like that might be your cup of tea.

Look, I appreciate and respect your opinion, and I don't wholly disagree with you about St. Louis you just mentioned them directly in your note back to me so I addressed it-- at the beginning and end of the day, what I said that you admittedly missed, was if you are moving to Austin in 2021 you will get no sympathy or grace for being completely surprised if you think it is Austin in the late 90's and not the city that countless others on here have done a better job characterizing which you can read by just scrolling up and down the page, then I could do in the last 3 minutes I'll put any thought into this conversation.

If you are looking for a small town feel with quirky or eclectic or a burgeoning scene with high organic cultural scores, you'll have to find another place and grow up with it as it develops, warts and all.

Edited February 5, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[Guest Lobo]

Good points above about how this is really just complaining about the urbanization of certain areas, certain formerly small and mid-sized cities.  Austin hasn't been a small city in several decades.  It was still in the 300-400k range in the 70's (it's 'old austin heyday').  It was almost a half million in the 80's.  It was 500-600k when i moved here.  It hasn't been a "small city" since before the Vietnam War.  

I find the people complaining about how it's changed typically fall into one, or more, of three buckets:  Used to live here and moved away, live in "Austin" but actually live in another community near Austin, or live in Austin and like to stay unengaged and whine.  Not judging, but the people that are truly engaged in Austin don't bitch about it very much.  

Having said all that, the cost of living and transportation are just fucking out of control bad.  And both of those have nothing to do with Old Austin, Weird Austin, Cool Austin, Hip Austin, whatever.  It has to do with shitty government at every level year fucking and year fucking out.  It's incompetent, it's corrupt, and it's dangerous.  "Austin lost its soul" is just veiled code for "We miss when our civic bullshit was a well-kept secret"  

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

9 hours ago, Stunns38 said:

Damn, Congress Ave was still full of shit and horse-drawn carriages.

Now it's full of shit and bicycles

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

2 hours ago, Lobo said:

Good points above about how this is really just complaining about the urbanization of certain areas, certain formerly small and mid-sized cities.  Austin hasn't been a small city in several decades.  It was still in the 300-400k range in the 70's (it's 'old austin heyday').  It was almost a half million in the 80's.  It was 500-600k when i moved here.  It hasn't been a "small city" since before the Vietnam War.  

I find the people complaining about how it's changed typically fall into one, or more, of three buckets:  Used to live here and moved away, live in "Austin" but actually live in another community near Austin, or live in Austin and like to stay unengaged and whine.  Not judging, but the people that are truly engaged in Austin don't bitch about it very much.  

Having said all that, the cost of living and transportation are just fucking out of control bad.  And both of those have nothing to do with Old Austin, Weird Austin, Cool Austin, Hip Austin, whatever.  It has to do with shitty government at every level year fucking and year fucking out.  It's incompetent, it's corrupt, and it's dangerous.  "Austin lost its soul" is just veiled code for "We miss when our civic bullshit was a well-kept secret"  

Change/evolution with everything is inevitable. There’s change for the progress... and there’s change that I wouldn’t call progress. Depends on the metrics.

Nearly all of my extended family (140+) communicate often what Austin has become and they all still live there, with the exception of 4 of us. The perspective of generational Austinites is a different lens. 

Take me back to Richard Moya park for a family BBQ or Northcross Mall Goldmine with a roll of quarters. Maybe take a Sunday drive to Lockhart for some BBQ. 

Austin had its systemic warts when I grew up there (that I could go on for days about), but overall it was big city with a small town charm. But most importantly it was authentic and had a pulse.

IMHO now it’s just a commercial center and the latest trendy landing spot for folk. 
If that’s your jam, go for it. If it works for you, I’m happy for you. 
 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

1 hour ago, JerrysJheriCurl said:

Take me back to Richard Moya park for a family BBQ or Northcross Mall Goldmine with a roll of quarters. Maybe take a Sunday drive to Lockhart for some BBQ. 

I have a picture from my first communion out in front of Saint Louis church on Burnet Rd. across from what would be Northcross Mall.  Nothing but a bunch of fields in the background.  Good times.

Also spent many an afternoon at The Goldmine and staring the Nike Cortez' at Phidippides because I could not afford it.

[South Austin 52509]

Well time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring stories of glory days.

[Restinmybones 111]

15 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Well time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring stories of glory days.

That's the fuckin' truth.

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

I remember going to church at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Sunday morning.... and the hookers were still on 11th St working. Sorry no pics. Don’t worry, none of them looked like Julia Roberts. 

Ben’s Long Branch was across the street from the hookers and he had a good lunch special. Now some mediocre BBQ place is there now. Yeah, I said it. Fight me. 

[South Austin 52509]

37 minutes ago, JerrysJheriCurl said:

Now some mediocre BBQ place is there now.

[gsoda3 3262]

14 hours ago, JerrysJheriCurl said:

10th generation Tejano so fam has been in Texas and Austin quite some time. 

how many years back does 10th generation go?  

[Guest Lobo]

I think we've reached peak Austin bashing when somebody calls Franklin BBQ, "Mediocre."  That's it, this shit has jumped the shark.  You don't have to agree it's the best, or even that it's very good-to-excellent.  But there is no plane of reality where Franklin merely qualified as "Mediocre."  There just isn't.  

I'll let you wax nostalgic and bitch about what Austin has become, and I'll agree with much of the way.  But you can't call Franklin BBQ "Mediocre" unless you're just trying to appear too cool for school.  But remember being cool in school required you to acknowledge things that were awesome like Led Zeppelin, having your own car, girls with round butts, and delicious brisket.  It's just facts man.  

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

Long time my man. We go back to the voyages of Cristobal Colon. 
But just counting being in Texas... The Martin de Alarcón Expedition of 1718, where we built the San Antonio de Valero and then some days later, San Antonio de Bexar. Then my fam pushed east and founded the oldest town in Texas. 

[Superhero 8830]

I did the opposite as titty baby. I moved from Austin to Cali 15 years ago to be closer to family. 

I went back a few year ago for work, and downtown Austin had changed (more high rises), but I still liked the vibe. Would I move back? Most likely not. Despite living in Austin for 12 years, I'm a Californian now, and you all (people look at me funny when I say y'all) would probably tell me to fuck off if I tried to move back.

Things I miss about Austin:

• The people are polite - open a door for little old ladies here and they look at you with suspicion
• The 4 seasons
• Brisket
• Running around Town Lake
• Enchiladas y Mas
• Crown & Anchor grease burger
• Trudy's smoke chicken stuffed chile rellenos

 

 

 

[Guest Lobo]

35 minutes ago, Superhero said:

I did the opposite as titty baby. I moved from Austin to Cali 15 years ago to be closer to family. 

I went back a few year ago for work, and downtown Austin had changed (more high rises), but I still liked the vibe. Would I move back? Most likely not. Despite living in Austin for 12 years, I'm a Californian now, and you all (people look at me funny when I say y'all) would probably tell me to fuck off if I tried to move back.

Things I miss about Austin:

• The people are polite - open a door for little old ladies here and they look at you with suspicion
• The 4 seasons
• Brisket
• Running around Town Lake
• Enchiladas y Mas
• Crown & Anchor grease burger
• Trudy's smoke chicken stuffed chile rellenos

 

 

 

I lived in Northern California for two years and loved the hell out of the geography/outdoors/weather.  I was in the water, or at Yosemite, or at Lake Tahoe every other weekend and it was fucking glorious.  But I really didn't like the people or the cost of living.  But in my old age, I realize I'm just a misanthrope so doesn't really matter where I live as long as my family is happy. 

I miss being in good enough shape to run around town lake because the eye candy is just surreal.  I miss Trudy's.  Used to eat there after working on campus, but it's gone now.  Wasn't the best tex-mex but strong nostalgia factor and strong eye candy.  Where you lost me though is "The 4 seasons" in Austin.  I assume you mean the weather and not the hotel.  We don't have four seasons in Austin, I don't know that we ever did even before climate change really took hold in Texas.  There's no Autumn here and it bums me out because that was my favorite time of year growing up.  It's 100 fucking degrees every day until Columbus Day, the leaves don't turn, they just burn up and fall off, and a couple weeks later we go right to freeze warnings/people looting HEB for supplies/and people being too cold at night to hang out outdoors.  Good fishing though that time of year. 

[Restinmybones 111]

1 hour ago, JerrysJheriCurl said:

Long time my man. We go back to the voyages of Cristobal Colon. 
But just counting being in Texas... The Martin de Alarcón Expedition of 1718, where we built the San Antonio de Valero and then some days later, San Antonio de Bexar. Then my fam pushed east and founded the oldest town in Texas. 

If you haven't read Spanish Expeditions into Texas, 1689-1768 by William Foster, check it out. You might find it interesting.

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

47 minutes ago, Restinmybones said:

If you haven't read Spanish Expeditions into Texas, 1689-1768 by William Foster, check it out. You might find it interesting.

Good looking out. Will definitely check it out. I have family stories, all the genealogy and artifacts (such as will of the first generation ancestor). 
Curious to see what they have codified in the book.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

3 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

how many years back does 10th generation go?  

He's Tejano so at least 95.

[Celery Man 20951]

since this thread is still going, he is a massive titty baby based on the rude people comment. He was either getting his jimmies rustled by a t-shirt that he'd have to be stupid to either not understand or to take as a slight, or he's a big massive titty baby because he's going around doing *points to the article* this type of shit in real life and getting his attitude reflected back at him, and finding that it lodged sand in his vagina.

every Austinite ever arrives in Austin at the exact perfect time with the exact perfect amount of people and then sees it turn into something different and not as good. that is part of Austin. Love Austin. We just left - wife grew up there, I moved there from the Houston burbs to go to school, like everyone else. When I got there, it was perfect. It's really changed into something different and not as good, with too many people. Still a great place. We're finna have kids and want some more space and a break from some of the heat and honestly some distance from my wife's mom. We're now in the burbs near Raleigh. I was just apologizing to the lady cutting my hair (named Brodie, which reminded me of home) for moving to the city. They call "Birds" here "Arrow" and it's in a parking lot with Whole Foods. Nice little change of scenery.

Anyways, Austin is great and this guy isn't 100% wrong on every point but there is nevertheless adequate evidence to conclusively state that he's a little titty baby.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Celery Man

[Restinmybones 111]

15 minutes ago, JerrysJheriCurl said:

Good looking out. Will definitely check it out. I have family stories, all the genealogy and artifacts (such as will of the first generation ancestor). 
Curious to see what they have codified in the book.

How cool.... I love history.