What I Love (and Hate) About Living in Austin
There are periods when I absolutely adore residing in Austin: when I’m paddleboarding on City Lake, when I’m drinking a frozen margarita at Maudie’s, when I’m hanging out in hip East Austin beneath string lights.
That currently being said, there are specific matters I’m a lot less fond of: the sweltering summers, the isolation, the absence of walkability.
I’ve lived in Austin for just about two many years. Here’s what I have come to love and loathe about it:
What I love about Austin
The Individuals
By and huge, Texans are incredibly nice people today: generous, funny, and sincerely kind. When I experienced Covid, numerous neighbors introduced me tortilla soup and walked my dog. Folks say howdy to you on the street below, even if they really do not know you. Austin is by much the friendliest put I’ve ever lived.
The Meals
A further positive – the food stuff. Austin’s foods scene is flourishing: you can come across outstanding TexMex, Thai, Vietnamese, and of program, barbecue. Some of my preferred spots are Uchiko (sushi), Odd Duck (new American), and Loro (Asian/barbecue fusion). I’ve also developed to Really like frozen margaritas, ha.
The H2o
As a born-and-raised Michigander, I desperately want to are living in the vicinity of water (that was one particular of the matters I uncovered hardest about dwelling in Colorado). Luckily for us, Austin has lots of it: Town Lake, Barton Springs, and Lake Travis, to title a few.
The Winters
The winters in this article are delightful – the temperature hovers about 70 degrees, and the skies are usually crisp and blue. However we do have the odd snow working day, the winter weather is quite mild.
Reside Tunes
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Austin’s internationally renowned live new music scene. I appreciate how you can wander into a random bar on a Tuesday and hear an extraordinary functionality for the price of a Shiner Bock.
The Puppy-friendliness
In Austin, you can bring your pet nearly anyplace — I convey my pup almost just about everywhere I go. My regional CVS is even pet-pleasant.
What I Despise
The Crowds
Because of to its huge attractiveness in new decades, Austin feels insanely crowded at times. Parking is challenging to come across, dining establishments are packed, and the weekends in particular can be frantic.
The Substantial Value of Residing
Austin is incredibly pricey. To obtain a plot of land – not even a household – in my neighborhood, expenses a million dollars.
Lousy Walkability
Regrettably, Austin is not a walkable city. Bisected by two highways, Austin is a extremely vehicle-dependent metropolis for walkability, it ranks 42nd in the US, amongst Las Vegas and Pheonix. As another person who enjoys to walk, this is a enormous downside.
The Allergic reactions
Central Texas has been termed the “Allergy Cash of the World.” There is even a day-to-day allergy report on the area news, wherever formal pollen counts for ragweed, grass, and mold are calculated. I by no means experienced allergies in my lifetime right until I moved right here — ugh.
The Warmth
The summers in Austin are brutal. Temperatures can achieve 110 levels (or greater). After this year’s scorching summertime, 90 levels bizarrely feels relatively great to me.
The Isolation
Austin is shut to only a number of metropolitan areas: Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Previously this yr I made the slip-up of driving to New Orleans, which took 10 hours. Often I truly feel so envious of the East Coast – think about driving a handful of hrs and currently being in a position to accessibility Boston, Philly, and NYC? Sigh.
All this to say, I’ve been rather happy below. I’m not absolutely sure if it is my without end home (I’m not absolutely sure I have a forever household, period of time), but I program to stay at least a couple a lot more years. And appreciate quite a few extra lake days and frozen margs.
