California man blasts Texas 'dystopia' after moving to Austin

HA, I had forgotten about that. Back when people were excited by the idea of a celebrity sighting in Austin.

 

There have been other times in the past when the housing market was extremely tight in the areas where “everyone” wants to live, exactly as you describe it. Heck, over twenty years ago we attempted to get a place in and around central Austin and the competitiveness for properties was ridiculous. Location is everything here. The only way to get a house was to get lucky, as you did, yet compared to today, the prices were fantastically low. They didn’t seem low at the time, however, and they weren’t. Just low in comparison. We ended up buying the house we live in now in SW Austin, paid for years ago, thank god. Great schools, safe neighborhoods, a good investment. Yet I still sometimes wish we’d looked longer before “settling” for what we have now. Having a kid complicated things immensely. They tend to do that. ;-)

People think that they would be foolish to buy, that it’s a housing “bubble” that’ll pop and both prices and availability with return to some semblance of “normal,” given time. Yes, there will be some ups and downs, with housing overbuilt and the market saturated. It’s happened time and again here, but as someone who moved to Austin in 1980, my experience is that when the market becomes tight again because the builders quit building, a large corporation or two will relocate here paying good salaries, the area and lifestyle remains a pull, and availability become crazy tight again.

What makes the market so hot today and complicates things dramatically is that you have a combination of historically low interest rates and an enormous number of people, primarily from out of state, coming to Austin from places where what we might consider high prices for real estate, they believe are bargains. Again, this has happened before, but not on this scale, in my opinion. Add the fact that Austin has tripled, probably quadrupled in size since we’ve been here, backfilling “central” areas that used to be far more available, the suburbs have been pushed out, and then pushed out again. Bee Cave becomes a hot area again, with a much higher baseline from which home prices rise. Crazy!

 

I'm not sure why there were multiple news articles written about a butthurt Californian. Millions of people live by choice in both these states. Why would anyone care that someone chose one over another?

 

I say this as a fully redblooded Texan...Eastern Oklahoma is nice.

 

Yes Bee Caves is expensive but I was kind of grouping everything south of Lake Austin including Westlake, Bee Caves since they are all off of Bee Caves Rd.

 

This was not unexpected.

The Ozarks, White River (Arkansas side too), etc, if you like the outdoors close to a city...

Tulsa reminds me of what Austin was like 20 years ago.

 

I'm not sure this is your land

 

Good call!

This land is indeed made for you and me.

 

It is a very lush and nice hilly country, with lots of trees.

The problem is the extreme poverty (and all the entails) and nasty coal/oil/gas industries that pollute the land/water. They don't call it mercury alley for nothing.

It certainly is affordable, though, but at what cost?

 

True, and it all depends on where you're at, and I didn't say I wanted to go live there, just that it doesn't suck.

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/jul/20/mine-pollution-ruling-favors-u-s-201907/

Oh...and...https://www.keranews.org/texas-news...ts-leaching-toxic-pollutants-into-groundwater

Guess you're upstream from that one though, or you'd be more upset.

 

Really? I have a problem imagining anything in OK as progressive and cool as Austin 20 years ago. Or even now.

 

Tulsa is a good town. Admittedly I've only been there with expat local guides

 

I am gobsmacked. Gobsmacked, I tell you! I am utterly astonished. Astounded! I have been to Tulsa. I admit it, although it shames me to do so. I also gladly admit to having lived in Austin these last 40 years and Tulsa, sir, is no Austin, Texas.

(it really isn’t! The city is in Oklahoma. I looked at a map!)

 

I imagine Tulsa's changed a bit since 1967.

 

How many huffs off a bottle of Old English floor cleaner does it take to transport you back to the Good Austin? The world may never know.