I LOVE Ft. Worth..its way underrated because most people know very little about it. Plus, the City Council actually gets things done - there's very little of the infighting that plagues Dallas and sometimes Houston. ..but I'd say 1. Houston/Austin depending on what your wants are (Really, Austin traffic pulls it down even with Houston) 3. Fort Worth - Its nothing like Dallas (big drop in quality down to the rest of the list) 4. San Antonio 5. Dallas 6. Tyler...yes Tyler - not a bad place
Some folks have complained about Austin's traffic, which I totally understand, but if you've lived here a while, you figure out how to avoid a lot of it. For instance, never get on I-35. Just don't do it. And you can avoid rush hour traffic on MOPAC by taking alternative routes. Sometimes I take Lamar to Downtown and the capital area, or South First (we live in Southwest Austin). Sometimes I'll cruise through a neighborhood. Just depends on conditions, but I'm rarely sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour. I'm always on maneuvers! And a couple have mentioned jobs here. There's plenty of work, believe it or not. Obviously, the field you're in impacts that, but if your gig is tech related, software related, there are jobs here, and good ones. Still, it ain't Houston. I'm aware of that everytime I watch the Rockets on TV. :-(-
After spending years complaining about the Austin traffic then moving to Dallas for one unholy year before back to Houston, I laughed at my younger self who complained about Austin traffic.
Someone's not a drinker. Seriously though, I always enjoyed Tyler when my sister and parents lived there.
Austin traffic did suck. I used to make the drive down Mopac from Round Rock to Downtown, and that was a nightmare from 4-7 PM every day. In Houston at least the freeways are large enough that you have options for maneuvering around it. I missed Houston when I lived in Austin, and I miss Austin now that I'm back in Houston. Both have their perks.
One of my friends must have voted Austin. Houston fa sho is #1. Austin doesn't need professional sports. It has Texas sports
Even if you do take the freeways, Austin traffic just isn't that bad, relative to Houston or Dallas. Round Rock to downtown in rush hour takes 30 minutes. It's 20 minutes otherwise. There are patterns to the traffic on 35 (never take the lower deck going south unless you need one of those exits...never take the upper deck going north under any circumstance. I don't know what it is about the northbound upper deck, but people drive 40 for no apparent reason). On Wed, my wife and I went to Blues on the Green at Zilker. Left our house in Round Rock at 6. I was in my chair, beer in hand, at 6:45.
i feel the same way to a certain degree - hard not to love the vibe in austin even tho hipsters have completely overrun the city for the worst. but it's young, fun and i am COMPLETELY envious of their access to quality fresh water like town lake, barton springs, the greenbelt, lake austin/travis and places like hamilton pool. it's the one thing that Houston absolutely cannot replicate that is so desparately needed as hot as it gets here. that said, the culture, business clout and diversity - above all else - are HUGE positives of Houston that Austin just cannot touch. the sheer number of foreign nationals in houston gives it a cosmopolitan feel that few cities not named new york or LA can match. i'm always amazed that i can walk into any restaurant or cafe and hear 10 different languages being spoknen. the hipster/pretentiousness of austin has become a huge turnoff though. and regardless of what the #'s say there are FAR fewer good jobs in austin than Houston or even dallas... i don't even think it's debateable.
i like austin best, but ive lived here for 18 years now so im biased. i agree that we have a bit of everything. great for outdoorsy types, bikers, runners, swimmers. also being w/in 2-3 hours of some of the best camping in the state is nice. and there is literally something interesting, often free, going on just about every night. in the last month i have done blues on the green, free swim at barton springs, live music and a movie on the long center lawn, little shop of horrors: a rock musical at the hillside theater in zilker and a 20 piece new orleans-style marching band playing at night along the hike and bike trail...all for free! there is absolutely no excuse for boredom here. and lots of good food trucks and interesting restaurants popping up. i have to disagree on 6th street though - i think it sucks, but im old(ish). houston definitely better than dallas...ill put fort worth over dallas too - great musuems there! and i couldnt disagree more about SA. not much for nightlife, but it is a great city. i think it has the best downtown for just walking around and im not even thinking about the river walk...the flea market, the san fernando cathedral, la villita, main plaza and the parks. and the mission trail...there is so much history crammed in there. and the food is amazing if you know where to go (not the riverwalk). and they supposedly opened up a huge bike "highway" along the riverwalk from north of town all the way down to the last mission on 410 south.
Fixed. To be fair, I'd like to say Austin. I love the Hill Country, the eclectic mix, the college girls with TEXAS hot-shorts and how the "TE" lifts on the left when they take one step, the "AS" lifts on the right when they take another step, and the "X" stays nicely nestled between. But somehow it doesn't quite match the paradise it should be. If I were talking to tourists, I'd tell them go to San Antonio; but I wouldn't want to live there. Just....odd. Poor, and full of wide-open dead spaces that make you wonder if you're still in the city. To live? Houston is lively, diverse, and relatively inexpensive. Don't go to Dallas. That's where human beings disappear and later emerge as giant puckered a-holes.
Actually, a few weeks ago the misses and I had drank wine and watched live music at a winery in Tyler on our Anniversary. Tyler's got a great zoo for its size, good local events (the Rose parade is pretty decent) and you've got the piney woods close by. The people are very friendsly...Its not that bad a place.
I really don't have much use for Austin. I like the Hill Country. But, the times I've visited Austin, I've been plain bored. Sixth St -- I'm too old for that crap, and when I was the right age, I didn't like it then either. Music, maybe, but my modest needs are amply filled in Houston. Lots of college-age chicks, but I'm married so I don't care. The bats are cool, I guess. So what else can it offer me? Can't compete with Texans, the Rockets, the Astros, the Alley Theatre, the Wortham, the Children's Museum, the MFAH, the HMNS, Houston Zoo, or Rice University, even the stable of notable architectural pieces and the quality of the local artists, to say nothing of the economic might (and associated jobs and wealth) of the energy industry, the port, the medical center, and the vast array of smaller industries that complement them.
