Construction near campus + catching all red lights + Enfield Road + the intersection of Lake Austin Blvd and Mopac + Intersection of 360 Loop and Mopac... an hour +/-.
I grew up in The Woodlands so my view on the people is quite the opposite. There are those people in every city. To each their own. I love going to Astros games, but I can pop into the Dell Diamond any time for $10 ($5 for parking), sit anywhere I want, eat reasonably priced food and have a reasonably priced beer. If I take my kids and they're not interested in the game, they can go play on the nice playground. That and going to UT games is about as close to professional sports as you can get for them being "amateurs". Does it always take you that long? Besides, 30 minutes from Round Rock to downtown is purely interstate driven. That's a lot different than going from campus to Westlake which takes you through light after light.
I don't consider pro teams a huge bonus for a city other than for civic pride. Unless you have season tickets, most fans aren't even attending 20% of home games. I can watch most Houston pro sports on tv while living in Austin.
You'd have to buy league pass. One thing that pisses me off is that they show Spurs games in Austin. They never show Rockets on FSN.
Unless they're playing the Spurs. That's the NBA's fault more than anything. They regard Austin as part of the San Antonio media market...even if there are more Houston transplants here than SA.
I have lived in texas for 20 years (2 in San Antonio, 18 in Houston), but I have only been to Austin once and that was for a hockey tournament when I was 8 years old. So, I don't really know, but I do love Houston. I didn't realize how much I loved Texas, even SA, until I moved to Colorado 2 years ago
I haven't actually lived in either (yay beaumont) but I've been to Houston way more. I've been to Austin a total of like 3 times, but I loved those three times. I love the way the whole area looks and stuff. Not to mention the great music scene there. If I was going to move to one I'd pick Austin. Which may happen eventually.
To me all cities are the same to varying degrees. They all have the same balance of pros and cons. What makes a city worth my stay is what it has to offer outside the city. Austin has the hill country, Guadalupe river and quick access to San Antonio whereas Houston offers the gulf coast, east Texas country and quick access to New Orleans. In this scenario I lean towards Houston and it's close proximity to the gulf. But the biggest thing Houston has going for it is the Rockets. There is nothing in Austin that would pull me out of the house 82+ times a year.
I was at UT for three years. loved it when I first got there but it got kind of boring. But now that I'm older, I might appreciate the slowness, or maybe not. I think Baqui99's claim of a better night life in Austin is off the charts of ridiculousness
i used to live off enfield and mopac and LOVED it... close to everything and didn't have to get on the freeway to get to downtown or zilker (could walk to zilker) or west campus. and truth be told if i could land a job there with similar upside as my job in houston i would heavily consider moving back. but...... houston kicks ass, particularly the inner loop area. parks, restaurants, bars, nightlife, museums, shopping galore. you could drop a 78704'er into the heights/montrose/upper kirby/rice village area and save for geographical scenery they wouldn't tell the difference. and houston is an infinitely more diverse city, easily as international as any city in the country and that lends itself to an entire flavor that austin simply cannot compete with.
I'm not sure if they have this in Houston but Austin has a sh!tload of food carts ranging from Tacos to Sushi and burgers!!! Here is a google map link to the surrounding carts in that area... http://austinfoodcarts.com/ http://bit.ly/ati2S1
Haven't lived in both...but have spent enough time in Austin to know I prefer Houston's entertainment options. I love Austin (and politically it is more left liberal which is a positive for me). But for those who can't imagine why any sane person would prefer Houston to Austin...I dunno..I guess I would start with HGO, Houston Ballet, Alley Theater, Houston Symphony,third most live theater seats in North America, Texans, Astros, Rockets, Dynamo...etc...etc
DD's probably right - if you haven't lived in both you can't really say much. Also, for the person who said Austin has a SF / Seattle / Denver vibe: have you lived in those places? If not, then stop believing the Austin hype. I'm now in SF and can tell you it's all a lie. Austin does not have a Silicon Valley feel to it. No way - it needs to stop with the "Silicon Hills" bs and be its own thing. I lived in Austin post-college - it's a really nice city, but honestly it seemed to come down to three things: * are you a college fan / UT fan? Casual life centers around the campus. * are you a lazy outdoors person? If you like getting a cooler of beers and floating on a lake or river, then you'll have fun - this seemed to occur more often as an activity in Austin than Houston for me. Active outdoors stuff is the same as Houston and was done just as often (rarely). * are you a club/bar person? Sixth Street and the Warehouse District are nice, central, and always there... as are the UT females. I think Houston seems more grown-up and is definitely more diverse. The sprawl is pretty horrible, but living inside the loop is pretty nice. Your life outside of work does not have to center around UT. You have other options if you want to check out the arts. Each suburb, while they are far away, has a different personality (not true in Austin). Oh, one more thing. No matter how you try to state it, the Round Rock Express is not a pro team. By definition this is true. Please stop.
Nah... being that Houston is the 4th largest city in the country, I don't think HOUSTON would have food carts at all... why that would be impossible...
Sorry mate, I have to call BS on this one. I am still in my mid 20's and I work in Austin. My life outside of work almost never centers around anything UT. Not sure what you were doing with your extra time? I spend 80% of my time south of the Capitol and west of 35. And of that 80% about half of it is spent enjoying the incredible outdoors Austin offers.
I agree Austin feels very silicon valleyish to me...but I run in the circles with VC and Angel funds, as well as high tech. Maybe he was in different circles while in Austin. DD
Funny that no one has mentioned the crime rate. I figured this would be a big factor? The crime rate in Austin is exponentially smaller than in Houston (if not in crimes committed as a whole then certainly in severity of crimes committed). Obviously partly due to the size of the city and its population but nonetheless it's smaller.
