I lived in Houston (and surrounding areas) the first 41 years of my life. I'm in the process of moving my family to Austin (actually Jonestown on north side of lake Travis). I love Houston but really want my kids to grow up in the Austin area.
ive lived in both, currently live in austin Austin pros:diversity: i dont know how people can say austin isn't diverse, they must not live here. Landscape: the city is beautiful, the lake is beautiful, lots of trees in the downtown area create a cool vibe. Nightlife: warehouse district and 6th street are real fun Music: Austin City limits music festival, SXSW, and all the badass shows throughout the year fit outdoor lifestyle: townlake is an awesome place to run, kayaking down the lake if you go to college.....UT Cons: traffic blows sometimes, no pro sports teams (thats what we got htown for) Htown pros: rockets, texans, astros, dynamo. lots of good restaurants nightlife in the right areas w/ a cool vibe cool museums cons: concrete jungle, city would be a lot chiller with some more green. humidity: The summer heat is taken to a whole new level in houston. Fat people.....EVERYWHERE they are both my two favorite cities, but austin wins by a longshot, not really even close
True. And I wasn't trying to be a dick. I was just stating a fact. And to that point, the crime rate was exponentially higher in Houston than Austin before the hurricane as well. I love Houston. It is where I was born. I was really depressed to pick up the Chronicle one day and see how bad crime had become on the front page. My final vote is as follows: 1. Austin 2. Houston 3. San Antonio 4. Dallas
Austin is big time over hyped. Transplanted Californians are ruining that place big time. Traffic is worse there than Houston. Houston has its issues just like every town but it's been great to me on many levels. It would take a lot for me to move to Austin. I'd slit my wrists before moving to that dump known as Dallas.
Also I'd like to add that picture of Austin is amusing since half the stories here on the local news are how nasty the water is and all the **** the public workers have to clean out of it.
I've lived in both cities. Both have problems of course. The biggest problem that I have with either city is the segregation and hidden racism. I've been to many major cities and with the exception of Boise, Idaho, Austin is the WORST. I like living in a city were you see different people of different cultures and backgrounds everyday and everywhere. In Austin, if your not planning a trip to Riverside or other little parts that they keep their minorities in, your going to see mainly white people. I have a strong feeling that this is a main reason that a lot of people like Austin so much. I've had friends even tell me they weren't going back to Houston for that reason. For a major city to shut down because of a mass visitation of black people is rediculous. I'm talking about the Texas Relays. It wasn't just Highlands Mall that shut down either, that was just the most blatant. Would Houston have shut down one business at all? I seriously doubt it. The saying shouldn't be "Keep Austin Weird", it should be "Keep Austin White." I love Houston, and will never live anywhere else again. All you Austinites just remember, this website is all about the HOUSTON Rockets.
Not completely true, but I can see where your coming from. Mostly Eastern part of town that is very segregated from the rest in terms of race and class....
Thats what is happening here in the Denver/Boulder area, it sucks if that is true (like I said earlier, I have spent very little time in Austin)
Lived in Austin 10 years before moving out here to SF. Not only does Austin's nightlife beat Houston, but SF as well. The concentration of bars per capita is off the charts. Now that West 6th Street and the Warehouse Districts are built out with a bunch of new places for the 25-35 crowd, it's complete. It's an easy cab ride to downtown Austin, and once you're there it's very walkable, enabling very easy pub-crawling/bar-hopping. Now, I was in Houston over the 4th of July, and hung out at a few spots on Washington Street (Drinkery, etc). But that whole area is scattered in between strip mall shopping centers and parking lots, which I thought kind of killed the vibe.
i've had fun in austin (partying) but couldnt see myself living there and other i've never really understood the crazy love...other than the surrounding hillside which is very nice. I just like what houston has to offer more in terms of diversity, being international and all the other types of things that come with a big city.
This is why I said if you have not lived in both you shouldn't be voting. I grew up in Houston, and came back right after college...then 3 years in H-town and back to Austin since 1995.... I like Houston, but IMO, it does not compare to the living in Austin, just a much better city, IMO. Partying is not all there is to do in Austin, and we are close to so much.....and to be honest, we are only 3 hours or less away from Houston too, so I get to take my family to ball games if I want, or the Natural History mueseum, stuff like that. But quality of life, imo.....it is Austin, hands down and Houston is not even in the vicinity. DD
I like how being in a close proximity to Houston is a selling point for Austin :grin: but I know what you mean When you reference "quality of life" what all are you including in there? No snark-o, I'm actually curious
