| Author |
Message |
Peter E (Sdibaja)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 7:31 pm: | |
my wife has friends in Austin, she wants me to see what it would be like to retire/simi-retire there.
I have no clue. Help! |
John MC9
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 7:42 pm: | |
hmm... decisions; decisions. What do her girlfriends look like?
Yeah. That's it. If you don't want to move, just ask
wifey if her pals like to mess around. |
Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 10:14 pm: | |
John, I am simply amazed at some of the answers or comments you make sometimes. Ahh what makes ya think the wifey's pals are that desperate? Also you give absolutly no usful info at all on the area for the man to use to decide if he wants to move to the area or not! Also he might be wanting to get away from "wifeys pals" which would be an incentive for relocating! Not that it's worth it! Just my .02 worth! Now Peter I couldn't tell ya if you'd like it or not I've been there many times but I wouldn't wanna live there to much of a rat race for me and getting worse all the time! Everytime I'm there or even just passing thru I see who knows how many police cars flying around with lights and sirens going! I mean like worse than anywhere else I've been, and I've been in a lot of places big and small! To me this indicates a high crime rate, but I could be wrong as I've never lived in or near TEXAS the closest I've live to it is just outside of TULSA, OK, or outside of Fort Smith, AR. So I can't help ya much! By the way John just try'n to jerk yer chain a little as come accustomed to seeing you do to others a little bit! LOL |
Mike (Busone)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 10:36 pm: | |
My Cousin used to live in Austin for about 8 years. He and his wife really liked it there. They moved back to Denver about 6 years ago and also love Denver. They like the big city feel. She always complains about how hard it is to garden in the dry Denver climate.
We are in the process of relocating and I use the website www.citydata.com to find out stats on cities around the country all the time. I also use best places city compare. Nothing beats talking to real people but for some good statistics they work great.
http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Default.aspx |
Brent Coursey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 10:42 pm: | |
I worked in Austin for a number of years so here is my take:
1) For Austin to be the capitol of Texas, the roads are pretty bad...I guess if you retire you don't worry about commute time. What I mean is that Austin has outpaced its roads with growth.
2) Nice city if you like the city and it is in the Texas Hill Country which is one of my favorite parts of the country.
3) Lake Travis is nearby for water recreation if that is what you like.
4) There is a lot of culture in Austin if you are into that.
Brent |
John MC9
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 11:45 pm: | |
Oh sure, brow-beat me into a sensible answer...
We've been looking to move from Floriduh and into Alablamo
or Geeeorgia. I use the following URLs to see what might be
in store (but keep in mind, you have got to see it for yourself):
http://www.city-data.com/
http://www.epodunk.com/
http://www.hometownlocator.com/
http://www.spatial.maine.edu/cadastral/main.htm
http://data.geocomm.com/catalog/US/61087/
http://www.zillow.com/
https://hazards.fema.gov/
http://www.municode.com/
http://www.nna.org/CommunityCenter/FindComNewspapers.htm
We use these for house/property hunting (and have for quite
some time). If you're planning a move, use these resources to
your advantage. If you're just traveling about, these resources
can give you an idea of what you may run into. |
Roderick W. Chandler (Rod)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 6:43 am: | |
I live north of Austin about 45 miles andthat is as close as I would want to be. The Hill Country is beautiful but Austin is overcrowded, crime ridden and the roads are pathetic. You can't get there from anywhere in the city because you have to go over there first. They are planning to surround the city with TollRoads so you can't get in or out with paying. If you stay outside Austin and go into town as little as possible then this is a great area. Unless of course you are allergic to cedar. There is alot of that around and about 1/3 of the people here develop "cedar fever" as they call it.Property prices in Austin and surrounding area are really high and going higher every day. |
Alton Gattis (Fiddlearound)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 12:50 pm: | |
As a native Texan who has lived in the Austin area for over fifty years, let me answer this query. First, remember that there are two seasons here: nine or ten months of summer and three or four months of "other". That's a usual temperature of about 90 with 50 percent humidity. It either rains often with flooding or there is a drought. Once every three years or so the roads will freeze and completly cripple transit for a day or so. Second, there is no income tax, however, the sales tax is 8.5 % and the propety tax is very high. Paper said yesterday that tax on a $200,000 house would be about $5750 in the city. (School, city, county, emergancy and community college) Traffic as mentioned is the worst in Texas, they tried to limit development by not buidling roads. Now, the only way to fund roads is to toll them. The area is vaunted as "high tech" with Dell, IBM and Sansumg having large plants and many smaller software companies. Corporate headquarters of Whole Foods. State capitol and large state university provide much employment also. Prides itself as home of much live music (think 'Austin City Limits' on PBS). Enough bicyling and foot races to block some road every other weekend. Many fine golf courses, some you can even afford to play. Minor league pro baseball and arena football along with rodeos and bull riding. If you are still interested, the Sun City retirement community near Georgetown is expanding and building a third golf course. Austin is centrally located, 90 miles from San Antonio, 190 from Dallas Ft. Worth, 160 from Houston, 165 to the Gulf, another 200 miles to Mexico and the airport has good connections to most major cities. If you stay out of the city and like outdoor activity and looking for a warm climate with occasional cool weather, then you might like retiring here. My family has lived in this area since 1835 so I'm kind of rooted here. But, we live out of the city and I very seldom go there. Just stay in my little ten acres and use my coach for the occasional escape. Alton |
Peter E (Sdibaja)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 4:25 pm: | |
Thanks Folks: sounds like a road trip is in order for me.
Peter |
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