What I Love (and Hate) About Living in Austin

There are instances when I absolutely adore residing in Austin: when I’m paddleboarding on Town Lake, when I’m consuming a frozen margarita at Maudie’s, when I’m hanging out in hip East Austin underneath string lights.

That getting stated, there are certain points I’m fewer fond of: the sweltering summers, the isolation, the deficiency of walkability.

I’ve lived in Austin for practically two decades. Here’s what I have appear to enjoy and hate about it:

What I really like about Austin

The People

By and big, Texans are very great persons: generous, humorous, and sincerely kind. When I experienced Covid, multiple neighbors brought me tortilla soup and walked my pet. Folks say hello there to you on the street right here, even if they really don’t know you. Austin is by significantly the friendliest location I’ve ever lived.

The Food stuff

A different optimistic – the meals. Austin’s food stuff scene is thriving: you can obtain fantastic TexMex, Thai, Vietnamese, and of training course, barbecue. Some of my favourite places are Uchiko (sushi), Odd Duck (new American), and Loro (Asian/barbecue fusion). I’ve also developed to Adore frozen margaritas, ha.

The H2o

As a born-and-elevated Michigander, I desperately want to stay close to water (that was just one of the points I located most difficult about dwelling in Colorado). Thankfully, Austin has a good deal of it: Town Lake, Barton Springs, and Lake Travis, to identify a number of.

The Winters

The winters in this article are pleasant – the temperature hovers around 70 levels, and the skies are generally crisp and blue. Nevertheless we do have the odd snow working day, the wintertime weather conditions is quite gentle.

Stay New music

I’d be remiss if I did not mention Austin’s internationally renowned stay music scene. I adore how you can stroll into a random bar on a Tuesday and hear an amazing performance for the cost of a Shiner Bock.

The Pet-friendliness

In Austin, you can carry your pet almost any where — I convey my pup practically everywhere I go. My nearby CVS is even canine-pleasant.

What I Dislike

The Crowds

Owing to its large reputation in the latest years, Austin feels insanely crowded at periods. Parking is really hard to locate, dining places are packed, and the weekends specially can be hectic.

The Substantial Value of Dwelling

Austin is incredibly pricey. To invest in a plot of land – not even a household – in my neighborhood, prices a million bucks.

Bad Walkability

Unfortunately, Austin is not a walkable city. Bisected by two highways, Austin is a extremely motor vehicle-dependent town for walkability, it ranks 42nd in the US, amongst Las Vegas and Pheonix. As a person who enjoys to stroll, this is a massive draw back.

The Allergies

Central Texas has been identified as the “Allergy Capital of the Globe.” There’s even a day by day allergy report on the community information, where by formal pollen counts for ragweed, grass, and mold are measured. I under no circumstances had allergy symptoms in my everyday living right until I moved right here — ugh.

The Warmth

The summers in Austin are brutal. Temperatures can get to 110 degrees (or greater). Following this year’s scorching summer time, 90 levels bizarrely feels rather amazing to me.

The Isolation

Austin is near to only a handful of towns: Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Before this 12 months I produced the slip-up of driving to New Orleans, which took 10 several hours. Sometimes I truly feel so envious of the East Coastline – imagine driving a couple hrs and currently being capable to access Boston, Philly, and NYC? Sigh.

All this to say, I’ve been rather content in this article. I’m not absolutely sure if it is my without end home (I’m not sure I have a without end household, period), but I plan to stay at least a several extra decades. And delight in lots of extra lake days and frozen margs.