| Author | Message | ||
     Midknyte |
What can anyone say anything about the Houston, Dallas, Austin areas? Living up here in the midwest is killing me... Thanks! | ||
| Hootowl |
Lots of jobs in Houston. I recommend staying north of town. You'll be outside the hurricane evacuation zones. I'm about 30 minutes away from downtown. That's probably a good distance to be from any major city. (Yes, I realize that distance is not measured in time.  ) And don't let anyone tell you Houston doesn't have any curves. It does. And I know where both of them are.  Austin is hard up against the Hill Country. Good riding close by. The job scene is not as good as Houston, however. Cost of living is higher, salaries are lower. A lot of people love it there though. It has a thriving live music scene. Don't know much about Dallas. | ||
| Whitetrashxb |
i've been in Austin since 99. This town is blowing up, i think its the second fastest growing city in the nation? Getting crazy crowded here, great riding tho. Plenty of jobs here. Im from southeast TX, sorry Hoot but u can keep the humidity, traffic, and lack of hills in your neck of the woods | ||
| Hootowl |
I would put it to you that the traffic is worse in Austin. As you say, the population is exploding. Same roads. Job market is tougher too, for the same reason. I'm not trying to discourage him from moving to Austin. It's a great place. But he did ask about all three places, and how they compare. Not knocking your town brah! | ||
| 86129squids |
My sis lived in Waco for many years, and when I got to visit we spent time in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. Austin was VERY cool, even in the 90's, and it's just a couple of hours from Dallas OR San Antone, which is super cool too. I was sorely tempted to go to UT Austin, looked to be a great school with a huge endowment program, but I couldn't pull the out of state tuition. State capitol is neat, too, LOTS of great history. In the final analysis, I'm a Tennessee boy through and through! Take a look at Chattanooga as a great example of a forward-looking city- I grew up in Nashvegas, and my old hometown is REALLY blowing up in a good way. Check out the Nashville Scene, and/or whatever weekly independent "newspaper" they have for Chatttanooga, or for that matter whatever town you're curious about, for a taste of the local flavors. I'd bail from the Midwest too. | ||
| Macbuell |
Houston sucks. Hot, humid, nothing but strip malls for miles. I'd stay away. I don't know much about Dallas. Austin is a really cool town. Great atmosphere, great music scene, just a cool vibe. It's dry and not a lot of green though. If you are ok with that, I'd recommend Austin. | ||
| Kilroy |
I hear houston is a lot like Atlanta - RUN AWAY! | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I've been to Austin a few times as my oldest friend from school lives there, it's a great place & as the others have said great riding. You'll have to become a Hellbuelly if you move there though. | ||
| Alter1 |
Austin- Hippies and techies. Great food and entertainment. Nice place to visit. Houston- Big. Arguably the best economy in the US today. Lots of work. Only 30 minutes to rural areas. Humid. Traffic is pretty bad if you work in the city. Overall, meh. Nothing like Atlanta. Dallas- I have not formed an opinion and have no real facts. Texas is the place to be right now. Not a very pretty state but we tend to do things right around here. For me, living in Texas my entire life, if money were no object, I would be in Idaho. | ||
| Hootowl |
"but we tend to do things right around here" Having lived in several other states, I can attest to that. Money no object though, I'd move to (redacted) and live in a cabin on a lake that is only accessible by float plane. My beard would be much longer than it is today. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Money no object though, I'd move to (redacted) and live in a cabin on a lake that is only accessible by float plane. I like that idea for my secret getaway bolthole, but I think living there fulltime would get old pretty quickly for me. | ||
| Reindog |
(Message edited by reindog on April 13, 2013) | ||
| Rah7777777 |
Lived around Dallas my whole life except for a couple years in Houston. Houston is humid and hot, dallas just gets hot. Traffic in Houston is horrible, but don't think Dallas Is much better. I had friends who lived in the Woodlands (outside Houston, and that was my favorite area there) I lived in the ghetto (literally, but I was just a poor kid in tech school) Here by Dallas, I've lived in Dallas, Mesquite, Richardson, Forney and Rowlett. Richardson was my favorite city, Rowlett second. As I get older, I hate the heat more and more.... I don't think I'll always live in Texas. Neither have great riding roads too close. | ||
| Hootowl |
Those of you who think traffic in Houston is bad have never lived in Seattle, San Diego, etc. it isn't all that bad. Better than most, in fact. | ||
| Rparnel1 |
I've lived 50 miles southeast of Dallas and 30 miles south of Ft Worth my entire life in a fairly small town. Far enough from Dallas and Ft Worth to avoid the crap that goes on there, but close enough to ride in if I want. It is somewhat central so that I can ride 200 miles south and be enjoying the hill country area, which has great roads and scenery, or ride 150 miles east and be in the piney woods or ride 300 miles and be in Arkansas, which has outstanding roads, terrain and scenery or ride 300 miles west and be in the west texas plains area. Even farther west puts you in the Chihuahuan desert (if you like that sort of thing) Houston area is flat, Austin are is hilly and Dallas area is in between. Weather is here is HOT from June to September and really cuts down on my riding, because I don't handle the heat too well. Winter is pretty mild with little snow or ice. Could generally be considered a year round riding climate. I'll say that Houston and Austin get just as hot, but not as cold. They just are hotter longer and Houston has way more humidity. The culture in Houston is more hispanic than Austin or Dallas. Has concealed carry permit, no helmet law and no state income tax. State is so frigging big you can ride a few hundred miles or more in any direction and never cross state line, while seeing a diverse climate and topography. | ||
| Midknyte |
Spent the weekend touring the areas. Houston felt pretty nice and big. Traffic manageable. People were super nice. Proximity to Galveston and the ocean a big plus. How hard is it to get down to Galveston and park anywhere in the middle of summer? You guys feel safe taking your bikes down there and leaving them sit? | ||
| Whistler |
Had a surf board stolen along the seawall in the late 60's. Cannot remember any other problem. Have always lived within 70 miles of Houston. I like it here. You'd be welcome. | ||
| Jim2 |
Houston is a big melting pot. Not just from the heat and humidity but lots of cultural diversity. It's flat and hot and humid. Lot's of jobs and housing is cheap. Galveston, although not in the list of top beaches is still an island with beaches and it's only 50 miles South of the Houston city center. Houston has great food. I have always called it the land-o-good-food. The biggest problem I find besides no curves is that it's huge. By the time you get from the South end to the North end your tired! Everything is far apart. But there is art, music, food, clubs, jobs and housing. Arlington (part of the Dallas/Fortworth metro area is a great place to visit for work but I wouldn't want to live in the Dallas area. It has the same drawbacks as Houston but less of the perks in my opinion. Austin is right in the middle of beautiful country. Great roads, with elevation change. Country folks nearby. Art and Music. | ||
| Blake |
San Antonio is nice too, would be a huge mistake to not consider it. My order of choice would be San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Houston. Dallas is a nice city, but that is all it is, just a big city surrounded by a big bunch of nothing special, too far to nice terrain or beach. I lived there for ten years. Fort Worth puts you just that little bit close to the Hill Country, and it's just a really nice sized city. Austin is awesome, but expensive. San Antonio is nice and inexpensive and the gateway to the hill country, and only a couple hours from the coast, really nice coast. Houston just too big and hot and humid for me. |
