What I Love (and Hate) About Living in Austin

What I Love (and Hate) About Living in Austin

There are periods when I completely adore living in Austin: when I’m paddleboarding on City Lake, when I’m consuming a frozen margarita at Maudie’s, when I’m hanging out in hip East Austin below string lights.

That being said, there are specific things I’m a lot less fond of: the sweltering summers, the isolation, the absence of walkability.

I have lived in Austin for practically two a long time. Here’s what I’ve come to adore and hate about it:

What I like about Austin

The People today

By and large, Texans are exceptionally awesome individuals: generous, amusing, and sincerely sort. When I experienced Covid, multiple neighbors introduced me tortilla soup and walked my doggy. Persons say howdy to you on the avenue listed here, even if they don’t know you. Austin is by much the friendliest put I have at any time lived.

The Foods

A different beneficial – the foods. Austin’s food scene is thriving: you can locate excellent TexMex, Thai, Vietnamese, and of class, barbecue. Some of my favorite spots are Uchiko (sushi), Odd Duck (new American), and Loro (Asian/barbecue fusion). I’ve also grown to Adore frozen margaritas, ha.

The Drinking water

As a born-and-lifted Michigander, I desperately want to are living near water (that was 1 of the things I observed most difficult about dwelling in Colorado). The good thing is, Austin has a lot of it: City Lake, Barton Springs, and Lake Travis, to title a couple.

The Winters

The winters right here are delightful – the temperature hovers all over 70 levels, and the skies are commonly crisp and blue. Nevertheless we do have the odd snow working day, the winter season climate is extremely moderate.

Live Music

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out Austin’s internationally renowned dwell audio scene. I love how you can wander into a random bar on a Tuesday and listen to an outstanding performance for the cost of a Shiner Bock.

The Dog-friendliness

In Austin, you can bring your dog practically any place — I provide my pup practically in all places I go. My nearby CVS is even puppy-welcoming.

What I Despise

The Crowds

Due to its large acceptance in latest several years, Austin feels insanely crowded at occasions. Parking is tricky to find, dining places are packed, and the weekends particularly can be hectic.

The High Charge of Living

Austin is extremely costly. To obtain a plot of land – not even a household – in my community, fees a million dollars.

Weak Walkability

Unfortunately, Austin is not a walkable metropolis. Bisected by two highways, Austin is a incredibly motor vehicle-dependent metropolis for walkability, it ranks 42nd in the US, involving Las Vegas and Pheonix. As anyone who enjoys to stroll, this is a big draw back.

The Allergies

Central Texas has been named the “Allergy Cash of the Globe.” There’s even a each day allergy report on the local news, exactly where official pollen counts for ragweed, grass, and mildew are calculated. I hardly ever had allergies in my lifestyle until finally I moved listed here — ugh.

The Warmth

The summers in Austin are brutal. Temperatures can arrive at 110 levels (or higher). Soon after this year’s scorching summer time, 90 levels bizarrely feels relatively cool to me.

The Isolation

Austin is near to only a handful of metropolitan areas: Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Earlier this year I built the oversight of driving to New Orleans, which took 10 hrs. From time to time I really feel so envious of the East Coastline – envision driving a handful of hrs and remaining in a position to access Boston, Philly, and NYC? Sigh.


All this to say, I’ve been quite happy here. I’m not guaranteed if it is my permanently house (I’m not sure I have a without end house, period), but I system to stay at least a handful of much more a long time. And delight in several more lake days and frozen margs.

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