Austin- talk to me about it

[amberlyrose]

DH has a phone interview for the same job he does now with a larger national company.

I've never been to Austin and have 2 friends that live there. Tell me about it? COL, night life, general vibe, and job market?

[ralphlauren]

Mar 7, 2013 19:27:13 GMT -5 amberlyrose said:

DH has a phone interview for the same job he does now with a larger national company.

I've never been to Austin and have 2 friends that live there. Tell me about it? COL, night life, general vibe, and job market?

My girlfriend was going to move there.  She loved it.  Great COL, night life and vibe.  For her, the job market was not great. 

[spitforspat]

I looove Austin! We've lived here for about 6 yrs. Cost of living is high for Texas.

Night life is great! Something for everyone.

Job market is not great- unless you're into computers. But, it's workable. It's a huge "who you know" town.

You need to work on your hipster tolerance before you move.

[Deleted]

Mar 7, 2013 19:27:13 GMT -5 amberlyrose said:

DH has a phone interview for the same job he does now with a larger national company.

I've never been to Austin and have 2 friends that live there. Tell me about it? COL, night life, general vibe, and job market?

COL - medium/can be high
Night life - 4th, 5th & 6th street. 6th street is more of a college vibe, but can still be fun.
General vibe - kinda hippie dippy, good music scene
Job market - last time I checked it's very good, but that was about six months ago. It's done well during the recession as a whole.

[Anne Blythe]

I just moved here in January. I moved from rural Texas, so I'm a native. If you're not, there might be a bit of Texas culture shock.

Austin is in a weird place, rhetorically. It is trying to be very progressive while housing Rick Perry. Its occasional Bay-Area-Posturing is sort of endearing when you know the rest of the state. COL is good; Texas has a lower COL on average than a lot of places, and you can get a 2 bedroom apartment for around 1000/mo pretty easily. Mine, in South Austin, is just a bit over $800. Night life is plentiful. Bars, clubs, alcoholic bowling, the Alamo cinema franchise,etc, everywhere. It's very common to find places that are "backyard" style, with large patio or yard areas that serve food and drinks 'til late. Those are nice. Live music is a big part of the scene here, especially with stuff like SXSW and ACL.

The job market is tricky, depending on the field you're in, but in my first week here I got 4 part time job offers (in grad school, not looking for full time). Craigslist is sort of overrun with postings, as are many of the job sites. So, it's definitely possible to find something, even if it's not something you love, until you do find something you'd like to do.

[lola]

I love Austin! I work for a national company headquartered there, so I'm in Austin a few times a year. There's no state income tax, which is awesome. It's kind of sprawling, and traffic can be a nightmare, but the quality of living (IMO) is awesome. I'd move there in a heartbeat but we're stuck here for a few more years.

[Anne Blythe]

Oh, yeah, traffic *is* pretty awful. But I take the bus and even during peak hours, it's not that much longer a ride than driving. Plus, I cut down on gas / parking / carbon footprint, AND get two extra hours of reading in per day!

[amberlyrose]

I'm from SE New Mexico, so Texas culture has never shocked me

The pay bump would afford me to get a part time gig until full time springs up, but not for long.

[amberlyrose]

Also, any local job boards that I can browse?

[Deleted]

Job market sucks. COL isn't too bad. People live in Austin for the atmosphere. Its an amazing place to live. There are a ton of things to do for all ages.

[Anne Blythe]

What do you do? If you're interested in city work:

www.austincityjobs.org/

[eb777888]

I can't give a ton of advice because I've only visited but it's a really cool city. It's definitely the best city in Texas and the only other major city I'd move to in Texas (I'm in Dallas).

[tulip]

I'm from North Dallas area and if we move back to Texas we are moving to Austin. So much to do in the area with Barton Springs to 6th Street. It truly offers a ton to do and great food.

[Deleted]

Mar 7, 2013 19:51:49 GMT -5 amberlyrose said:

Also, any local job boards that I can browse?

what do you do?

[amberlyrose]

Mar 7, 2013 19:56:34 GMT -5 @kande818 said:

Mar 7, 2013 19:51:49 GMT -5 amberlyrose said:

Also, any local job boards that I can browse?

what do you do?

 I'm a pricing manager at a medium sized oil and gas company but I'd prefer to do nonprofit or government work.

[Deleted]

I'd take a look at the state website.