Relocating to Texas

I think Austin is the only Texas city that is not on the top ten fattest cities list. It's usually listed as one of the fittest cities in the US. There is a greenbelt in the center of town for running and biking; it is in many ways the heart of the city. It's also a very young city, which is both good and bad. Both Dallas and Houston have a **** ton of fatties, but pockets of very fit people as well. San Antonio is 100% fat as ****.

Plenty of people drive trucks in Austin. Many, many. Austin is part of Texas, try as we might to resist it. No one has ever gone broke selling F150s in Austin. It's a liberal city with increasingly large conservative suburbs. You could help the groundswell of Republicans betray everything that made this town unique! Yay!

Originally Posted by Wodin

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My only fear there is I've heard it is a liberal bastion. So if I drive my truck I wouldn't want to get shunned for not driving a Prius.

Austin is the spiritual home of Willie Nelson. The Cosmic Cowboys don't drive Priuses, though there are probably some pasty-faced UT kids who do.

Originally Posted by Wodin

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Is there a good culture of fitness in Austin?.

Definitely. Far more than anywhere else in TX, from my experience. There are some great hiking and biking trails, parks and lakes right in the city.

Originally Posted by airportlobby

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It's a liberal city with increasingly large conservative suburbs. You could help the groundswell of Republicans betray everything that made this town unique! Yay!

Isn't Round Rock supposed to be the most right wing locale in the US or something like that?

Originally Posted by JustinW

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Isn't Round Rock supposed to be the most right wing locale in the US or something like that?
Williamson County, Lake Travis, Westlake - we have a number of very conservative areas surrounding Austin. They all seem to be growing, too. In addition, a number of more conservative out of towners are settling in central areas that used to be fairly lefty. I don't know if I would call the suburbs right wing (certainly the Houston suburbs produce more extreme pols like Tom DeLay et al), more like generally GOP through and through. I imagine there are plenty of places where more extreme right wing ideologies are more prevalent. I would say that 70s Austin was the spiritual home of Willie Nelson. 2010 Austin is the spiritual home of yuppy icons Lance Armstrong, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick, etc (I guess this goes to the culture of fitness in this town - Armstrong opened a big bike shop here, there are a number of local running stores, etc.)

I miss the Hole in the Wall!

Originally Posted by gnatty8

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...having Galveston nearby was a nice thing.

On behalf of the People's Republic of Galveston, I extend to you a hearty thanks, good sir!

As for the question posed by the OP, I can address the hiking aspect of your inquiry. Austin and San Antonio trump Dallas for the availability of good hiking within about an hour-and-a-half drive. Enchanted Rock, the Hill Country State Natural Area, Pedernales Falls SP, Bastrop SP and Lost Maples are just a few of the options. Although about an hour north of Houston you have the Lone Star Trail, which runs about 128 miles through the Piney Woods.

+1 to everything airportlobby has said.

His comment about the iconic yuppies in Austin is something I was going to try and vocalize earlier but didn't know how exactly to phrase it. That and COL are about the only negatives I can think of for Austin.

I recently read that residents of Austin have more sex, more frequently , with more partners than any other city in the US. Findings were based on a number of indicators including condom sales, reported STD and abortions.
Have fun. Sounds like my kinda town...

Make your $ in Dallas, spend it in Austin.

Austin is a little bit hippie even for my tastes, though my experiences are limited to college parties and Austin City Limits. Still, I wouldn't ever recommend any other city in Texas to anyone. Course all four have nice bits, but in my experience all but Austin are boring. You'd probably have better luck with outdoor fitness, restaurants, and farmers markets in Austin as well. Can't speak to the cost of living there, but if I had the choice it would be Austin or else not Texas.

Why has El Paso been ruled out?

Originally Posted by Bhowie

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Austin is a lot more expensive than any of the major other major cities.

really? you can get $1 beers on 6th on the weekdays, lots of good happy hours everywhre (eg $2.95 burgers at mccormick and schmicks everyday), and if you go to the burbs the food is pretty cheap.

I know nothing about El Paso really. It seems pretty out there though. There seems to be a lot more going on in the other ones, but I may be way off base there.

Originally Posted by Wodin

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Right on guys, thanks for all the replies. I will be sure to check them out. I work in the security field and do alright, so I ought to be ok with the COL in Austin. My only fear there is I've heard it is a liberal bastion. So if I drive my truck I wouldn't want to get shunned for not driving a Prius.

Is there a good culture of fitness in Austin? As they say, everything is bigger in Texas. That's fine, except for I'm not into Lane Bryant types.

Mark, that's funny how you mentioned the tension between Dallas and Houston. It's the same in IL between Chicago and "us hillbillies" from elsewhere.

1. Lots of conservative, truck driving types on Austin. Remember, George Bush lived happily in Austin for quite some time. It's a "liberal bastion" the way Madison, WI is -- mostly in contrast to the facists elsewhere in the State. You won't confuse it for Berkeley or anything.

2. Very good fitness culture in Austin. Lance Armstrong moved there for a reason.

3. Dallas - Houston tension is just typical "two biggest kids on the block" kind of thing. They're basically the same size, are big, spread out cities and filled with families. Very similar except, as someone else put it, Houston is a Bayou city and Dallas is high plains.

4. San Antonio would be a cheap alternative, but likely not what you're looking for. If I was thinking of returning to TX, I would consider it, just as a counter-point to the other cities.

5. My take on living in non-Austin TX was this -- if your wants extend to having (a) a nice standard of living due to high salaries and low COL, (b) lots of dim-witted but attractive women to choose from, (c) friendly and generous neighbors, and (d) mild winters, it's fantastic. If you want an urban or intellectual or sophisticated view of the world, TX kind of blows. In contrast to Mark from Plano's experience, most people whom I met and liked wanted to get the F out.

If that's you, I don't intend to demean you. I think TX's tremendous growth demonstrates the appeal of that lifestyle. Its cities are places where you can make Chicago salaries at Indianapolis or St. Louis housing costs (just to put it in IL terms). Except for Austin. That's a different beast altogether. But if you can get a job, there are pockets to move to.

Originally Posted by ppllzz

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really? you can get $1 beers on 6th on the weekdays, lots of good happy hours everywhre (eg $2.95 burgers at mccormick and schmicks everyday), and if you go to the burbs the food is pretty cheap.

Oh I forgot this important aspect of COL. Kind of silly that I factored housing costs more than where I could get a beer cheaply into the COL. I'm also sure that these sorts of "deals" are nonexistent in any other city in Texas.

BTW El Paso was a joke, sorry.