What I Love (and Hate) About Living in Austin

There are times when I totally adore dwelling in Austin: when I’m paddleboarding on Town Lake, when I’m ingesting a frozen margarita at Maudie’s, when I’m hanging out in hip East Austin under string lights.

That staying reported, there are selected issues I’m fewer fond of: the sweltering summers, the isolation, the deficiency of walkability.

I’ve lived in Austin for just about two yrs. Here’s what I’ve occur to love and hate about it:

What I adore about Austin

The People today

By and large, Texans are unbelievably awesome persons: generous, amusing, and sincerely form. When I had Covid, various neighbors brought me tortilla soup and walked my pet dog. Men and women say howdy to you on the avenue listed here, even if they do not know you. Austin is by far the friendliest position I have ever lived.

The Food items

An additional positive – the food. Austin’s foodstuff scene is flourishing: you can uncover fantastic TexMex, Thai, Vietnamese, and of course, barbecue. Some of my most loved places are Uchiko (sushi), Odd Duck (new American), and Loro (Asian/barbecue fusion). I’ve also grown to Appreciate frozen margaritas, ha.

The Water

As a born-and-elevated Michigander, I desperately need to stay around water (that was 1 of the matters I discovered hardest about residing in Colorado). Luckily for us, Austin has a good deal of it: Town Lake, Barton Springs, and Lake Travis, to identify a couple of.

The Winters

The winters in this article are delightful – the temperature hovers about 70 degrees, and the skies are normally crisp and blue. Although we do have the odd snow day, the winter season weather conditions is extremely moderate.

Are living New music

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Austin’s internationally renowned stay audio scene. I adore how you can wander into a random bar on a Tuesday and hear an incredible efficiency for the selling price of a Shiner Bock.

The Doggy-friendliness

In Austin, you can provide your puppy just about everywhere — I convey my pup almost all over the place I go. My neighborhood CVS is even dog-pleasant.

What I Detest

The Crowds

Because of to its large popularity in latest decades, Austin feels insanely crowded at times. Parking is really hard to find, restaurants are packed, and the weekends primarily can be frantic.

The High Value of Dwelling

Austin is extremely expensive. To acquire a plot of land – not even a dwelling – in my neighborhood, fees a million bucks.

Poor Walkability

Sadly, Austin is not a walkable town. Bisected by two highways, Austin is a very car-dependent city for walkability, it ranks 42nd in the US, involving Las Vegas and Pheonix. As anyone who loves to stroll, this is a enormous downside.

The Allergic reactions

Central Texas has been known as the “Allergy Money of the Entire world.” There’s even a each day allergy report on the local information, exactly where official pollen counts for ragweed, grass, and mildew are calculated. I under no circumstances experienced allergies in my existence right up until I moved listed here — ugh.

The Heat

The summers in Austin are brutal. Temperatures can get to 110 degrees (or bigger). Right after this year’s scorching summer season, 90 levels bizarrely feels relatively awesome to me.

The Isolation

Austin is close to only a couple towns: Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Before this year I designed the mistake of driving to New Orleans, which took 10 hours. At times I come to feel so envious of the East Coast – picture driving a handful of hrs and currently being able to entry Boston, Philly, and NYC? Sigh.

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All this to say, I have been pretty delighted right here. I’m not sure if it is my endlessly property (I’m not certain I have a eternally home, period), but I system to keep at least a couple far more years. And get pleasure from several additional lake days and frozen margs.