Moving to the Austin, Texas area. Q & A please

[gburk]

Been here 20 years... also from upstate ny .. not sure where to begin but if you can relocate with a flexible tech job I’d look elsewhere. Now if you want to come here and start a service business I think there are tons of opportunities. Georgetown is a bit different from Austin but you’ll suffer from most of the same problems as mentioned above.
with in-laws in gtown you might also check out temple / belton area. Got a buddy up there and I think it has some advantages

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I recommend you go and stay a month before making a long term decision. Leaving San Clemente is usually a poor decision. I may be biased.

Today is a typical day.

 

[Still Hunter]

Austin Texas used to be an Oasis. Now it is a Liberal Cesspool.

 

[DEW0341]

I recommend you go and stay a month before making a long term decision. Leaving San Clemente is usually a poor decision. I may be biased.

Today is a typical day.

Have you lived in the areas I mentioned? I don’t currently live in San Clemente. I live on Oahu.

My best friend just moved out of San Clemente after living there 17 years to a different state and his only regret is not doing it sooner. I lived in San Clem for 6 years and I personally would never go back to any location in California. I guess to each their own?


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[DEW0341]

Austin Texas used to be an Oasis. Now it is a Liberal Cesspool.

Ok


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[DEW0341]

Been here 20 years... also from upstate ny .. not sure where to begin but if you can relocate with a flexible tech job I’d look elsewhere. Now if you want to come here and start a service business I think there are tons of opportunities. Georgetown is a bit different from Austin but you’ll suffer from most of the same problems as mentioned above.
with in-laws in gtown you might also check out temple / belton area. Got a buddy up there and I think it has some advantages

Pm inbound


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[Steve O]

I’ve got nothing to say w/regard to living there but if you go and check it out stop at Valentina’s BBQ. I always make it a point to get some brisket if I am within an hour of there. If you are there on a weekend spring for a beef rib. Out of this world.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Best of luck to you wherever you land.

 

[BazookaJoe]

After 12 years of being in the Marine Corps my wife and I have made the family decision that it’s time for me to get out so that we can settle down somewhere. Wife works remote so work wise she will relocate rather easy to Austin and I’ll be job hunting starting now until I get out this summer, and my grand parents live in Georgetown so it will be nice to spend time with them. My wife is from upstate New York and neither of us have ever been to Texas. I grew up in Utah and since graduating HS bounced around from Hawaii to California and back to Hawaii. We have always said we would just pick a spot and go when the time came for me to part ways with the military life. I have some questions about generalities of living around Austin and Hunting of course if anyone minds answering? I appreciate all and any responses!

-Commute during rush hour from the round rock Area to down town Austin and vice versus?

-Is their a toll for highway use?

-Avg cost of utilities winter/summer?

-Property tax cost?

-What is a comfortable salary to live on? I realize this is open to interpretation, I would consider my wife middle class fancy if that helps. We have always lived on base in mil housing, so having a stand alone home with a yard big enough for the kids, me to shoot my bow, a decent garage etc will be AWESOME!

-How does hunting in Texas generally work? I have looked at the state website but doesn’t lead me many places to figure anything out. I am used to public land western hunting in Utah, Colorado and California. Am I going to have to pay hundreds of dollars to go hunt ranches, knock on doors, or get to know a guy etc?

-Aranges around Austin? 3d or indoor. I shoot traditional.

-Long distance shooting ranges? Love shooting club level PRS matches.


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Dew, have you made the move yet? My wife and I are looking to move to the Austin area in the next year. I have family there, but am moving from the Boston area and grew up in San Diego (I used to go beach camping/fishing at Red Beach in Camp Pendleton!).

 

[@fulldraw]

After 12 years of being in the Marine Corps my wife and I have made the family decision that it’s time for me to get out so that we can settle down somewhere. Wife works remote so work wise she will relocate rather easy to Austin and I’ll be job hunting starting now until I get out this summer, and my grand parents live in Georgetown so it will be nice to spend time with them. My wife is from upstate New York and neither of us have ever been to Texas. I grew up in Utah and since graduating HS bounced around from Hawaii to California and back to Hawaii. We have always said we would just pick a spot and go when the time came for me to part ways with the military life. I have some questions about generalities of living around Austin and Hunting of course if anyone minds answering? I appreciate all and any responses!

-Commute during rush hour from the round rock Area to down town Austin and vice versus?

Traffic can be rough from DT heading north, especially during peak travel hours. There was a noticeable decline in traffic when Covid hit (much like everywhere else) but it is quickly picking back up.

-Is their a toll for highway use?

Yes depending on where exactly you’re living and working there are a handful of tolls.

-Avg cost of utilities winter/summer?

Depends on a variety of factors. I’ll note water is very expensive in Ciry of Austin/Travis Co. I’m not sure if it’s any better it is I’m Georgetown/RR. The biggest kick in the nuts energy cost wise is August.

-Property tax cost?

2.25% where I am. If you’re under 2% you’re lucky.

-What is a comfortable salary to live on? I realize this is open to interpretation, I would consider my wife middle class fancy if that helps. We have always lived on base in mil housing, so having a stand alone home with a yard big enough for the kids, me to shoot my bow, a decent garage etc will be AWESOME!

-How does hunting in Texas generally work? I have looked at the state website but doesn’t lead me many places to figure anything out. I am used to public land western hunting in Utah, Colorado and California. Am I going to have to pay hundreds of dollars to go hunt ranches, knock on doors, or get to know a guy etc?

Someone else mentioned it but Texasbowhunter is a good resource. Public land hunting is few and far between. Most hunt leases. The texas hill country has a high percentage of game fenced places relative to other parts of texas. Yes you will likely need to pay or schmooze to access quality hunting in the area.

-Aranges around Austin? 3d or indoor. I shoot traditional.

Austin Archery Club is in my neck of the woods woods and is a solid range.

-Long distance shooting ranges? Love shooting club level PRS matches.

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Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out if you have other questions.

 

[Red Letters]

Another consideration is the coast, there are some great fishing options if you are into or considering salt water fishing. San Antonio would be much closer than Austin if its something you end up doing regularly.

 

[Newtosavage]

After 12 years of being in the Marine Corps my wife and I have made the family decision that it’s time for me to get out so that we can settle down somewhere. Wife works remote so work wise she will relocate rather easy to Austin and I’ll be job hunting starting now until I get out this summer, and my grand parents live in Georgetown so it will be nice to spend time with them. My wife is from upstate New York and neither of us have ever been to Texas. I grew up in Utah and since graduating HS bounced around from Hawaii to California and back to Hawaii. We have always said we would just pick a spot and go when the time came for me to part ways with the military life. I have some questions about generalities of living around Austin and Hunting of course if anyone minds answering? I appreciate all and any responses!

-Commute during rush hour from the round rock Area to down town Austin and vice versus?

-Is their a toll for highway use?

-Avg cost of utilities winter/summer?

-Property tax cost?

-What is a comfortable salary to live on? I realize this is open to interpretation, I would consider my wife middle class fancy if that helps. We have always lived on base in mil housing, so having a stand alone home with a yard big enough for the kids, me to shoot my bow, a decent garage etc will be AWESOME!

-How does hunting in Texas generally work? I have looked at the state website but doesn’t lead me many places to figure anything out. I am used to public land western hunting in Utah, Colorado and California. Am I going to have to pay hundreds of dollars to go hunt ranches, knock on doors, or get to know a guy etc?

-Aranges around Austin? 3d or indoor. I shoot traditional.

-Long distance shooting ranges? Love shooting club level PRS matches.


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IMO you'd be better off in the San Antonio area. The city is full of genuine and nice people, traffic isn't awful like Austin, and you have many more military families around you.

You are going to have to pay to hunt. Knocking on doors doesn't work anymore, even in the smallest towns. Or get lucky and draw a TPWD public hunt (rare) or plan on driving to hunt. Good news is there is a lot of public waters and marshes along the coast, so if you like to fish or duck hunt, there are plenty of places there (for now) to go.

 

[snarkscarbine]

- hunting here is either hard to find or expensive. Most of TX is privately owned, and a lot of the land is the personal playground of wealthy people, or leased.

- Austin is the most expensive place to live in TX. Property values are going insane everywhere, but Austin is the worst of it.

- Expect to pay 2.5%+ in property taxes based on your property value if you're in a major metro area. Rates are going down a bit right now because of some smart legislation, but values are going up.

- Don't let the property tax rates scare you; there's no state income tax so net taxable liability is still pretty freaking low comparatively.

 

[Newtosavage]

Austin Texas used to be an Oasis. Now it is a Liberal Cesspool.

Only where you look for it. Most of Austin is still full of ordinary folk trying to make a living. Compared to many much more liberal cities, Austin is probably closer to middle of the road politically.

 

[CWayne121]

I'll second that it's very hard to get bored here in ATX. Hunting is a passion of mine but I have a lot of other hobbies - and Austin caters to them all. It's not what it used to be. Hunting live music used to be a lot of fun throughout the week. Would stumble upon gems a few times a months in hole in the wall bars around town. I'd meet some wild characters in my adventures. It's not like that anymore. Food is great. BBQ world-class. But the town sold out. Austin used to celebrate having a place for everyone, but it's now a much more homogeneous mindset and type of person that lives around central Austin. Suburbs might be a different story.

A quick example -- loading up the truck in my driveway with fully zipped up gun bags has ignited heated anti-gun conversations from sidewalk pedestrians twice in 3 years. People here don't mind their own business.

But... I haven't left yet.

 

[Still Hunter]

Only where you look for it. Most of Austin is still full of ordinary folk trying to make a living. Compared to many much more liberal cities, Austin is probably closer to middle of the road politically.

I can't argue with that!

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I’ve been to Austin about 20 times over the last 10 years for business travel and events.

It’s honestly, a dump. I’m sure there are some decent suburbs getting outside the capital city itself, but going anywhere near the city proper reminds me of going to San Francisco or Oakland, just with even worse weather.

I’d never move to Texas. Terrible public land opportunities, no true mountain ranges to explore unless you get into extreme west Texas where there is literally nothing for hours. Terribly managed major cities, crap show of “public” utilities, and ranks close to last every year in healthcare quality and availability. It also ranks very low in education and crime.

My wife travelled through that bohemoth of a state on the pro rodeo circuit from 2014-2018 including living in Stephenville for 9 months total in those years.

More than enough Texas for us.

 

[Newtosavage]

I’ve been to Austin about 20 times over the last 10 years for business travel and events.

It’s honestly, a dump. I’m sure there are some decent suburbs getting outside the capital city itself, but going anywhere near the city proper reminds me of going to San Francisco or Oakland, just with even worse weather.

I’d never move to Texas. Terrible public land opportunities, no true mountain ranges to explore unless you get into extreme west Texas where there is literally nothing for hours. Terribly managed major cities, crap show of “public” utilities, and ranks close to last every year in healthcare quality and availability. It also ranks very low in education and crime.

My wife travelled through that bohemoth of a state on the pro rodeo circuit from 2014-2018 including living in Stephenville for 9 months total in those years.

More than enough Texas for us.

Grew up here and have lived here most of my life and honestly I can't disagree with any of that assessment.
Although Austin isn't by far the biggest dump I've seen, it's certainly not what made it famous. But then, what city is.

I'll always come back to visit Texas, but we're not planning to retire here for many of the reasons you cite.

 

[Newtosavage]

I can't argue with that!

Well, I've said this before but I don't need conservative "safe spaces" to protect my feelings. Liberals don't bother me. It's not hard to ignore them.

 

[cuerro viejo]

There some good public areas within a 3 hour radius of Austin. Most are draw but not hard draws. You are also 2.5 hours from thousands of miles of fishing and duck hunting on the coast

Example

Aransas NWR Hunt Area Details - Drawn Hunts - TPWD

tpwd.texas.gov

As far as Austin it’s pretty but very very liberal