Austin is awesome.
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If you could live anywhere in the USA
- Thread starter steveny
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First of all, I'm just glad and grateful that I live in the greatest country in the world, let alone the best location in the greatest country in the world...So Cal :biggrin:
I lived in Tahoe and have a timeshare in Maui...great places to visit, but you just can't beat So Cal....no island fever and no snow...Can enjoy your NSX everyday of the year....
I lived in Tahoe and have a timeshare in Maui...great places to visit, but you just can't beat So Cal....no island fever and no snow...Can enjoy your NSX everyday of the year....
Osiris_x11
Gold Member, Moderator: Marketplace
Austin[/end]
... with that said, there's plenty of water-front here but it's freshwater lakes/rivers not marine/coastal as-per Steve's preference (as well as mine).
Easily can get a mega-McMansion in the 'burbs, but gotta drop some coin to get something neat in the notable areas. EVERYONE is moving to Austin, and generally from high-cost areas (with their equity to drop on the desirable local real estate).
For those with means & resources, a T-&-C (Town & Country) approach is getting more & more popular: a high-rise modern condo/apt in town, a more substantial personal home in/around the lakes, hills, ranches.
Downtown's skyline looks like Dubai with all the cranes (minus the indentured slave-labor). Unrecognizable year-to-year. And there are new housing developments (starter, McMansion, custom) in all directions, sprawling everywhere.
A Florida coast sounds like the OP's calling, in terms of wants/needs and preferences/requirements. The Space-coast (Flagler, Daytona, Ormond, Coco) is close to Orlando. The South Florida coast has a flavor for all (Delray, Deer, Pompano, W. Palm, Ft. Laud, N Miami, SoBe). The Gulf Coast areas (Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Naples) are adjacent to the Tampa-StPete metro. Being 45mins to 1hr away from one of those 3 major Florida metros can land a solid spot on the sand for some surf & year-round sun, relatively affordably...
... with that said, there's plenty of water-front here but it's freshwater lakes/rivers not marine/coastal as-per Steve's preference (as well as mine).
Easily can get a mega-McMansion in the 'burbs, but gotta drop some coin to get something neat in the notable areas. EVERYONE is moving to Austin, and generally from high-cost areas (with their equity to drop on the desirable local real estate).
For those with means & resources, a T-&-C (Town & Country) approach is getting more & more popular: a high-rise modern condo/apt in town, a more substantial personal home in/around the lakes, hills, ranches.
Downtown's skyline looks like Dubai with all the cranes (minus the indentured slave-labor). Unrecognizable year-to-year. And there are new housing developments (starter, McMansion, custom) in all directions, sprawling everywhere.
A Florida coast sounds like the OP's calling, in terms of wants/needs and preferences/requirements. The Space-coast (Flagler, Daytona, Ormond, Coco) is close to Orlando. The South Florida coast has a flavor for all (Delray, Deer, Pompano, W. Palm, Ft. Laud, N Miami, SoBe). The Gulf Coast areas (Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Naples) are adjacent to the Tampa-StPete metro. Being 45mins to 1hr away from one of those 3 major Florida metros can land a solid spot on the sand for some surf & year-round sun, relatively affordably...
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Lake Travis is really nice, looked at homes there years ago when dell made me an offer, but the traffic... Oh was that bad. Round rock to Lake Travis wasn't far but it could easily take 2 hours with all the lights and cars. Wonder if they still have a deer problem. Deer Everywhere. In the roads, driveways, eating people's shrubs. Must have been a forest that was clear cut.
^
Traffic is worse. The toll way helps a lot but would still take ~60 minutes.
Austin traffic has become just about unbearable. Luckily for me my commute is always against traffic and I'm relatively close to work. The job opportunities keep bringing folks in.
Traffic is worse. The toll way helps a lot but would still take ~60 minutes.
Austin traffic has become just about unbearable. Luckily for me my commute is always against traffic and I'm relatively close to work. The job opportunities keep bringing folks in.
Pretty sure there wasn't a tollway when I was looking. That would have been around 2000. Other than the traffic, I really liked the area.
I haven't been to Austin in 13 years. Sounds like it has changed a lot.
I was consdiering Austin, but then talked to residents about the flooding there. They all said: "I'd be more worried about the hail than the flooding." <----- No Go in my book. If you're trying to escape "weather" issues, I'd look in the southwest somewhere. Pacific Northwest is also nice, but it rains almost every day. It does snow, but only a little by comparison to the north east. The snow around the Seattle/Tacoma area doesn't stick for long.
Gulf Shores, AL.
I grew up in the southern part of AL but for some reason that place really holds a special place in my heart.
I grew up in the southern part of AL but for some reason that place really holds a special place in my heart.
So Steve, after all of this feedback, where are you moving to? 
New Orleans is good for the most part. Although the roads and drivers are horrible.
Dear OP,
Don't know what part of Florida you are familiar with but obviously would recommend to stay away from big cities and high tourist areas. There are many small communities that are not advertised or promoted in travel literature that are very laid back and rural yet still have most desired amenities (good schools, boating, golf, affordable real estate, etc.) You could build a nice home with a pool here on the St. Johns River with a dock for a boat and still have change from your $ 1M. As you probably know, there is no state income tax in Florida and no annual vehicle inspection or smog test like many other states. Where I live there are many couples that have "dual residencies" in NY/NJ area, guess it's too hot and humid for them in the summer. We have had several days already over 90 degrees but if you live on the river it is not as bad because of the breeze off the water.
Don't know what part of Florida you are familiar with but obviously would recommend to stay away from big cities and high tourist areas. There are many small communities that are not advertised or promoted in travel literature that are very laid back and rural yet still have most desired amenities (good schools, boating, golf, affordable real estate, etc.) You could build a nice home with a pool here on the St. Johns River with a dock for a boat and still have change from your $ 1M. As you probably know, there is no state income tax in Florida and no annual vehicle inspection or smog test like many other states. Where I live there are many couples that have "dual residencies" in NY/NJ area, guess it's too hot and humid for them in the summer. We have had several days already over 90 degrees but if you live on the river it is not as bad because of the breeze off the water.
+1 on Chicago
I grew up there for nearly most of my life (25+ years) and still consider it my home. If CA was not an option, I'll gladly consider moving back there and into a nice west suburb area (Westmont, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Schaumburg come to mind). The weather is a true 4 season climate but there is at least 3-4 months of solid good weather if you don't mind the humidity and insects.
The latter two do not exist here in most of Norcal but you learn to miss it sometimes....especially snow in the winter for my kids. What is a Xmas without snow and cold weather! Here in CA it's funny we actually drive toward the snow
If midwest is out, have you ever considered Portland? 1M out there will buy you a very nice home close to water and the worst weather out there is mostly just rain and cloudiness. We have homes out there and it's a great place to live. Google Street of Dreams to see some of the homes my friends who are builders compete in each year. The homes are stunning and top notch in quality. People are generally nice too which is a plus. Look at Beaverton, Tigard, Portland metro areas.
I grew up there for nearly most of my life (25+ years) and still consider it my home. If CA was not an option, I'll gladly consider moving back there and into a nice west suburb area (Westmont, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Schaumburg come to mind). The weather is a true 4 season climate but there is at least 3-4 months of solid good weather if you don't mind the humidity and insects.
The latter two do not exist here in most of Norcal but you learn to miss it sometimes....especially snow in the winter for my kids. What is a Xmas without snow and cold weather! Here in CA it's funny we actually drive toward the snow
If midwest is out, have you ever considered Portland? 1M out there will buy you a very nice home close to water and the worst weather out there is mostly just rain and cloudiness. We have homes out there and it's a great place to live. Google Street of Dreams to see some of the homes my friends who are builders compete in each year. The homes are stunning and top notch in quality. People are generally nice too which is a plus. Look at Beaverton, Tigard, Portland metro areas.
^
I live in Camas WA which is about 15 miles northeast of downtown Portland where I work and agree that the weather here is fairly mild. Mostly 40's in the winter and 70-80's in the summer. We get a snow storm that puts down 2-3 inches every three years or so. This winter we saw two days of snow and mostly high 40's or low 50 degree weather. I saw what happened to elsewhere this winter and it's almost like we were in another country. The winter I had in no way reflected what the majority of the US endured.
The down side is the overcast days. Even when it's not raining in the fall, winter, and spring we get a lot of cloudy days (summers are hit and miss but we mostly get sunny days). Having lived in the Northwest my whole life I'm pretty used to it, but it's a complaint I hear a lot from people new to the area and one I share after traveling. On the flip side the rain we get makes everything green and pretty, so while it does rain often (a little a lot of the time vs 1 big rain shower) it does make for a nice place to live.
On the plus side I live 2 hours from the dry desert of eastern Washington/Oregon, 40 minutes from Mt. Hood for snowboarding, and an hour from the coast. North or south of Portland for 100 miles in either direction, if you travel 10 minutes east or west off I-5, you will literally feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. Some would say that sucks but the reality is Portland offers what I need in a city, so it's nice to be able to drive 40 minutes in any direction and find a unique place to bike or hike, eat, or spend a day. Also, the food here is amazing; from simple food carts that have 4 star food to restaurants our foodie culture is on point. If you can live/work on the Washington side you enjoy no income tax, while being a short commute to Oregon where there is no sales tax ;-D. Vancouver is the major city on Washington side (200K population) and not a single Best Buy or high end retailer - weird...
If we had more sunny days this area would IMHO be perfect.
I live in Camas WA which is about 15 miles northeast of downtown Portland where I work and agree that the weather here is fairly mild. Mostly 40's in the winter and 70-80's in the summer. We get a snow storm that puts down 2-3 inches every three years or so. This winter we saw two days of snow and mostly high 40's or low 50 degree weather. I saw what happened to elsewhere this winter and it's almost like we were in another country. The winter I had in no way reflected what the majority of the US endured.
The down side is the overcast days. Even when it's not raining in the fall, winter, and spring we get a lot of cloudy days (summers are hit and miss but we mostly get sunny days). Having lived in the Northwest my whole life I'm pretty used to it, but it's a complaint I hear a lot from people new to the area and one I share after traveling. On the flip side the rain we get makes everything green and pretty, so while it does rain often (a little a lot of the time vs 1 big rain shower) it does make for a nice place to live.
On the plus side I live 2 hours from the dry desert of eastern Washington/Oregon, 40 minutes from Mt. Hood for snowboarding, and an hour from the coast. North or south of Portland for 100 miles in either direction, if you travel 10 minutes east or west off I-5, you will literally feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. Some would say that sucks but the reality is Portland offers what I need in a city, so it's nice to be able to drive 40 minutes in any direction and find a unique place to bike or hike, eat, or spend a day. Also, the food here is amazing; from simple food carts that have 4 star food to restaurants our foodie culture is on point. If you can live/work on the Washington side you enjoy no income tax, while being a short commute to Oregon where there is no sales tax ;-D. Vancouver is the major city on Washington side (200K population) and not a single Best Buy or high end retailer - weird...
If we had more sunny days this area would IMHO be perfect.
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^All great points I missed!
Portland is really a nice place overall if you don't want to drive far to reach any of the fun destinations!
I think you missed one thing which is you can go catch a NBA game at the Rose Garden and then WALK to downtown to eat / entertainment. The waterfront is one of the prime areas of Portland with so much to do and eat.
Portland is really a nice place overall if you don't want to drive far to reach any of the fun destinations!
I think you missed one thing which is you can go catch a NBA game at the Rose Garden and then WALK to downtown to eat / entertainment. The waterfront is one of the prime areas of Portland with so much to do and eat.
So Steve, after all of this feedback, where are you moving to?
Still undecided. I have however started selling some of my RE up here. And of course the weather is decent here now so the priority is to get things fixed before it gets cold again. That's why northerners are always doing things fast... Because the window of time to complete outside projects is so small.
Manana! There is one season here in San Diego, nice!
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