Austin, TX Questions?

first of all I am thinking of moving from Arkansas to Austin, had a few questions, no keep in mind the population of my hometown is 85,000.

1.What is traffic like, is it hard to drive around or is it easy?
2.If i try and support my Arkansas Razorbacks will i be smited, as well as the SF 49ers, and the Phoenix Suns?
3.Are there good paying jobs, and is the rent expensive?I pay 525 for a 900 sf two bd/bth apartment in Fort Smith, AR. and i work for lowes making about 23,000 a year.
4.Are people rude, mean, or generally nice?
5.if i have anymore questions may please email you, if i can please email me and let me know thank you?
6. Is it safe, i have never lived in a big city, i have been to orlando, memphis, chicago, OKC, and tulsa what is crime like compared to these places?
7.Can you please explain how the taxes work in texas, i have been told they are different than Arkansas, for we are one of the most taxed stated in the US?


Thank you in advance

the area i am looking at is Round Rock, my wife plans to go to Le Cordon Bleu, and i would like to work for the Round Rock Lowes, so how is the Round Rock area?

1. Traffic - Traffic in Austin is no different than any other big city. Sure, it is not as bad as Houston or Dallas, but morning and afternoon rush hours will be frustrating on the main highways, I-35 and Mopac. Specifically, the morning rush is heaviest from 6:30 - 9:00am, and the afternoon rush is heaviest from 3:00 - 6:30pm. By the way, traffic heading in and out of Round Rock is always problematic, so I would recommend checking out South Austin.

2. Sports - You can support whoever you want without worry and trust me, there are plenty of razorback fans in Texas. Austin is very diverse, so there are fans who support teams from all over.

3. Employment/Rent - The cost of living in Austin is one of the highest in Texas, so you will not be able to find a two bedroom apartment for $525. A two bedroom will cost you aywhere from $1000 - $1300/month. You can get a nice house for that, so I would recommend that you look to buy instead of rent. The good news is that since the cost of living is higher, salaries and wages here are higher as well.

4. People - Overall, people are very nice and pretty open minded. However, just like any place, there are some young, trendy snobs who feel obligated to share their opinions whether you ask for it or not. The funny thing is that most of those jerks aren't even from here.

5. Safety - Yes, Austin is very safe. While there may be some areas you want to steer clear of late at night, you can safely live in or visit just about any part of Austin without worry.

6. Taxes - I am not a CPA, but I don't think our taxes are that much different than any other place. I have never had any problems or concerns.

Good luck on your potential move!

Well for starters the traffic sucks, but it is getting better I guess. If you support the Razorbacks you will be ostracized for if you are not a Longhorn fan, you must be deranged. There are plenty of good paying jobs, but the rent is also going to be a lot higher than $525. You might find something smaller than what you have for a little more than that, but not a two bedroom two bath. The people there are generally best described as weird. That is kind of the motto of Austin "Keep Austin Weird." They are friendly enough though, lots of college students. Like every city there a safer parts of town than others, but overall there is no huge problem with crime. I would live there, but I sure wouldn't tell anyone I was a Razorback.

I live south of Austin, Ive only been there about 10 times. Yes the people are generaly nice. But for some reason texans are really serious about sports. I wouldn't show off that your a razorbacks fan in texas, especially not in front of a Longhorns fan. And the traffic is generally the same as in any other big city. Horrible in the morning. Horrible when everyone gets off work. Sorry but I probally can't help that much with taxes/jobs.

1) Rarely better than "fine". The highways can just stop without warning and for no apparent reason. At times, a 5-mile trip can take 20 minutes. But you get used to it.
2) Become a Longhorn fan (at least fake it).
3) There are tons of good paying jobs if you are qualified for them. There's money in Austin. Your rent in Austin for the same apartment will be much higher. (but you may be paid more, so it evens out)
4) People are generally nice unless you are a conservative. The liberals here (which are the majority in this town) are so "open-minded" that they will not listen to anybody's viewpoints if they are different than their own. It never fails, some liberal will "put me in my place" and shut me up when I start to share my viewpoints. It's kind of funny.
5) Yes, but I may not always be able to help.
6) It is generally a safe place. Follow normal common-sense rules (e.g. lock your doors). It's probably one of the safest big-cities in the country. However, there are parts of town to avoid (mostly on the east side of I-35). There are some others, too, but again, use common sense.
7) Probably the main difference in taxes is that we have no state income tax. But I'm not a tax expert.

let's first be clear IF you are not from Texas and move to Austin you have To be a longhorn fan for your own good. I live in Austin but am from Texas so I can "hate" the longhorns and be an Aggie Fan. This is with a daughter going to UT. I can do this. you can not. Put your Hogs in the barn never publicly acknowledge them. Anyways I am just joking (kinda). Welcome to Texas.

1 - Traffic can be very bad. Try to live close to where you work and you should be ok.

2 - While there is a lot of local support for the Longhorns, it really isn't a big sports town. Consider that Austin is one of the largest cities in the USA without a major league team in any sport. Very few people will bother you for supporting teams from out of state.

3 - The job market, and the salary, is dependent on your profession. There are many jobs to be had here, but there is also a lot of people in the job pool. Because Austin is a popular place to live a lot of people move here looking for work. But, good people are always in demand.

Housing can be expensive. It is student town so rentals tend to have high rates of occupancy. But, there are always deals to be had, especially the further you get from central Austin. It will be more than you are used to, but nowhere near what you will pay in many large cities (I paid $500 for a 2 room basement in Chicago).

4 - People in Austin are generally nice. It is a friendly town.

6 - Like any city, there are areas that are more or less safe. You mention Round Rock, well, there are very few 'bad' areas of Round Rock. Some areas around North Lamar, East Austin, and far South East Austin are iffy. I have been here 15 years and have never been robbed or felt really 'scared'.

7 - There is no state income tax. Which means you get more in your paycheck each month. However, we have moderately high sales tax (%8.25) and very high property tax. If you buy a house here, expect the tax bill on the house to make a large chunk of your monthy payment.

Well, it looks like most of your questions have been answered pretty well. I am an Austin Native and have seen the traffic go from a farm truck passing by every hour or so to deadlock now. I will be more than happy to answer any other questions you might have, just email me.

Round Rock Is cool ,but the county WILCO( Williamson county)is very strict on crime.DWI and drug possessions get very harsh punishments. Don't do anything bad in Wilco!!!

I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING ALREADY SAID HERE ,PEOPLE HERE ARE VERY NICE , THEY WILL JUST START TALKING TO YOU FOR NO RESON AND WANT TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING ,, THERE WHAT YOU CALL '' WIERD '' BUT IF YOUR GOING TO LIVE IN ROUND ROCK ,YOU WILL BE LIKE 30 FROM DOWNTOWN AUSTIN .YOU WILL BARLEY GET IN TO THE REAL CRAZY TRAFFIC . ALTHOUGH WE HAVE A LOT OF BICYCLE RIDER HERE GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH THE CARS.BUT YOU GET DOWNTOWN AUSTIN TRAFFIC ON A BAD DAY , MAN ITS LIKE THE DAYTONA 5OO GOING DOWN 35 OR 360 EVERYONE IS GOING LIKE 85 MPH ,, JUST REMEMBER THE LEFT LANE IS CALLED THE '' HAMMER ''LANE . THAT MEANS HAMMER ON THE THROTTAL AND HAUL @SS.. A 2 BEDROOM 2 BATH APARTMENT HERE IN TRAVIS COUNTY IS LIKE $1100 DOLLARS A MONTH, BUT CONSIDER THIS , WERE YOU LIVE NOW MINIMUM WAGE IS LIKE 5 BUCKS . HERE IN AUSTIN MINIMUM WAGE IS 10 BUCKS . CRIME ISNT TO BAD HERE BUT I DONT KNOW ABOUT R,R . AUSTIN IS KNOWN AS THE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD ! ITS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN THE WORLD . ITS A SUB CULTURE . IT HAS EVERYKIND OF LIFESTYLE HERE . ALSO THEY ARE DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT THE FOOTBALL. IF YOU HAVE ANYKIND OF RAZORBACK STICKER ON YOUR VEHICHLE I WOULD SUGGEST REMOVE IT OR PAINT OVER IT ,,,,JUST GET RID OF IT ! I HATE FOOTBALL ,BUT EVERYBODY HERE THINKS '' THEY '' ARE THE LONGHORNS , THEY TAKE IT WAY TO SERIOUS . ALSO YOU WILL HEAR EVERYONE SAYING '' BREAKFAST TACO '' AND YOU WILL BE LIKE W.T.F , BUT GET YA ONE OR TEN , BREAKFAST TACO'S ARE THE SH!T . I HAVE TO SAY THAT PEOPLE HERE ARE VERY WIERD . I GREW UP IN WEST TEXAS AND I MOVED TO AUSTIN AND THOUGHT ALL THE GUY'S IN AUSTIN ARE PANSY'S .I WANTED TO KICK THERE *** .. IM USED TO A GUY DRIVING A MANS TRUCK , AND ALL THESE GUY'S HERE IN AUSTIN DRIVE A LITTLE GIRLY BMW'S OR VOLTSWAGON BETTLES AND LOOK LIKE THERE TRYING TO LOOK AS PRETTY AS THE GIRLS ,HAHAHAHAHAHAH , BUT NOTHING IS AS BEAUTIFAL AS THE WOMEN IN AUSTIN DUDE YOU WILL BELIVE ME GO TO LAKE TRAVIS OR LAKE AUSTIN IN THE SUMMER THERE BOTH VERY CLOSE TO R.R ....GOD I HATE WINTER ! .............HELP KEEP AUSTIN WIERD !