Is Austin like the rest of Texas?

I want to know if Austin is, more more or les, just like the rest of the cities in TX. Honestly, i do not like TX one bit. I have been to Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio and the only thing that I enjoyed about any of them was SA's downtown. What is Austin like?

No, Austin is not like the rest of Texas.
I live in SA right now but I grew up in Austin and if you liked the downtown san antonio scene you will love what Austin has to offer. Live music, variety of club/bars, great food and tons of personaity. Austin and SA are the two best large cities in Texas.

Places you must visit:
Night life -
5th and 6th street. Everyone knows about the main area of 6th street but you must visit the surrounding area and visit the places where many of the adults like to hang .
Casual / Sight seeing -
State capitol, I know it sounds boring but it really is a great FREE way to spend an hour or two.
Zilker park is a great way to spend a nice afternoon.
Come dusk get to the bat bridge and see the more bats than you thought possible without computer enhancement.

well, during the last presidential election, travis county (encompassing city of austin) was the only one in the state to vote liberal

that should tell you something

also, it is a college-town, surrounding a university with student body of 50,000.

also, it is in the "hill country", and has topology, unlike houston/dallas/san antonio

Since Austin is a University town (GO AGGIES, BOO Longhorns!) you will have more variation of people there than a lot of other cities, but I did not enjoy my 2 years in Bryan \ College Station very much - except for the facilities at Texas A&M.

I prefer elsewhere, but Austin is a nice place to visit.

Sadly, Austin has declined in liveability and culture since I moved here in 1972. Still if I had to choose between here, and almost ANY other Texas city, its still an oaisis.
I suppose if I HAD to I could live in Wichita Falls, or Beaumont or Waco... but you'd have to pay me.
Austin is a university town. Its got an over hyped music scene, but its still a blue enclave in a RED state. I can still find decent book stores, a good selection of cinemas, and its pretty in places - and still kind of navigable.
My #2 place to live in Texas is a toss up between Galveston and Ft Stockton or Kerrville.

No Austin is way better. I live in Houston and I have been to many Texas cities and Austin is by far the best!

Austin is completely different---unique to itself.
I was born here, and I know. It is an oasis, a magic place where time stops, and you concentrate on the moment, the day, and yourself.

Austin is totally differnt than all of TX. It is very liberal, has ton of yuppies, students, hippies and the culture is phenomenal compared to other cities.

For starters, you shouldn't make genralizations about places that you don't know anything about. If you have only visited a city once or twice, then you haven't been there long enough to really understand what life there is like. The fact that you "do not like TX one bit" shows ignorance and immaturity, but since you did ask about Austin, I feel obligated to educate you.

Austin is MUCH different than Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Its motto is "Keep Austin Weird," and while it is the state capital and has grown by leaps and bounds since I first arrived 15 years ago, it is still much smaller and more manageable than the other cities you mentioned. No matter where you reside in the city limits, you can get to any part of Austin (North, East, South, West, Central) in 15-20 minutes (in non-rush hour traffic, of course).

Austin is highly educated; it ranks in the top ten of highest educated cities in the US. So, we all aren't a bunch of slack-jawed yocals running around with mullets.

Autsin is an open-minded, liberal town which is an attraction to some and a turn off to others.

Austin is cutting edge. All of the latest trends in fashion, food, technology, entertainment, etc. are just a phone call or a short drive away.

Austin is laid back and outdoors. From festivals and concerts to swimming holes and camping sites, it is a great place to kick back and get in tune with mother nature. And whether you like the University of Texas or not, Austin is a great sports town with many local and area teams to follow.

Austin is much safer and cleaner than the other cities you listed.

Austin has a great a night life - fabulous restaurants, good music venues, and a variety of fun clubs and bars.

Austin has also been called the "melting pot" of Texas because of the ethnic and religious diversity. Whether Chinese or Nigerian, Catholic or Jewish - Austin offers a strong sense of community with opportunities for all.

Austin is just one of many great places to visit in Texas, but if you already don't like Texas, then we don't need or want you to visit anyway.

I'm from SoCal! I moved a year ago with my hubby to San Antonio. We hate Tx as well so don't feel bad. San Antonio is boring and slow. We already traveled to all the cities but the only one that I can say We love is Austin. We go every weekend. It reminds us of home. Austin is more caught up in times then any other city in Tx. They have everything. Wonderful place to see. I especially love the lake. My hubby loves the food. Good Luck!

You have never said you were living in Texas. If you dislike Texas so darn much then stop visiting the State. With your attitude of "I don't like Texas one bit" then it doesn't matter what Austin is like, you won't like it.

Is Austin different than the other cities in Texas?

Well it is a decent question, but you could ask if San Francisco is different from LA. Or if Buffalo is different from Manhattan.

Texas is the largest state in the 48 contiguous US states. All of the major cities (with the exception of San Antonio and Austin and the DFW areas) are further apart than New York and DC.

The above responders have said that Austin is very liberal, however, voting records indicate that Travis county has voted more conservatively almost every election for the past 20 years. The "Keep Austin Weird" motto was very appropriate in the 70s and even the early 80s when the city was much smaller, now 50,000 students is not that big of an impact on a metroploitan area approaching 2 million people. The weirdness is decreasing. Austin used to be a great party town, but it is much more subdued than it used to be. While it calls itself the "Live Music Capital of the World" most of the music is not remarkable. There are still a few good places.

The city is in the hill country as one responder mentioned, but so is the upper 1/3rd of San Antonio. These two cities are rapidly growing towards each other. In the 60s it was over 100 miles from San Antonio to Austin, now it is about 70. AT the same time the small towns in between are growing and soon the 2 will be similar to Dallas and Fort Worth.

Don't get me wrong, I love Austin, and it is still different than Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, though as all of these cities grow into sprawling metroplexes they are losing their individuality. San Antonio has always had a small town attitude, which in many ways hurts the city, but the metropolitan area is now over 7,000 square miles and it is hard to think of the 7th largest city in the US as a small town. Houston always wanted to be a world class city, separate from the rest of the state, but never seemed to rise to world class level. Dallas is very busy, but just ends up being unfriendly.

If you like downtown SA then you will like the main part of Austin, but just like SA it is growing too fast and is losing a lot of it's charm.

The biggest problem with all of the cities you mentioned is their popularity. You mentioned Houston 4th largest city in US, San Antonio 7th largest city in US, Dallas 9th Largest city in US and Austin 15th largest city in US. And all of these are continuing to grow even more as the housing issues and job rates chase people out of the north and midwest and even California into the Southwest.

I married a Texan 17 years ago. He was from the Dallas area and we spent our first year of marriage there. I begged and pleaded for him to be willing to leave his home state for someplace/anyplace else as I assumed that all of Texas was like Dallas and that all Texans were like Dallasites. He decided to bring me to visit Austin for a weekend(he had attend UT) just to see another side of life.After that weekend, I told him if he expected me to make a life in this state, it would have to be in this town. Austin is a great place to be if you're married with or without kids because so many people move from all over so your neighbors become your family--it's really nice. I also fully recognize that it would be fun to be single here since there are countless things to do from lakes and parks, entertainment, restaurants, music fests, theater etc. The area is beautiful and you are in proximity to some great places to visit like San Antonio, South Padre, the Hill country, or major sporting events. Summers are hot, traffic isn't great but is improving. It really is different here from the other cities you've mentioned. If it wasn't, I couldn't have lasted this long! Take care.

Austin is like an oasis in the middle of this humongous dry, flat state. It has rolling hills, lakes, scenic drives, the hill country, water slides, water parks, caves, the best music scene in the US, and it used to be home to the Armadillo World Headquarters where Elvis even played. It has grown but deep down it is still Austin and there isn't any other place in Texas that comes anywhere near it. I wouldn't live anywhere else in Texas.

Austin is no different than any other Texas town.