• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Have the option to move to either Austin or Houston TX. Need advice.

Anacaona

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,907
Hey folks,

Company offered me a raise if I move to either Houston or Austin. What do you guys think it's the best city to live in?

I'm doing some research on my own, but want to hear from you guys.

Thanks :D

Edit, I'm moving from Wisconsin.

I'm a Software Engineer, if that helps.
 
captive

captive

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,044
Houston
to live in? Houston.

to visit once in a while, austin?

source me, lived in houston my whole life, except the 5 years i lived in austin for college.
 
piratepwnsninja

piratepwnsninja

Lead Game Designer
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
3,811
I love the Austin area. Moved here almost three years ago now. I actually live in Round Rock, which is just north of Austin.
 
Beignet

Beignet

alt account
Banned
Aug 1, 2020
2,638
Houston is cheaper but the sprawl is something else. Austin's a lot more fun but goddamn has it gotten expensive recently
 
Slackerchan

Slackerchan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,410
Austin, TX
Austin is growing by leaps and bounds but so too is the cost of living here. For long term affordability you'll need to live outside the city, possibly outside Travis or even Williamson county. I love my city, don't get me wrong, but unless you have a high paying job and don't mind traffic-bound commutes, don't even think about trying to live north of 290/71 and south of 183.
 
TaySan

TaySan

SayTan
Member
Dec 10, 2018
31,629
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Austin is way more expensive, but also has lower chances of being hit by hurricanes. Houston is more affordable, but the sprawl is real.
 
ignata

ignata

Member
Dec 26, 2017
826
Denver
Austin and it's not even close. I lived in Houston for a decade and it was horrible. It's like a small city squashed and spread out for 100 miles. Terrible public transportation. Nothing there of note in terms of fun. Austin is a wonderful city, lots to do, great food, great people.

Politically both are blue islands in the red sea of TX, but Houston is barely while Austin is the opposite of the rest of the state.

Gaming wise you'll find more gaming related activities in Austin than Houston. I don't believe Houston had any the years I was there.

Edit: sheesh forgot about the hurricanes even. Another mark against Houston.
 
Kthulhu

Kthulhu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,670
Probably more software jobs in Austin, and if you're renting it's not much worse than Houston.
 
ZeroMaverick

ZeroMaverick

Member
Mar 5, 2018
4,443
Not Houston. The traffic is horrible. The people here are very terrible drivers. The city floods pretty much once or twice a year now. Lots of MAGAts. LOTS. Our sports teams mostly suck. Downtown is an ugly shell of nothingness where pretty much every building is for rent. Food is great, but it's just as good in Austin. Pretty bad crime. They've undertaken a huge freeway project recently that will make the traffic far worse for the next 5 years. I'm talkin 1-2 hours to drive 15 miles. Austin sucks too because it's a bunch of liberal yuppies, but Houston is worse.
 
GoldenEye 007

GoldenEye 007

Roll Tide, Y'all!
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,833
Texas
Austin is going to be more fun - especially if you're into quirky culture/bar/live music. It's expensive and it's a college town with a massive university downtown. Better weather, shit-tier traffic. Tons of scooters. You're in Hill Country, so more scenic when you get out of the city. Closer to San Antonio and San Marcos. Racial issues they like to gloss over.

Houston is a massive sprawl with shitty traffic. Hot/humid, cheaper living expenses. I'd argue much more culture in general, but kind of segregated. Close to Galveston (meh) and NASA.
 
Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,781
San Antonio.

Kidding aside, if Round Rock is an option it's just 20-30 mins outside of Austin depending on how bad traffic is. But prices in both are high, I'd imagine Houston just a bit lower but idk. Good luck, you'll enjoy the warm weather!

Houston is closer to the coast and NoLA if that matters to you
 
mute

mute

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,226
Austin b/c of hurricanes - someone that has to deal with hurricanes
 
Beignet

Beignet

alt account
Banned
Aug 1, 2020
2,638
ZeroMaverick said:
Not Houston. The traffic is horrible. The people here are very terrible drivers. The city floods pretty much once or twice a year now. Lots of MAGAts. LOTS. Our sports teams mostly suck. Downtown is an ugly shell of nothingness where pretty much every building is for rent. Food is great, but it's just as good in Austin. Pretty bad crime. They've undertaken a huge freeway project recently that will make the traffic far worse for the next 5 years. I'm talkin 1-2 hours to drive 15 miles. Austin sucks too because it's a bunch of liberal yuppies, but Houston is worse.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Are there really lots of MAGAts in Houston proper? I thought that was really just in the places north of it like Humble and The Woodlands
 
captive

captive

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,044
Houston
Mondo Cool said:
Houston is cheaper but the sprawl is something else. Austin's a lot more fun but goddamn has it gotten expensive recently
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Slackerchan said:
Austin is growing by leaps and bounds but so too is the cost of living here. For long term affordability you'll need to live outside the city, possibly outside Travis or even Williamson county. I love my city, don't get me wrong, but unless you have a high paying job and don't mind traffic-bound commutes, don't even think about trying to live north of 290/71 and south of 183.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
about that. Austin is growing, but they're aren't growing the infrastructure like at all. and their traffic is worse imo. Houston's traffic is predictable typically, rush hour or construction zones.

i remember visiting our friends one time and we went to a store and it took is like 30 minutes to get from the store back to the freeway, no accident, no police issue, just ridiculous rush hour like ass traffic on a saturday morning.

in college one time it took us an hour to go from St Edwards to just past UT because some idiot had a wreck on the other side of the double decker on 35. so no matter if you took the lower deck or the upper deck you were fucked.
 
BloodHound

BloodHound

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,062
Austin has better weather, is more expensive, and less diverse ethnically. Houston has a great night life, terrible weather, and is spread out a ton. Both have terrible traffic and really good food.
 
ZeroMaverick

ZeroMaverick

Member
Mar 5, 2018
4,443
Commedieu said:
is the cost of living really that vastly different?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
No. Houston has neighborhoods that are VERY cheap, which skews the average down. If you value your property or in some cases your life, then you'll want to avoid these neighborhoods. If you take those neighborhoods out, the cost of what's left is pretty much the same.
 
CatAssTrophy

CatAssTrophy

Member
Dec 4, 2017
7,670
Texas
Houston is underrated and the cost of living is great. Their transformation of bayous into running and biking trails had been awesome and they're revamping several parks now too. There's never not something to do and it's bigger than Austin so popular spots end up being less crowded.

I love Austin but don't know if I could live there unless I was making insane money. It's so expensive and all of the places people tell me to go visit or eat at are either too busy and crowded to deal with or they end up not living up to the hype.

Too bad the pandemic means it's risky to visit both to get a feel for them.
 

Deleted member 46804

User requested account closure
Banned
Aug 17, 2018
4,129
Austin is filled with tech industry jobs, is more progressive and has tons of nightlife and food. The only reason not to go with Austin is if the cost of living is too high for you or you want to be closer to the ocean.
 
VorpalNonsense

VorpalNonsense

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,673
There have been many threads like this that have taught me much about Houston and Austin
Teach me about San Antonio
 
janusff

janusff

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
18,181
Austin, TX
SpottieO said:
Austin is too expensive tbh and I think the traffic worse than Houston.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
you know, the traffic was bad in austin.. but then the pandeimic hit at pretty much the same time ih 35 was finally finished with construction. suddenly traffic is a lot better in austin. now if only they could finally finish that 290 area by the airport smh
 
ZeroMaverick

ZeroMaverick

Member
Mar 5, 2018
4,443
captive said:
about that. Austin is growing, but they're aren't growing the infrastructure like at all. and their traffic is worse imo. Houston's traffic is predictable typically, rush hour or construction zones.

i remember visiting our friends one time and we went to a store and it took is like 30 minutes to get from the store back to the freeway, no accident, no police issue, just ridiculous rush hour like ass traffic on a saturday morning.

in college one time it took us an hour to go from St Edwards to just past UT because some idiot had a wreck on the other side of the double decker on 35. so no matter if you took the lower deck or the upper deck you were fucked.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You are incorrect about the traffic. Unless you count rush hour as 3pm...
 
JohnsonUT

JohnsonUT

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,032
Another thing to keep in mind. Many flights out of Austin require layovers in either Dallas or Houston. If you are going to fly back to Wisconsin quite often, this may be something to consider for quality of life.
 
Stooge

Stooge

Member
Oct 29, 2017
11,327
Austin is the best city in Texas (@ me bros), but much much more expensive.

Houston is also a very good city, but has pockets of suck between the parts that are good and the zoning laws are weird as hell. Austin's shitty parts are relegated to the outer edges of the city and not the center of it. Houstons is kind of all the fuck over the place.
 
Dega

Dega

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,378
I dunno but keep in mind that Galveston Island isn't too far from Houston. In case you would like a beach nearby to hang out at in the summer.

Once the pandemic gets better anyways lol
 
ZeroMaverick

ZeroMaverick

Member
Mar 5, 2018
4,443
I mean, the weather alone should be reason enough to avoid Houston. Renters insurance doesn't cover flood damage here.
 
JohnsonUT

JohnsonUT

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,032
VorpalNonsense said:
There have been many threads like this that have taught me much about Houston and Austin
Teach me about San Antonio
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Best breakfast tacos in Texas.
Best Mexican Food.
More affordable than other cities.
Most unique culture. Lots of parades and river parades and festivals tied to Texas/San Antonio history.
Pretty interesting history going pretty far back.
Short drive to Austin for a fun weekend.
 
Beignet

Beignet

alt account
Banned
Aug 1, 2020
2,638
Austin has been completely taken over by California liberal NIMBYs and well-to-do asshole libertarian/Republicans that heard all about our awesome ass city and blew up the real estate and infrastructure. Knowing how Texas government operates, nothing will be done to mitigate or rectify the absurd level of gentrification.

It's sad because it's a really cool city.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.