Pros:
- “silicon hills” - lots of tech jobs, second only to the Bay Area if you do embedded software or hardware.
- Chill vibe. Friendly people, low crime, thriving LBGTQ+ community
- World-class tacos, BBQ, and beer
- Lots of bars and nightlife if that’s your cup of tea
- Moderate cost of living. Not as good as 10 years ago, but still very doable, especially if you are willing to live out in the ‘burbs. Still possible to have a nice house and put your kids in good schools without being in the 1%. Unlike the Bay Area, not priced out of having a family.
- Spring and Fall. For about 6-8 months of the year, great weather.
- Lots of stuff to do in driving distance. Good outdoor hikes, boating/fishing/camping, and lots of stuff to do in Houston and Dallas.
- Good seasonal events. SXSW, ACL, F1 race, UT football
- UT is here and it’s very possible to go for a top-10-ranked engineering masters degree while you work a high-paying tech job.
Cons:
— Summer. 90 days of 100F+ weather.
- Winter. Infrastructure not set up for snow / ice, but it happens for a few days every year or two. When it does, it is exceptionally disruptive.
- Traffic. IH-35 through downtown Austin is consistently rated the most congested piece of highway in the USA. Public transport is weak, most people need to have a car.
- Police. During the Black Lives Matter protests, things broke down between the community and APD. A bunch “quiet quit” and sit in their cars playing on their phone all day. 911 has had 30 minute hold times. It’s to the point they sent in the state police to help. Expect hours to get a response for non-violent crime.
- Food. Outside of tacos, beer, BBQ, there are limited options. Somewhat mitigated by world-class food in Houston being a two hour drive away.
- Allergies. Cedar pollen turns everyone’s cars green for weeks at a time. Not fun to breathe that stuff.
- Museums, Performing Arts. Not much here. Again, somewhat mitigated by world-class options in Houston and Dallas being in day-tripping distance.
- High property taxes. TX has no state income tax, but the property tax ends up being higher than state income tax in CA in many circumstances.
All-in-all, it’s not a bad place to live.