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Austin is not a 'semi-large city' - according to the U.S. Census, it's the 13th largest metro area in the country.

13th largest city, 34th largest metro, both by population.

If it were ever to be declared a CSA with San Antonio, they'd be of similar size to Seattle-Tacoma or Minneapolis-St Paul. Which seem 'semi-large' to me, especially on global scene.

This is a fair point. However, if you do what we do, Austin is arguably the second best place to live outside of SF/Bay Area. The concentration of very smart people, technology and startups in this city can be very surprising for people who haven't spent a lot of time here.

I also wouldn't call Austin the middle of nowhere. Within a 3 hour drive are Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio each being in the top 10 for populous cities. Arguably, Chicago is more isolated.

No "Arguably" about it; Chicago is more isolated, but it's also much bigger.

But you'll find most Texans have never left the state of Texas. Texas is just that big. By and large the people here are very isolated.

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