(countArriving-countLeaving) / (countLeaving+countArriving)
Score
35
Austin
TX
•
US
Moving to
Staying
Leaving
For work
Moved to Austin in 1981 after high school to start my adult life. It was a wonderland of natural beauty and free thinkers. Austin was a small City with a great University and Capitol city roots. Today-The city of Austin isn’t a family friendly city. We all love dogs but dogs have more rights and amenities than kids. Try and find a kids soccer field in the city of Austin. The City politics is a close second to California which Austin is quickly becoming with high rents, soaring home prices, and gridlocked traffic. I’m moving to the country where families and young adults are living in harmony, no political discourse, fresh air, fresh food and lots of space. I don’t want to be the older guy complaining about what I’ve experienced this once utopian city becoming. I’ve had my fun here, it’s time to pass Austin along to the next generation!
Mortgage for a 4 bedroom house outside the city is less expensive than our rent for a 800 square foot apartment in the city. If we continue working from home, this will allow more room to breath and to practice a healthier lifestyle. Also, Austin is significantly growing in population due to the growing tech industry and ever increasing interest of Californians to move here for a less expensive lifestyle. The population growth is great but it also comes with a significant change in the Quintessential Austin vibe and atmosphere. Austin is considered the Live Music Capital but is becoming increasingly hard for musicians to live here because of growing rates. Also, the beautiful mix of the hippy with the cowboy lifestyle is dwindling. There are more out of state residents than Texans here now. It’s wonderful people want to live here, who wouldn’t! It’s beautiful and healthy. However, we are losing some of our armadillo lifestyle ( look up Armadillo World Headquarters and you’ll know what I’m talking about). So many of our true Austin stomping grounds are gone or unpopular. Largely due to our inability to control rising property tax and complete inability to recognize Austin history. what’s most upsetting are neighbors like East Austin that are being largely gentrified! The East Austin neighborhoods have been the home to Hispanic and Black communities but because of the rising tax rate, it is becoming increasingly expensive for families to stay there. You’ll see million dollar homes pop up next to small low income homes. I believe three East Austin schools have been shut down because of lack student population and funding. Families can’t afford to live there so they move out of the city and the schools shut down. One school, Metz Elementary, has been a historically Hispanic school that offers a safe place and a since of community is just gone after 100 years. Why? Because of our inability to protect Austin history and growing prices. People are losing a sense of home because of growing cost and change due to that cost. As with any growing city, things will be left behind and forgotten but god am I going to miss it! I appreciate the Austin commitment to stay weird but it’s losing some of the things that made it weird in the first place. SORRY FOR THE RANT. We are mainly moving for economic reasons, as stated in the first sentence, but it never hurts to provide detail. (: Pease Out Girl Scout! Stay weird ✌️
I'm moving to be closer to family. I still have my job here in Austin, but the pandemic has reminded me why it's important to be within driving distance of my loved ones. I need to be there if someone were to get sick so I can help take care of them. It's not a money or rent thing for me — it's about going back home and trying to make it there instead of in a city where I don't have any family close by. I'm planning to move in early December.
Sick of US direction as a country.
Cheaper
We moved to Austin from Oregon a while back, but with the pandemic, increasing rent prices, and just being fed up with city claustrophobia (not to mention the summer heat), we miss our family and the woods too much to stick around.
We will be moving from a rental to homeownership
In the past 10 years, I’ve lived in 6 different cities in different states. I don’t like staying in one place for too long. I want to experience as much of the world as I can. When I first visited Austin, I loved it. But after living here for almost 2 years (feels too long already) that new city smell is wearing off. All the “natives” constantly complain about how much the city is changing and SF transplants are just…ugh 🙄 I’ve always wanted to live in NYC—especially before starting a family and now seems like a good time.
Three years ago I moved back to Austin (home for me) after college, hoping to ride the wave of growth. It's been less glamorous than I hoped, and now the company I work for froze raises and promotions for 2020 - I was due for one in January. I still make an entry-level wage, so if I am going to try and "get ahead" I feel like I need a jump start. New York rent is said to be falling, and with all the people supposedly leaving, it seems like a great opportunity to get a job there and experience the city in my mind's eye when I think of success. Many of my college friends that moved to the city have seen multiple promotions since starting, and I think the pace of business up there has something to do with it. I love Austin, but this city is more expensive than I remember. I came for the lifestyle, but I still feel like I'm still in a rat race down here - only, its not a competition between other go-getters, but against the cost of living. I'd love to stay, but I need that catalyst if I ever want more than a 3% salary increase. I know there are high-growth opportunities in Austin, but those jobs seem to be reserved for the people coming from SF and New York anyways. It would also be misleading if I didn't mention that I miss my community. I haven't had the same friendships in Austin as I had at school, and going to NY would give me the opportunity to reconnect, and likely meet more like-minded people.
I've been offered the position of a lifetime to relocate to NYC. Despite COVID-19, my wife and I are excited to experience everything the city has to offer. It may be a couple years before we return to normalcy, but it will be worth the wait.
College
I’m panicking, I can’t stand the idea to leave. But there is only one personne who can help. This person lives in France. I’m devastated, lost everything. Not sure why I’m answering this....
Be closer to family now that everything we do is remote/virtual
I moved before Covid, but for some similar reasons. I lived in Austin while it grew by over 1 million people. The 2bdrm house across the street from us sold for $800K in cash in 2018. Sure, cost of living might be cheaper than SF, but still far more expensive when compared to smaller urban/rural areas. Austin's infrastructure didn't accommodate this surge in growth. So in 2019 I packed up and took a 13,000 mile roadtrip over 6 months to explore smaller towns with epic outdoor access. I found western Colorado. I bought a 3bdrm house downtown for $280K with faster internet than I could get in Austin. I can access 100s of miles of world-class mountain bike trails within minutes. Today, communities all over the country have the same hip breweries, arts, music (pre-covid), river-walks, etc -- but with far fewer crowds than Austin and other 'tech hubs'. And now the hubs matter less in a remote work world. The migration is underway. Here in western CO, we are witnessing a migration surge from Denver. People visit for mountain biking, rafting, or wineries and realize, "wait, this is the Colorado I was promised!" Why fight traffic for an hour to access a crowded trail? Why risk living in covid epicenters?
Tired of the violence
I plan to move but in the next 12 months. My oldest son is going into 5th grade this year and I want to wait so that he can have a smooth transition into middle school.
Moving a short term rental property out of Chicago to Austin
New position will be based in the Austin office.
Being present is half of the battle as a young talent manager. Being in LA has been a must. But with remote meetings and connecting far more normalized, I'm hoping that I can be in touch with my Texas roots and still excel in the entertainment industry.
High taxes in California, Private School too expensive and it appears that LA is going to be in perpetual lockdown because of COVID - so we are GTFO. Our 2000 square foot house of 18 years is scheduled to close in two weeks and we already have an accepted offer to buy a 4,600 square foot home in an Austin suburb for almost half the price of what we are selling our home for here in California. Free at last, free at last.
New position will be based in the Austin office.
I actually left SF last summer after four years living here. SF continues to be my favorite city, but it got to be too damn expensive. I had a great job making six figures a year, and even that income couldn't provide the quality of life that living in Texas has given me. My salary was cut 30% with the move yet I'm still taking home more money each month due to rent ($800/mo in ATX vs. $2000/mo in SF), and things are just cheaper here.
Rent, taxes, Texas > California
Retiring,way cheaper in texas
Im working remotely due to Covid and my partner was laid off because of Covid and found a new job in Austin
I ended up moving on 4/1. I had been trying to leave NYC for a while and finally found a job that allowed for that. Most of my friends still in NYC have left their apartments in the city and moved to the suburbs to live with their in-laws. I had grown so tired of the cost of living and terrible apartments. For a similar cost, I moved into a luxury building in an exciting neighborhood from a 4th floor walk up with no amenities in a shady neighborhood
The rent is too damn high.
Following my son who is leaving Los Angeles. Getting out of over-regulated, expensive California.
Let's say a move in 9 months, instead of 6. I'd like to move to Austin and work for The Hustle. I've managed to survive two Oil and Gas downturns in 9 years, and despite my good fortune I'm ready for a new challenge and modern work environment. Onto a smaller city and greener thinking! And the live music never hurt anyone. -Morgan
Cost of living, taxes
Rents and taxes!! Rents for retail space as well are not sustainable. For a company to lease a spot, rents result in negative monthly cash flow why open a store if it’s chase flow negative amenity??!?
Change of pace/cost of living
Job was eliminated in Florida due to COVID and we are relocating to Austin Texas for more job opportunities and to be closer to family
High cost of living while living on top of each other. Bad combo.
We will be moving from a rental to homeownership
Not required to be back in the office this year and at least through Jan 2021. Expecting full remote permanently.
Tired of the violence
I am over 8 month winters and want to be outside more of the year. Additionally, with COVID and everything happening politically, the city is more difficult to navigate than it was just months ago. I now want a car and access to nature.
Paying $4k for a 1 bedroom 620 sq ft apartment, only to walk over needles and human feces every time I leave my apartment. Nahh I'm good.
To do something bigger & better with my life.
We have a 600 sf apartment I paid nearly half a million for. It's wonderful to walk to work, to my son's daycare, to everything we need. We have a car and only drive about 3,000 miles a year. There are many reasons we want to move but most of all, D.C. is just too expensive. We have to get a bigger place for our family, and the idea of spending $1 million on a home that's still pretty small is just not appealing. Daycare is obscenely expensive and the service culture here is unwelcoming, making evening outings to restaurants and things not particularly enjoyable. While there is a lot of nature close by, it is not epic and is expensive to vacation even in the areas around D.C. So long as I can work remotely, I may as well be closer to family and in a more financially reasonable place.
Just graduated from Wake Forest University and am starting my post-grad career.
Can't deal with having roommates anymore, want more consistent sunshine, a better and bigger kitchen to explore my new-found love of cooking.
When the pandemic occurred, my fiance and I became acutely aware that we are surrounded by others in our building, and all the things we love about Chicago (street festivals, easy public transportation, friends) have been taken away from us. Now, we're prioritizing space over location. And warm weather.
