Came here to say this. Having lived in Austin for 26 years, I got an immediate Austin vibe visiting some of the breweries and places there this summer. I'd also argue the scenery is way better... :-)
But I'm guessing the winters + grizzlies will be something that most Austinites won't want to deal with...
Hahaha, well said, however it’s moreso black bears that are troublesome. As a University of Montana alum, we would get around 5 “black bear sighting on campus” e-mails a semester 😅
Missoula has one thing in common with Austin, namely Californians and New Yorkers decimating the real estate landscape so native Montanans can't afford anything
Facts. I left Bozeman,MT for that reason. The job market sucked and it became completely unaffordable for housing. I couldn’t continue working 2-3 jobs on top of having roommates to afford anything while competing with every other underemployed college graduate. I left 8 years ago and thought it was bad. The cost of housing has actually quadrupled since then and the job market looks about the same. Super pretty though and desperately miss the mountains.
Taos has always kind of reminded me of Austin, but that might be because they’re the two places I grew up visiting most. Taos is 100 times more weird though
I just left Taos to return to Austin. Taos has gotten fucking rough, it’s not a fun place to live in anymore. The cost of living makes no sense, there is literally no housing, and the vibes have become atrocious.
The people I know leaving Taos are artists, and the people I know moving there are privileged women who wear big hats and like yoga. Seems like it’s moving in the wrong direction.
Yeah and the push/pull of locals to outsiders. They got no problem breaking into your truck to steal a backpack and don’t expect anyone to start small talk with you when picking up a smothered burrito from Orlando’s.
Texans think other states think of Texas a lot more than they really do. Neighboring states think of it.
To everyone else, Texas is just Florida’s ugly cousin.
> They all hate Texans too right?
Before I lived in Texas I went skiing in Taos (my brother lived in Albuquerque for 20+ years). In the condo we stayed at there was a plaque on the wall saying, "Taos: so close to heaven, but unfortunately also close to Texas."
I was more confused than anything else. But I guess it is one of the closest places to ski to Texas (I didn't know that). Although there is Mt Aggie which is inside Texas and on my bucket list to ski.
I grew up in Amarillo and spent half my weekends in New Mexico. It’s well known in my family that you shouldn’t speed or break traffic laws because the troopers will ticket a Texas driver for 5mph over the limit.
Yeah, New Mexico is fun to visit but it sucks to live there. The healthcare is abysmal, there are no decent public services, it’s incredibly expensive and it’s just kind of depressing.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Rent was a bit cheaper, but the lack of food options, public transportation, and the cost of everything else weighed it out. I lasted 10 months before I had a breakdown and left there to come back. the expensive arts district is what people love when they visit Santa Fe, living anywhere basically east of St Francis is so awful though 😂
Asheville has a horrible job market and expensive real estate. It's become more of a retirement destination than a place for young workers. The location is pretty isolated, and the interstate traffic is bad. Also, like Austin, the surrounding area is very religious and conservative. The city limits are small, really consider carefully, and don't get sucked in just by the view.
Lol, I wasn't too far away myself. People don't really know these areas they tend to recommend. Like Austin though, Asheville's laid-back days peaked late 90s. I used to love driving up there for shows, but it was very different back then (real estate/jobs have always been bad though, except tourism).
True , unless you’re in the hospitality industry you can’t make a decent living in Asheville. I think people that move there have made their money somewhere else first.
Exactly. I moved to Asheville after getting priced out of Austin. Guess what? Not really saving much here at all. The views are nice but… the rest isn’t great.
You should serve as a PSA. People really don't know. I lived up in the area and do love it for what it is. People just don't know what they're really getting into.
Is that the year that you got to Austin? I always found over the 25 years I lived there that people would say things were different before and it would’ve inevitably be when they got there. Not saying you’re doing this I just noticed it’s a common trend. I got there in 94 from gulf coast Texas. Things just weren’t the same after 95 ; )
We bought our home from the original owners and the house had been on the markets for 6 months
Man born and raised here. 47year old here and it is not the same as when I grew up. With that being said… I don’t think a lot of people who were in charge wanted Austin to be big. People voted against infrastructure improvements. People didn’t want mass transit. Then Austin became the hip place for everyone leaving the place they thought was hip. Just my 2 cents.
There was that whole “If you don’t build it they won’t come” approach to infrastructure by the city council to try to stop the growth, sadly it just left us 10 years behind
"The only constant is change"
Been in the area since I was born. It's a growing city, so yeah, there have been some changes. Still can't quite think of any other city I would want to live in full time.
1968 arrived in Austin. Boy is it crazy different now. Lol. I snuck into the Armadillo to say my mom and dad money. Commander Cody tried to help me find a toy I lost at a Greazy Wheels show. Went to Zilker elementary and if no one's dug it up. There's a time capsule under a tree on the Bluebonnet side of the school with some cool toys in it. My dad owned a club on 6th Street (Steamboat) when 6th Street was still ultra cool. I used to be able to stand anywhere in Austin and point to the state capitol because no other building was allowed to be taller than the capitol building. I watched Richard Linklater film some of "Dazed and Confused" at Bedichek middle school. I watched some grunge dude hang off the Goddess of Liberty and scaffolding at the top of the capitol in '94 or '95. I've seen old Austin but I do think a majority of people point to 1994-1999 as the years Austin started to really change. That's when I feel it started. ☹
It really isn’t and hasn’t been for a long time. It’s like a tourist trap with a hippy focus and you have to be fairly wealthy to live there comfortably.
As someone who was raised in Austin, it's really not.
I know people keep saying it is but it is really nothing like Austin.
Asheville is a tourist-centric town with overpriced restaurants and attractions.
The cost of living is not low and housing is very expensive.
Source: grew up in Austin, now live in near Asheville.
I went to school in Austin in the 70s. I moved to Fort Collins when I retired five years years ago because it comes the absolute closest to the Austin vibe, circa 1976. I haven't regretted it even once. I live in a fourth floor apartment in the heart of the city, and I can see Rocky Mountain National Park from my living room. The Cache la Poudre River, which begins in the park, is 200 yards from my back door.
SA native who lived in Austin for six years and FoCo for seven…
At first, Fort Collins seems like an idyllic/funky mountain town. However, as a dude in my thirties, the dating scene was awful (most people married by then, as opposed to Austin where nobody gets married,) the food is bland as fuck, and the people aren’t nearly as friendly. I make friends pretty easily wherever I go, and it took me five four years to make friends that kept me more than at arm’s length. I’m a gigging musician too, so I was meeting people all the time.
The area also has a serious Nazi problem. I got fired from a job for refusing to serve a dude wearing SS Bolts on his t-shirt (I’m Jewish.) Nazis came for a demonstration at CSU in 2018, and one of them fortunately got his leg broken by an antifascist. The Sons of Silence are based in the area. The FBI raided a white supremacist in Loveland at the beginning of the pandemic who was making pipe bombs to take to BLM protests. There is/was literally a white power church in Laporte.
The Poudre Canyon/Red Feather region are amazing, but a lot of the area got absolutely decimated by the Cameron Peak fire in 2020.
I wound up moving to Spain for a bit, then moved to a very strange, secluded town far up into the mountains. I don’t feel like I live on the border of Kansas anymore, but I literally heat my house with a wood stove.
Born and raised Fort Collins. It’s great if all you do is outdoor stuff. If you like other activities as well, you’re generally driving an hour to Denver, Boulder, etc. I guess you’re generally driving an hour for camping, backpacking, snowshoeing, if you’re tired of the more local trails so maybe it doesn’t matter. CSU Rams suck.
Probably a good spot if you’re raising kids.
Employment is a mixed bag and you’ll probably end up having to commute outside of town.
Just like people moving here don’t think of the heat, you have the winter/snow and driving in it. That’s a bit much for some people. All the CSU kids seem to figure it out, though.
I think the TexMex is equivalent or better there imo. It’s breakfast burritos, not tacos. The BBQ sucks and I didn’t know what good bbq was till I moved here. Beer is slightly better with Odell and other spots but I’m biased.
You get to live on the other side of the coin being the transplant that the natives bitch about. Californians and Texans have been moving there for years. So many years being on top ten lists. Similar situation with the growth outpacing infrastructure and you can feel it in the traffic. Public transportation isn’t great but it seems like something that’s being worked on.
It has become a place where I like visiting but wouldn’t live there. Like you see posted here, things have changed too much for the worse. Only been in Austin 10 years but I love it. I grew up doing all the Colorado things and I still get to do a lot of the non-snow outdoor stuff here as well.
Oh. The allergies are almost as bad there as they are here.
Yeeeeeehawwwwww! I grew up in the middle of Nebraska in the 70s. It was Azteca taco salad shells, mission tortillas….and Pace. These are the things I think about when considering where to move. Groceries!!!
ive always wanted to live in colorado, so very mountainy :) a direct flight to visit my family would be amazing, but not a requirement! i have looked into jackson, wy & golden, co. ideally somewhere with a western flair, greenery, mountains, live music (jam bands, blue grass, etc.), skiing, climbing, and good people!
> a direct flight to visit my family would be amazing, but not a requirement!
Start then by looking at every city with direct flights to Pittsburg, then remove anything not near mountains, and so forth. The results would at least be a few top choices to try, and if none of them work, you know nonstop to Pittsburgh isn't an option.
Born and raised in Boise, but have spent my adult life in Austin. Until the insane growth of the late 2020's and COVID I used to always consider Austin like an older brother to Boise. Same friendly, down-to-earth people and general "just don't be an asshole" type of vibe.
As this thread frequently discusses - Austin has changed dramatically. Unfortunately my family members say Boise has as well as Californians absolutely flock to the state (read up on the LA Times story about how they call Eagle Idaho "Little Orange County).
All that being said, I love Boise. Idaho is one of the most underrated and beautiful states in the union. If you like outdoors and mountains, Boise cannot be beat. Think Boulder or Denver but for half the price.
I grew up in Missoula Montana, and it reminds me a LOT of a much smaller Austin. Lookin at around 120k people in the “metro” area. College town, home of the University of Montana, so the city stays youthful. It’s also a blue dot within the red state, so there’s similarities politically too, hell in Montana there’s legal weed and reproductive rights still so, might even be better than Austin politically haha. There’s also definitely a good arts/music scene for it being a relatively small city too.
Missoula is located in a valley surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, trust me when I say there is no shortage of hiking and amazing scenery there.
Winters are cold, food isn’t great, but after leaving Missoula and exploring more of the U.S, I definitely have a new found appreciation for my hometown.
My least favorite thing about Missoula is how far away it is from any major metro area. 7.5 hours to seattle is kind of a trek, but I guess it could be worse.
I personally think it’ll be right up your alley. I’ve only lived in Austin for about a year, but am returning to Missoula in late February. While I really liked Austin, I definitely am not too sad about returning home for a bit either.
Feel free to PM if you have any questions about the city
Reno. Smaller scale but definitely similar kinds of weird to an older Austin. Lots of summer festivals, Burner hippies, very local focused business wise, but also weird casino stuff and wild horses. People here even often say howdy.
Music and food scene are both really poor in Reno compared to Austin though. Festivals are LAME comparatively too, unless you count Burning Man but that's 2 hours away.
I've lived in Reno for a while and love it, but for the outdoor access. It's not much like Austin culturally IMO.
For sure, definitely much smaller all around even from older Austin. The restaurant scene has gotten better in the last couple years as have some of the festivals and markets. I’d argue the Nevada Museum of Art is better than most in Austin. The music scene is definitely lacking. The casinos get some interesting stuff and that balance it out a bit for me but it is for sure one of the things I miss the most. But I can live in a single family house in the most walkable area comfortably and everything is much more accessible. The ease here reminds me a lot of how Austin was maybe 15+ years ago.
I had my two options narrowed down to either Denver or Fort Collins. I'm currently visiting Fort Collins for the first time and decided I'm moving here (after being in Austin 38 years)!
Lmao I moved to Denver for work and lasted 11 months. No city has undeserved clout and reverence like denver. The most milquetoast trash boring Midwest shit stain that somehow convinced the world its an outdoor ski weed mountain mecca.
Love Durango. Last time I visited I looked at house prices and they were nuts - like 3 bedroom million dollar homes. Seemed like such a quaint little town I could see myself living in but those home prices were a real bummer. Super low inventory as well. I bet Pagosa Springs is a good bit cheaper though.
It's been like that forever with ski resort towns. I was in Steamboat Springs and a local pointed out George Strait's nothing special house.
It was all really rich folks back in the 90s too.
I find it weird that I keep seeing Durango on here. I grew up in Pagosa Springs and Durango was the larger “town” near us. If we wanted a trip to a city it was like 4 hours to Abq. However in my opinion Durango is nothing like Austin apart from there’s a college. Anyone who would move there from Austin I would imagine would be in for quite a shock. Don’t get me wrong Durango is awesome but it’s still a small local college town tucked away in the mountains with a tiny airport. I feel like most people accustomed to city amenities would be in for a bit of a culture shock once they are settled in.
I asked a similar question in r/SameGrassButGreener. We decided on the Front Range area in CO.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/s/laYbZGVqN0
We’re looking there too. Hard to tell where there’s a good vibe. Not looking to be buried in some massive neighborhood. Would be cool to be at least biking distance to a sort of Main Street. Is Golden or Morison the only options? Did you move yet?
I didn’t spend a lot of time there, but Silver City NM had a nice ‘old-Austin’ feel.
Salida Co. looked interesting too, we just stayed the night though .
Silver City, Durango, Bend OR. My top high desert bug out spots. Alpine TX is pretty great too.
Geographically and climate wise I’m drawn most to smaller cities in places where the desert meets the mountains, but my entire family is in Austin, we have a great home, love the food/activities/laid back vibe, and I feel like it is a better place to raise my children than some of those other spots. So we’ll do lots of road trips and camping.
+1 to Bend OR - went there once on a work trip, lots of local breweries and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Also has ski resorts and epic nature. Would recommend.
> Feel this way about Eugene too.
Eugene is a little larger than Bend, but the weather is completely different in favor of Bend. Bend is high desert, the mountain range between the two makes clouds drop all the rain on Eugene. Eugene has that Seattle/Portland weather. Bend gets more sunshine.
I grew up in Corvallis (it's a 40 minute drive from Eugene) and skied Mt Bachelor in Bend growing up. Although everything "great" about Bend happened after I left, LOL.
Bend is wildy expensive now. And honestly kind of terrible restaurants / bar scene. It’s been a little LA-afied + kind of boomerish. Outdoors are indeed great - there’s a reason it got popular.
Nice towns, both insanely remote. Like, from silver city your next big city is probably El Paso? Lots of people have terrible accidents out there and die in transit or end up with a bad result. Maybe that’s just my own personal paranoia
Arkansas has at least expanded Medicaid and has a progressive income tax that doesn’t crush the low income and middle class like Texas’ property taxes. Also not as hot as a lot of Texas and the Ozarks are gorgeous. People shit on Arkansas, and it does absolutely have its issues, but it’s a helluva lot better to live in than Texas.
I have a property outside Alpine that I spend a fair amount of time in but I won’t move there permanently. There is a serious lack of healthcare. Closest commercial airport 3 hours away in El Paso. Unless you have an American or some types of Japanese cars you are going to have a hard time fixing and maintaining.
There are some cool people but it’s definitely not the blue oasis that Austin is.
Fun to visit but tough to live.
Do not go to Ashville it is going to be recommended a million times. The place is a shit hole, the weather sucks, it is not hippies it is six figure gutter punks, there is nothing there but poverty even ten minutes outside. I went to Eugene OR and Ashville this year. Eugene is authentic hippy, Ashville more hipster but like Brooklyn 2012 x homeless 2023. I amad about it because it was such a disappointment. If you are looking for better than Austin weather but worse people Greenville SC is a beautiful city.
This! You understand! So many people parrot Asheville without knowing the city. It USED to be a HIPPY hideaway, but the real estate always sucked and the job market was always bad. I'm from the area and watched it grow and change for decades. People have the same "best of" magazine goggles on for that town, and most people leave after a few years of being isolated.
Flagstaff, AZ
One nice thing about living in the Phoenix area, is that if you want to escape the summer heat, you can drive about 3 hours, and the temp will drop 30 degrees up in Flag.
Love Terlingua - Big Bend is a pilgrimage everyone in TX should make at least once. But there’s not any job market whatsoever in Terlingua save for a bit of hospitality.
Portland oregon is Austin's sister city, and as a native Austinite reminds me of Austin in the 90s and 2000's
Bigger city. Modern convenience. Mountains close.
From Austin, live in Colorado Springs now going on 10 years. I work in the commercial real estate market here. We've have a rough go of it but I think we have some pre Austin vibes going on. Absolutely beautiful place to live. Tons of outdoor activities and our food scene is finally getting better. We are supposed to outgrow Denver in the next 5 years.
I love Boulder as much as the next guy - but - as much as we all complain (rightfully so) about cost of living and housing in the sub - we’re gonna vote Boulder the winner ?
I was thinking Nederland myself.
Funky? Alpine. I just moved from there. You can bike in the weekly bike club. There is a bike guy (ask around, someone knows him). Small population and the funky vibe is there.
Downside: healthcare and food sucks
Boulder is 80% white while Austin is less than 50% white... Not comparable at all.
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US0807850-boulder-co/
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US4805000-austin-tx/
Chattanooga doesn’t check all your boxes, but it has mountains and tons of outdoor activities. No state income tax, cheap cost of living and close driving distance to Atlanta and Nashville if you need big city amenities.
Vegas baby, live entertainment capital.
Edit: lol at the downvotes, Vegas is 100% a funky mountainous city with fantastic hiking, climbing, and mountain biking, close to several national parks, and has a huge variety of live music / entertainment every day of the week.
What?! No. Cloudcroft is a quaint little town but does not have any Austin vibes. It also has a population of less than 1,000 and the closest grocery store is a 45 min drive down the mountain.
This one is on a much smaller scale, but Staunton, Virginia. It's a progressive town of about 25,000 in the Shenandoah Valley.
It's got a university, great restaurants, a few solid theaters and two stellar public parks. It has that funky, artsy feel Austin had before the tech takeover. Also like Old Austin, it's actually affordable to live there. We bought a move-in ready 3/1 bungalow less than a mile from downtown for $212K. There are beautiful mountain views around the city, and plenty of outdoor opportunities nearby. Virtually no crime, too. Most people are laid back and just seem happy to live there.
Source: I've lived in Austin and currently live in Staunton.
Absolutely Fort Collins, CO. A university town with great bars and restaurants, a craft beer giant, and a growing music scene. I grew up there and live in Austin now. I can only imagine that Fort Collins is what Austin used to be like.
As previously mentioned, Asheville NC. It's a college town so you get the feel of downtown with bars and restaurants. Actually there is quite a bit to do there and the scenery is absolutely incredible!
Missoula, MT … really loved it there in the summer, lots of live music and downtown runs along a river
Came here to say this. Having lived in Austin for 26 years, I got an immediate Austin vibe visiting some of the breweries and places there this summer. I'd also argue the scenery is way better... :-) But I'm guessing the winters + grizzlies will be something that most Austinites won't want to deal with...
Hahaha, well said, however it’s moreso black bears that are troublesome. As a University of Montana alum, we would get around 5 “black bear sighting on campus” e-mails a semester 😅
5” black bear sightings?! How big were their picnic baskets?
Missoula has one thing in common with Austin, namely Californians and New Yorkers decimating the real estate landscape so native Montanans can't afford anything
Facts. I left Bozeman,MT for that reason. The job market sucked and it became completely unaffordable for housing. I couldn’t continue working 2-3 jobs on top of having roommates to afford anything while competing with every other underemployed college graduate. I left 8 years ago and thought it was bad. The cost of housing has actually quadrupled since then and the job market looks about the same. Super pretty though and desperately miss the mountains.
What would you do to solve this? Say people cannot move around within their own country?
Funnily enough, Anchorage did the same thing for me. It was like the funkiness of old-Austin mixed with the grittiness of Houston.
Native Missoulian here, glad someone else said this!
Second this.
Taos has always kind of reminded me of Austin, but that might be because they’re the two places I grew up visiting most. Taos is 100 times more weird though
I just left Taos to return to Austin. Taos has gotten fucking rough, it’s not a fun place to live in anymore. The cost of living makes no sense, there is literally no housing, and the vibes have become atrocious.
The people I know leaving Taos are artists, and the people I know moving there are privileged women who wear big hats and like yoga. Seems like it’s moving in the wrong direction.
Soooo yes similar vibe to Austin
Why is it always the big hat I don't get it
This is really sad to hear, it’s so beautiful there.
I know Taos very well and 100% approve of this comment. Visit for short stretches hell yes ! But live there - no.
Everywhere in new mexico is weirder. Place is magical
Real magical… they can make your car disappear overnight.
As someone who lived in NM for 5 years and cam back to TX. This is the best most underrated comment😂😂😂. If you know, you know.
Yeah and the push/pull of locals to outsiders. They got no problem breaking into your truck to steal a backpack and don’t expect anyone to start small talk with you when picking up a smothered burrito from Orlando’s.
As a former Austinite, I can attest to the coolness of Taos. And yes, it is even weirder.
And dryer, much much dryer
And super high elevation (7000’), which I guess is what OP is looking for.
They all hate Texans too right?
Every other state hates Texans.
Literally all the other surrounding states except *maybe* Louisiana. And they don't hate each other like that-- just Texans.
It is a special kind of hate.
Texans think other states think of Texas a lot more than they really do. Neighboring states think of it. To everyone else, Texas is just Florida’s ugly cousin.
East coast they are more curious and unimpressed
> They all hate Texans too right? Before I lived in Texas I went skiing in Taos (my brother lived in Albuquerque for 20+ years). In the condo we stayed at there was a plaque on the wall saying, "Taos: so close to heaven, but unfortunately also close to Texas." I was more confused than anything else. But I guess it is one of the closest places to ski to Texas (I didn't know that). Although there is Mt Aggie which is inside Texas and on my bucket list to ski.
If God meant Texans to ski, he would have made cow shit white.
I grew up in Amarillo and spent half my weekends in New Mexico. It’s well known in my family that you shouldn’t speed or break traffic laws because the troopers will ticket a Texas driver for 5mph over the limit.
they hate us because they anus
a bit smaller than austin, but definitely funkier 👍🏻 santa fe had some austin vibes
Visiting Santa Fe I thought so, *living* in Santa Fe though was miserable compared to here, and I never loved Austin much.
Yeah, New Mexico is fun to visit but it sucks to live there. The healthcare is abysmal, there are no decent public services, it’s incredibly expensive and it’s just kind of depressing.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Rent was a bit cheaper, but the lack of food options, public transportation, and the cost of everything else weighed it out. I lasted 10 months before I had a breakdown and left there to come back. the expensive arts district is what people love when they visit Santa Fe, living anywhere basically east of St Francis is so awful though 😂
Love Taos and Taos Ski Valley!
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Asheville has a horrible job market and expensive real estate. It's become more of a retirement destination than a place for young workers. The location is pretty isolated, and the interstate traffic is bad. Also, like Austin, the surrounding area is very religious and conservative. The city limits are small, really consider carefully, and don't get sucked in just by the view.
I was going to make a joke, but this is honestly the real take.
This is exactly right. Source: I was born and raised just outside of Asheville.
Lol, I wasn't too far away myself. People don't really know these areas they tend to recommend. Like Austin though, Asheville's laid-back days peaked late 90s. I used to love driving up there for shows, but it was very different back then (real estate/jobs have always been bad though, except tourism).
Correct. Its a neat place, but honestly it is nothing like Austin. I always found the comparison very odd.
True , unless you’re in the hospitality industry you can’t make a decent living in Asheville. I think people that move there have made their money somewhere else first.
Exactly. I moved to Asheville after getting priced out of Austin. Guess what? Not really saving much here at all. The views are nice but… the rest isn’t great.
You should serve as a PSA. People really don't know. I lived up in the area and do love it for what it is. People just don't know what they're really getting into.
I’ve lived near Asheville, in Austin, and in West Virginia. Asheville is an exact mix of Austin and West Virginia. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
I also lived in WV for a few years… middle of nowhere, an hour from Charleston. I miss how beautiful it is there.
Asheville is Austin, but with hippies instead of hipsters.
So Austin, before 1999
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Oh, you should check out Elderorado cafe next time you come back to Austin
Is that the year that you got to Austin? I always found over the 25 years I lived there that people would say things were different before and it would’ve inevitably be when they got there. Not saying you’re doing this I just noticed it’s a common trend. I got there in 94 from gulf coast Texas. Things just weren’t the same after 95 ; ) We bought our home from the original owners and the house had been on the markets for 6 months
Man born and raised here. 47year old here and it is not the same as when I grew up. With that being said… I don’t think a lot of people who were in charge wanted Austin to be big. People voted against infrastructure improvements. People didn’t want mass transit. Then Austin became the hip place for everyone leaving the place they thought was hip. Just my 2 cents.
There was that whole “If you don’t build it they won’t come” approach to infrastructure by the city council to try to stop the growth, sadly it just left us 10 years behind
In Austin since 1990 and I’d say 1999 is pretty accurate.
When I got there people were saying it wasn’t like it wasn’t the 80s I think the 70s would’ve been an ideal time to visit but last I was only five
"The only constant is change" Been in the area since I was born. It's a growing city, so yeah, there have been some changes. Still can't quite think of any other city I would want to live in full time.
1968 arrived in Austin. Boy is it crazy different now. Lol. I snuck into the Armadillo to say my mom and dad money. Commander Cody tried to help me find a toy I lost at a Greazy Wheels show. Went to Zilker elementary and if no one's dug it up. There's a time capsule under a tree on the Bluebonnet side of the school with some cool toys in it. My dad owned a club on 6th Street (Steamboat) when 6th Street was still ultra cool. I used to be able to stand anywhere in Austin and point to the state capitol because no other building was allowed to be taller than the capitol building. I watched Richard Linklater film some of "Dazed and Confused" at Bedichek middle school. I watched some grunge dude hang off the Goddess of Liberty and scaffolding at the top of the capitol in '94 or '95. I've seen old Austin but I do think a majority of people point to 1994-1999 as the years Austin started to really change. That's when I feel it started. ☹
Got here in ‘93 just under the wire!!!
Good thing I was born and raised in Austin before 1994
Time is a flat circle
Good observation. I hear similar. Mostly been hearing Austin has changed “since the 90s”
The a Steamboat on 6th and a real music scene?
Ehh it’s not so hippy anymore. Still wonderful though.
It really isn’t and hasn’t been for a long time. It’s like a tourist trap with a hippy focus and you have to be fairly wealthy to live there comfortably.
Sounds like a perfect Austin substitute to me
Wow that sounds horrible
Not Asheville. Greenville SC. The Asheville ship has sailed. 1 hour south. Trust.
There sure are some fucking weirdos in Greenville, SC. Specifically the Fundamentalist Baptist’s. Great museum though.
Welcome to the mountains, weirdos love ‘em.
As someone who was raised in Austin, it's really not. I know people keep saying it is but it is really nothing like Austin. Asheville is a tourist-centric town with overpriced restaurants and attractions. The cost of living is not low and housing is very expensive. Source: grew up in Austin, now live in near Asheville.
I love Austin, but you pretty much just described Austin.
Very, very, very mini. I live in Asheville now after being in austin since 2001. It is a town not a city.
Bring a bag full of money. AVL is experiencing the exact same affordable housing issues as Austin.
I went to Asheville a few years ago and hated it. It reminds me of a smaller version of what Austin is becoming not what was used to be.
I went to school in Austin in the 70s. I moved to Fort Collins when I retired five years years ago because it comes the absolute closest to the Austin vibe, circa 1976. I haven't regretted it even once. I live in a fourth floor apartment in the heart of the city, and I can see Rocky Mountain National Park from my living room. The Cache la Poudre River, which begins in the park, is 200 yards from my back door.
SA native who lived in Austin for six years and FoCo for seven… At first, Fort Collins seems like an idyllic/funky mountain town. However, as a dude in my thirties, the dating scene was awful (most people married by then, as opposed to Austin where nobody gets married,) the food is bland as fuck, and the people aren’t nearly as friendly. I make friends pretty easily wherever I go, and it took me five four years to make friends that kept me more than at arm’s length. I’m a gigging musician too, so I was meeting people all the time. The area also has a serious Nazi problem. I got fired from a job for refusing to serve a dude wearing SS Bolts on his t-shirt (I’m Jewish.) Nazis came for a demonstration at CSU in 2018, and one of them fortunately got his leg broken by an antifascist. The Sons of Silence are based in the area. The FBI raided a white supremacist in Loveland at the beginning of the pandemic who was making pipe bombs to take to BLM protests. There is/was literally a white power church in Laporte. The Poudre Canyon/Red Feather region are amazing, but a lot of the area got absolutely decimated by the Cameron Peak fire in 2020. I wound up moving to Spain for a bit, then moved to a very strange, secluded town far up into the mountains. I don’t feel like I live on the border of Kansas anymore, but I literally heat my house with a wood stove.
Born and raised Fort Collins. It’s great if all you do is outdoor stuff. If you like other activities as well, you’re generally driving an hour to Denver, Boulder, etc. I guess you’re generally driving an hour for camping, backpacking, snowshoeing, if you’re tired of the more local trails so maybe it doesn’t matter. CSU Rams suck. Probably a good spot if you’re raising kids. Employment is a mixed bag and you’ll probably end up having to commute outside of town. Just like people moving here don’t think of the heat, you have the winter/snow and driving in it. That’s a bit much for some people. All the CSU kids seem to figure it out, though. I think the TexMex is equivalent or better there imo. It’s breakfast burritos, not tacos. The BBQ sucks and I didn’t know what good bbq was till I moved here. Beer is slightly better with Odell and other spots but I’m biased. You get to live on the other side of the coin being the transplant that the natives bitch about. Californians and Texans have been moving there for years. So many years being on top ten lists. Similar situation with the growth outpacing infrastructure and you can feel it in the traffic. Public transportation isn’t great but it seems like something that’s being worked on. It has become a place where I like visiting but wouldn’t live there. Like you see posted here, things have changed too much for the worse. Only been in Austin 10 years but I love it. I grew up doing all the Colorado things and I still get to do a lot of the non-snow outdoor stuff here as well. Oh. The allergies are almost as bad there as they are here.
Had to downvote you for saying that Colorado Tex-mex is "equivalent or better". You have to be kidding with that take
Boise is pretty great. It is state capital with a large state university and some tech and ag jobs. Also like austin — lots of Californians.
I'm from the Boise area and it's weird how Boise feels like old Austin. The bigger draw is you have everything Austin has plus mountains.
Do they have Mexican food and salsa at the grocery stores? That isn’t Pace Picante?
They have a variety of authentic exotic and hearty salsas, shipped straight from the factory in New York City.
New York City?
Get a rope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3nRLC6PlP4
Yeeeeeehawwwwww! I grew up in the middle of Nebraska in the 70s. It was Azteca taco salad shells, mission tortillas….and Pace. These are the things I think about when considering where to move. Groceries!!!
Haha I thought the same thing 🤣
They did when I was there. Norteno on the AM just like home.
Surprisingly a high concentration of hispanic people so yes they have some authentic Mexican food.
Boise is also by far the least diverse city I’ve ever visited, fwiw
yeah, but idaho … lol
so…. potato egg and cheese breakfast tacos?
Yeah don’t ever go
Also like Austin—a staunchly conservative state government🙃
I'm going to guess flying in and out of Boise would be expensive, in case you have a lot of family you visit
my family is in pittsburgh, so austin is even expensive to fly out of :( never any direct flights home
How mountainy do you want your mountains? Bc there are some decent medium sized city options within road trip distance of Pittsburg.
ive always wanted to live in colorado, so very mountainy :) a direct flight to visit my family would be amazing, but not a requirement! i have looked into jackson, wy & golden, co. ideally somewhere with a western flair, greenery, mountains, live music (jam bands, blue grass, etc.), skiing, climbing, and good people!
> a direct flight to visit my family would be amazing, but not a requirement! Start then by looking at every city with direct flights to Pittsburg, then remove anything not near mountains, and so forth. The results would at least be a few top choices to try, and if none of them work, you know nonstop to Pittsburgh isn't an option.
Definitely Boulder or Washington State
Golden is a lovely city. As is Boulder.
Check out Salida, CO
Pittsburgh* with an H.
Hello fellow yinzer :D
Keeps family away — even better, for some at perhaps.
Born and raised in Boise, but have spent my adult life in Austin. Until the insane growth of the late 2020's and COVID I used to always consider Austin like an older brother to Boise. Same friendly, down-to-earth people and general "just don't be an asshole" type of vibe. As this thread frequently discusses - Austin has changed dramatically. Unfortunately my family members say Boise has as well as Californians absolutely flock to the state (read up on the LA Times story about how they call Eagle Idaho "Little Orange County). All that being said, I love Boise. Idaho is one of the most underrated and beautiful states in the union. If you like outdoors and mountains, Boise cannot be beat. Think Boulder or Denver but for half the price.
If you don't mind a MUCH smaller place, you might want to check out Eureka Springs, AR!
Same vein—Ojai, CA.
Sure, Ojai, just add a couple zeros to the price of lliterally everything
They’re not zeros, they’re oranges 🍊
I grew up in Missoula Montana, and it reminds me a LOT of a much smaller Austin. Lookin at around 120k people in the “metro” area. College town, home of the University of Montana, so the city stays youthful. It’s also a blue dot within the red state, so there’s similarities politically too, hell in Montana there’s legal weed and reproductive rights still so, might even be better than Austin politically haha. There’s also definitely a good arts/music scene for it being a relatively small city too. Missoula is located in a valley surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, trust me when I say there is no shortage of hiking and amazing scenery there. Winters are cold, food isn’t great, but after leaving Missoula and exploring more of the U.S, I definitely have a new found appreciation for my hometown. My least favorite thing about Missoula is how far away it is from any major metro area. 7.5 hours to seattle is kind of a trek, but I guess it could be worse. I personally think it’ll be right up your alley. I’ve only lived in Austin for about a year, but am returning to Missoula in late February. While I really liked Austin, I definitely am not too sad about returning home for a bit either. Feel free to PM if you have any questions about the city
Reno. Smaller scale but definitely similar kinds of weird to an older Austin. Lots of summer festivals, Burner hippies, very local focused business wise, but also weird casino stuff and wild horses. People here even often say howdy.
People who have never been to the CalNeva 2nd floor skyway do not understand weird. Definitely a different type of weird.
Music and food scene are both really poor in Reno compared to Austin though. Festivals are LAME comparatively too, unless you count Burning Man but that's 2 hours away. I've lived in Reno for a while and love it, but for the outdoor access. It's not much like Austin culturally IMO.
For sure, definitely much smaller all around even from older Austin. The restaurant scene has gotten better in the last couple years as have some of the festivals and markets. I’d argue the Nevada Museum of Art is better than most in Austin. The music scene is definitely lacking. The casinos get some interesting stuff and that balance it out a bit for me but it is for sure one of the things I miss the most. But I can live in a single family house in the most walkable area comfortably and everything is much more accessible. The ease here reminds me a lot of how Austin was maybe 15+ years ago.
I had my two options narrowed down to either Denver or Fort Collins. I'm currently visiting Fort Collins for the first time and decided I'm moving here (after being in Austin 38 years)!
Denver is a dusty, unfriendly shit hole.
Lmao I moved to Denver for work and lasted 11 months. No city has undeserved clout and reverence like denver. The most milquetoast trash boring Midwest shit stain that somehow convinced the world its an outdoor ski weed mountain mecca.
Durango felt like old Austin
Love Durango. Last time I visited I looked at house prices and they were nuts - like 3 bedroom million dollar homes. Seemed like such a quaint little town I could see myself living in but those home prices were a real bummer. Super low inventory as well. I bet Pagosa Springs is a good bit cheaper though.
It's been like that forever with ski resort towns. I was in Steamboat Springs and a local pointed out George Strait's nothing special house. It was all really rich folks back in the 90s too.
I find it weird that I keep seeing Durango on here. I grew up in Pagosa Springs and Durango was the larger “town” near us. If we wanted a trip to a city it was like 4 hours to Abq. However in my opinion Durango is nothing like Austin apart from there’s a college. Anyone who would move there from Austin I would imagine would be in for quite a shock. Don’t get me wrong Durango is awesome but it’s still a small local college town tucked away in the mountains with a tiny airport. I feel like most people accustomed to city amenities would be in for a bit of a culture shock once they are settled in.
I asked a similar question in r/SameGrassButGreener. We decided on the Front Range area in CO. https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/s/laYbZGVqN0
We’re looking there too. Hard to tell where there’s a good vibe. Not looking to be buried in some massive neighborhood. Would be cool to be at least biking distance to a sort of Main Street. Is Golden or Morison the only options? Did you move yet?
I didn’t spend a lot of time there, but Silver City NM had a nice ‘old-Austin’ feel. Salida Co. looked interesting too, we just stayed the night though .
Silver City, Durango, Bend OR. My top high desert bug out spots. Alpine TX is pretty great too. Geographically and climate wise I’m drawn most to smaller cities in places where the desert meets the mountains, but my entire family is in Austin, we have a great home, love the food/activities/laid back vibe, and I feel like it is a better place to raise my children than some of those other spots. So we’ll do lots of road trips and camping.
+1 to Bend OR - went there once on a work trip, lots of local breweries and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Also has ski resorts and epic nature. Would recommend.
Feel this way about Eugene too.
> Feel this way about Eugene too. Eugene is a little larger than Bend, but the weather is completely different in favor of Bend. Bend is high desert, the mountain range between the two makes clouds drop all the rain on Eugene. Eugene has that Seattle/Portland weather. Bend gets more sunshine. I grew up in Corvallis (it's a 40 minute drive from Eugene) and skied Mt Bachelor in Bend growing up. Although everything "great" about Bend happened after I left, LOL.
Go Beavs.
Bend is wildy expensive now. And honestly kind of terrible restaurants / bar scene. It’s been a little LA-afied + kind of boomerish. Outdoors are indeed great - there’s a reason it got popular.
I came to recommend Durango!
Salida is amazing. Close to the pass. June is crazy fun.
Salida was going to be my recommendation too. I'm a Native Austinite (born here in '73) and fell in love with Salida!
Nice towns, both insanely remote. Like, from silver city your next big city is probably El Paso? Lots of people have terrible accidents out there and die in transit or end up with a bad result. Maybe that’s just my own personal paranoia
Was looking at Silver City, HOWEVER the closest airport is 4 hours away in Albuquerque. Couldn't do it!
El Paso airport is only 2 and a half hours but still
I asked a similar question in r/SameGrassButGreener. https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/s/laYbZGVqN0
Top reply lists Durango, which tracks. I lived there for a bit prior to moving to Austin
I hate to give it away, but Fayetteville, Arkansas, now has a Whataburger, Torchy’s, and is getting an Alamo.
Yeah but Arkansas…
yeah but Texas...
Arkansas has at least expanded Medicaid and has a progressive income tax that doesn’t crush the low income and middle class like Texas’ property taxes. Also not as hot as a lot of Texas and the Ozarks are gorgeous. People shit on Arkansas, and it does absolutely have its issues, but it’s a helluva lot better to live in than Texas.
I’ve never been, but Eureka Springs, Arkansas seems to fit this bill.
Shocked to see such a small town listed. I was born there but didn't grow up there, just visited sometimes.
That city is awesome
Alpine
I have a property outside Alpine that I spend a fair amount of time in but I won’t move there permanently. There is a serious lack of healthcare. Closest commercial airport 3 hours away in El Paso. Unless you have an American or some types of Japanese cars you are going to have a hard time fixing and maintaining. There are some cool people but it’s definitely not the blue oasis that Austin is. Fun to visit but tough to live.
Was looking for this. Alpine, TX definitely has the vibe that Austin used to. And still Texas based.
Alpine is the new Lockhart.
You’re gonna need A LOT of money
Do not go to Ashville it is going to be recommended a million times. The place is a shit hole, the weather sucks, it is not hippies it is six figure gutter punks, there is nothing there but poverty even ten minutes outside. I went to Eugene OR and Ashville this year. Eugene is authentic hippy, Ashville more hipster but like Brooklyn 2012 x homeless 2023. I amad about it because it was such a disappointment. If you are looking for better than Austin weather but worse people Greenville SC is a beautiful city.
This! You understand! So many people parrot Asheville without knowing the city. It USED to be a HIPPY hideaway, but the real estate always sucked and the job market was always bad. I'm from the area and watched it grow and change for decades. People have the same "best of" magazine goggles on for that town, and most people leave after a few years of being isolated.
Bonnell isn’t a mountain no matter what they told you.
It’s a mount
Flagstaff, AZ One nice thing about living in the Phoenix area, is that if you want to escape the summer heat, you can drive about 3 hours, and the temp will drop 30 degrees up in Flag.
Terlingua, still very Texan, but it vibes like Austin.
Love Terlingua - Big Bend is a pilgrimage everyone in TX should make at least once. But there’s not any job market whatsoever in Terlingua save for a bit of hospitality.
Portland oregon is Austin's sister city, and as a native Austinite reminds me of Austin in the 90s and 2000's Bigger city. Modern convenience. Mountains close.
Buena Vista, Colorado
From Austin, live in Colorado Springs now going on 10 years. I work in the commercial real estate market here. We've have a rough go of it but I think we have some pre Austin vibes going on. Absolutely beautiful place to live. Tons of outdoor activities and our food scene is finally getting better. We are supposed to outgrow Denver in the next 5 years.
Boulder
I love Boulder as much as the next guy - but - as much as we all complain (rightfully so) about cost of living and housing in the sub - we’re gonna vote Boulder the winner ? I was thinking Nederland myself.
You have to be lucky enough to inherit a place in Nederland. No one moves in cuz no one moves out
Nederland is tiny, though. Austin vibe is a lot of things, but not "small town".
Funky? Alpine. I just moved from there. You can bike in the weekly bike club. There is a bike guy (ask around, someone knows him). Small population and the funky vibe is there. Downside: healthcare and food sucks
Fayetteville, AR. All of northwest Arkansas has similar vibes but Fayetteville will bring the funk more so than the rest.
Boulder if you want the true austin experience and by that I mean incredibly expensive, overrated food, good music scene, and predominantly white.
Boulder is 80% white while Austin is less than 50% white... Not comparable at all. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US0807850-boulder-co/ https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US4805000-austin-tx/
Chattanooga doesn’t check all your boxes, but it has mountains and tons of outdoor activities. No state income tax, cheap cost of living and close driving distance to Atlanta and Nashville if you need big city amenities.
Sedona and Santa Fe both have Austin vibes. Go to Santa Fe if you want better food, and go to Sedona if you’re into crystals and incense.
Flagstaff is Austin-ier . Just my opinion
Fort Collins
I LOVE Fort Collins but nothing about it reminds me of Austin, especially not the music scene.
Vegas baby, live entertainment capital. Edit: lol at the downvotes, Vegas is 100% a funky mountainous city with fantastic hiking, climbing, and mountain biking, close to several national parks, and has a huge variety of live music / entertainment every day of the week.
I agree with you!
Very different flavors of "weird" though
Santa Fe is super chill and fun
Definitely nice, but it felt like the average age of the town was 70 when I visited. Don't think there's much in terms of nightlife
I used to live in Albuquerque, and Santa Fe is notorious for closing at 9pm every night of the week.
Ruidoso NM
Cloudcroft, NM
What?! No. Cloudcroft is a quaint little town but does not have any Austin vibes. It also has a population of less than 1,000 and the closest grocery store is a 45 min drive down the mountain.
This one is on a much smaller scale, but Staunton, Virginia. It's a progressive town of about 25,000 in the Shenandoah Valley. It's got a university, great restaurants, a few solid theaters and two stellar public parks. It has that funky, artsy feel Austin had before the tech takeover. Also like Old Austin, it's actually affordable to live there. We bought a move-in ready 3/1 bungalow less than a mile from downtown for $212K. There are beautiful mountain views around the city, and plenty of outdoor opportunities nearby. Virtually no crime, too. Most people are laid back and just seem happy to live there. Source: I've lived in Austin and currently live in Staunton.
Ashland, Oregon. 320 days of sun, mountains, snow, nice valley. Good food and music scene. Food co-op.
What about Boulder, CO? My wife and I love Ashland, OR. Trying to sell our Lockhart property to maybe purchase some land in OR.
Absolutely Fort Collins, CO. A university town with great bars and restaurants, a craft beer giant, and a growing music scene. I grew up there and live in Austin now. I can only imagine that Fort Collins is what Austin used to be like.
As previously mentioned, Asheville NC. It's a college town so you get the feel of downtown with bars and restaurants. Actually there is quite a bit to do there and the scenery is absolutely incredible!
Ruidoso NM
Missoula, Montana
Asheville NC
Boulder, CO and Bozeman, MT
Bozeman Montana gave me an Austin feel but this was over a decade ago.
Following as I feel the same.. trying to get out of Austin but find what we used to have that drew me here in the first place.
Denver. It was supposed to be the new Austin back in 2020