i am right there with you grace. i love new york, but the prices are just out of control.

god i know how you feel. some days i am just so ready to leave NY/brooklyn. i would miss it greatly - and the idea of leaving all my friends (and moving away from family) sounds horrible - can i really live in a railroad apartment all my life? austin sounds so nice…

I’m with you on moving to Austin….I live out in the desert of Nevada, Fernley, the town that just flooded. I had no damage, thankfully. But Austin has so much more to offer, most of all a great music scene. My husband plays bass guitar and I know with just a little nudging we could go. Does partner like music, if so, try that angle. Love your sight, I look each and every day.

Well you know where I stand on the issue! Weather schmeather.

i love our hood (i’m at 4th/union), but couldn’t agree more! it makes me cranky seeing what people in other cities can afford (like my hometown in VA).

As an Austin native, I think you should move here. Bring AC down for a visit and he just might fall in love with it too. The winters here are incredibly mild (its about 60 degrees outside right now) and the housing is wonderfully affordable as you mentioned. Plus, there is delicious food around every corner (and tons of live music). It also has a very low crime rate. I highly suggest a visit to do some thorough convincing. Good luck with everything!

austin is pretty awesome! we would definitely welcome you with open arms!!

We had discussed moving to TX pretty extensively for about 2 years. The houses are BIG, my husband lived in TX for 6 years, and the weather just would be so so wonderful compared to these bitter cold Wisconsin winters.

That home listing site is amazing! I wish every city had a “mid century home” real estate page!!!

i totally understand what you mean about the prices… but we just bought in kensington, and we’re really happy with it. big apartment, 2 bedrooms, friendly building, low price. sure, it’s not as fun of a neighborhood as my former residence of cobble hill, but new things are popping up and it’s getting younger by the minute. well worth it.

You should check out http://www.modernaustin.com/
for house listings and picture sets of houses in Austin

Check out Louisville, KY!

Grace - Austin Modern is a wonderful shop!! I’ve posted about them before on my blog. Elle is such a wonderful lady and she ships everywhere. Her rates are ridiculously affordable!

i moved from brooklyn to atlanta a few years ago, and while it was really hard to leave brooklyn, there are definitely some quality of life improvements that go along with living in a less expensive city!

Well, now… if you like mild winters and HOT summers you should check out Phoenix! Here’s our modern mecca…
www.modernphoenix.net … enjoy!

Yes, come for a visit or to stay! it’s damn humid in the summer but we’re pretty lucky as far as severe weather goes. austinites usually complain about how expensive it is to live here, but that’s only compared to the other cities in tx, or the suburbs nearby. lofts are going up like crazy downtown, so real estate is still going strong here.

Yes! Come join us in Austin! Great design, designers, houses, weather, people, music, food, shops - we’ve got it all :) Funnily, the only other place in the US I would live is Chicago - I absolutely ADORE Chicago.

having just moved to austin after living in chicago for 7 years i think this is going to be a very tough one. chicago is one of the most spectacular cities on the planet. it is big and audacious. austin is much quieter but while i do miss the big citiness of chicago, the charm and character of austin is one of a kind.

the weather is much more accommodating to life in general, but i wouldn’t mind an occasional snowstorm…i don’t miss them in may, though.

good luck grace!

Don’t forget about Portland OR!
I lived in Chicago for three years and it is a GREAT city, but the design community and life style here in Portland is really amazing.
Check out this website for some great modern real estate. See you here for the Biz Ladies Meet Up!
www.portlandmodern.com

As a born and raised Austinite, I will tell you it’s awesome! We live just outside Austin now, but hubby still works downtown so I still get my Austin fix. :) Mild winters, hot summers, great food, live music…well, could you ask for more?!

Well, y’know… if you aren’t quite ready to leave the city, there’s always the North Bronx — tons of room, safe, and pretty inexpensive. OK, it’s also TOTALLY without any kind of fun culture or good restaurants. But if all you disgruntled Brooklynites would just move up here, perhaps something could be done about that.

We just moved to Austin last summer from San Francisco/Berkeley for the same reason–out of control cost of living. We love it here, but it is tough leaving friends/family. I am a SF native so my whole life was there. But it’s a great adventure and we have a HUGE house now after living in a shack.

I was so pleasantly surpised when I visited Austin for the first time in Nov. Amazing food, great shops and perfect weather to top it off.

Anne

Grace, I suggest Austin! I live in Dallas, but The Husband and I are in Austin four to five times per year. I absolutely love it there. You would too.

I think Austin would be glad to have you! I love living in Austin — and man, oh man, is it growing fast! I’ve lived here for only six years and there’ve been so many huge changes — some for the better, some not.

But, it is really cool to be a part of growing art and design scene here.

One current drawback: Cedar Fever. January is a month long allergy fest, that even shopping can’t cure. : (

I lived in NY and LA for 10 yrs and moved to Austin in 2004. We left 18 mos later for NY (then hubby got transferred back to LA). It’s a very small town and feels limited if you’ve lived in a big city. And the summers were unbearable to us. I suggest going there 3 or 4 times, in different seasons before committing to a move. We are very happy to be back in LA –Austinites, please don’t shoot me!

I moved to Boston from Texas and I was absolutely baffled by the cost of living up here. It’s insane! I just want to move back home where the weather is perfect, the people are sweet as pie, cost of living is more than reasonable, and Austin is simply amazing.

I live 90 miles north of Austin (right in the middle between Austin and Dallas!), and can attest to the fact that Austin is a wonderful place. After all, their slogan is “Keep Austin Weird”! It’s a wonderful mix–a large city with a small city feel in many places. And yes…in Texas everything is bigger, so your real estate dollar will go far!

I’m excited to know about this wonderful store. I’ll have to take a trip south to see it.

The first time we moved to Austin was in 2000, and we came here from Berkeley. We loved it, but it definitely felt “small” compared to the Bay Area (although it also seemed like houses were being GIVEN away).
The we left Austin for Vermont for a few years and came back to TX in 2005. After living in rural, snowbound VT, Austin seemed like paradise! Things were open past 5pm!
We love being able to walk to restaurants/stores, and live in a very neighborhood-y area, and have a yard, and still be close to downtown.
And really, there is nowhere else that we’ve lived (Philly, LA, Berkeley, VT) that is more supportive of you being whoever you want to be. If you want to have a PhD and work in a coffee shop, great. If you want to be a heavily tattooed preschool teacher, awesome. If you want to go bootstomping at the Broken Spoke one night and then catch a punk show at Emo’s the next night, no problem. People are genuinely friendly, and the arts scene is hopping.

Oh yeah…and as far as mind winters…the last few days we’ve enjoyed weather in the 60s and 70s. Now THAT’S my kind of winter!!

Grace-I hear ya, this year alone I traveled to Texas, Chicago, San Fran, and LA. It’s amazing to see what else is out there - and I learned wherever you go DESIGN will follow, there are cities and communities waiting to be discovered! Good luck researching.

Austin Modern and Homegirls both are amazing stores. I feel so lucky to have moved here! Having affordable mid century here is such a big switch from Los Angles. I’ve been in Elle’s store Austin Modern and she really is amazing, I love her design sense and her prices are practically unbelievable for the quality. She ships everywhere, she knows so much about Mid Century and really loves the designs. I’ve bumped into quite a few local interior designer ’super stars’ in her store. She’s like the mothers little helper for the local design scene.
Yes, move to Austin, we bought a huge 2000 sqft 60s modern in North Austin for under 175k!

Sometimes we miss LA, but then we think about all the benefits of Austin and don’t miss it anywhere near as much.

Come on down to Austin, we’d love to you. About the only thing Chicago has on Austin is a great restaurant scene. Austin is not so much a foodie town, in comparison. But then few rival Chicago that way.

I’ve lived in both Austin and Chicago, and (as I’m sure you know) they offer totally different experiences. Austin is much quieter and in many ways a much easier place to live. It’s cheap, friendly, and casual, but very, very young and surprisingly vibrant–and housing is remarkably affordable. But it’s pretty difficult to get around without a car (it is Texas, after all) and it can feel very isolated geographically. On the other hand, Chicago offers seemingly infinite cultural opportunities. I think someone could live there for a lifetime and never discover all the wonderful shops, restaurants, neighborhoods, and out-of-the-way spots. Finally, one thing to recommend Austin above all other qualities: Mexican breakfast. Now that I live in Princeton, NJ, I miss it more than I could have ever imagined.

Chicago is great but if you aren’t prepared for some crazy winters, you would probably be better with Austin! Plus housing prices here are no joke either. It is a toss up though, Chicago in my mind can not be beat, it is the best city!

Hi Grace,
Elle, of Austin Modern, and I chat all the time. Originally, she contacted me about using some of my written thoughts. As we share more communication, I’m beginning to feel she and I were separated at birth. FUTURES Antiques and Austin Modern, our stores, and our senses of humor are not identical, but complimentary like I’ve never seen before. She’s a very cool woman. We’ve probably exchanged 20 emails in just the last 24 hours! BTW, since Virginia Beach is your home town, it is 2:40 pm here, Tuesday, and has just begun to SNOW!
Best,
Ronn Ives

My fiance and I just relocated to Austin from NYC and we absolutely LOVE it! I’m seconding and thirding everything people above are saying: the quality of living is much better, there’s a great art/crafty-girl scene (a must for me), people are genuinely nice, it’s warmish year-round (another must, since I’m a California girl at heart). I understand what people are saying about it being a relatively isolated geographically speaking, but I like visiting small Texas towns and eating BBQ and thrift shopping. Also, since most of my friends and family are in LA/SF/NYC, I frequent those cities often enough to not feel isolated. There’s enough stuff to keep me occupied here and it’s not hectic, so you actually get to slow down and enjoy things. Btw, you also have to check out Room Service here in Austin. It’s all vintage furniture, all the time. We pretty much furnished our apartment with stuff from this place. Also, I might add that our bathroom is bigger than our old bedroom in the Lower East Side.

Come on down to Texas. We are having a really cold week down here, In fact temperatures have been in the low 60s all week and they might dip to 32 for at least an hour on Saturday.

Although I don’t live IN Austin, I can tell you that Texas in general might surprise you in the area of cool dec.

We host WARRENTON which is a decorators dream and lies just between Austin and Houston. It is the local designer’s mecca.

I keep my readers posted on WARRENTON and other decorating and design and musical points of interest.

Peace out,
Cheryl

I hear ya! I’ve lived in NY for almost three years and the rent is just insane. I’m not fond of the weather either but I could put up with it if I was living in a palace or something. ;)

Oh my god - the NY/Bklyn housing market. Not that I have a dp saved, but I swear it’s going to take at least 5-10 years until this market slows enough where I could buy. Even places in Kensington are popping up at $600k 1br and 2 families in So. Slope are being sold at over $800k. I can’t even imagine swinging that for such a tiny tiny footprint (although I wouldn’t want a McMansion either).

I love Austin!

Someday I hope to live there on my way back home.

two years ago, i moved from austin to williamsburg, brooklyn… and the two place have a similar vibe. but brooklyn is worth the added cost! i am always thinking how much “better” i could live back in austin…. but without all the amazing things that nyc has to offer, it’s not such a bargain.

it is STILL the only place, other than ny, that i could bear to live (in the united states, at least)

chicago! it’s wonderfully affordable here and there is SO much great design from both a current and historic perspective.
global warming is also doing a job on the winter’s here. (ie: it was 65 last week) yikes.

I would love to move back to the Chicago area. Even tho it would be colder than Philly, it wouldnt be as cold as Green Bay. (I have to keep telling myself that when we get a cold snap here)

oh can i identify! i used to live in your ‘hood; now i’m in nearby prospect heights. all my old friends from college are buying places in the ‘burbs, and i’m so jealous, knowing it’s an impossibility here! i’ve never been to either of those cities, but i’ve only heard good things. i hope you’ll keep us updated!

Austin is the best! It won’t take you long to fall in love with it. Bring some cute (single) boys with you, please.

We would be happy to have you here Grace!! SOOOOOO HAPPY!!!

To be fair, I’ve never spent any time in Chicago (and hope to soon!) But as a Boston/New York gal tried and true, I have to say that I never had so much fun on business as I did in Austin, Texas…the people are jolly, there is nature nearby to soothe you, and the beer flows freely, especially during SxSW music festival! Yeee Haw! Plus, darn good tex-mex eateries…

As for the heat, yes, I was truly shocked to see unphased Austin-ites jogging a good clip by the river on a July day at high-noon - with temperatures topping 101 degrees…but damn they looked good doing it!

Never the love for the Canadian cities.
Vancouver isn’t stylish, with beautiful mountainous views whever you are the city? >.>

Oh my - NYC prices are crazy - but we live in Vancouver, Canada - and wow - the cost of housing here is just nuts!

We love the city (and our country) but…I used to think San Francisco housing prices were crazy - then ours went higher. Still, it’s not all about a big house. Small space - discriminating taste!

Wow, a lot of Austin folks are wooing you in their direction. Figured I’d balance it out a little. You should move to Chicago. We have seasons (winter is not that bad), great restaurants, great architecture, public transportation, tons of museums, awesome art/design/music community etc. I’ve lived in both places and while I do miss Austin at times, Chicago’s got more going on in general.

howdy y’all. as a native new yorker (east village) born and raised. post college - 2 years boston, 4 years chicago, 20 glorious years in la (5 spent commuting between la & sfo), i now call houston home; occasional trips to austin. texans are wonderful people-unpretentious, fun loving, easy going and the southern hospitality trumps all … overall, the cost of living in texas cannot compare to the other cities i have called home. however, buyer beware, the property taxes in texas are enough of a consideration if the idea of a home sweet home is your sole/soul reason for leaving. so, check it out new york still calls my name however, my last visit, Oct 07, i realized, my stomping grounds, manhattan was home for the rich and very rich hedge fund managers. if weather is your calling card, no place can beat southern california … housing affordability being another question. i guess what i am trying to say is … no place is perfect. question your reason for leaving and don’t hesitate in taking a risk. isn’t that what life is all about.

I’d kill to live in Chicago. If only I could find a job there, I’d be buying a (really affordable!) Mies apartment right now.

I love Chicago and lived there for 4 years, but it’s not cheap. Compared to brooklyn — where I live now — it’s much cheaper, but still, you’re looking at plunking down I’m guessing 700k for a bungalow that needs a little work.

Austin is YOUNG! I love it there, but at 36 years OLD, I feel about the oldest person in the room whereever I go. It can get a girl down!

won’t you please come to Chicago?
:) such a great city and lots of things for guys to do, too (ac)! what a fabulous addition you would be to our wonderful city, grace.

I left my heart in Austin. It’s impossible not to; in fact, as my mom would say, “I don’t know a single person who has visited Austin and NOT fallen completely in love with it.” It’s true. I lived there for 6 glorious years through college/post-college and it just BECOMES your town.

People are gracious, relaxed, interesting, and gregarious (at ALL ages…not just the “young” ones listed above). You can spend every Sunday trying new tex-mex brunches and driving from store to store (where people always remember your name). You can walk around Town Lake (which is downtown!) and find li’l pockets of beauty that sometimes include swans. Porches become venues and fireflies entertainment. Every trip to the grocery store is organic joy. There’s always a concert to see and movies come with pizza and beer. Bookstores are full…of people. If it gets to hot? You can jump into Barton Springs or any of the number of nearby swimming holes and grottos like Hamilton Pool.

I left Austin for NYC/Brooklyn, and I still think about it every day…especially now that I’d love to be able to buy an apartment someday or, you know, even be able to rent a spacious one in a great neighborhood. One that is mouse and bed bug free would be great, too. I find myself checking modernaustin.com regularly and dreaming of what could be…and it doesn’t make it any easier knowing that my friends there get to live that reality daily. Alyson Fox’s house says it all.

Take a trip.

Having moved to Austin from Palm Beach about 12 years ago, I can definitely say Austin is an amazing place to live. One visit is usually all it takes to create a strong desire to live here.

The food varies from Roadside taco joints to wonderful tapas bars, it’s definitely not all beer and BBQ!
Inform yourself of the property tax rules! That cute little 2/1 craftsman at 900 sq ft may come with a 6k a year property tax bill. Just a little something to consider.
Outside of taxes, Austin is Wonderful, Weird and Wild!

As a relatively “native” austinite—I can’t recommend it more highly. Although there are some hot summer months to be had (in austin and I hear chicago too…), between chicago and austin, at least our winters aren’t brutal. Although I haven’t been to chicago, so take my nudge with the bias behind it. Austin is growing quickly (becoming more urban by the day: http://www.urbanaustin.org/index.php/Main_Page ), but it’s still considered very affordable by west and east coast standards. I’m sure you must know a few people here, but If you have any questions about neighborhoods etc. feel free to email me: leslie@williams-design.com

These guys are avid sellers for mid-century modern homes,
http://themaryecompany.com/
my realtor and close friend (Wyc) from highschool sold me my 54, ranch-style

good luck with your decision ~
-Leslie

Austin is undoubtedly fabulous, but Chicago is super-fabulous. And it might be an easier transition for a Brooklynite. If you ever want to look at houses/condos in Chicago let us know. Here’s am Apartment Therapy house tour link to some of our clients, who did a brilliant job on their MCM fixer-upper. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/house-tours/house-tour-jim-and-karis-evanston-modern-034863

Come on down, girl!! This Austinite would be quite happy to welcome you to our great city!

grace, we moved from park slope to austin 3 years ago and feel like we hit the jackpot! in brief, i think texans are like nyers (proud, strong, sassy) but austinites are like brooklynites (offbeat, less pretentious, hip-in the best sense of the word). its an easy move. come visit in late march to seal the deal with “ac”. stay at the san jose (hang at jo’s), check out the east side (big red sun, el chilito) and walk town lake. all best in your decision making.

i love love love austin! i lived there throughout college and then moved to manhattan, then brooklyn.
living in ny (esp. during winter) i missed austin terribly– mostly the outdoor scene. i feel that brooklyn and austin pretty much have the same laid back/ artsy/ funky vibe but lacks the scenic natural gems like Hamilton Pool (and more that Andi has mentioned above) and tons of cycling trails, kayaking, boating, jetskiing, cliff-diving and so much more. i also love all the artsy coffee shops and even grabbing coffee by lake austin at mozarts. i adore one of my UT architecture professors, Larry Speck, who has greatly contributed to austin architecture and urban design (ie: Town Lake jogging trails). i’ve also heard a lot of SF’ers say austin feels like sf and they love it.
So… big, affordable houses (by lakes!), great urban atmosphere, beautiful landscapes, the music capital of the world, and lots of intelligent, quirky and artsy people!

Grace, I moved to melbourne, australia in august and there is a huge design scene and the city is fab. I recommend.

I can understand your dilemma! I am a native Houstonian that moved to NYC and then to Chicago, where I have been for many years now. I am contemplating a second home in Austin and am actually leaving this Friday to scope it out.

While Austin does have a lot of great attributes, I am surprised that none of the other posters have mentioned the urban sprawl or the crazy traffic!

Moving to Austin would be a breeze for you and there is so much creativity, art and expression here. We love Austin and never want to leave and would love to have you here.

were in the same boat being priced out of brooklyn, being from california and knowing what you can get for the same price of a studio in clinton hill - we just could not do it. On a crazy whim and not ready to give up nyc we did something extremely CRAZY and moved to Newark NJ. I know its sounds crazy BUT it worked out to our advantage. 1st the commute could not be any easier - with Penn station Newark 5 minutes from our home our commute is 17 MINUTES penn station new york above ground and on a train with bathrooms. also we were able to purchase a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath duplex condo withh a 200 sq ft ROOFDECK for less than 250K and the taxes are silly cheap - lets just say the costs equal 2 pairs of Manolos. we live next to the newark musuem - Rutgers & NJIT universities with shops and coffee places along the way. It is a city in transition but the city is also working to become a green community, the 1st phase of green condos and townhomes will be completed this summer and the next phase has already broken ground and luckily the city just approved a plan to build a 50 unit green condo complex less than 1 block away from our home. It will take time but the change has happened. Think of Ft Greene in 2000 - it wa snot quite there but eventually it happened and truthfully now I can have my Manolos and wear them too.