[pix128]

> One company’s product lead pointed to thick traffic and unreliable public transportation. Another transplant cited the city’s 100-plus-degree heat, in what was one of the city’s most brutal summers since 2011, when only two days in July didn’t hit triple digits.

Clearly not the brightest bunch it seems.

[plasticsoprano]

I was in SFO 2 weeks ago during a layover and overheard a guy talking about being on his way to Austin to do a final walkthrough of the house he was building there. As a Texan with with over 30 years of living in Austin under my belt I asked him how much time he's spent in Austin before building a home here. "A few days he said." I asked him if he's aware of the temp difference between SF, where he declared being born and raised, and Austin and his response was, "Yeah, but it's so much cheaper."

This was a week after eavesdropping on a man at a concert venue talking to someone about recently moving to Austin from SF and being stunned at how little there is to do here. How when he lived in SF he could easily get to the mountains and the beach and there were museums and events outside of Austin's limited music and BBQ scene.

All of that to say none of them are the brightest bunch. They move here because it's cheap and they visited during SXSW or ACL when it wasn't 120 degrees and they they thought "it's so cheap and fun here" without looking at the big picture.

[autotune]

They don't realize that outside of those festivals the music scene is mostly dead and has been replaced by comedy since the pandemic.

[extr0pian]

I've lived here (in Austin) for three years. My partner and I decided to move to smaller city in Washington state come November. There is a lot of things to like about Austin (and even Texas), but as someone who was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I don't think I can live here longterm.

It's not just the heat, but there's definitely more unnecessarily oversized vehicles on the road with only a single occupant driving. I'll admit it may be all in my head and I only notice these things because I'm in a different environment, but it seems many people here don't user turn signals, run red lights, and are regularly looking down at their phone while driving their truck or SUV, all while driving 10-15mph over the speed limit in a residential area. /rant

[supertimor]

I don’t think it’s in you’re head. I’ve driven across most of the U.S. and have lived in major cities that are known for their traffic/bad drivers, and Texas, by a long shot, had some of the worst drivers I’ve seen across the U.S. Same experience as you, reckless speeding, drivers running red lights and making unsafe lane changes in massive pick up trucks.

This might have to do with an old law that was changed around 2008-2010ish that allowed permitted drivers to skip the physical driver’s test if they opted to learn through the parent taught driver’s ed program (the driver’s parents could essentially just sign a form saying the driver had enough hours of driving experience which would allow them to waive the in person driving test).

[hhh]

> are regularly looking down at their phone while driving their truck or SUV, all while driving 10-15mph over the speed limit in a residential area.

I live in TN and this has been my everyday experience since I got my license in 2015.

[saltcured]

Regarding driver behavior, I feel the same way about the SF Bay Area for the past three years. I think the pandemic really did something strange to us. Whether it gave us faulty memories of a better time, or caused a regression in civic-mindedness, it is hard to tell...

[pram]

Ehh I dunno about that. I’ve lived in Austin for 15 years and in Spokane before that. A lot of people in eastern Washington drive pointless gigantic trucks just like Texas lol, especially because of the snow.

[loeg]

I see a lot of those same driver behaviors in Washington, especially since 2020.

[thallium205]

It’s said only people who can’t successfully live in SF move there.