My 23 year old son had decided to move to Austin, Texas from New Jersey. He has a degree in Radio, Film, and Television (Communications)... and one year of work experience as a news cameraman with a station at the Jersey Shore. He'll be moving into an apartment with a friend who currently lives in Austin. Anyone here from Austin? My son has never been Austin, and neither have we. I'm sure anything you are able tell me will be helpful to me.

My son moved to Austin about 6 1/2 years ago to work for Dell. He had never been to Texas. He now lives in San Antonio. I have been to both cities several times. In fact, we will be down there in about a week. Tell him he has to go see the bats on the Congress Street bridge. Taco Cabana is like a McDonald's of Mexican food but they serve drinks. The two cities are about an hour apart. Compared to New Jersey it will be inexpensive to live there. My son bought a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, ranch style house about 2 years ago for $110,000. It needed some updating but he is doing it himself. We live in Maryland near the DC border. If he has any questions, I will try to answer them.

My sister moved to Round Rock (a suburb on the north side of Austin) about 15 years ago. They love it. We've been a lot of time and it's a very nice place to live. I LOVE Taco Cabana!!! Chewy's Hula Hut (on the lake) is also another fun place.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I went to the University of TX in Austin, and all 3 of my kids now live in Austin - it is a fantastic town - it is the state capital but also has large UT campus - my son is in the music recording industry and Austin is loosely called the 'Third Coast' for media - several movies have been made there.

The town has several lakes and is in the Hill Country - it is a largely populated town but has a small town feel.

"Keep Austin Weird" is the town's unofficial motto

It is the only other place I would live in Texas (I'm in Dallas now) and is a fantastic and exciting place for the young.

I am sure your son will love it there - great weather and surroundings

let me know if you have any other questions (can you tell I love this town?? LOL

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Bevogal

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I suppose I'm just an anxious mom. I have mixed feelings about him leaving the area. I know we all work to see our kids grow up, graduate from college, and move on with their lives... but sometimes it's hard to let go. You have all provided me with some peace of mind regarding Austin. He plans to leave within the next two weeks. He's just planning to settle in and look for a job. I'd feel better if he actually had a job to go to. On the other hand, I feel as if it's a great time in his life to pull up roots and attempt something like this. He's very good at what he does. A documentary he produced recently won top honors at the Delaware Valley Film Festival.