OK, to the TX ARFCOM crowd, I pose these questions.  I planning a potential move to someplace nicer than KCMO in order to finish (finally) college and start teaching.  I've got a buddy from High School that lives in San Antonio and loves it.  He recently told me that he took a trip to Austin for the weekend and said it was awesome, I've also heard several subsequent reports of this being the case.  

So tell me about it.  What parts should be avoided in looking for a place to live?  How bad is cost of living?  Is there a DMZ between the 'nice' parts and the 'bad' parts? (In KC, there is a huge, very upscale shopping area that is a half mile from a third world country.)

I'll be transferring to UT, so somewhere within 30 minutes of campus would be ideal for quarters.  

Is Austin full of slack jawed hippie faggots like Boulder, or is it just 'eclectic'? (as it was described to me by a female stranger that I was discussing this with)

How hard is it to find a place to shoot?  Are there local 3-gun matches?  Good gunstores?  All the important arfcom requirements, etc....

Thanks for the intel guys, appreciated!

Avoid anything east of I35 and south of Parmer.  Avoid anything south of Braker and North of 183 west of I35 plus the area around Highland Mall (290W and I35).  Lots of hoodlums, drug dealing an prostitution in those areas.



Austin is cheap compared to the coasts, but it is about the most expensive place in Texas, and you will have sticker shock on some things coming from the midwest.



Anything decent anywhere within 30 minutes of campus will likely be silly expensive if you are looking to buy, and if you rent it will still be steep for what you get compared to further out.

Oh and time estimates for travel?  Lets just say that Austin traffic is TERRIBLE.  It takes a lot longer to get around than it should.



Yes, lots of hippes and other liberals.  The slogan is "Keep Austin Weird".  The suburbs once you get outside of Austin get more normal and less liberal.



You will have to go to the outskirts/suburbs/country to find a place to shoot.   So if you live very close to campus, you will be driving a bit to shoot.  The two ranges closest to downtown are Red's North and South, which are both 100 yard indoor ranges.  North is in Pflugerville near where I live, and South is in Oak Hill near the 290/71 split.  Outside Austin there is the Austin Rifle Club out in Manor, Astro Range (no FMJ –– boo!) and Stan's up north along 183 out past Leander towards Lampassas and Lone Star Range out by Lockhart.  All those are outdoor ranges and a bit of a drive from central Austin.

Everything SoftwareJanitor said is pretty much spot on. However, if you can find a way to commute at different times than rush hour, then you can get to UT in 30 minutes from almost any of the suburbs. I live in a Round Rock and commute downtown in just under 30 minutes, but work in the evenings (2pm-12am) or nights (9pm-7am). If you have to commute during rush hour, then you want to be as close to UT as possible.

Texas Tactical puts on monthly IDPA and carbine matches at the Cedar Ridge Range in Bulverde (west of New Braunfels), and I've heard that IPSC and IDPA clubs are coming to Austin Rifle Club in Manor next month.

My wife and I moved here from Columbia, MO about 12 years ago.  At the time it was the most expensive metro area to live in Texas.  There have been a lot of California imports and good paying tech jobs to keep some things pricey.  The town is liberal for Texas, but with all of the growth it is now mildly eclectic.  You will see a lot of Obama stickers, but I have not ran into many true Hippies.

To answer your question in general, here is some stuff to know about the town:

- Summer here is from April to October.  Winter is about two days long and usually shows up in February.
- If it rains here, expect a lot of people to not know how to drive.  If it rains hard, expect at least one major accident.  If there is freezing rain, expect the town to shut down for a day or two.
- BBQ here typically means smoke meat with sauce on the side.  It is very different than KC style, but better IMO.
- Due to enviroweenies suing every time a road is proposed, the traffic here can be awful; if you have a car I would strongly recommend driving around town on a couple of weekends to learn some of the back roads and a toll tag (TxTag) could save you a lot of time if there is a wreck.

There is an on campus shooting range if you are interested.

I personally dont feel "unsafe" on any part of Austin.  While I wouldnt walk around certain parts of Austin alone at night, driving through any part is fine.  I think people in general associate poor housing with crime, murder, and gangs automatically.  Its a very hard town to get lost in thanks to lack of a good highway system.  Basically if you get lost in austin drive east or west long enough and you will find one of two major highways (IH-35 or MoPac also called Loop 1).  

Housing can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.  You can probably find a nice apartment for the $700 range and be within 20-30 minutes of downtown (in traffic, less time without).  The economy has caused lots of apartments to start lowering rent prices so nows a good time to find a good deal on living.  If you want the name of the apartments me and my fiancee are in send me a message.  We live in far north austin in a great crime free area with good rent prices and a lot of square footage for the price.  Plus we live about 5-10 minutes from Reds north and a mile from MoPac but you'd cant hear/see any traffic and its near a nice hike and bike trail.

You will run into a fair share of hippies, gays, and flat out weird people.  Especially being near the downtown area so much.  Overall though the average person here is friendly.

Like stated, gun ranges wont be a far drive for you no matter where you live.  You may even get lucky at UT and find a friend thats local and his family may own some land nearby to go shooting.  McBrides is a good gun shop (sometime pricey) but they are the closest to UT.

I disagree, Manor is a very easy and nice town to live in.  Love the open areas.

Manor is not _in_ Austin, and not part of the area I am talking about.  The east side of the bad area is mostly bounded by Cameron/Dessau and then 183 going south.  Manor is fine, but it is a drive from there into UT.  Lockhart is fine once you get out there, and Bastrop isn't that bad either other than I hear they have some problems with residential burglary these days.

Regarding gun stores, you can't go wrong with The Gun Store in Cedar Park. I've done quite a bit of NFA business with them. The gun shows in Austin suck. It's much better to make a road trip to Dallas or Houston to catch a bigger one. The HGCA show (twice a year) is a good one to catch. Also, another range is Eagle Peak near Jonestown. Good facilities but no FMJ (or .50BMG for that matter).

Compared to the hell holes like Houston and Dallas ..Austin is great. Well it was great before all the kalifornians moved here. I lived in Austin for about 10 years then picked up 7 acres in Spicewood. I can be in downtown Austin in 30 mins and avoid most any traffic until I hit Mopac. Avoid I-35 at all cost ...its a mess.

Normally when folks from Out of the Area ask about Austin, I tell them that it is worse than Hell just so they will stay away...

However as a fellow Shooter, then I'd tell you it is weird and wonderful.  Stay outside of Austin if possible (Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Buda, Kyle, Bastrop, Elgin) are all options,

Austin's city government is as looney and lefty as MA or CA...

BIGGER_HAMMER

Yes. But theres still NORMAL folks in Austin.  I would not live in Austin simply because of the higher cost of living.

Austin is the Berkely of TX. I live an hour+ NW of the city.
More places/ things to do but its as left as CA, MA etc...
Lots of homeless, illegals and crime is rising in some spots.
Homes are pricey and RE tax is around 2.9%
Austin is too left for me... YMMV

Agreed however:

My main concern is being involved in a self defense shooting in Travis County.
Think of the anti 2A moonbats on the jury, the judge, and the DA.

U.S. News and World Report a couple years ago rated Austin as the #1 place in America to be single.

The best thing about Austin is that it is only a 30 minute drive from Texas.

LMAO!!!!!!

I know that when I'm in Austin for long stretches, I can't wait to get away from all the "Obamanos!" and "Obama" stickers!  However, there are lots of cool Arfcommers there to help keep you sane!

IT'S FREAKIN' HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

I don't think they let you go up in that tower with a gun anymore.

I know... wrong on many levels. Sorry.  

Homeless people are "cool" in Austin

Austin is GAY!  Full of slack jawed, birkenstock wearing, dope smoking hippies.