10 comments

• 

  Maria

  3 years ago

  Folsom Street Fair is a great example, but The EndUp on a Sunday is also something to see.
  reply
• 

  joe

  3 years ago

  Oh shit. I though you were in Boston this whole week. I'm such a ninja.
  
  ~ Friend ~
  reply
• 

  Jeremiah Owyang

  3 years ago

  Submission to "Good things about Austin"
  
  *People in austin probally have tans too
  reply
• 

  Dan

  3 years ago

  Just stumbled across this in a google search. Thanks for listing some good things about Austin as well as what you say is bad. It's really difficult to get an impression of a place in a few days and even more difficult when that place is Austin during SXSW. Austin becomes a different place for that week every year.
  
  There are so many cool, locally owned cafes and coffee shops here, it's ridiculous. You just have to look somewhere other than downtown.
  
  I'm not sure where the cultural diversity comment comes from. We have huge hispanic and asian populations. Perhaps you spent too much time with white techie types (which I'll fully admit I am).
  
  As with the coffee shops, so with the food. I find it hard to believe that anyone could say we don't have good food here. Explore some more and ask people who actually know where the good places are. The places that are hyped up during SXSW are generally NOT the good places.
  
  The "Keep Austin Weird" thing is a slogan that was cooked up to remind people that our city has character despite the fact that it's growing by leaps and bounds and is becoming more like a large city every year. That said, most of us here hate it. We depsise those damned t-shirts. It is now just a marketing slogan that makes someone a lot of money from all the sheep that buy into it.
  
  Next time you come, hang out with someone who knows something.
  reply
• 

  James

  3 years ago

  Story of my life Dan. Always trying to hang with someone that knows something
  reply
• 

  SF & Austin Resident

  8 months ago

  Having lived in both cities, I found this to be an interesting overview. It's neat that someone would write up a comparison but it's really just a surface thing.
  
  *Austin is well educated but not anywhere near as intellectual as San Francisco.
  *San Francisco has a cosmopolitan subtlety to its interactions that Austin never even approaches
  *San Francisco is much, much, much bigger
  *I have to agree with the food comment. Austin has some great dishes but SF could be a theme park for restaurants. In this case, SF has more in common with New York than Texas. For example, Austin has *a* great sushi place. SF has dozens of them. I can spend an entire meal in SF eating only sushi from the Tokyo fish market. I'm not kidding.
  *Austin's live music scene absolutely destroys San Francisco. I mean, really, we have some decent bands here but to get a really hopping live music scene in California you have to live in Los Angeles and then you loose all charm in favor of variety. If you love live music, Austin and Nashville are really the only places in the country worth bragging about.
  *On the other hand, San Francisco's DJ scene, if you're into electronic music, is to die for.
  *Mountain Bikes are practically illegal in the Bay Area. Try Googling "single track trails san francisco bay area" and you'll get my drift.
  *In Austin I brought a jacket to work during the summer because the air conditioning was so cold. In SF I bring a jacket to work during the summer in case I have to go outside.
  *My African-American friends in Austin used to love hanging out with me because I didn't treat them any differently - for better of for worse - than anyone else. I won't lie, this was unusual to them. They loved it and enjoy visiting me here in San Francisco for the same reason.
  *Say what you like about them but the gays know how to throw one hell of a party. You won't find that culture in Austin and if you do, you might feel a bit awkward being a part of it if you're a straight male or female.
  *I agree that the people in Austin tend to be far better looking.
  *On the other hand, the dating scene in Austin is more like "hit a girl over the head and drag her out by the hair" vs the intellectual & emotional gamesmanship that gets you a date with a stunner here by the bay.
  
  I could go on all day like this. Both are great cities and both are the creative centers of their respective states - but SF is a true world-class city. Austin may get there in 50 years.
  reply
• 

  Sebastian

  7 months ago

  I liI lived in Austin for seven years,and currently reside in San Francisco. Perhaps you didn't look in the right areas for coffee. I thought Austin had great coffee; certainly better than this over-done stuff in S.F. Try Little City on Congress; Quackenbushes on 45th Street (I think). It used to be across the street from U.T. on Guadalupe. Also, try Metro on Guadalupe. It stays open all night. Now, what does S.F. have to match that? Oh yea, Carl's Jr; but, of course, if you're into hard drugs, you can always find your connection there. Did I say that outloud? In downtown Austin, there's Ruta Maya. Also, there once was a Louisiana chain named C.C.'s, which I believe served the best coffee ever.
  reply
• 

  Rich

  3 months ago

  I agree with Sebastian. I lived in Austin, and also currently reside in San Francisco. There are coffee shops and cafes all over Austin. Ruta Maya is an awesome coffee shop, and there are dozens of Starbucks, which are just as popular in San Francisco. Apparently, you spent the entire week at SXSW and only SXSW and the immediate area surrounding it. Yes, alcohol is very prevalent, especially near 6th Street, but marijuana is everywhere. Marijuana hasn't been decriminalized in Texas like it has been in San Francisco. so people smoke in a more private setting. Oh, and San Francisco is much whiter than Austin. San Francisco has a population of 764,976(2007 estimate). Austin has a population of 1.6million(2007 estimate). That's more than double the population of San Francisco spread over a larger area, which means that Austin is not condensed into a 7x7 square. Austin has a fairly large Indian and South East Asian population, along with a larger black population. You should try spending more time in Austin next time. You come off sounding like a lame hipster who rides a bike and lives on Valencia.
  reply
• 

  Rita

  3 months ago

  hahahaha
  reply
• 

  Austin Self Storage

  3 months ago

  My hometown Austin is proud to say that all of its residents are fun loving people, filled with nightlife, bars, booze and babes.. and that's not all, if you stay at Austin you will soon find out that your in "heaven", got my point?
  reply