Why I’m Leaving Austin & Moving Back to NYC

Posted: 4/17/23 | April 17th, 2023

Just after eight a long time in Austin, I’m leaving and heading back to NYC entire-time.

I to start with frequented Austin in 2013, bought hooked, and started off coming again so considerably that I resolved to shift listed here in 2015. I was only semi-in this article my first pair of decades. I split my time in NYC for a bit, traveled a whole lot, and lived in Paris for a bit.

But, in 2019, this became my only home.

Even so, over the final yr, it’s come to be obvious that the town and I have developed apart. The bizarre little city that drew me in this article as a respite from the hustle and bustle of NYC is no for a longer time a bizarre minimal town but a major city lacking big city infrastructure. The targeted visitors is horrible, my food stuff truck parks are gone, it is more high priced, and quirky Rainey Street is now all substantial rises and motels. The city’s character has just improved a large amount as Austin has grow to be “the position to be.”

Now, I’m not seeking to be a single of these “get off my lawn” persons. I am certain people lamented folks like me coming and modifying their city. Just as people prior to them and individuals right before them.

Transform is a frequent in existence and making an attempt to halt adjust is like trying to hold again the tide. Austin can alter all it needs. Not all of the improvements have been negative. There’s a lot extra to do in the metropolis, there is far more jazz and comedy, far better food stuff, and the airport has extra immediate flights now.

But if Austin needs to be a metropolis — and its area leaders look to want it that way even as they bemoan the increasing cost of housing — then be a town. Give us better infrastructure, additional housing, bicycle paths, and public transportation. Austin has become a town but without having any of the added benefits that appear with cities.

Last calendar year, roaming from NYC to Paris to Berlin to London, I started to recognize that the things I adore about huge metropolitan areas aren’t current in Austin. I skipped strolling in all places, museums, jazz clubs, community transportation, copious artwork museums, and diversity of men and women, strategies, and foodstuff. I skipped the hustle and bustle that arrives with places like NYC, Boston, London, and other metropolises.

I invested a great deal of last 12 months in Austin and, starting off in Oct because of my allergy pictures, I didn’t leave for 6 months. Throughout all that time, I dated, joined social clubs, and developed a lifetime there.

But my heart just held whispering, “This is not the area.”

Austin no extended feels like household. NYC has always experienced a piece of my coronary heart. I want to go back again and see how it goes. Will I spend 8 decades there? I never know. By then, I’ll be fifty!

But, ideal now, I’m completely ready to say goodbye to Austin. Following 8 many years, this chaper has come to an conclude.