I also went to UT as an undergrad and went back to live in Austin after grad school. It’s a great little city, but for someone really into the outdoors, I have to say that I’ll pay the premium to live in San Diego.
It’s all a matter of priorities and I happen to find the proximity of skiing, rock-climbing, open water swimming gives San Diego a healthy edge (for me). Also, I’m in biotech and that’s an absolutely dead industry in Central Texas.
Don’t even talk about Houston or Dallas. I grew up in the first and worked in the latter. All the attitude and traffic of the OC without the ocean or hills. No thanks.
Also, there was some study done on how folks are starting to move to locales where the political climate is more comfortable. I’m not going to comment on who started the divisions in this country, but that’s a major factor why I’m in California doing biotech instead of North Carolina.
Anyway, for those who moved away for space and more bang for the buck, congrats.
