Can't actually help form the standpoint of living in either, but when I was in Austin, riding looked like a nightmare! Too much riding along highways for my taste. You might want to do a search on the forum, as Boulder and Austin were discussed as the recent population growth did not seem to bode well for the cycling community. AZ looks better to me, with maybe Flagstaff or surrounding area maybe cool?

Traffic in the Austin area has been going to total shit. Something to consider as your commute to work (unless you work from home) could be shitty.
Arizona, short of Flagstaff, screw that...and the urban sprawl is just bad.

Haha, everyone recommends Flagstaff, but I just didn't enjoy it that much. Maybe I'm comparing it to Bend, OR or I just didn't see the great areas.

The issue with Flagstaff is the lack of O2 ;-)

I just recently left Austin. I'll give you an honest answer if you have any questions via PM.

Work commute, as others have touched on, is huge...figure that out. Living in Cedar Park means you'll rarely patronize downtown/south which is really Austin's claim to fame. Riding from your door in Cedar Park will be just fine, just don't expect to be blown away (west of Austin is where it's at). The race scene is pretty lackluster; there is a race every month starting with a super sprint and ending with a half, none of which are anything to write home about. I spent 2 years there and while I enjoyed it I didn't think twice about heading to Charlotte, NC.

You would be much better off in Gilbert. Better access to pools, good running spots, and decent cycling routes.

I have lived here my entire life and have never heard of someone who enjoys living in Surprise.

My girlfriend and I just moved to Tucson, AZ from Charlotte (me) and NYC (her).

It's a huge change of pace for both of us (her especially) but my two cents as far as Tucson goes (can't speak to further north in AZ)

1) It's hot, but I can already tell it's cooling off vs. when we moved (mid June when it was hottest in recent years at 115+). Working out in the AM if you've got something to do outside (i.e. bike or run) is an absolute must.

2) I actually enjoy riding my road bike again. In Charlotte I just got sick of the traffic and accidents (have had vehicular interactions a few times) and unless I drove up to Davidson (basically a more rural county 30mins north of Charlotte) riding on the road was just not that great. I spent most of my time on trails or indoors. Riding in Tucson, however, is fantastic as far as options and terrain go. The road quality is not great, but it's not really a big deal if you choose wisely as far as equipment goes. Certain areas limit your access to other areas, however. We live in Starr Pass...which is great for riding South and West but not as great for East (Mt Lemmon and surrounding), which require driving).

3) Lots of swimming options, all of which are outdoors (pretty awesome) and swimming at the UA rec when school's in session is very titillating.

4) Running is good, although anywhere around our neighborhood is hilly AF. Depends on where you live really.

But if I were choosing to move to AZ, I'd choose Tucson. Obviously. It's only been 2 months (haha, so maybe disregard my opinions) but it's been really enjoyable so far. From what I can tell, the job market in Tucson kind of sucks though.

Flag is a hard place to live. High cost of living (the housing market is too small for the population) combined with low wages.

Wow. Wished I could have made it to Tuscon. Very helpful. Thank you.

Wow, Surprise and Gilbert are not places I'd ever consider moving. If I was to stay in the metro Phoenix area it would have to be Cave Creek. Otherwise both Flag and Tuscon are super solid choices.

It was going to shit when I lived there and that was 25 years ago.

I'm constantly surprised at the amount of people who enjoy Gilbert. It has caught on with a lot of people though. Can't beat the home prices.

Also, folks - "Tucson." Not Tuscon.

Fast typing got the better of me on that one! Bit worrying that autocorrect didn't pick it up though...

titillating....haha

How are you in a position where both you and your wife have the option of living wherever you want?

Yeah, Austin still holds the #1 spot in my heart as a place I'd love to be, but my belief that I'll ever move back is fading.

I lived there about 15 years ago and I absolutely loved it. We go back at least once a year to visit and it's a much different place now.

I'd give the Scottsdale area a look as well. If you weren't sold on warmer weather I'd throw in Park City, UT. A buddy just moved there and absolutely loves it. Tons to do outdoors.

Ive lived in Austin for the past 5 years. And yes traffic does suck, so depending on where you live and work you will encounter traffic. I pay an obscene amount of money to live in a one bedroom shoebox in a high rise in downtown Austin. This puts me close to everything and more importantly a 10 minute traffic free commute to work. The triathlon scene is amazing, tons of teams, lots of stores and theres always a bunch of races going on in Austin or close by. As far as training, running and swimming theres tons of places to do it, depending on where you live you might have to get in your car and drive somewhere to ride your bike. You also need to understand that it gets hot here, summer months you basically hit 100 degrees everyday which may limit training. You can send me a PM if you have any specific questions.

---

2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

Lived and worked in Austin in my early 20's and it was fantastic. Traffic sucked, but having done the Houston thing it's really not that bad. Food/recreation/things to do there couldn't be beat.

That said now that I'm older with the family life staring me down, I'd be more inclined to look farther south around New Braunfels or Canyon Lake.

Grew up and currently live in Oregon, but spent 6 years in Tucson after college. The town is a great size and only 2 hours from Phoenix if you need something bigger. The temps in Tucson are about 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix in the summer and it starts to cool down by August. There are plenty of places to ride and you can choose hills or flat. Housing is about 40% less when compared to Portland. Winters are amazing with daytime temps in the 60s and you can go months without seeing a cloud. My wife is ready to move back. Maybe our daughter will pick UA for college.

---

Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

PM SENT. Thanks

And hippies. You forgot hippies. I like to visit, but I scratch my head every time I go there. Too much patuli smell.

---

---

"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden

I moved to Flag after college and ended up coming back down to Phoenix every weekend, so I only lasted about 9 months up there. Flag is a nice place to visit but, unless you're a total hippie, it can suck to live there. It is good for the right type of person. A lot of people up there would never live anywhere else.

I'd second what the others are saying, if you want to live in southern AZ and are considering Phoenix... just don't, Tuscon is better in almost every way. For me a huge part of it is just having Mt Lemmon so close to town, great climb that completely changes up the scenery and climate from everything else around.

Since the internet is for judging, have to admit I find all the posts about 'I'm sick of winter, moving to FL/TX/AZ!' to be amusingly naive. I grew up in FL, travel to AZ for work semi-regularly, travel to TX frequently to visit wife's family and currently live in CO. Summer in Texas or Arizona is only marginally better than the depths of winter in many places. Yes, you can ride or run all year if you want to make big enough compromises about how early you have to be on the road or how much climate induced discomfort you are willing to subject yourself too but you can ride year round in most places that have winter with similar planning or compromises.

Of course living in these places everyone says "but wait until fall or winter!" and indeed it is glorious to be outside on a perfect day in say March. Yet the irony is that the days of the year with the best weather, i.e. winter, are also the days of the year with the shortest amount of available daylight to enjoy that weather.

None of this to say that you aren't entitled to live where you want and like what you like, but there are very few places in the US where you can have your cake and eat it too and generally speaking, the places on your short list aren't among them.