I am contemplating a move down south to one of two possible locations - Fort Bragg NC (civilian military job opportunity) and Austin TX. I am weighing the pro’s and con’s - being a triathlete, a big pro is the lack of winter (40 degrees is not winter when you are from and NY and also spent a significant part of your adult life living in Russia!). Another plus is that, well, people down south are genuinely a lot more relaxed and easy going.
The one con is I am unsure how manageable the cultural differences will be for me. I am as Yankee as they get - grew up in NY and live there now, don’t have a religion and don’t plan on finding one, generally very liberal etc etc. Has anyone else made a similar move and how did it work out for you? (I am 25 now). I ask fellow triathletes because, well, you guys understand this crazy lifestyle best! Was it able to provide an anchor for you that made all the other “cultural” differences more surmountable?
I moved from Madison, WI to Austin, Texas for graduate school and really enjoyed it. Got some funny comments about my nasal upper midwest accent, but that was OK.
It has been many years since I have been there but Fayetteville, NC is one place I would stay away from. Just seemed like a dirty hole. I lived in Charlotte for 8 years and that city was referred to as “Fayette Nam”.
And this from Wikipedia:
Fayetteville’s per capita violent crime rate is 64% higher than the national average and the property crime rate is 75% higher than the national average. Fayetteville is known as one of the few cities in the South-East region of the United States to have Blood and Crip gang Violence. However, according to the Fayetteville Police Department, statistics kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation show that Fayetteville’s 2007 index crime rate for violent and property crimes is the lowest it has been since the year 2000.
First of all, you’re choosing a fast-growing town in Texas and a military town, which means there already are a lot of transplants, especially from up north. So that should provide a buffer from whatever culture shock you might experience. That said, if you look upon your time in either place as a learning experience, the cultural differences are quite manageable.
Secondly, if you have a choice between Austin and Fort Bragg? It’s not close. Pick Austin. You won’t regret it. You’ll be among friends, basically, if you live a truly healthy lifestyle while you’d be looked upon as a bit of a freak at Fort Bragg (apologies to those who live there and love it, but I know what my priorities are).
Finally, as other posters have said, Texas isn’t the South. It’s a whole other culture unto itself. And as long as you avoid conversations involving religion and politics (or at least be able back up whatever points you can make if there’s no way out of such a conversation), you’ll be fine. Personally, I’ve spent a bit of time in both the South and in Texas. Much to my Atlanta-based family’s chagrin, it would take a fairly serious act of God to get me to live in the South, and the same holds with Texas. I see the positives of both places, just that my current situation (on the high plains of Wyoming between two mountain ranges) is practically a state of euphoria. And all that matters to me is personal happiness.
I knew a guy who moved to Austin. We asked when he was going to pick up a southern accent. He said he hears more brooklyn accents at work than anything.
My understanding in that Austin is a very tolerable place to live if you are a Yankee.
I grew up not too far from Fayetteville, and it’s been a long time since I have been there. It gets a lot colder then 40 in NC, and it stays pretty humid so 40 there can feel like 20 in NY. If I were to move back to that area, I don’t think I’d live in Fayetteville itself, but make a longer commute from someplace like southern pines, pinehurst, laurinburg or aberdeen. Public schools for the most part are crap if you’re in need of that, and when I was there, private schools were few and far between, which is why I went to school in Southern VA.
Never been to Austin, but I’d say based on reputation alone Austin would be the better choice.