[H2O]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

Chicago is pretty inexpensive as far as big cities go, though.

Austin seems more expensive than NYC on average to me though, based off of my calculations on necessary things to live. Maybe someone from the Bay Area, which is generally more expensive than NYC can justify a move to Austin, but I wouldn't be able to if it were purely based off of economics.

Also, from what I've seen, salaries seem to be more or less 20% less in Austin for tech industry jobs. One of my best friends works at Google and turned down a relo opportunity because it came with a 20% pay cut. Strange how that works, considering NYC is actually more affordable than Austin for a single person, but perception says otherwise.

That being said, Austin makes a lot of sense for some people obviously since its exploding with population growth. I tend to think a lot of the people moving to Austin are relatively unestablished in their careers and see it as an Eldorado for opportunity, which is awesome.

New York isn't really like that anymore, it seems that entry level jobs are requiring a minimum of 5 years experience. Same in SF. In this regard, I think it is great that there is an intermediate between NY and SF where younger people actually have a shot at getting a decent tech job.

In regards to Nashville, I think they are probably facing a bigger bubble than Austin is, because their economy is largely inflated and not robust in the ways that Austin's economy is. So if I were to bet on Austin or Nashville, I would bet on Austin. That being said, there will definitely be a price correction at some point in Austin housing, probably in the next 3 years.

I've lived here for 20 years, and the only housing price corrections we have seen accompanied major recessions - .com in 2001 and Great in 2008. The corrections were very short lived - 1 to 3 years, and quickly regained any lost value. Other than those corrections, year over year increases in home values have run 10% to 15%. Obviously, that can't last forever, but I don't see it ending anytime soon with the severe housing shortage we are currently in.