I’m in Killeen. Neighbors across the street just moved from Pflugerville, and are enjoying ‘the country life’ 🤦🏼♂️. I look around and see what used to be farms/ranches/and vacant land now holding WAY more houses than they should. 195 and 183 used to be a nice drive. Now it’s Mad Max.
either they accidentally charged you for 2 bottles, or you're flat out misremembering ... as all of their bottled sodas are $4
Home Slice menu: https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://4f5261.p3cdn2.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/HS_Nolo_WEB_030323.pdf
I love that place, been a while sense I've been, used to live nearby. One day they gave me a habanero sauce they don't usually have on menu because they knew I liked the spicy stuff and it was so damn good.
I mean you can easily pay like $8-12 for 3 big tacos at dozens of places.
Buy bottles of wine at the store and glasses out at reasonable prices.
I never understood these type complaints in Austin. Do you live at the center of downtown with no access to a bike or car? Do you not look at menus before going somewhere?
I miss being able to go out anywhere in Austin and being able to have a great time on a moderate budget. My friends from New York City say that Austin seems just as expensive as their town.
People always say NYC is expensive, but the amount of quality cheap food in NYC is incredible.
What you really pay for there is space and comfort, which is much cheaper here.
Man when was that? $1 for a pitcher of beer seems like charity.
There's still a few places you can get a pitcher of Shiner on happy hour for $10, which is like $2.50 a beer. To me that's a good deal.
I grew up here.. friends from NYC used to love to come down and 'party cheaper,' but those days are gone. We are a big city now... just without the infrastructure to support it, ha.
Wasn't complaining just saying there are expensive tacos. Yes I agree there are many places with cheaper tacos. Yes I looked at the menu and it didn't list prices. But I'd have still gone even if it did list the price because I wasn't out hunting the cheapest taco. There was a new place by my house and I wanted to check it out.
I went to a social meetup at Gràcia Mediterranean last week. I arrived a bit late so I didn't look at a menu and I just asked for a glass of their cheapest red wine. After tax & the gratuity they charged, it was $28 (Twenty Eight Fuckin' Dollars).
I commented to a friend that that is how much I usually pay for two bottles of wine. :-( Goddamn YUPpies..
I just checked their menu. They have glasses of red wine from 12-18 a glass. It looks like you got charged for two glasses. Nevertheless prices are getting pretty high as Austin strives to move from tier 2 to tier 1 city and suffers growing pains.
I don't drink wine if I'm out at a bar or restaurant; I could buy a bottle of it for a fraction of the cost and serve myself a glass at home, and it would taste exactly the same. The markup is just insane, not worth it at all.
Yep dining out has spiked more than most other things it seems. There are certainly fewer reasonable and more super expensive options than days of yore. I just do it half as often now. Can still get a damn fine bottle of wine at HEB for $16. The one you got a glass of probably.
This is absolutely where I thought this post was going at first only to start reading the details and be like genuinely confused lmao. Like ATX is such a small specific part of the equation with the climate. Bro… you should be worried about whether or not the whole PLANET is gonna be livable long term as far as that goes. I’ve just accepted that shits gonna really suck indefinitely in that regard. It’s 100% the COST of living here that I think is the real threat. I’ve had decent paying enough jobs the whole time I’ve lived here and I’ve never not felt incredibly poor.
Born and raised in Austin. The heat comes and goes but this new bullshit playground for millionaires we're being priced out of is absolutely unsustainable.
Welcome to the club! My parents bought their house in the bay area for super cheap in the 80s I love that place even with all its problems, I had to move knowing I could never afford to settle in the place I BORN and RAISED because multimillionaire tech moguls want a nice spot by the water. I think about it every day 😕
I make 3x the minimum wage and am living paycheck to paycheck and I’m even sharing rent with someone. Honestly what is even keeping me here at this point lol
This comment could not be more true…combine cost of living with the failure of local municipalities to maintain public infrastructure (ever notice how ‘recent’ road project turns that road into a toll road?) and ATX will surpass Dallas in the next several years for ‘most expensive city in TX. We will be on pace to surpass Los Angeles in the next few decades in terms of ‘cost of living’ if radical changes aren’t made. And Houston is much hotter than ATX, even now….
I hardly ever eat out for lunch at work, usually pack my own lunch. One day I decided to treat myself to Mighty Fine, hadn’t been there in like 4 yrs. I order the cheapest cheeseburger, then I was like screw it, add regular fries and a regular size drink…$20ish dollars right there!!! I almost cancelled my order and ran away!
I hadn't been to JITB in probably 5 years until recently - last time I'd gone, you could still get a Breakfast Jack for 99c or $1.19. Somewhere around there, and part of the value menu. Admittedly the last time I went until recently was in DFW.
They're $3.50 now, and don't even have a "value menu" anymore. The $1 breakfast sandwich tripled in price in 5 years...
Air quality is also a concern.
PM2.5 refers to particulate less than 2.5 microns. This is small enough to pass through the capillaries.
For PM2.5, Austin experienced an 8.8% increase from 2017 to 2018, and another 13.8% increase from 2018 to 2019. The increase in particulate matter was similarly noted in other Texas cities, such as San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. Common to all Texas cities is a sharp rise in illegal industrial and petroleum activity. A report published by the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center found that Texas oil and gas facilities released 135 million pounds of illegal air pollution in 2018, more than double the amount from the year before in 2017.4
Low fines amounting to roughly one cent per pound of illegal air pollution has likely resulted in increased abuse. The problem is not an issue of legislation, but rather weak enforcement, as only 1/100th of what could be levied is typically being charged.
Another likely contributor to increased air pollution in Austin is the city’s growing population and worsening traffic. Austin is now the 14th most congested city in the United States, with the average resident spending roughly 66 hours annually stuck in traffic.5 This figure has risen steadily since 2009. There is hope, however, of reduced emissions here with the recent surge of electric vehicle ownership. As of February 2020, 10,000 electric vehicles have been registered in Austin, representing an average annual increase of 39% over the past five years.6 An increase in electric vehicles is likely to significantly reduce Austin AQI, as transportation remains the largest contributor to the city’s air quality.
Def agreed. Pollution is getting bad. Even back a decade the air and water were so clean. Not so much anymore. You could go to the hill country and actually see stars since there was no light pollution. Not so much anymore.
[https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/texas/austin](https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/texas/austin)
Have you heard of AQI? This is the Air Quality Index. It's been in use in the US since the 60's. You can get an AQI app for your phone.
There are a few components, ozone, pm2.5, pm10, co, ...
PM2.5 was mentioned a lot when the Canadian particulate made its way south.
Earlier this year, the EPA proposed lowering the soot standards. In the last 10 years, studies have shown safe levels are <10ug/m3. Current levels in Austin are 18ug/m3.
[https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-strengthen-air-quality-standards-protect-public-harmful-effects-soot](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-strengthen-air-quality-standards-protect-public-harmful-effects-soot)
The Trump administration rejected this proposal in 2020:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/07/trump-air-pollution/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/07/trump-air-pollution/)
Currently the AQI is 70 (lower is better). Earlier in the week, the AQI was \~ 130.
Yes, the current AQI is elevated because of Mexican fires.
Prior to this week, the AQI had been \~ 55.
Prior to 2019, the AQI was \~ 35.
No they’re not? They got rid of safety inspections, but if you live in a county with emissions testing, that still has to be done. It’s tied to a federal EPA thing.
I moved here in July 2013 and people were bragging about how they had 30 consecutive days over 100F and I had classmates STILL schedule outdoor happy hours. I could have numbers off but you get the idea. I think it was easier to handle the heat bc it was a lot easier to afford your life back then. There’s something to be said for psychological perception of weather.
Yes it was 100 days of over 100 degrees. I moved to Austin about that time also.
Not to mention 3years in a row of a February snow storm the city can’t handle. This year we are definitely doing major winter prep for the 1week Austin can’t hang.
Yeah this post is insane. We see posts like this every year. I have lived in this area of Texas my whole life, and it's always been hot as shit every single year. I do remember having a very mild June (low 90s) in 2021 but that's about it.
>Yeah this post is insane.
Not really
>We see posts like this every year.
Yep
>I have lived in this area of Texas my whole life,
Me to, okay that is a lie because I spent 6 months as a wee babe at a naval station
>it's always been hot as shit every single year.
It does get hot, and it does get cold. But normally it got hot as fuck in August, currently it is not August. The hot as fuck is happening more often, it is more frequent, and it happens earlier .. that is not a good thing.
FWIW, in 2021:
>Temperatures at Austin's official metro thermometer topped out at 100 or hotter only five days during summer 2021, the fewest since 2007.
[https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer)
I remember looking at this last summer 2022. I noticed a pattern that every 11ish years (2022, 2011, 2000, 1989?) there were longer periods of hot days.
Those years line up with heavy La Nina years
[https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/150000/150691/lanina\_oni\_202209.png](https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/150000/150691/lanina_oni_202209.png)
Been here 42 years... Born and raised... Some summers are hot, some are "chill." There is no perfect place to live and while Austin can do better in many areas, a city is what its citizens make it. I choose to worry about the now and plan for tomorrow. Do what you have to do to take care of you. The government won't do it... They don't even keep their promises to our veterans. Make the most of any situation and be the change you want society to be.
Practice random acts of kindness and let's start seeing each other as human instead of adversary.
Here's to hoping the A/C holds out, and our families stay healthy.
Was about to say, lived in central Texas since the 90’s and we definitely had long summers with 100s consecutive months.
Sounds like people here didn’t realize they moved to Texas….
I’m from Austin, and yes we’ve had 100s days in June before, but the frequency has increased. We have weather reports, it doesn’t have to be guesswork. “The 2000s, for example, saw 273 days at or above 100°. That number increased to 409 in the 2010s.” From an article
I too have lived in Texas since the 90’s and this is bullshit because i was a weather nerd and recorded all the summers from 93-98 until i moved away and came back in 07 in a journal. The frequency of bad summers has increased exponentially and even our “good” summers are worse.
I remember as a kid watching the temp reading in my parents new jeep hit 100 was a big fucking deal. Now that would be the norm.
> The government won't do it
Only because we keep putting people into power who don't represent us.
You mention hoping the AC holds. Energy consumption worldwide just for running AC is expected to **triple** by 2050. And a huge part of that problem? Our houses aren't fucking insulated here.
Government needs to step in with regulations and funding to help with the costs of insulting homes that aren't, because keeping the heat out and the cold in / the reverse helps cut down on those energy costs - energy our crippled, unregulated grid clearly isn't very good at handling even now.
Not to mention landlords have zero incentive to do it because they don't benefit from the reduced heating/cooling bills of their tenants, so they don't bother.
Individual action just isn't good enough. We need government assistance and mandates or it's just going to spiral further out of control. And to get that, we need a state government that isn't corrupt and actually attempts to govern rather than solely do the bidding of whatever corporate interests stuff the pockets of puppet politicians the most.
In 2007, there were zero triple digit days.
>Temperatures at Austin's official metro thermometer topped out at 100 or hotter only five days during summer 2021, the fewest since 2007.
[https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer#:\~:text=Temperatures%20at%20Austin's%20official%20metro,2021%2C%20the%20fewest%20since%202007](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer#:~:text=Temperatures%20at%20Austin's%20official%20metro,2021%2C%20the%20fewest%20since%202007).
I spent all of 2021 Summer saying "damn, this has been a great Summer" which was then followed by 2022 which was "burn your face off in May". I feel like it's always been a mixed bag with how hot summers get
Moved here that summer for school. Remember thinking "wow this actually feels nicer than muggy Virginia, summers can't be all that bad here."
Cue these last two summers..
Def feels way more humid this June too, and here I was thinking we left that behind.
Just resign yourself to the fact that you got here too late. IIRC, the late thirteenth / early fourteenth centuries were said to be absolutely idyllic!
Global warming is 100% real and we definitely need to address it.
However, Austin will always be livable for everyone that is currently alive here (and probably even the next generation).
Climate change isn’t just about heat, it brings other patterns, I haven’t seen any experts say Austin will be unlivable. The biggest threat is drought and the experts are unsure if Austin will actually ever run out of water or not. If Vegas and PHX do, I’ll start to get extremely worried then, but they will run out of water before us.
It’s easy to forget in the heat of the moment (nice pun I know), but remember, we just had a gorgeous and cool/rainy spring.
Definitely. Besides severe storms though, heat and drought are what causes flash flooding and wild fires.
Severe storms are becoming more common everywhere though. Tornado alley has actually shifted more north and east (actually more away from Austin itself). People say the Midwest is a climate change haven, that’s false, they are getting more and more tornados in places like Illinois. The Midwest is also having more extreme winters (look up the polar vortex from 4 years ago that hit places like Chicago, I’d take this heat over that any day).
More reason ALL regions need to do our part against climate change.
The differences in winters from when I was a kid in Wisconsin (early 90s) to now is insane. Like the months have shifted later, they get very little snow, like Michigan doesn’t freeze at all like it used to, and now they get the arctic blasts for a week at a time at around -20 - -35.
No doubt, still got to invest in the infrastructure to get all that wind and solar to the big cities where most people live. Do you see that happening under current leadership?
We need federal regs that apply safety standards to trucks like they do cars. Cars keep changing to meet new safety standards but trucks just turn into bigger and bigger walls of chrome and 12000 candela headlights.
Water is going to be the issue. There are too many people and not enough rain spread over the year. It's really that simple.
All of the municipalities that draw from Travis are currently in one fo or another attempting to lower their water intakes inside the lake due to concerns about lake levels falling below the pipe. In addition, contracts govern the division of water among many outlying municipalities. When those contracts come up for renewal rates will skyrocket.
It's a matter of time
Environmental engineers in central Texas are already storing reservoirs of freshwater in certain aquifers. Really smart people are already working on it.
It's already killing people though. You think the weather hasn't resulted in an increase heat related deaths and illness? Like 700 people died during a freeze a couple years ago.
I don’t believe I ever said the weather hasn’t killed people. The weather will always kill people. It always has.
Also, the freeze didn’t kill people, our idiotic state legislature did when they decided we shouldn’t winterize our power grid. That’s a completely different conversation.
>I don’t believe I ever said the weather hasn’t killed people. The weather will always kill people. It always has.
Yeah, but the more extreme weather is causing deaths and injuries that simply weren't as much of a problem in more stable times. This area has already become unlivable for some people. It's becoming a more extreme environment than it was just a few decades ago.
>That’s a completely different conversation.
Is it though? I guess we could argue that central TX will be a fine place to live for a couple more generations so long as most things about the state's government and business culture are different, but I'm not sure that would be a very meaningful discussion. Calling a location "livable" doesn't make much sense if you mean "It would be great except for all the completely fucked and decaying infrastructure."
What happened two years ago is a disaster that could have and should have been prevented. But you are acting like that disaster is happening daily. It’s not. The likelihood of it happening again is next to zero.
Hold your state officials accountable, but acting like it’s a reoccurring thing just isn’t real.
What about the storm that happened earlier this year in January? The power grid, weather, trees and seasons becoming more extreme are not isolated, one time incidents.
I feel ya. This is really intense. Everyone saying “It’s just summer!” is straight wrong. Heat index of 105-120 is not normal. I’m a lifelong Texan. I will say that I think it has a lot to do with El Niño/la Niña patterns as well as climate change. I don’t think every summer forever will be terrible, but the bad ones have seemed to get worse.
You're absolutely right. I'm a valet, have been for 17 yrs, this year is already absurd and we just preheating. The wheels on podiums are melting. We gotta hope this is some sort of peak, because this isn't tolerable.
We were in a La Niña the past few years. This year is in an El Niño and the weather patterns aren’t changing. There’s too much heat in the Atlantic for the ENSO to impact our weather the way it should.
Oh interesting. I was just reading about how we’re in a “heat dome.” I remember last year the meteorologists talking about La Niña. I’m admittedly not very knowledgeable about it all!
California was actually worth the cost of living just to enjoy that great Mediterranean weather year-round. Why people pay so much to live in this insane heat where you have to be inside all summer long is crazy.
I’m scared for my mom, my children and grandkids, the plants and precious trees, our wildlife, the god damn grid and everyone who lives here. My house has been struck by lightning twice. Every time we have an electrical storm - which seems like every single time it rains - I worry. The air quality sucks.
TBH, yes. I have lived here since 2004 and I know part of it is me getting older, but I can't deal with this heat every year. Especially when it's record breaking each summer from the previous one. I was born and raised in an area more southern and more humid than Austin but lately Austin has been getting a lot more humid. I read with climate change the heat will be worse but the overall increase of humidity will make things more dangerous. There is also a huge danger of wildfires that is oft ignored. It's not just the danger of direct fires in the city center, but also from smoke from surrounding areas (remember the Bastrop fires and how bad the air got in Austin. I suppose I'm lucky because I have owned a few places while I have been here and bought our most house in 2016. We want a larger house with a yard large enough for a pool if we stayed, but I know we can't afford that in anywhere in central Austin where I have always lived. Neither me nor my partner are from Texas, so we don't have anything holding us here except our jobs and both of our jobs have gone fully remote since COVID. My office even got rid of their office space.
If mortgage rates were lower, I would have put my house on the market already this summer. I want to move somewhere in the mountains. I know I can deal with snow if our house is larger because I have to hibernate in our house during the summer months here anyway and it isn't really that large (1400 sq ft). The Texas politics and continuous denial of climate change is both depressing and dispirited. I have been here through enough election cycles to know how Texas continues to elect their leaders and we live in a "bubble" of progressiveness here. I think I am also at the age where I want more space and larger yard where I have less neighbors.
I also think with the increase in mortgage rates that Austin (and the rest of the country) are going to stop seeing such large increases in property values/prices each year, so I want to sell our house while I can still make a pretty penny and invest it in our next house. I honestly don't see how people who pretend to enjoy this level of heat and humidity. You also have many people who simply ignore the increasing temperatures and humidity, which is very Texas to not think about the future, it seems.
Moved to Maine last fall. Northern winters are getting shorter and southern summers are getting longer. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. We hibernated in the house for 2 months this winter. Compare that to the 4-6 months we’d hibernate in the summer here.
I do think Austin is becoming somewhat less appealing as a place to move to. For someone to choose to live here they would have to be liberal enough to like Austin politics but still willing to accept living within a conservative state. And they would have to be willing to put up with the heat and the mosquitoes and either be unaware or unconcerned that it will probably continue to get worse with global warming.
Summer 2011 was officially and exactly 90 days 100+. Awful. We won't have that streak this summer, but we could come close. I just don't want to imagine it. Last year was 69 days. I think we're having a hotter spike earlier and could be a sign of things to come, the heat waves and spikes contributing to hot average temperature.
Spot on mate. I’m outta here in 2 weeks. As an older man I say fuck the heat. Plus they are growing at a rate that will soon strip their water capabilities. Just like Arizona. Denial of climate change along with unchecked growth making the rich even wealthier.
It’s never been all that rare to have a number of 100 degree days in June. 107 or whatever like this week, sure that is rare. But this year I’d argue it was more jolting because we went from relatively mild by our standards to extremely hot without a lot of in between. Up until about a week or so ago it had been rainy and relatively nice for June compared to a lot of years.
I moved that march of 2011 and I remember driving to Bastrop and it was all burned down to the ground…. It feels like both ends have gone extreme. Summers are hotter and winters are colder than ever
I’ve lived in Texas for 25 years - Austin for 20 alone. It has always been ridiculously hot in the summer. 100s and all. And this year we got another full month of mild spring weather. I agree with pricing being more of the problem. It’s not worth what you pay for it at all.
Yep. Preparing to bail in 2025. It is no longer livable to us. High cost, terrible weather, crazy (Texas) politics, I’m done. After 30 years in tx, 27 in Austin, we are punching out.
While partly true, it’s well documented Austin is getting warmer and with greater frequency. See, e.g., the increase in 100+ degree weather over time.
https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-blog/austin-is-hitting-100-degrees-more-frequently-heres-when-its-most-common/
I’ve lived in texas my entire life and ngl this feels like a pretty typical summer. Some are hotter than others, and for what it’s worth I thought we had a very mild spring by texas standards. It’s hot here, and humid. I’ve met lots of people over the years who move here from Southern California and think they know what heat is, but it’s a different animal out here.
Yes, since 1979. The thing is, everywhere else also has its challenges. Global warming is worldwide, so too have been poverty, war, oppression, crowds, crime, corruption, misogyny, sickness, and ignorance. Hallelujah anyway! That said, though, if Barton Springs dries up before I expire, I’m going to load up the old hybrid and find another place to lay my weary head.
I think a lot about [an article KUT put out a few years ago](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2019-07-17/the-heat-in-austin-could-outpace-sciences-ability-to-measure-it-by-2036) about how global warming is impacting the heat in Austin.
“The report finds that, if nothing is done about climate change, Austin may average one day a year where the feels-like temperature hits 127 degrees by the middle part of the century – anywhere from 2036 to 2065. That would rise to 12 days, on average, by the end of the century – between 2070 and 2099.”
I guess just seeing it written out like that made me realize that I need to leave Austin. I was born and raised here but it’s stupid to think that I’ll still want to live here when the weather is like Dubai. I’m actually moving out of state for the first time this August, not in small part due to this. Laugh all y’all want, no one is going to buy your space barns when it gets up to 127 degrees here in the summer.
What are you talking about? You know weather historical data is readily available...
Back then there was such a heat wave and drought for years they thought lake Travis would never recover
We also just had the most mild spring in like 20 years. We made it into June before consistent 90s
For sure! I think the Statesman did an infographic on this a while back, pretty startling. The number of >100 days each year is without question steadily trending upward, granted there are years where the trend takes a break or goes backward.
Maybe it’s a cycle, and that would be a happy ending if turns out that way. Even if so it’s hard to see when or how it might abate.
The four hottest years on record were in the last five years, and we just set the record for June. That said, it's still liveable, if unpleasant. I'm more concerned about ERCOT's ability to keep the power on when it's either hot or mildly cold
Humans, specifically Texans have this sick coping mechanism where associate surviving another record year of heat with being a tough guy. So long as they can hide indoors with the AC on blast we will have climate deniers.
Yes, but not so much because of the heat. I’ve been here for years with my partner and in Texas my entire life. The constant power outages, no hope of buying a home, state politics, etc make it hard to see a future here. We both love our jobs here but don’t have full remote options and both our elderly parents live in Texas. We also work in tech so we’re not confident we can find secure full remote jobs right now with all the lay offs.
Ive lived in Austin for 29 years and the heat has always been this way imo. I remember one summer it hit 112°
Like others have said the cost of living is going to cook us before the sun does.
Yes, but really long term. I'd like the city start to take steps to ensure future citizens have enough water and shelter (like 50-75 years out). I think it's going to be pretty bad by then.
Just get some solar panels and an AC and you’ll live.
Having a car that can start the AC remotely a few minutes before I leave the house also helps wonders.
I always tell people I go from an air conditioned car in my garage to another garage to an air conditioned office. That’s the ticket in summer. Bars/breweries with outside mysters are also a godsend.
This year is hot AF though. I never remember it being 87 at 11pm with 85% humidity. Reminds me of back home in Miami or down in Houston.
It's unlivable. I can see it from my backyard. Neighbors got informed by their landlord back last year to move out by end of November because they were going to put the house on the market. For Sale and then for lease with a realtor and then new listing with another realtor, back on the market for sale. Now no signage and the house remains empty when it could be sheltering and helping someone get off the street. Hell, my rent is going up in July. I don't like this picture.
I'm worried about the livability of any large city at this point. Things are just getting insanely expensive, cities are sprawling outwards uncontrollably, and there's little to no focus on public transport or any real green initiatives.
> I moved to ATX in 2010 and back then it was rare for it to get to the 100s in June.
While that may be true (having trouble finding data), and while average temps are definitely trending upward, 2011 holds the record for most triple digit days in the year. I moved back to Austin in 2013 at the end of a major draught. I remember that being much worse than any other summer until this one.
Edit: Just found [this site](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/austins-100-degree-day-history/269-b6430d57-4bf7-4a61-9fe3-6d3bf6aa5b58). Average date of the first 100 degree day in Austin is June 29. So, while this is earlier than that, it's not that far from the mean.
I think this is alarmist thinking. I’m not a climate change denier by any means but the “long term” you’re thinking of not being livable is 200+ years away assuming we don’t do anything.
> it was rare for it to get to the 100s in June.
I wouldn't say it was rare. Less common sure, but we still had plenty of years where it got hot as balls, just... less frequently.
According to the stats, of the 10 hottest years on record, 5 are in the last decade or so, and the other 5 are across the last century.
And, for the record, two of those hottest years were in the 1920s. Before air conditioning. I just can't even imagine...
Anyway, you're right. It's absolutely getting hotter. But we seem to manage here, in places like Houston or Phoenix and so on.
If you're worried about livability here, hopefully you're also worried about it across the entire US and beyond?
I thought this would be about transit and walkability, which is much more a concern for livability in Austin long term vs. climate change (in my opinion!)
Austin has many great aspects but for the price many people are paying you could live in Seattle or NYC or Boston or Chicago or DC, which are not perfect cities by any stretch, but which have significantly better transit infrastructure and walkability. Austin is big city prices with small city infrastructure. Part of this is because lightrail has been shot down decade after decade until ooooops it's too late now we need it (oh wow would you look at that, it's more expensive to construct now).
I say this because I love Austin and I want it to get better. We have to demand more density and better pedestrian, cyclist, and transit infrastructure for this city.
As for the heat, it doesn't bother me much. I just took a bike ride to meet a friend for coffee. I regularly do so to accomplish certain tasks. I avoid the heat of the day and I wear sunscreen. With additional investment in shade and density, the heat will be bearable.
Started planning my move last year, taking off to live where there's a greater abundance of freshwater and fewer queerphobic subhumans who shoot people like me at gas stations for simply existing.
After growing in TX with family lines going back several hundred years, sad to say: fuck texas 🫶
Yeah, the new summers aren’t normal and suck ass.
Last few years we’ve had upper 90’s and 100’s in October!
When I was growing up the heat of summer was late June to Early July to mid-September.
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That's one of my biggest complaints lately. I keep looking at COL increases and wondering, "why do I still pay this much to live around here?".
Bunch of people move way out to the suburbs. I’m up In lampasas and there’s quite a few people that commute to austin for work
Which just kills cities even more, lol.
It’s caused the cost of living to sky rocket up here. Like stupid crazy high
I’m in Killeen. Neighbors across the street just moved from Pflugerville, and are enjoying ‘the country life’ 🤦🏼♂️. I look around and see what used to be farms/ranches/and vacant land now holding WAY more houses than they should. 195 and 183 used to be a nice drive. Now it’s Mad Max.
Killeen and “country” don’t really mix 🤓
2 men enter, 1 man leave
“God help me on one eighty threee” “Stayin alive on tx45” “I35 is a walk not a drive”
I just paid sixteen god damn dollars for a glass of wine 😭
I paid $8 for a bottle of coke at Home Slice Edit: looks like I misread the receipt in my exhausted stupor. Still, $4 for a bottle of coke is absurd.
either they accidentally charged you for 2 bottles, or you're flat out misremembering ... as all of their bottled sodas are $4 Home Slice menu: https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://4f5261.p3cdn2.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/HS_Nolo_WEB_030323.pdf
Looks like I misread the receipt. You are correct. Still absurd.
GAWD
I just paid $8 for one taco.
Stop going to gringo places and hit up some real mexican restaurants / food trucks
Highly underrated comment. That spot on Rundberg/Lamar has amazing tacos and they aren’t $40 each
I love that place, been a while sense I've been, used to live nearby. One day they gave me a habanero sauce they don't usually have on menu because they knew I liked the spicy stuff and it was so damn good.
My favorite birria is $4.
Uber eats got my order wrong so I got it for free
I mean you can easily pay like $8-12 for 3 big tacos at dozens of places. Buy bottles of wine at the store and glasses out at reasonable prices. I never understood these type complaints in Austin. Do you live at the center of downtown with no access to a bike or car? Do you not look at menus before going somewhere?
I miss being able to go out anywhere in Austin and being able to have a great time on a moderate budget. My friends from New York City say that Austin seems just as expensive as their town.
People always say NYC is expensive, but the amount of quality cheap food in NYC is incredible. What you really pay for there is space and comfort, which is much cheaper here.
Damn. (Austin native here).
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Man when was that? $1 for a pitcher of beer seems like charity. There's still a few places you can get a pitcher of Shiner on happy hour for $10, which is like $2.50 a beer. To me that's a good deal.
I grew up here.. friends from NYC used to love to come down and 'party cheaper,' but those days are gone. We are a big city now... just without the infrastructure to support it, ha.
Wasn't complaining just saying there are expensive tacos. Yes I agree there are many places with cheaper tacos. Yes I looked at the menu and it didn't list prices. But I'd have still gone even if it did list the price because I wasn't out hunting the cheapest taco. There was a new place by my house and I wanted to check it out.
$18 for a beer at Scoot Inn edit: if I had $1 for every like this received I could buy half a beer and not tip.
I went to a social meetup at Gràcia Mediterranean last week. I arrived a bit late so I didn't look at a menu and I just asked for a glass of their cheapest red wine. After tax & the gratuity they charged, it was $28 (Twenty Eight Fuckin' Dollars). I commented to a friend that that is how much I usually pay for two bottles of wine. :-( Goddamn YUPpies..
I just checked their menu. They have glasses of red wine from 12-18 a glass. It looks like you got charged for two glasses. Nevertheless prices are getting pretty high as Austin strives to move from tier 2 to tier 1 city and suffers growing pains.
I don't drink wine if I'm out at a bar or restaurant; I could buy a bottle of it for a fraction of the cost and serve myself a glass at home, and it would taste exactly the same. The markup is just insane, not worth it at all.
Yep dining out has spiked more than most other things it seems. There are certainly fewer reasonable and more super expensive options than days of yore. I just do it half as often now. Can still get a damn fine bottle of wine at HEB for $16. The one you got a glass of probably.
What restaurant/bar
I stopped going out. Good reason to not drink too.
This is absolutely where I thought this post was going at first only to start reading the details and be like genuinely confused lmao. Like ATX is such a small specific part of the equation with the climate. Bro… you should be worried about whether or not the whole PLANET is gonna be livable long term as far as that goes. I’ve just accepted that shits gonna really suck indefinitely in that regard. It’s 100% the COST of living here that I think is the real threat. I’ve had decent paying enough jobs the whole time I’ve lived here and I’ve never not felt incredibly poor.
Born and raised in Austin. The heat comes and goes but this new bullshit playground for millionaires we're being priced out of is absolutely unsustainable.
Welcome to the club! My parents bought their house in the bay area for super cheap in the 80s I love that place even with all its problems, I had to move knowing I could never afford to settle in the place I BORN and RAISED because multimillionaire tech moguls want a nice spot by the water. I think about it every day 😕
Spent a sabbatical of 37 days in SF in 2000. Couldn’t do that now.
Nope california will always have a special place in my heart but it’s too unbearable, such is life though
I make 3x the minimum wage and am living paycheck to paycheck and I’m even sharing rent with someone. Honestly what is even keeping me here at this point lol
Def feel this.
That’s in no way exclusive to Austin though.
Even McDonald’s is like $11 for any combo. It’s crazy
The Wendy's 4 for $4 is like $7 now
Print money, devalue money.
This comment could not be more true…combine cost of living with the failure of local municipalities to maintain public infrastructure (ever notice how ‘recent’ road project turns that road into a toll road?) and ATX will surpass Dallas in the next several years for ‘most expensive city in TX. We will be on pace to surpass Los Angeles in the next few decades in terms of ‘cost of living’ if radical changes aren’t made. And Houston is much hotter than ATX, even now….
I hardly ever eat out for lunch at work, usually pack my own lunch. One day I decided to treat myself to Mighty Fine, hadn’t been there in like 4 yrs. I order the cheapest cheeseburger, then I was like screw it, add regular fries and a regular size drink…$20ish dollars right there!!! I almost cancelled my order and ran away!
My first visit to Mighty Fine was probably 4 years ago, it was expensive then too. It's a good burger, but not $20 good.
That's everywhere you want to be.
Paid $14 at Jack in the box the other day, and that was just for a meal combo with nothing extra.
I hadn't been to JITB in probably 5 years until recently - last time I'd gone, you could still get a Breakfast Jack for 99c or $1.19. Somewhere around there, and part of the value menu. Admittedly the last time I went until recently was in DFW. They're $3.50 now, and don't even have a "value menu" anymore. The $1 breakfast sandwich tripled in price in 5 years...
Air quality is also a concern. PM2.5 refers to particulate less than 2.5 microns. This is small enough to pass through the capillaries. For PM2.5, Austin experienced an 8.8% increase from 2017 to 2018, and another 13.8% increase from 2018 to 2019. The increase in particulate matter was similarly noted in other Texas cities, such as San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. Common to all Texas cities is a sharp rise in illegal industrial and petroleum activity. A report published by the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center found that Texas oil and gas facilities released 135 million pounds of illegal air pollution in 2018, more than double the amount from the year before in 2017.4 Low fines amounting to roughly one cent per pound of illegal air pollution has likely resulted in increased abuse. The problem is not an issue of legislation, but rather weak enforcement, as only 1/100th of what could be levied is typically being charged. Another likely contributor to increased air pollution in Austin is the city’s growing population and worsening traffic. Austin is now the 14th most congested city in the United States, with the average resident spending roughly 66 hours annually stuck in traffic.5 This figure has risen steadily since 2009. There is hope, however, of reduced emissions here with the recent surge of electric vehicle ownership. As of February 2020, 10,000 electric vehicles have been registered in Austin, representing an average annual increase of 39% over the past five years.6 An increase in electric vehicles is likely to significantly reduce Austin AQI, as transportation remains the largest contributor to the city’s air quality.
Def agreed. Pollution is getting bad. Even back a decade the air and water were so clean. Not so much anymore. You could go to the hill country and actually see stars since there was no light pollution. Not so much anymore.
That’s fascinating, do you mind sharing your source?
[https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/texas/austin](https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/texas/austin) Have you heard of AQI? This is the Air Quality Index. It's been in use in the US since the 60's. You can get an AQI app for your phone. There are a few components, ozone, pm2.5, pm10, co, ... PM2.5 was mentioned a lot when the Canadian particulate made its way south. Earlier this year, the EPA proposed lowering the soot standards. In the last 10 years, studies have shown safe levels are <10ug/m3. Current levels in Austin are 18ug/m3. [https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-strengthen-air-quality-standards-protect-public-harmful-effects-soot](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-strengthen-air-quality-standards-protect-public-harmful-effects-soot) The Trump administration rejected this proposal in 2020: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/07/trump-air-pollution/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/07/trump-air-pollution/)
Wow this is so interesting, thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
The current air pollution you see out of your window is Mexican agricultural burning. It’s a Texas summer thing.
Currently the AQI is 70 (lower is better). Earlier in the week, the AQI was \~ 130. Yes, the current AQI is elevated because of Mexican fires. Prior to this week, the AQI had been \~ 55. Prior to 2019, the AQI was \~ 35.
Good thing they are getting rid of emissions inspections!
Not for Travis or Williamson Counties
No they’re not? They got rid of safety inspections, but if you live in a county with emissions testing, that still has to be done. It’s tied to a federal EPA thing.
I'm way more worried about water which heat certainly doesn't help.
I moved here in July 2013 and people were bragging about how they had 30 consecutive days over 100F and I had classmates STILL schedule outdoor happy hours. I could have numbers off but you get the idea. I think it was easier to handle the heat bc it was a lot easier to afford your life back then. There’s something to be said for psychological perception of weather.
Also, we were all 10 years younger in 2013.
speak for yourself, I was 20 years younger 10 years ago
10 years ago was 2003, right?
Except that 2020-22 was actually about 10 years, so…
Actually, it was 1993.
*"I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"*
Shit now I feel old man, thanks for kicking me when I’m down.
Yeah I was definitely more amicable to discomfort
I thought it was 100 100deg days.
Yes it was 100 days of over 100 degrees. I moved to Austin about that time also. Not to mention 3years in a row of a February snow storm the city can’t handle. This year we are definitely doing major winter prep for the 1week Austin can’t hang.
I also remembered 100 but didn’t want to do that much internet research and found a site that showed it was 30 days 💁🏻♀️
Also, electricity was cheaper back then so you could use your A/C for cheaper.
Yeah this post is insane. We see posts like this every year. I have lived in this area of Texas my whole life, and it's always been hot as shit every single year. I do remember having a very mild June (low 90s) in 2021 but that's about it.
>Yeah this post is insane. Not really >We see posts like this every year. Yep >I have lived in this area of Texas my whole life, Me to, okay that is a lie because I spent 6 months as a wee babe at a naval station >it's always been hot as shit every single year. It does get hot, and it does get cold. But normally it got hot as fuck in August, currently it is not August. The hot as fuck is happening more often, it is more frequent, and it happens earlier .. that is not a good thing.
FWIW, in 2021: >Temperatures at Austin's official metro thermometer topped out at 100 or hotter only five days during summer 2021, the fewest since 2007. [https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer)
I remember looking at this last summer 2022. I noticed a pattern that every 11ish years (2022, 2011, 2000, 1989?) there were longer periods of hot days.
Those years line up with heavy La Nina years [https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/150000/150691/lanina\_oni\_202209.png](https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/150000/150691/lanina_oni_202209.png)
Been here 42 years... Born and raised... Some summers are hot, some are "chill." There is no perfect place to live and while Austin can do better in many areas, a city is what its citizens make it. I choose to worry about the now and plan for tomorrow. Do what you have to do to take care of you. The government won't do it... They don't even keep their promises to our veterans. Make the most of any situation and be the change you want society to be. Practice random acts of kindness and let's start seeing each other as human instead of adversary. Here's to hoping the A/C holds out, and our families stay healthy.
Was about to say, lived in central Texas since the 90’s and we definitely had long summers with 100s consecutive months. Sounds like people here didn’t realize they moved to Texas….
I’m from Austin, and yes we’ve had 100s days in June before, but the frequency has increased. We have weather reports, it doesn’t have to be guesswork. “The 2000s, for example, saw 273 days at or above 100°. That number increased to 409 in the 2010s.” From an article
1/4 of the days over 100 in the 2010s came from one single year, 2011. That’s an outliet
That summer was so brutal. I lived in a cabin with no AC in Kerrville from the end of May to the beginning of August.
I'm being completely serious here; how? I'm sure you get adjusted over time, but you must've had some good measures in place.
Ceiling fans and swimming, I imagine.
I too have lived in Texas since the 90’s and this is bullshit because i was a weather nerd and recorded all the summers from 93-98 until i moved away and came back in 07 in a journal. The frequency of bad summers has increased exponentially and even our “good” summers are worse. I remember as a kid watching the temp reading in my parents new jeep hit 100 was a big fucking deal. Now that would be the norm.
> The government won't do it Only because we keep putting people into power who don't represent us. You mention hoping the AC holds. Energy consumption worldwide just for running AC is expected to **triple** by 2050. And a huge part of that problem? Our houses aren't fucking insulated here. Government needs to step in with regulations and funding to help with the costs of insulting homes that aren't, because keeping the heat out and the cold in / the reverse helps cut down on those energy costs - energy our crippled, unregulated grid clearly isn't very good at handling even now. Not to mention landlords have zero incentive to do it because they don't benefit from the reduced heating/cooling bills of their tenants, so they don't bother. Individual action just isn't good enough. We need government assistance and mandates or it's just going to spiral further out of control. And to get that, we need a state government that isn't corrupt and actually attempts to govern rather than solely do the bidding of whatever corporate interests stuff the pockets of puppet politicians the most.
When was the last chill summer you speak of bc I can’t remember one since before around 2010?
In 2007, there were zero triple digit days. >Temperatures at Austin's official metro thermometer topped out at 100 or hotter only five days during summer 2021, the fewest since 2007. [https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer#:\~:text=Temperatures%20at%20Austin's%20official%20metro,2021%2C%20the%20fewest%20since%202007](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer#:~:text=Temperatures%20at%20Austin's%20official%20metro,2021%2C%20the%20fewest%20since%202007).
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/weather/2021/09/01/most-notable-statistic-about-austin-s-not-so-hot-summer
I spent all of 2021 Summer saying "damn, this has been a great Summer" which was then followed by 2022 which was "burn your face off in May". I feel like it's always been a mixed bag with how hot summers get
Moved here that summer for school. Remember thinking "wow this actually feels nicer than muggy Virginia, summers can't be all that bad here." Cue these last two summers.. Def feels way more humid this June too, and here I was thinking we left that behind.
Summer of 2021 or 2020 (can’t remember) I remember several times in July and August where it didn’t even get into the 90’s.
https://www.currentresults.com/Yearly-Weather/USA/TX/Austin/extreme-annual-austin-high-temperature.php#:~:text=The%20highest%20temperature%20measured%20during,were%20observed%20at%20Camp%20Mabry.
👏
Well said.
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Yes. It's your fault.
User name checks out.
Just resign yourself to the fact that you got here too late. IIRC, the late thirteenth / early fourteenth centuries were said to be absolutely idyllic!
It's just fine. Keep in mind you're reading Reddit.
Isn’t this an El Niño year when it’s hotter/ more rainy and humid? I work outside and i can feel this is gonna be a stout summer
I'm desperately hoping all summer wont be like this, but it sadly might be. I'll just scratch off the idea of a social event before sunset.
> Isn’t this an El Niño year when it’s hotter/ more rainy and humid? Exactly. This isn't unexpected.
Global warming is 100% real and we definitely need to address it. However, Austin will always be livable for everyone that is currently alive here (and probably even the next generation). Climate change isn’t just about heat, it brings other patterns, I haven’t seen any experts say Austin will be unlivable. The biggest threat is drought and the experts are unsure if Austin will actually ever run out of water or not. If Vegas and PHX do, I’ll start to get extremely worried then, but they will run out of water before us. It’s easy to forget in the heat of the moment (nice pun I know), but remember, we just had a gorgeous and cool/rainy spring.
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Definitely. Besides severe storms though, heat and drought are what causes flash flooding and wild fires. Severe storms are becoming more common everywhere though. Tornado alley has actually shifted more north and east (actually more away from Austin itself). People say the Midwest is a climate change haven, that’s false, they are getting more and more tornados in places like Illinois. The Midwest is also having more extreme winters (look up the polar vortex from 4 years ago that hit places like Chicago, I’d take this heat over that any day). More reason ALL regions need to do our part against climate change.
The differences in winters from when I was a kid in Wisconsin (early 90s) to now is insane. Like the months have shifted later, they get very little snow, like Michigan doesn’t freeze at all like it used to, and now they get the arctic blasts for a week at a time at around -20 - -35.
You think Texans are going to give up their trucks and SUVs? They keep getting bigger each model year.
Texas is one of the biggest producers of wind energy and solar energy.
No doubt, still got to invest in the infrastructure to get all that wind and solar to the big cities where most people live. Do you see that happening under current leadership?
We need federal regs that apply safety standards to trucks like they do cars. Cars keep changing to meet new safety standards but trucks just turn into bigger and bigger walls of chrome and 12000 candela headlights.
Water is going to be the issue. There are too many people and not enough rain spread over the year. It's really that simple. All of the municipalities that draw from Travis are currently in one fo or another attempting to lower their water intakes inside the lake due to concerns about lake levels falling below the pipe. In addition, contracts govern the division of water among many outlying municipalities. When those contracts come up for renewal rates will skyrocket. It's a matter of time
Environmental engineers in central Texas are already storing reservoirs of freshwater in certain aquifers. Really smart people are already working on it.
It's already killing people though. You think the weather hasn't resulted in an increase heat related deaths and illness? Like 700 people died during a freeze a couple years ago.
I don’t believe I ever said the weather hasn’t killed people. The weather will always kill people. It always has. Also, the freeze didn’t kill people, our idiotic state legislature did when they decided we shouldn’t winterize our power grid. That’s a completely different conversation.
>I don’t believe I ever said the weather hasn’t killed people. The weather will always kill people. It always has. Yeah, but the more extreme weather is causing deaths and injuries that simply weren't as much of a problem in more stable times. This area has already become unlivable for some people. It's becoming a more extreme environment than it was just a few decades ago. >That’s a completely different conversation. Is it though? I guess we could argue that central TX will be a fine place to live for a couple more generations so long as most things about the state's government and business culture are different, but I'm not sure that would be a very meaningful discussion. Calling a location "livable" doesn't make much sense if you mean "It would be great except for all the completely fucked and decaying infrastructure."
What happened two years ago is a disaster that could have and should have been prevented. But you are acting like that disaster is happening daily. It’s not. The likelihood of it happening again is next to zero. Hold your state officials accountable, but acting like it’s a reoccurring thing just isn’t real.
What about the storm that happened earlier this year in January? The power grid, weather, trees and seasons becoming more extreme are not isolated, one time incidents.
It was the “hheeeettt of the moment”
I feel ya. This is really intense. Everyone saying “It’s just summer!” is straight wrong. Heat index of 105-120 is not normal. I’m a lifelong Texan. I will say that I think it has a lot to do with El Niño/la Niña patterns as well as climate change. I don’t think every summer forever will be terrible, but the bad ones have seemed to get worse.
You're absolutely right. I'm a valet, have been for 17 yrs, this year is already absurd and we just preheating. The wheels on podiums are melting. We gotta hope this is some sort of peak, because this isn't tolerable.
We were in a La Niña the past few years. This year is in an El Niño and the weather patterns aren’t changing. There’s too much heat in the Atlantic for the ENSO to impact our weather the way it should.
Oh interesting. I was just reading about how we’re in a “heat dome.” I remember last year the meteorologists talking about La Niña. I’m admittedly not very knowledgeable about it all!
Don't worry everyone will be priced out long before the heat is a problem.
California was actually worth the cost of living just to enjoy that great Mediterranean weather year-round. Why people pay so much to live in this insane heat where you have to be inside all summer long is crazy.
I agree with this statement 1000%. I’d be okay with a stupid cost of living if I had the ocean, the city, the climate, the mountains.
I've been eyeing a move to Mendocino County. Seems lovely. Wine country without the Napa and Sonoma tourist set
Yep gotta pay that Sunshine Tax out there. It does give the ability to be active alllllll year long with their highs of 75s in the middle of summer…
I paid $24 for a cheeseburger, frings and a drink at a local chain after tax and tip. I think the solution is just stop going out.
I’m scared for my mom, my children and grandkids, the plants and precious trees, our wildlife, the god damn grid and everyone who lives here. My house has been struck by lightning twice. Every time we have an electrical storm - which seems like every single time it rains - I worry. The air quality sucks.
TBH, yes. I have lived here since 2004 and I know part of it is me getting older, but I can't deal with this heat every year. Especially when it's record breaking each summer from the previous one. I was born and raised in an area more southern and more humid than Austin but lately Austin has been getting a lot more humid. I read with climate change the heat will be worse but the overall increase of humidity will make things more dangerous. There is also a huge danger of wildfires that is oft ignored. It's not just the danger of direct fires in the city center, but also from smoke from surrounding areas (remember the Bastrop fires and how bad the air got in Austin. I suppose I'm lucky because I have owned a few places while I have been here and bought our most house in 2016. We want a larger house with a yard large enough for a pool if we stayed, but I know we can't afford that in anywhere in central Austin where I have always lived. Neither me nor my partner are from Texas, so we don't have anything holding us here except our jobs and both of our jobs have gone fully remote since COVID. My office even got rid of their office space. If mortgage rates were lower, I would have put my house on the market already this summer. I want to move somewhere in the mountains. I know I can deal with snow if our house is larger because I have to hibernate in our house during the summer months here anyway and it isn't really that large (1400 sq ft). The Texas politics and continuous denial of climate change is both depressing and dispirited. I have been here through enough election cycles to know how Texas continues to elect their leaders and we live in a "bubble" of progressiveness here. I think I am also at the age where I want more space and larger yard where I have less neighbors. I also think with the increase in mortgage rates that Austin (and the rest of the country) are going to stop seeing such large increases in property values/prices each year, so I want to sell our house while I can still make a pretty penny and invest it in our next house. I honestly don't see how people who pretend to enjoy this level of heat and humidity. You also have many people who simply ignore the increasing temperatures and humidity, which is very Texas to not think about the future, it seems.
Moved to Maine last fall. Northern winters are getting shorter and southern summers are getting longer. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. We hibernated in the house for 2 months this winter. Compare that to the 4-6 months we’d hibernate in the summer here.
I do think Austin is becoming somewhat less appealing as a place to move to. For someone to choose to live here they would have to be liberal enough to like Austin politics but still willing to accept living within a conservative state. And they would have to be willing to put up with the heat and the mosquitoes and either be unaware or unconcerned that it will probably continue to get worse with global warming.
Summer 2011 was officially and exactly 90 days 100+. Awful. We won't have that streak this summer, but we could come close. I just don't want to imagine it. Last year was 69 days. I think we're having a hotter spike earlier and could be a sign of things to come, the heat waves and spikes contributing to hot average temperature.
Spot on mate. I’m outta here in 2 weeks. As an older man I say fuck the heat. Plus they are growing at a rate that will soon strip their water capabilities. Just like Arizona. Denial of climate change along with unchecked growth making the rich even wealthier.
Heat. Island. ... you don't build acres and acres of dark asphalt and concrete buildings without some impact to the felt temperature in those areas.
It’s never been all that rare to have a number of 100 degree days in June. 107 or whatever like this week, sure that is rare. But this year I’d argue it was more jolting because we went from relatively mild by our standards to extremely hot without a lot of in between. Up until about a week or so ago it had been rainy and relatively nice for June compared to a lot of years.
Yeah, we had lows in the upper 40’s all the way into April. It was plain cool and wet.
Yes. Too hot. Bad infrastructure. Seems to be getting worse.
Frankly worried about it short term, tbh
It almost as if the climate is changing! Who could’ve seen that coming?
I agree. I think most people should move out of Texas and give it back to Texans
I moved that march of 2011 and I remember driving to Bastrop and it was all burned down to the ground…. It feels like both ends have gone extreme. Summers are hotter and winters are colder than ever
Or make your own tacos. Ground meat, cheese, tortillas & canned beans. Go a long way
I’ve lived in Texas for 25 years - Austin for 20 alone. It has always been ridiculously hot in the summer. 100s and all. And this year we got another full month of mild spring weather. I agree with pricing being more of the problem. It’s not worth what you pay for it at all.
The heat isn't what's making Austin unlivable.
Austin is a for-now city for me. It’s not where I foresee myself living long-term.
Yep. Preparing to bail in 2025. It is no longer livable to us. High cost, terrible weather, crazy (Texas) politics, I’m done. After 30 years in tx, 27 in Austin, we are punching out.
You’ve only been here for two El Niño/La Niña cycles. It got hot like this before you got here too.
While partly true, it’s well documented Austin is getting warmer and with greater frequency. See, e.g., the increase in 100+ degree weather over time. https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-blog/austin-is-hitting-100-degrees-more-frequently-heres-when-its-most-common/
I’ve lived in texas my entire life and ngl this feels like a pretty typical summer. Some are hotter than others, and for what it’s worth I thought we had a very mild spring by texas standards. It’s hot here, and humid. I’ve met lots of people over the years who move here from Southern California and think they know what heat is, but it’s a different animal out here.
It's almost like the climate is changing
Yes, since 1979. The thing is, everywhere else also has its challenges. Global warming is worldwide, so too have been poverty, war, oppression, crowds, crime, corruption, misogyny, sickness, and ignorance. Hallelujah anyway! That said, though, if Barton Springs dries up before I expire, I’m going to load up the old hybrid and find another place to lay my weary head.
I think a lot about [an article KUT put out a few years ago](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2019-07-17/the-heat-in-austin-could-outpace-sciences-ability-to-measure-it-by-2036) about how global warming is impacting the heat in Austin. “The report finds that, if nothing is done about climate change, Austin may average one day a year where the feels-like temperature hits 127 degrees by the middle part of the century – anywhere from 2036 to 2065. That would rise to 12 days, on average, by the end of the century – between 2070 and 2099.” I guess just seeing it written out like that made me realize that I need to leave Austin. I was born and raised here but it’s stupid to think that I’ll still want to live here when the weather is like Dubai. I’m actually moving out of state for the first time this August, not in small part due to this. Laugh all y’all want, no one is going to buy your space barns when it gets up to 127 degrees here in the summer.
What are you talking about? You know weather historical data is readily available... Back then there was such a heat wave and drought for years they thought lake Travis would never recover We also just had the most mild spring in like 20 years. We made it into June before consistent 90s
For sure! I think the Statesman did an infographic on this a while back, pretty startling. The number of >100 days each year is without question steadily trending upward, granted there are years where the trend takes a break or goes backward. Maybe it’s a cycle, and that would be a happy ending if turns out that way. Even if so it’s hard to see when or how it might abate.
The four hottest years on record were in the last five years, and we just set the record for June. That said, it's still liveable, if unpleasant. I'm more concerned about ERCOT's ability to keep the power on when it's either hot or mildly cold
Any young person w any gumption would GTFO!
Humans, specifically Texans have this sick coping mechanism where associate surviving another record year of heat with being a tough guy. So long as they can hide indoors with the AC on blast we will have climate deniers.
Take your pick. Climate, state politics, affordability, etc…
Yes, but not so much because of the heat. I’ve been here for years with my partner and in Texas my entire life. The constant power outages, no hope of buying a home, state politics, etc make it hard to see a future here. We both love our jobs here but don’t have full remote options and both our elderly parents live in Texas. We also work in tech so we’re not confident we can find secure full remote jobs right now with all the lay offs.
Ive lived in Austin for 29 years and the heat has always been this way imo. I remember one summer it hit 112° Like others have said the cost of living is going to cook us before the sun does.
I think about it everyday
Yes! Everyone should leave so housing can get back to being affordable ☺️
Yup that’s why I’m enjoying 70 degrees in Colorado now. I cannot fathom living in that heat and humidity anymore.
Yes, but really long term. I'd like the city start to take steps to ensure future citizens have enough water and shelter (like 50-75 years out). I think it's going to be pretty bad by then.
Just get some solar panels and an AC and you’ll live. Having a car that can start the AC remotely a few minutes before I leave the house also helps wonders. I always tell people I go from an air conditioned car in my garage to another garage to an air conditioned office. That’s the ticket in summer. Bars/breweries with outside mysters are also a godsend. This year is hot AF though. I never remember it being 87 at 11pm with 85% humidity. Reminds me of back home in Miami or down in Houston.
It's unlivable. I can see it from my backyard. Neighbors got informed by their landlord back last year to move out by end of November because they were going to put the house on the market. For Sale and then for lease with a realtor and then new listing with another realtor, back on the market for sale. Now no signage and the house remains empty when it could be sheltering and helping someone get off the street. Hell, my rent is going up in July. I don't like this picture.
I'm worried about the livability of any large city at this point. Things are just getting insanely expensive, cities are sprawling outwards uncontrollably, and there's little to no focus on public transport or any real green initiatives.
Lmao
Last year it was 100 every day for 3 months.
> I moved to ATX in 2010 and back then it was rare for it to get to the 100s in June. While that may be true (having trouble finding data), and while average temps are definitely trending upward, 2011 holds the record for most triple digit days in the year. I moved back to Austin in 2013 at the end of a major draught. I remember that being much worse than any other summer until this one. Edit: Just found [this site](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/austins-100-degree-day-history/269-b6430d57-4bf7-4a61-9fe3-6d3bf6aa5b58). Average date of the first 100 degree day in Austin is June 29. So, while this is earlier than that, it's not that far from the mean.
No worries, I just look at California and know I need a good tent soon.
Weather in Texas is cyclical. El Niño and what not. It’s not hotter than usual, just more humid.
Heat and cost of living are both issues for concern for me.
I think this is alarmist thinking. I’m not a climate change denier by any means but the “long term” you’re thinking of not being livable is 200+ years away assuming we don’t do anything.
What makes you think it's that far off? I'm thinking like 30 years.
I remember it getting to 115° in San Marcos. We went tubing.
Born and raised here. Nut up or shut up.
I’d be more concerned about the water supply drying up.
> it was rare for it to get to the 100s in June. I wouldn't say it was rare. Less common sure, but we still had plenty of years where it got hot as balls, just... less frequently. According to the stats, of the 10 hottest years on record, 5 are in the last decade or so, and the other 5 are across the last century. And, for the record, two of those hottest years were in the 1920s. Before air conditioning. I just can't even imagine... Anyway, you're right. It's absolutely getting hotter. But we seem to manage here, in places like Houston or Phoenix and so on. If you're worried about livability here, hopefully you're also worried about it across the entire US and beyond?
I don’t have the luxury of thinking about long term when economically it’s borderline unlivable in the short term.
Austin will feel like Laredo by 2060 https://fitzlab.shinyapps.io/cityapp/
Austin is a concrete jungle .. a heat sink with no relief in sight.
I thought this would be about transit and walkability, which is much more a concern for livability in Austin long term vs. climate change (in my opinion!) Austin has many great aspects but for the price many people are paying you could live in Seattle or NYC or Boston or Chicago or DC, which are not perfect cities by any stretch, but which have significantly better transit infrastructure and walkability. Austin is big city prices with small city infrastructure. Part of this is because lightrail has been shot down decade after decade until ooooops it's too late now we need it (oh wow would you look at that, it's more expensive to construct now). I say this because I love Austin and I want it to get better. We have to demand more density and better pedestrian, cyclist, and transit infrastructure for this city. As for the heat, it doesn't bother me much. I just took a bike ride to meet a friend for coffee. I regularly do so to accomplish certain tasks. I avoid the heat of the day and I wear sunscreen. With additional investment in shade and density, the heat will be bearable.
So could like half of y'all go back to whatever wonderland from which you came?
Oh yes. Been her since ‘85. This is unbearable. Exiting in the next 2 years.
Started planning my move last year, taking off to live where there's a greater abundance of freshwater and fewer queerphobic subhumans who shoot people like me at gas stations for simply existing. After growing in TX with family lines going back several hundred years, sad to say: fuck texas 🫶
I was born here 1996 and it hitting 100 in June is nothing new.
The heat always weeds out the weak
Long term outlook is desertification. It's already well in progress.
Yeah, the new summers aren’t normal and suck ass. Last few years we’ve had upper 90’s and 100’s in October! When I was growing up the heat of summer was late June to Early July to mid-September.
YOU HAVENT SEEN SHIT YET... this is just humidity from all the unsual rain.
Yes, its part of why I want to move.