Austin was great when it was the only liberal and cultural oasis in TX, back when that meant something. When it was a Texas-sized college town. SXSW created a reality distortion field for tourists looking for the Good Life and since then they’ve been trying to graft a tech hub on top of a place that was never suited.

One under discussed downside to Austin is how isolated it is. 

In LA you're a 5 hour drive from Vegas, 6 hours to SF, 3 to San Diego, 5 to Yosemite, skiing is a few hours away, Joshua Tree is in your back yard. You can sail, surf, hop down to Baja etc. Austin? Day trips to Houston or Dallas...  even Marfa is 7 hrs.

icebreaker.xyz/0xen |
https://gallery.so/Oxen/galleries | https://opensea.io/collection/farcats

Correct. LA’s best quality is its proximity to things that are not LA. Not exactly a glowing endorsement.