Is Austin Texas becoming "San Diegoized"?

That is is it becoming over everything? Over population, over priced, over popular, over homelessness, over everybodywantstomovethere?
When I moved to San Diego in 1976 it was still pretty quiet, cheap and in some parts even sleazy. In the 80s money moved in and ruined the lifestyle.

Just like Las Vegas....without the casinos.

Your right...I've never been to SD but I was born in NYC raised there and in Atlanta...I moved to Austin last summer, not really my choice. People here are very naive. They think it's still just a small town. It's growing rapidly everyday. People here try to hard to "Keep Austin Weird", roads and highways suck, they're about 10 years behind when it comes to that and the prices for some houses are insane. I honestly don't understand the appeal of Austin...If I had my way I'd be back in Atlanta. Traffic sucks there but at least you have a lot of options when it comes to roads and highways, job market is much much better and you get bigger, nicer houses for the money instead of paying a crap load here for a little piece of crap. Just because it's close to downtown. Don't even get me started on the homeless...they're everywhere.

Yeah, lots of people are moving here, and yeah, the city is somewhat over-hyped. But people moving here isn't necessarily a bad thing, and the city still has a much lower cost of living compared to a lot of other cities in the U.S. You can still buy a house less than 6 miles from downtown Austin for under 100k; you can't do that in most cities that people actually want to live in.
Maybe more people moving here means we will finally get some decent public transportation options.
When/if it gets to be like San Fransisco where a lot of the artists/musicians/writers/etc who made the town interesting, diverse, and worth living in are forced out by the cost of living, then Austin won't really be worth living in. But, that hasn't happened quite yet.

I've lived in Houston all my life, and I've watched from the sidelines as Austin has changed. It's always been the kind of place everyone wishes they could spend more time in. Unfortunately, you've got a valid point. The more attractive a place is, the more it gets spoiled by the very people who flock to be there. Austin's essence is becoming muddled with traffic and hordes of newcomers.

First of all, on behalf of Austinites everywhere, I would like to apologize for the majority of false, misleading answers you are receiving.

Secondly, JustIn Time, feel free to move back to Atlanta as soon as possible. You have the nerve to call others naive while you are answering a question referencing San Diego, a city that you admit to have never visited.........Furthermore, you have only been here 1 year, and I would bet anything that you are 18-21, actually live in Cedar Park or Round Rock (not Austin!), and that your idea of cool involves wrestling and girls gone wild.

On to the question at hand, Austin is not becoming San Diego. I have not only visited San Diego but also have friends who live/have lived there, so I am very familiar with the on-going struggle to find affordable housing, deal with transplants, and avoid the high-priced touristy attractions that threaten local mom and pop establishments.

Sure, some parts of Austin (downtown, around town lake, and the northernmost sectors of South 1st and South Congress) have changed and are constantly striving to keep up with the trends/flavors of the month. And in these same areas you will see newly built mcmansions and condos that look really out of place in some of Austin's oldest and more traditional neighborhoods. You will also find $6 cups of coffee and $20 cds.

However, the majority of Austin remains intact. South Austin, Southwest Austin, parts of East Austin, and other areas still represent the unique culture and community vibe that made and makes Austin so appealing.

Overpopulated - While Austin has its fair share of people coming and going, it is nothing like the high tech boom of the 90s that saw our population rise from 500K to 1 mil in the span of about 10 years. So, even if we were playing catch up for a while, things have settled down considerably. Traffic is traffic and if you commute, then you will face the same road woes as you would in any other major city during rush hour. However, you can still get to any side of town in less than 30 minutes regardless of traffic issues.

Overpriced - This is a bigger concern in the trendy areas listed above and parts of Central and West Austin, but you can still get a great plate of enchiladas, rice, and beans for under $10 in just about any part of town. Plus, there is still very affordable (and nice) housing that can be found throughout Austin, so the market here is definitely not as cutthroat as it is in SD and other parts of CA.

I hope this helps to clears things up for you.