People & Places
Hunting for a better place
Samantha-Jane Hunter and her husband Earl Hunter moved to Austin in 2007. Here, Samantha describes their emigration experience and their impressions of the city.
"We moved to Austin in September 2007. Earl's company, based in Horsham, West Sussex, closed down, and he had the option of being made redundant or of relocating to Texas.
We initially came out to visit in April 2007 for a week to scope out the area and we loved it, so we decided to make the huge move across the Atlantic. We were renting a flat in East Grinstead at the time, and had no major ties to keep us in the UK, except for our family and friends.
We bought a house in October 2007, in a north-west hilly suburban neighbourhood called Steiner Ranch, just five minutes drive from Lake Travis. Our home cost us a fraction of the price that we would have paid for the same house in the UK. Steiner Ranch is a great 'master-planned community' area – there are some of the best schools, along with many shops, restaurants, open air swimming pools, children's play areas, parks, sports courts and a golf course, as well as nature trails.
Austin isn't how we imagined it to be – all dry, beige and flat with ranches, cattle, horses, saloon bars and tumbleweed! It's very lively, cosmopolitan, hilly and green, with plenty of lakes and rivers nearby – although occasionally you'll see a few of the older generation around sporting a cowboy hat and boots!
One of the main reasons we love it here is that everyone's so friendly and respectful. Anyone you pass on the street or in a store will say 'Hi, how are you?' and smile. One of the reasons we moved from the UK to Austin is because we didn't want to have a family and raise children in the UK.
We're scared of what's happening to all the youth over there, with no discipline anymore, so we're very pleased we moved over here and look forward to starting a family in Austin."
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