<p>Regarding traffic, I lived 12 miles from my office in Houston. It took me 40 minutes to get there on an average day using all my shortcuts (much bother). I'm sure it's worse now, 14 years later. I have been in Dallas and San Antonio many times...they don't have anything on Austin in the traffic department, either. Boston, Chicago, LA and the bay area also have much more traffic and you have to deal with more aggressive (putting it very nicely) drivers. Anyway, my point was that traffic isn't a big enough deal in Austin to be a significant factor in choosing whether or not to go there. I guess traffic would be under the category of "local atmosphere" or "quality of life" and UT always ranks way up there in these categories so most other people don't consider it a big deal either. It certainly is less of the quaint little state capital it was 25 years ago when I was first there but with that growth has come more culture and opportunities so it's not all bad.</p>