I love Austin, but...

...there is something about New York City. I absolutely love it here. I can't quite put my finger on one thing, maybe it's just a combination of things: amazing food, super friendly people, so much to do, the major contrast from life in Texas...and I suppose vacationing here vs. living here provides a different view. I can see how it would be challenging in the snow and in torrential rain...but to come here for a week with nothing more to do than explore the city - well, it just never gets old. I walk around the city seeing all different walks of life...every color, every age, every nationality, every style, you hear every language, every kind of music on street corners and in the train stations...it is just so different from home. What would it have been like to grow up here? I see the itty bitty kids on skate boards just cruising down the street ahead of their moms or the so young teenagers hopping on and off of the trains in groups and alone - would I have been a more confident, independent kid if I had grown up here? I just wonder all of these things as I wander around and see all of the people, wondering about their lives. Wondering if they would come to Texas and wonder about mine...