I'm not sure I'd agree with some of these people here that Austin is worse than SF. I've driven in both within the past 6 months.
But geographically speaking, Austin is pretty awful. I35 is basically the in/out for all of the commuters from the north and south. There are some tollroads but Austin has had trouble getting people to use them because they were so expensive. They even raised the speed limit to 85 as an incentive and still enough folks wouldn't pay the astronomical rates! Now, for people making software engineer salaries, they could afford it, but they likely won't be enough to continue investment in the needed timeframe.
Apple, Tesla, etc, so many huge names are moving to Austin and the city just wasn't built for it. They have enough room to make stuff happen, but construction takes money and political will. Austin is a blue city, but we all know money leans red, especially when it comes to increased taxes to pay for city projects. Can you imagine the amount of money that would need to be spent to imminent domain a subdivision for a new freeway? I can see the speculative investment purchases already! Hold them up in lawsuits for a few years while the housing prices get pumped to kingdom come.
Now, I live up the road in quaint little ole Dallas, so what do I know? I've watched the price of housing increase by 30% in a couple years. It's absolutely insane. Lucky for DFW, it has had more of a focus on transportation development across the entire metroplex a lot longer than Austin, so even during rush hour you can get all the way into downtown from the far suburbs in an hour. Granted, this is also made possible by an insane amount of investment in toll roads, but they've been strategically built through the wealthiest neighborhoods, forcing residents to take them just to leave home. (Obviously not required, but the city knew they had money to burn.)
DFW also has the second(?) largest airport in the US, processing an insane amount of cargo and thus we have highways to match. DFW boasts 4 professional sports teams, a major backbone of financial services, a thriving entertainment scene, and still plenty of room to expand.
DFW still lacks around public transportation, but if you are willing to pony up the cash for a place in the city, it's certainly possible to commute in a reasonable amount of time. You will absolutely need a car still for weekend activities unless you want to ride a bus for 3 hours one way.
Californian's, if you're going to move to Texas, go fill up Austin first before I buy a house next year, but then when you realize it's too crowded down there, you can come visit the state fair (going on now)!
;)