Not OP, but: Moving back to Austin, the overwhelming number of cumulus clouds in the sky reminded him how much he enjoyed their marshmallowy appearance. They don't exist in the Bay, hence his first sentence being true.
Presumably he spent his youth in the Midwest. Austin is a pretty transient city so OP likely moved there.
Funny enough I have felt similar to OP about Texas skies compared to the East Coast. The plains landscape and the heat (common to the Midwest) seems to create a cloud overlay so very different from what you find on the coasts. Me, I'll keep my stratocumulus and cirrocumulus beautiful sunsets of the South Eastern United States anyday!