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Austin Peeps - Considering a Move & Visiting in a Couple of Weeks (1 Viewer)

SIDA!

SIDA!

Footballguy
I started the other thread asking those who have moved out of state to offer up some suggestions on how you might pick a place to move to and how you would plan for it.

To keep it brief, we are a family with a child who is in middle school. We are looking to ideally be within a 30-45 drive of Austin (commuting time during rush hour).

Probably doing career resets so can't really offer up anything helpful on that front.

We are scheduled to spend a few days in town in a couple of weeks (during/after the 4th of July holiday) and looking for suggestions from locals or those who once lived in the area about various things.

Not that it is your job to sell us on Austin...hell...the last thing you might want is a Californian moving out there and effing your state up, but how would you pitch/sell Austin to people considering relocating?

What would you have us check out or see so that we can get a feel or vibe on the place? We aren't really looking to do touristy things though. We want to try to get a feel for the area.

It would be really cool for some of you to give us some feedback on the neighborhoods/communities or areas surrounding the city. Outside of the live music scene, I don't really know much about the city other than it is apparently doing well economically.

I would be unable to even name or have an idea of what any of the neighboring areas/suburbs are like. Thanks for any help.

 
Whenever people come to visit, I send them this. It may be slightly dated, but it should have a lot of info you need:

Austin isn’t a huge city like Chicago, but its pretty big and getting much bigger everyday. There are two main highways that go north and south – I-35 and Tx-1 (which everyone calls MoPac).

I-35 divides east and west downtown Austin. Up until 5-10 years ago, East Austin was pretty rough – with the exception of a few hipster clubs. It has now exploded. There is tons of housing, bars, and exceptional restaurants over there.

Similarly, there’s a river (technically a Lake, but it looks like a river) that runs through downtown. South of the Lake is South Austin – which is an artsy, hippy type area. North of the Lake is the heart of downtown.

What’s in Austin

· The state government – as a result, there is the capitol, the governor’s mansion, etc. The capitol is located at 11th and Congress. Congress is the main north/south surface road in downtown.

· University of Texas – there’s not a ton to see other than a campus, but if you want to see it, its just north of the capitol. Its at MLK, which is 19th. Its very large. You can’t miss it.

Museums

· LBJ Presidential Library – right downtown near UT campus

· Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum – a popular destination

· Blanton Museum of Art – on UT’s campus

· Hope Outdoor Gallery – Downtown area where the City has set up a bunch of outdoor spaces for artists to come and make art. Its pretty cool to see.

· Here are a few others – including some offbeat ones: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/oct/17/austin-10-best-museums-galleries

Outdoors

· Austin people are crazy outdoorsy. So there are tons of hiking trails, beaches, boating, kayaking, walking, pools, etc. There are a few major parks – Zilker Park and Barton Springs being two of the most famous.

· If outdoor type activities interest you, you can check out this - http://move-to-austin.com/austin-tx-outdoor-activities/

· The main Lake through downtown does not allow motorized boats – except for tourist cruises. There are plenty of those – both with and without dinner – if you are interested. They also have multiple bat cruises.

Bats

· The bats are huge. There are literally over a million bats that live underneath the Congress Ave bridge. This may only be in the warmer times of the year, but they come out every night at dusk and fly to a local farm. Its pretty impressive to see. It’s a LOT of bats.

Restaurants

· When I first moved here in 2011, I didn’t think the restaurant scene was all that great. Since then, it has EXPLODED. There is now an outstanding restaurant scene with every type of food imaginable.

· Here is a link to the local paper’s top 25 of 2014 list: http://projects.statesman.com/features/top-restaurants/

· Some of those, obviously, can be quite expensive.

· While Austin now has all kinds of amazing food, they are definitely known for BBQ and breakfast tacos. If either of these interest you (and the BBQ should – its really outstanding), let me know.

· As for anything else – Italian, TexMex, Thai, seafood, steak, burgers, sushi, whatever – there are a lot of great places. If you let me know your preference in type of food, general cost and atmosphere, I can give you some specific suggestions.

Night Life

· Austin is definitely known for its night life. There are A LOT of bars and A LOT of live music. There are bars that have any type of live music you like – including Donn’s Depot and the Broken Spoke, which are the places I take my Dad so he can listen to really old, great country music.

· The most famous area of Austin is called 6th Street. Specifically, this is the part of 6th Street that is West of I-35 but East of Congress. They close down the street to cars on Fridays and Saturdays. Its interesting to see, but its called Dirty Sixth for a reason. Its mostly really drunk college-aged people. Its not an area I would normally hang out, but its worth seeing.

· There are other things besides just music also. There are always a ton of comedy shows – including the one I highly recommend, Esther’s Follies. It’s a music and comedy variety show that is actually really funny. And I took my Dad to it last year and he loved it (even though it does have some Texas-based jokes).

· There are also a lot of theaters, so depending on who is in town, you may be able to see plays, musicals, book readings, etc.

· The website I think is best to find out what’s going on at night is Austin360.com. If you go there and search for just a generic event on the date you will be here, a ton of listings will pop up for what is in town.

Shopping

· North of town (depending on traffic, it could be 15 or 45 minutes), is the Domain. This is the area with all the high end shopping. I’d like to name the stores, but other than Tory Burch, I don’t really know anything.

· San Marcos Outlets – San Marcos is about 45 minutes to an hour south of Austin (on the way to San Antonio). These are like the 2nd largest outlets in the US. They are really huge.

Sports

· UT sports

· Minor league hockey

· Minor league baseball

· Roller derby (haven’t been yet, but really want to go)

 
Lived there from '06 to '12 (also Cali transplant) and went back a few weeks ago... it's honestly changed so much in 3 years I doubt I'd be of much help. There's a few folks in here that live there that can give you the rundown. Great place to live, we miss it a lot.

 
Whoknew has a pretty good overview. I've got a Word doc I can send you with more recs if you PM me your email address.

As far as neighborhoods go, need price range and priorities before we can give you that.

Also, I'm a pretty big deal here so we obviously have low standards for community leadership.

 
I'm pretty sure that Canyon Vista in NW Austin (Round Rock ISD) is widely regarded as the best non-magnet middle school in the area if you're really into that.

 
homes in Cedar Park are selling in days. Leander and Round Rock ISDs are in super high demand.

 
SIDA! said:
Any thoughts on Steiner Ranch area?
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Great neighborhood if you don't ever have to leave it. There's one main road out and it's a huge neighborhood. That stretch of road is the worst in the entire metro area for congestion IMHO. It was on our list until I left a golf tournament out there that ended at 5 pm and tried to drive to downtown.

 
I was looking at the map and noticed that it was kind of boxed in.

We were eating dinner last night at the Iron Cactus and our waiter says he lives up there and it takes him 25 minutes to get down to 6th St. basically in the morning. However, I didn't pin down specifically what time he was leaving the area to get downtown in the morning.

 
SIDA! said:
I was looking at the map and noticed that it was kind of boxed in.

We were eating dinner last night at the Iron Cactus and our waiter says he lives up there and it takes him 25 minutes to get down to 6th St. basically in the morning. However, I didn't pin down specifically what time he was leaving the area to get downtown in the morning.
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If you have the money to buy in Steiner Ranch there are oodles of other/better areas in that price range.

 
SIDA! said:
I was looking at the map and noticed that it was kind of boxed in.

We were eating dinner last night at the Iron Cactus and our waiter says he lives up there and it takes him 25 minutes to get down to 6th St. basically in the morning. However, I didn't pin down specifically what time he was leaving the area to get downtown in the morning.
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I've a good friend who lives out by Steiner. He either has to leave his house by 630 or so - or he doesn't leave until after 930. If he leaves in between those times, it will take him almost an hour to get downtown.

Steiner Ranch Steakhouse is terrific, though. And they've live music. And lots of Cougars out for girls night out.

 
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nirad3 said:
SIDA! said:
I was looking at the map and noticed that it was kind of boxed in.

We were eating dinner last night at the Iron Cactus and our waiter says he lives up there and it takes him 25 minutes to get down to 6th St. basically in the morning. However, I didn't pin down specifically what time he was leaving the area to get downtown in the morning.
Click to expand...
If you have the money to buy in Steiner Ranch there are oodles of other/better areas in that price range.
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Like where?

 
Better options west/northwest are Jester, Balcones Village/Spicewood and Great Hills.

Circle C is a better choice if going south. And Travis Country, but it's a haul to town from there.

 
Steiner is way out there. Save with Riverplace. I live in round rock and its 29 miles to my office downtown. Takes me 40 minutes if I leave between 6 and 6:30, an hour of I leave between 6:30 and 7. But I think that's any city that has traffic. If you work downtown and live outside of town you have to accept a 45 minute commute on average.

 
As noted above, Round Rock and Leander ISDs are very desirable areas right now. One note is that they're currently doing exceptional at the elementary and high school levels more than middle schools per my understanding.

My son is set to start in Leander ISD in the fall (kinder) and we're not leaving any time soon from our area if that tells you anything.

 
Abraham said:
cstu said:
Looking at Greatschools, you want to be around Barton Hills if you have kids.
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Westlake Area has some of the best public schools in the country. If I could afford to live in Eanes ISD I absolutely would.
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All the Chinese tiger moms are sending their kids to Spicewood/Canyon Vista/Westwood. Those schools are like 1/3 Asian. That's where I would live if I could. Instead I'm over here on the poor side of Anderson Mill.

 
bentley said:
Abraham said:
cstu said:
Looking at Greatschools, you want to be around Barton Hills if you have kids.
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Westlake Area has some of the best public schools in the country. If I could afford to live in Eanes ISD I absolutely would.
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All the Chinese tiger moms are sending their kids to Spicewood/Canyon Vista/Westwood. Those schools are like 1/3 Asian. That's where I would live if I could. Instead I'm over here on the poor side of Anderson Mill.
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My coworker (asianed) is in a lawsuit with his ex wife about moving his high school kids to Westwood. His kids hate him now because they want to stay at RRHS but he doesn't care. He wants to move them to WW.

 
Abraham said:
Steiner is way out there. Save with Riverplace. I live in round rock and its 29 miles to my office downtown. Takes me 40 minutes if I leave between 6 and 6:30, an hour of I leave between 6:30 and 7. But I think that's any city that has traffic. If you work downtown and live outside of town you have to accept a 45 minute commute on average.
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What part of Round Rock and does it matter with respect to making a significant difference on commute time? We were out looking at the Paloma Lake developments yesterday and the 35 was pretty congested during non-rush hour. Wasn't sure what that was all about.

 
Jayded said:
As noted above, Round Rock and Leander ISDs are very desirable areas right now. One note is that they're currently doing exceptional at the elementary and high school levels more than middle schools per my understanding.

My son is set to start in Leander ISD in the fall (kinder) and we're not leaving any time soon from our area if that tells you anything.
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Isn't Leander farther from Austin than Round Rock and Steiner Ranch? Looking at the map it seems like it would take longer to get into Austin from where you are at.

 
bentley said:
Better options west/northwest are Jester, Balcones Village/Spicewood and Great Hills.

Circle C is a better choice if going south. And Travis Country, but it's a haul to town from there.
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Where is Jester. I see Balcones Village, Spicewood and Great Hills all in the same area. But not seeing Jester when I search.

 
I'm on the west side of 35 in north RR, one exit south of Paloma lake (which is East side). Where will you be working? How old are your kids? Maybe I can make some recommendations.

 
My brother lives in Jester and likes it but it's not close to anything. Nearest gas station and grocery store is a good 15 minutes away. Wal mart? 20-30.

 
SIDA! said:
What part of Round Rock and does it matter with respect to making a significant difference on commute time? We were out looking at the Paloma Lake developments yesterday and the 35 was pretty congested during non-rush hour. Wasn't sure what that was all about.
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I don't live in Austin but have a few friends there and have visited them. One of the things that really stuck out to me was the insane traffic in I-35, seemingly all day. I don't know if it was just when I happened to be there, but it was a random long weekend in November and every time we got on I-35 it was gridlock, no matter what time of day. My one friend's comment was that Austin was designed to be a smaller city - the population has almost doubled in 20 years and the highway infrastructure hasn't really kept up. No idea if that's true or not but those were his comments.

That said, it was a very cool place. Great food, good people, very young city in terms of demographics. Good luck.

 
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Oh it's absolutely true. 35 is a mess pretty much all the time between 7 and 7 between Austin and RR. But even that is relative; when I travel to LA the traffic makes me miss Austin/Rr

 
SIDA! said:
bentley said:
Better options west/northwest are Jester, Balcones Village/Spicewood and Great Hills.

Circle C is a better choice if going south. And Travis Country, but it's a haul to town from there.
Click to expand...
Where is Jester. I see Balcones Village, Spicewood and Great Hills all in the same area. But not seeing Jester when I search.
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Look close to the intersection of 2222 and 360. Jester Blvd.

 
Abraham said:
My brother lives in Jester and likes it but it's not close to anything. Nearest gas station and grocery store is a good 15 minutes away. Wal mart? 20-30.
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It's not that bad. Our best friends live in Jester and during the 10 mile trip from our house to theirs, you go past two HEBs, a Target and a Wal Mart. I'm pretty sure they're closer than that to Gateway, which has everything.

 
Just spent some time looking in the great hills area. Didn't really get a chance to hit Balcones Village, yet.

Most discouraging part of this exercise is trying to get a good grasp on commute times. I talk to three different people and I get three different assessments.

Since I don't know where we would be working I figure I kind of have to assume Austin downtown but the last thing I want to do is move from Los Angeles only to deal with 45 to 60 minute plus commutes in another state.

 
There are lots of businesses here that are not downtown. Domain, arboretum (both northwest) have tons of thriving companies and are adding millions of SF of office space in the next 18 months. I wouldn't bet on working downtown just out of hand.

What industry are you in?

 
Not sure about job sector. Both of us are basically making career changes at this point most likely.

I have a government/public relations/political background and she works for a motion picture studio. We're figuring one of us is going to need to be in Austin...but as mentioned above it isn't guaranteed.

 
SIDA! said:
Not sure about job sector. Both of us are basically making career changes at this point most likely.

I have a government/public relations/political background and she works for a motion picture studio. We're figuring one of us is going to need to be in Austin...but as mentioned above it isn't guaranteed.
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Yeah, at least one of you will be downtown. I don't think the commute from RR is bad but it is 20-25 miles downtown and I live 5 minutes from the interstate. If you want to leave that behind then maybe see if you can afford something sOuth of 183.

 
SIDA! said:
Can you guys give me some feedback on the Travis Heights area?
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Just south of town lake between 35 and Lamar? Good luck - if you can afford to live there then go for it. Great area. Bly colleague lives there and covers half his mortgage for the year by airbnb'ing his house for sxsw and acl.

 
Agree with Abe. Same on Barton Hills. I didn't know there were any houses down there that weren't insanely expensive.

 
SIDA! said:
Jayded said:
As noted above, Round Rock and Leander ISDs are very desirable areas right now. One note is that they're currently doing exceptional at the elementary and high school levels more than middle schools per my understanding.

My son is set to start in Leander ISD in the fall (kinder) and we're not leaving any time soon from our area if that tells you anything.
Click to expand...
Isn't Leander farther from Austin than Round Rock and Steiner Ranch? Looking at the map it seems like it would take longer to get into Austin from where you are at.
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Steiner has the worst drive of the three you note because it has the fewest options into town of the three, so it's you and everyone else fighting for the limited roads.

I'm in Cedar Park, which is between the city of Leander and Austin itself but is zoned for Leander ISD. My company is in NW Austin and my drive is about 20 mins on a good day. Tons of tech now in North Austin with Apple and others up here as well.

To be fair, I don't go downtown a ton anymore with a young kid, but going when I feel like it still isn't crazy far out. Frankly with Austin expanding as it has, most of what I would go elsewhere to do is making its way towards me now anyways. When I moved to Austin, Cedar Park was a whole other world in the boonies and is now essentially NW Austin.

 
Jayded, I spoke to an older couple in Great Hills today who said their daughter lives in Cedar Park and that it is an up and coming place that we should consider.

 
Hey bentley, earlier you said circle c. You were referring to circle c ranch to the south right?

What would you peg the commute times at?

 
Not to hijack bentley's answer, but frankly most of the areas you've mentioned outside of downtown are roughly the same time for commute. Round Rock, Cedar Park/Leander, Circle C, and Steiner are all 30-45 mins to downtown during rush hour.

I think it's fair to look at Austin in this way:

South - typically older (residential and commercial), more of the hippie vibe, sometimes larger lots

North - newer construction (residential and commercial), typically younger families/DINKs, smaller lots on new development

I spent a lot of time in South Austin so I can't knock it (1990 - 2006), but I'm a fan of the newer construction and amenities. I've been in North Austin since 2006 for work in the tech sector and it's unlikely I'd move back any time soon as north is just more of a fit for where I am in life right now. I have friends who live out closer to Steiner on the lake that love it but realize they're making the sacrifice of commute to live on the lake. It all depends what you're principle prerogative is for the type of living you'd prefer.

 
Well said. If you aren't north of William canon and south of 183, it's a 30-60 minute commute depending on when you hit the road for downtown. Thing is, the "city" keeps moving north and south so th area we are discussing today will seem close in a decade compared to options then.

 
bentley said:
Better options west/northwest are Jester, Balcones Village/Spicewood and Great Hills.

Circle C is a better choice if going south. And Travis Country, but it's a haul to town from there.
Click to expand...
Relocated her from LA 8 years ago.

Live in Great Hills and love it. Can be in any of a half dozen water sheds in 5 minutes with the dog. Hills and lots of character. Round Rock ISD, and an amazing preschool (Spicewood Country), Elementary (Laurel Mountain) and Middle School (aforementioned Canyon Vista) all within about a mile of my house. Takes 5+ minutes to drive out of the neighborhood, bike trail lined. Then within 10 minutes there's every convenience, from your Costcos, Sams Clubs, Targets, Best Buys, etc. Plethora of grocery stores: From upscale (Whole Foods, Randalls) to pedestrian (multiple HEBs - and two super HEBs within 15 minutes), to trendy (Trader Joes, Sprouts). 15 minutes out, you hit the domain and the upscale shops, restaurants and pedestrian areas. 20 or so minutes, you're downtown. 25 minutes to the airport.

Also - tech jobs surrounding the area. More every day.

As far as traffic, I work out of the house when in town (travel 3-5 days a week). Travel really isn't an issue if you stay within the NW corridor.

Highly recommend you look into the area. Very nice community.

 
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