Welcome to Austin Info Thread... (Round Rock, Post: sales, 2015, apartment)

[CptnRn]

Construction in Austin...

There is currently, 2013, a huge push to build an enormous amount of apartments in Austin, to house the numbers of people who are moving here. In addition other commercial construction is picking up. Given the number of licensed tradesmen and construction personnel who had to move out of Austin during the recent recession, it doesn't surprise me that there would be a shortage now.

The graphics on these charts are nice in that they update themselves. So anyone reading this post in the future may see something different from what we see today.

[CptnRn]

Landscaping and Gardening in Austin:

There is some excellent information here to help you get started. Landscape Design | Watershed Protection | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin

Such as the Landscape Design Fact Sheet and the Landscape Design Templates Grow Green Resources | Watershed Protection | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin . and many other resources regarding planning the home landscaping.

Also the Central Texas Gardner show is a wonderful resource for the area. Central Texas Gardener The website has numerous videos of past shows featuring numerous examples and tours of central Texas residential landscapes and gardens. You can also download iTunes for free, even if you do not use an Apple product, and the iTunes Store has numerous free movies from the Central Texas Gardener show available there, as well as movies on all sorts of other gardening topics, most of them are free.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center also has some wonderful demonstration gardens, classes and a wealth of information. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

The Natural Gardner also offers classes. The Natural Gardener - Home

Zilker Botanical Gardens, at Zilker Park, also has a lot of online resources available as well as tours and classes. Zilker Botanical Garden :: the Jewel in the Heart of Austin

[CptnRn]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...t-its-not.html

[CptnRn]

Austin is not in the top 10 worst places for allergies, but it is listed at place 45 in the top 100 worst places for allergies.

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

Has anyone published a "Top 10 Cities That Require Medication To Live There" list? That's another one we are sure to be #1 on.

Wow!!! Austin is not even in the top ten, but San Antonio and McAllen, TX is. 2012's Top 10 Spring Allergy Cities - weather.com

Here is another list, San Antonio did not make the top 10 but McAllen did. Ten worst cities for people with fall allergies

Top 100 list http://allergycapitals.com/downloads...y_Capitals.pdf Austin is ranked at only number 45 on the list!

Wow! Makes you glad you live in Austin instead of one of those other places.

[CptnRn]

Affordability is a growing concern in Austin:

Austin's rising coset of living raises questions about who can live here

Rising housing prices in neighborhoods near downtown like Bouldin Creek has been causing angst for years; the exodus of African-Americans from East Austin’s Rosewood neighborhood and West Austin’s Clarksville is well documented. But since the turn of the century “affordability” has crept into the broader social lexicon. The idea that Austin has gotten too expensive now resonates across the civic spectrum: with Democrats and Republicans, environmentalists and home builders, in central city neighborhoods and subdivisions on the outskirts — reflecting a broad discontent that Bill Aleshire, a former Travis County judge critical of Austin’s growth policies, calls “the coming tsunami of Austin politics.”
The rising cost of living in Austin, though perhaps an inevitable twin to the city’s success, undercuts some of the notions ingrained in the city’s ethos: that growth shouldn’t strain longtime residents; that families are an essential part of the social fabric; and that Austin is an egalitarian, socially conscious, arms-open place where anyone can make it, be they starving artist or teacher or tech investor.

Squeeze on working class is puzzle that Austin must solve | www.mystatesman.com


Few would argue that city life has placed an increasing squeeze on lower- and middle-class families. The cost of housing, transportation, child care and property taxes have all rocketed skyward, while incomes have failed to keep pace. But signs indicate that the city may have reached a breaking point.
Consider the following from today’s front page story by American-Statesman reporter Marty Toohey:

• Only half the homes for sale in Austin are within reach of a family earning a typical salary, making housing here relatively more expensive than all but 13 of the top 100 housing markets
• During the past decade, median home prices and rents have risen 31 percent and 43 percent, respectively. During the same time period, family income has only risen 13 percent.
• An Austin family of four must spend $66,970 a year to have an “adequate but modest living,” according to the Economic Policy Institute. That $66,970 includes food, child care and transportation but not vacations, eating out, cable or cellphones.

How did we get here? After all, Austin is a great place to live.
In many ways, the city is a victim of its own success. Newcomers from more expensive markets in California and New York had little compunction about bidding for relatively low-priced properties in the 1990s and then again in the 2000s. The transplants, many who arrived young and single, were willing to put increasing shares of their disposable income towards housing or bunk with roommates for a close-in urban address.

Discussion thread: https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...n-problem.html

[CptnRn]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...-vs-burbs.html

[like_mind]

Here is a comprehensive list of interesting Austin blogs

And a savvy quiz for which Austin neighborhoods might be a good fit

And search for Austin rentals

Here's where to see the stuff that's going on in Austin

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Austin is not in the top 10 worst places for allergies, but it is listed at place 45 in the top 100 worst places for allergies.



Wow!!! Austin is not even in the top ten, but San Antonio and McAllen, TX is. 2012's Top 10 Spring Allergy Cities - weather.com

Here is another list, San Antonio did not make the top 10 but McAllen did. Ten worst cities for people with fall allergies

Top 100 list http://allergycapitals.com/downloads...y_Capitals.pdf Austin is ranked at only number 45 on the list!

Wow! Makes you glad you live in Austin instead of one of those other places.

There are lots of cedar trees around Austin, San Antonio and most of Central Texas:
Distribution Map of Juniperus ashei USDA Forest Service, Publication No. 1146

[CptnRn]

Utility Costs:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...stin-area.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...ng-others.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...al-gas-vs.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...y-propane.html

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...l#post32545814

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...ane-costs.html

Austin Energy has free home improvements and rebates for making your home more energy efficient.

Residential Offerings

[CptnRn]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...rease-9-a.html