Thoughts about moving from Naperville, IL to Leander, TX? (Houston: violent crime, new house)

[tiyakhambadkone]

Hi All,

We are a South Asian (Indian) family with little kids. We live in Naperville, IL, and love everything that Naperville offers us (great schools, lovely suburb, moderate cost of living, our house, Chicago city nearby that itself offers so much - not that we use it but it is nice to have, an international airport that has direct flights to India - not that we travel too often, a huge Indian population around us, lots of lovely restaurants, things-to-do for families, etc..). However, the ONLY BIG thing that we do not like is the weather. We do not like Chicago winter.

I had an opportunity to live in Austin (south of Austin) for a few months 10 yrs back and I loved that place. This was before having kids. Since then, back of our minds we always wanted to move to Austin.

Now, we have the option to work from home and are thinking if we should move to Leander, TX.
My question is:
1. How are the schools in Leander? When I look at the GreatSchools ratings, I don't see good ratings but I don't want to rely completely on GreatSchools.
2. How big is the Indian community in Leander, TX?
3. Can we get a single-family house for $600K in Leander TX?
4. How is the commute to downtown if we get a job there (in case)?
5. How is the Austin airport scene now? I heard the flight prices are so high since everyone is using the airport these days that people rather fly to Houston and drive from there.
6. Anyone who has lived in both Naperville and Leander, can you tell me your experience?

[Need4Camaro]

1. I don’t have children but supposedly the schools in Leander are among the better schools in the Austin metro area.

2. Not very large. Leander is not a diverse suburb. You do see them once in awhile but you would probably have better luck in Northwest Austin. Naperville has a 20% Asian Population. Leander’s is only 4.7%. Unfortunately census.gov doesn’t break it down any further than that but even with those numbers you will see there is a very noticeable difference.

3. Should be able to. I haven’t been researching home values lately but $600k should still buy you something fairly modest in Leander.

4. Depends on when you leave and where in Leander you are. I am fairly close to 183a and it takes me between 30 - 45 minutes to get to downtown depending of traffic. On really bad days it can take 1 Hr but my experience is that those days are rare for the time being.

5. Do you mean drive to Houston and fly from there? I’ve done that once … overall on the few instances I have flown out of and into AUS I haven’t noticed significant price differences to fly to any major destination in the country, but connecting flights is another story. You are not going to get what you have at ORD @ AUS.

6. I haven’t lived in Naperville but I have lived in the Chicago metro. Here is my honest opinion…

… Chicago offers way more for the money. Austin doesn’t have any of the museums Chicago has. It also doesn’t have the transportation system Chicago has. Austin is much more laid back and has more of a ‘fun’ vibe than Chicago has. Chicago is more business culture, and while business culture is present in Austin, it is still very dress down casual slacker vibe. It’s a cool city. It’s just … when pairing it against Chicago … the only thing Austin really has over it is better weather and less violent crime.

[mojo101]

Chicago winter is really harsh.I can see why he wants to live.

[kitkatbar]

You can get a house for that price in Leander.

The schools in Leander are some of the better schools in the Austin area. The further you get away from Austin proper, the less diverse you are going to find the suburbs you are looking at, as a general rule. As was mentioned above, Leander is not a diverse suburb.

There are pockets with higher concentrations of Asian families in the Austin area (schools that feed to Westwood High School would be one.)

[fumbling]

You can get a new house in Leander like this in the high $600,000 range, possibly less these days:

https://www.taylormorrison.com/tx/au...r-plans/pewter

[hereticiam]

I have lived in MN for the past 30 years. I am in tech and my wife is in medical device industry.
Austin had plenty of jobs for both of us. We have been looking in TX/GA for nearly 1 year.
Austin was our first choice but the home prices were high.
We began looking at Austin suburbs.
I have school-age kids as well.
I found that schools in Austin suburbs were not as good as Dallas and Houston suburbs.
I was not looking at Great Schools. I used school digger as well as txschools.gov.

For example, Leander Hing Schools still gets a B 87/100 from the most recent txschools.gov ratings here https://txschools.gov/?view=school&i...verview&lng=en
Round Rock High School gets an A 92/100 https://txschools.gov/?view=school&i...verview&lng=en It is also the school with 18% asian students
Lake Travis get a B and has only 6% asians https://txschools.gov/?view=school&i...verview&lng=en
Pflugerville High school get a B and has 8% asians https://txschools.gov/?view=school&i...verview&lng=en
Cedar Park High School gets an A and has 8% asians https://txschools.gov/?view=school&i...verview&lng=en

Prices are coming down in Austin but they are still higher than Dallas.
North Dallas schools get higher ratings and are more diverse than those in Austin suburbs.
Home prices in North Dallas are a bit lower as well.

School ratings don't determine how successful your kids will be. Good schools like U of Texas at Austin only accept the top 3-6% and going to a highly competitive school may make it less likely for your kids to get into UT Austin.

We are looking in North Dallas and North Atlanta.

[DaBears02]

If you can be anywhere and you’re set on Texas I’d rather do either the North Dallas suburbs or the Fort Bend suburbs in Houston for your circumstance. They have the big airports for international flights and those suburbs have substantially bigger Indian communities than what can be found in the Austin area. The suburban amenities in those two are also more used to what you have in Naperville. For DFW I’d recommend Plano or Frisco for you. In Houston I’d say Sugar Land or South Katy/Cinco Ranch.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

For example, Leander Hing Schools still gets a B 87/100 from the most recent txschools.gov ratings here https://txschools.gov/?view=school&i...verview&lng=en

That is the rating for Leander High School, but that is not the only high school in Leander ISD. Vandegrift High School (where my kids go) is rated an A (93/100) and also has a 14% Asian population. Vista Ridge High School is rated an A (92/100). Rouse High School is rated an A (92/100). And Cedar Park High School is rated an A (93/100). All of those schools are in the Leander school district.

[tiyakhambadkone]

Thank you for all the information. After reading your answers, I feel like exploring more cities other than Austin/Leander TX.

[bounty80]

Originally Posted by tiyakhambadkone

Thank you for all the information. After reading your answers, I feel like exploring more cities other than Austin/Leander TX.

I've lived in Naperville and North Austin - oddly similar vibes at the local level but obviously the weather is quite a bit different. Traffic to and from downtown is similar but Chicago gives you the option of easy public transportation via the Metra. Downtown Naperville has a lot of nice dining options and the Children's museum and there's generally more to do. Leander has decent proximity to the Domain and lots of good dining and shopping, but the only close "downtown" area is Round Rock and it's cute but a bit lacking.

I wouldn't really want to commute to downtown Chicago or Austin for either but both are doable if you absolutely had to do it to put food on the table.

With that said I'd choose Leander simply because it would be fun to be a part of a new growing area (Naperville is quite mature these days) and the weather - you'll meet more people moving to Keander from Chicago than the reverse. I did 25 years in the Northern winters and I've been in the south for 15 and won't ever move back and never miss it.

You'll save money on no income tax, but give a but back in property taxes so it can be a bit if a wash. I think the areas are fairly comparable in terms of what you get for your money but will get newer in Leander byt maybe slightly lower build quality overall IMO.

Feel free to ask any questions unrelated to schools/kids as I don't have any.