Moving to Austin from Nashville, help with neighborhood selection (Houston: apartments, city hall)

[theblackbox]

Hi folks - We are moving from Nashville to Austin in a few months and have begun the agonizing house hunting process in a city we've never spent much time in before, so we'd love some insight into the different neighborhoods we're considering. (Originally from Houston, so TX isn't new, but only ever visited Austin a handful of times.) We are trying to prioritize the school district while keeping in mind commuting distance to downtown Austin; we have had 45 minute commutes in the past and aren't looking to go back to it, definitely unwilling to go over it. Our kids range from elementary all the way through high school age, so every level of schooling is important.


Eanes is the obvious choice based on what we've read thus far. Can anyone share what the Cuernavaca neighborhood is like these days? It seems like a severe mix of older homes and brand new construction. I couldn't find any posts within the past few years on the forum about it, but that seems to be where the majority of the inventory is right now.



The eastern side of Lake Travis ISD is the furthest out we think we'd want to be, and trying to stick close to 71 might prevent the commute from going over 45 min, right? I'm wary of trusting Zillow's commute estimates. Does Lake Pointe have a good community feel to it or is it too close to the busyness of all the shopping?



We're also looking at the Westhood HS zoned areas. We haven't owned a home older than a 90s build before, so we're a bit nervous about some of the inventory we are seeing in that area. Are there still young-ish families in those neighborhoods?


Are there other neighborhoods we should be looking at? Thanks for any and all insights you might have!

[Trainwreck20]

Those are all good 'hoods with good schools, but I would (personally) avoid LT if travel to downtown is important. The 'Y' in Oakhill (where 71 and 290 merge) is in the earlier stages of a multi-year massive construction project and no telling what the effect will be from one day to the next. If Cuernavaca is in your price range, that would be my first choice I think. Nothing wrong with Westwood, but the commute will be more painful most likely. If the 'old' Brushy Creek is in your search list, I really like the big lots out there despite the older homes.

Not sure what other criteria constrain your search, but Eanes will be the least diverse and Westwood likely the most. Westwood is reputed to be a 'high stress' school. Lake Travis has a bit more of the 'keeping up with the Joneses' thing. Our kids went through the SW Austin school system (Mills/Kiker/Clayton ES, Gorzycki MS, and Bowie HS) and it was excellent for them and rated pretty highly, but not like WW or Westlake.

[cheeva]

I live in the "Cuerny" neighborhood. Our family moved from south Austin. K-12 is great here, the neighborhood is known as Austin Lake Hills, and the properties have deeded access to the waterfront park with a beaches, docks, boat ramps, a pool and other amenities. The neighborhood kids ride around in golf carts. The feel here is rural with large lots, its really dark and quiet at night. Super peaceful. My commute to downtown (city hall) is about 22-25 minutes during peak rush hour.

[theblackbox]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The 'Y' in Oakhill (where 71 and 290 merge) is in the earlier stages of a multi-year massive construction project and no telling what the effect will be from one day to the next.

Thanks so much for this insight!! I'm duly scared of multi-year massive construction...



We currently are living in a relatively homogeneous neighborhood while the middle and high schools are actually wonderfully diverse. I have gotten the cues that the Westlake schools probably won't offer much in that department. Good to know about Westwood!

[theblackbox]

Originally Posted by cheeva

I live in the "Cuerny" neighborhood. Our family moved from south Austin. K-12 is great here, the neighborhood is known as Austin Lake Hills, and the properties have deeded access to the waterfront park with a beaches, docks, boat ramps, a pool and other amenities. The neighborhood kids ride around in golf carts. The feel here is rural with large lots, its really dark and quiet at night. Super peaceful. My commute to downtown (city hall) is about 22-25 minutes during peak rush hour.

This sounds great. We don't have any plans to get a boat, but we do love to swim and are hoping to either have a pool in the backyard or at least a community pool. Thanks for sharing!



Is the area really established and just houses are transitioning/get bought and rebuilt by developers? I'm seeing homes well over a million next to ones that say $350k, so we weren't sure what was going on. The thing most developers do in Nashville is tear down one story ranch homes and throw up two tall-and-skinny new constructions on the lot instead; good to know that lot sizes are staying appropriately sized there!

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by theblackbox

This sounds great. We don't have any plans to get a boat, but we do love to swim and are hoping to either have a pool in the backyard or at least a community pool. Thanks for sharing!



Is the area really established and just houses are transitioning/get bought and rebuilt by developers? I'm seeing homes well over a million next to ones that say $350k, so we weren't sure what was going on. The thing most developers do in Nashville is tear down one story ranch homes and throw up two tall-and-skinny new constructions on the lot instead; good to know that lot sizes are staying appropriately sized there!

Cuernavaca used to be referred to as the 'Westlake Ghetto' or some such thing due to it being the lowest cost homes in Eanes ISD. I am not up on the details, but I think that some/most/all/? of that area is not subject to an HOA (maybe a voluntary one?), so you will see a wide variety of construction. It is vastly different than it was 20 years ago, though, which was the last time I spent any significant amount of time there .

[cheeva]

The Cuernavaca area was established in the 1970's, so the age of the homes vary greatly. The wealthy areas of Austin at that time were Clarksville, Rollingwood, Onion Creek, Tarrytown, etc so this area was off-the-radar as the city had not really developed out this far. The 350k price tag is most likely for an empty lot, or a tear-down and those tear downs are vanishing. The lots ranges from about .25 acres to multiple acres - if you can find them. New builds are about 1.5M-2M. The area is on septic served by WC18, and the water is really cheap here, like $20 for 10,000 gallons. The pump station is on Lake Austin, and the towers are up at the top of the hill entering the neighborhood. Austin Energy serves the neighborhood. Area is extremely low crime for a reason. Travis County Sheriffs patrol the neighborhood, and they are proactive and attentive because the neighborhood appreciates them. We don't have the fallout from the anti-police BS that Austin residents are dealing with now.
The reliance on septic and having it's own water district means that the neighborhood has no apartments within 5 miles of it, and the density is extremely low - the zip code population has barely changed in the last 20 years. For context: The Austin Metro grew by 1.3 million people over the last quarter century, while the 78733 zip code grew to 9500. an increase of only 800 people, so it would qualify as established, and the upward value trend is apparent with the new infill construction.

Source: https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/2...tin/population
https://www.city-data.com/zips/78733.html

Reviews for the zip are good:
https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/z/78733/

The only "ding" to the neighborhood is that it's not 'diverse" and not does it have "nightlife" which I think is a plus - there are no outside people coming into the neighborhood, bringing traffic, getting drunk, etc., although we have a Coffee shop, a restaurant, and other small businesses, the amenities are scaled correctly for the community. Patrizi's is extremely popular with the neighborhood, and is the local hangout for the 30+ crowd with live music, kids' play area, etc. The area is attracting people who would have bought into Westlake Hills 15 years ago, but are now priced out. The overall property tax rate is also like 1.78% which is one of the lowest in Central Texas.

edit: Not trying to hard sell, just trying to give a comprehensive picture of the neighborhood. Forgot to mention - the biggest attraction is the school district (Eanes ISD). Our kids have flourished here, even through Covid.

[cheeva]

https://luxaustinrealestate.com/neig...ods/cuernavaca

There are also some very pricey listings in this part of the zip code, including a $50M estate, so yes, the area is eclectic considering the wide range of prices.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...-in-the-state/

The western half of Travis County has been a magnet for wealthy and it's been accelerating over the last 20 years. The most expensive areas have alternated between Barton Creek and Lake Austin. The Lake Austin area was starting to be built out when the lake was formed. There wasn't really a tech industry or any real wealth in Austin at the time. When Austin started becoming wealthy in the 1980s luxury developers like Gary Bradley (developer of Rob Roy) turned their attention to Barton Creek, and in the 1980s and 90s they built new neighborhoods due to the availability of large amounts of land, building luxury homes there. Now the original housing stock in Austin Lake Hills is getting to "tear down" age, and the pendulum is swinging back towards Lake Austin area for the next batch of luxury housing. Each decade the definition of "luxury" grows, and the prices tags get more ridiculous. By the year 2040, the homes in Barton Creek will be considered "tear down" and the pendulum will swing again.

[theblackbox]

Thanks for all of the in-depth info on the Cuerny area, including links! I agree with you that lack of nightlife is considered a perk in my book as well. Glad to hear it is a safe area with positive community relations.
Your insight on the luxury home vs tear down cycle is keen. Much appreciated and makes a lot of sense from that perspective.
Home prices truly are terrifying these days. Nashville has also seen explosive growth and housing costs skyrocket with the influx of people moving here from out of state and seeing it as a relatively lower cost of living area, so we understand what we're in for. Luckily, we bought our current home at the right time several years back, otherwise there is no way we'd be able to consider western Travis County. Eanes ISD is definitely the draw, so it's good to hear about the other positives of the area.
Very grateful to all who have responded - I'll be working with a realtor soon and getting to the city in the coming weeks to tour specific homes, so I'm glad that I can feel confident in prioritizing these neighborhoods! Cuernavaca is looking like #1, Westwood homes #2, and then Lake Travis ISD homes as #3. It's good to hear some folks had a positive experience going a bit more south, too; we're wary of Austin ISD generally speaking but it sounds like it's a viable option in that corridor if things don't seem to be working out with this initial slate.

[b29510]

best thing you can do, is move back to nashville