Where to drive and see Christmas lights in Austin (lease, condo)

[AmberAzeneth]

We will be in Austin tuesday 12/21/10 - 12/23/10. It is a business and pleasure trip. Just wanted to take the wife and kids looking at neighborhoods with great Christmas light displays. Do yall Austinites have any suggestions? Thanks in advance, AmberAzeneth.

[love roses]

I live a bit Northeast of Austin and most people around here are looking at the Forest Creek lights, but if you look at the kxan news website, they have a map posted listing all the best displays around town.

[ImOnFiya]

Go to W. 37th Street, off Guadalupe St (on the east side of the street). The whole street puts on a GINORMOUS Christmas light display. It's so popular, at night people wait to drive through the narrow street as well as park and walk on foot. In recent years, nearby neighbors have expanded the showcase displays past Horne Ln (the alley) and down to W. 35th St toward Speedway.

Go and have fun!

[atxcio]

If you haven't done it before, stop at Zilker park and go see the tree. There are vendors underneath, and you can get a nice view of downtown in the background. Some of the DT condo towers are lit up red & green. Congress Ave itself is also lit up with some lights above the street, I think.

[eichlerfan]

We went to 37th st. for the first time tonight and I have to be honest and say it was a big disapointment. Yes lots of lights, but nothing special other than lots of lights thrown all over the place. We then drove over to the big homes off of Windsor and 24th and we did see some really beautifully lighted homes there. The one in Zilker Park is also fun.

[lemonlime22]

Originally Posted by eichlerfan

We went to 37th st. for the first time tonight and I have to be honest and say it was a big disapointment. Yes lots of lights, but nothing special other than lots of lights thrown all over the place. We then drove over to the big homes off of Windsor and 24th and we did see some really beautifully lighted homes there. The one in Zilker Park is also fun.

Totally agree. My DH took me and my kids last year. It was a dud. I felt bad because he kept telling us (and apologizing) about how wonderful it had been years before.

I get the impression that a once older, residential neighborhood has gone UT rental.

[AustinTraveler]

37th Street lights haven't been good for the past few years, but before that they were awesome!! People need to quit telling others to go there if they haven't been recently. Things don't magically stay the same year after year.

[eichlerfan]

Originally Posted by lemonlime22

Totally agree. My DH took me and my kids last year. It was a dud. I felt bad because he kept telling us (and apologizing) about how wonderful it had been years before.

I get the impression that a once older, residential neighborhood has gone UT rental.

Oh thank goodness, I thought it was just me since it was wall to wall cars and people walking on the sidewalk. I did see several homes there with lease signs out in front and I did think it looked like a place a lot of students now live.

[TexasHorseLady]

It's always been a university-oriented neighborhood, but the houses were actually lived in by owners for the most part. There's been a fair amount of turnover in recent years, and I remember one of the new owners saying, "Give us a couple/three years to get up to speed!" I personally think the lighting displays and written instructions on how to set them up should have conveyed with the houses!

That being said, it's not cheap to run that many lights that long. The economy may have more to do with it than anything - one house took donations for all the houses, but don't know if they're still there (they were the one where you HAD to walk because there was a tour all the way round the house through their back yard).

[llkltk]

Rigsbee Court in Circle C. It's walkable throughout two yards and fun for the kids. They do a really good job, and it's a must in SW Austin!