SW Austin or Cedar Park

[RooCeleste]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

How far north do you have to go? I live in Legend Oaks just north of Circle C and commute regularly to North Austin, around 38th and Lamar during the middle of the day (lots of hospitals around there) it usually takes me about 25-30 minutes. Google maps says its about 17 miles.

I can commute to St. David's South Austin Hospital at Ben White Blvd and James Casey Blvd. in 11-15 minutes, 7.1 miles.

Google maps says commuting to those locations from Cedar Park are:

38th & Lamar, 17.1 miles, 21 minutes (30 minutes in traffic).

St. David's South Austin Hospital, 24.9 miles, 31 minutes (55 in traffic).

Those estimates for what it would take in traffic look really optimistic to me.

Those ARE very optimistic estimates. When I go to my agency's main campus at 38th/Lamar from Cedar Park (Brushy Creek Road..not even "way into" Cedar Park), it is closer to 45-50 minutes, minimum, without some sort of delay. I've found a few work-arounds to avoid Mopac and 183 for most of the drive, but it still takes well over the 30 minutes in traffic that Google maps says. I bet, in traffic, to get from CP to St. David's South it would take closer to 1.5 hours. If it didn't actually, it would certainly feel like it!

[eichlerfan]

And all this going back and fourth between the posters regarding traffic is why you should rent for the first year. Good prices and low interest rates aren't any good if you find out that the area you bought in isn't really where you wanted to be for a variety of reasons. Get to know the areas and what traffic is like too. North Austin is very different than SW Austin. I live in SW Austin and I can tell you I drive several times a week in both rush hour and non rush hour to central Austin and NW Austin. In non rush hour traffic I can get to 35th and Lamar (lots of hospitals around there) in no more than 15 to 20 minutes. If it's rush hour than about 30 minutes max. I also drive several times a week past 183 and Research and that can be about 45 mintues to an hour from SW Austin during rush hour and about 20 minutes during non rush hour times. Whatever you decide - just make sure you stay away from I35. That is one nasty highway in terms of traffic any time of day.

[crna06]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I think renting is generally a good idea when you do not know a place well, however, when you have kids in school,you have to chose before hand where you want to live whether you rent or buy. I would not want to move my kids into a new school and then a year later move them again. I may indeed rent initially, but I will still need to rent in a place where I think I will most likely buy a home in the future so my kids will not have to change schools again.
I like the schools in SW Austin and I also think the Cedar Park schools are good. It seems I can get more house for the $$ in Cedar Park but SW Austin is better commuting into the city. When I come out next month to house hunt, I will likely be looking into both areas.
One thing of interest is that my son plays ice hockey and the only rink with youth hockey is at Northcross Mall in North Austin. The commuting to the rink will probably be a lot better from Cedar Park than SW. Am I correct?

[crna06]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

How far north do you have to go? I live in Legend Oaks just north of Circle C and commute regularly to North Austin, around 38th and Lamar during the middle of the day (lots of hospitals around there) it usually takes me about 25-30 minutes. Google maps says its about 17 miles.

I can commute to St. David's South Austin Hospital at Ben White Blvd and James Casey Blvd. in 11-15 minutes, 7.1 miles.

Google maps says commuting to those locations from Cedar Park are:

38th & Lamar, 17.1 miles, 21 minutes (30 minutes in traffic).

St. David's South Austin Hospital, 24.9 miles, 31 minutes (55 in traffic).

Those estimates for what it would take in traffic look really optimistic to me.

Well, I would be commuting to St. Davids North and also St. Davids South. I guess either way, when I am going to the one opposite of the side I live on, I am in for a much longer commute!

[sxrckr]

If you have to be in N Austin several days a week, you need to stay close to N Austin unless you like driving a lot and sitting in traffic.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by RooCeleste

Those ARE very optimistic estimates. When I go to my agency's main campus at 38th/Lamar from Cedar Park (Brushy Creek Road..not even "way into" Cedar Park), it is closer to 45-50 minutes, minimum, without some sort of delay. I've found a few work-arounds to avoid Mopac and 183 for most of the drive, but it still takes well over the 30 minutes in traffic that Google maps says. I bet, in traffic, to get from CP to St. David's South it would take closer to 1.5 hours. If it didn't actually, it would certainly feel like it!

CaptRon does NOT live in Cedar Park he lives in Western Oaks which is SW Austin. I live in Circle C and I travel weekly to the 38th and Lamar area in non rush hour and it takes me just about 20 minutes. My husband works NW but we chose SW because we preferred living closer to town. He commutes up there but it takes him less than 25 minutes because he leaves just after 7AM. Our thought was that if we lived closer to town we'd actually get into there more often than if we lived up in Cedar park. However, if you are constrained by your budget, you can find a much nicer home up there for the price. So it all depends on what you value most.