Moving to Austin Neighborhood Questions? (Round Rock, Cedar Park: sales, HOA fees, houses)

[directimports3]

My wife and I have decided on moving to Austin. We have visited a couple times and are flying from Wisconsin to Austin on July 6th. We wanted to fly down again in the summer time to get a good feel for the heat in July. My wife is taking a transfer as a sales manager and I run a internet based business. My question is? Where should we live. This is what we are looking for.

• Nice neighborhoods/Sidewalks/Community Pools/Parks/Upkept properties.
• Good Catholic Schools
• Entertainment for young family/ as well as nightlife for us
• Housing Budget is up to $180,000
• Driving distance to Austin under 20 minutes
• Good restaurants in area would be a plus
• Just overalll nice neighborhood and good quality of life.

We have been looking into RoundRock and looks to be a good option for our family, but was curious if anyone would be able to open our eyes to some other locations that match up to Round Rock.

[llkltk]

With traffic, you won't get to downtown Austin in 20 minutes. For 180K, I would check North Austin (Milwood) or Pflugerville. Not much of a nightlife in the burbs. You would have to drive to the city.

[Trainwreck20]

Just a general comment, you 'wish' list is very typical (although 'public' school is often substituted for 'Catholic' school), and since price is driven by demand, it will be next to impossible to find all that for 180k. That said....

* Nice neighborhoods/Sidewalks/Community Pools/Parks/Upkept properties.

Lots of these everywhere, so in of itself this doesn't limit you much. You may want to decide whether you want an HOA and make sure you figure in the cost. Many (most?) community pools will have significant HOA fee associated with them

* Good Catholic Schools

I can't say I know the quality of the various Catholic schools, but I do have a co-worker that live off of Far West and had her kids go to St. Theresa's and loved it. In fact, I would recommend this area for all of your criteria except price .

* Entertainment for young family/ as well as nightlife for us

Hard to say w/o more specifics, but your price point puts you in or near the suburbs. Are we talking movies and bowling? Or are you thinking hiking trails, sports leagues (adult and kids), etc? The arts scene (music, musicals, shows, etc) tends to be focuses around campus/downtown, although there are lots of local small places nearly everywhere that have live music on occasion, and there are local theater/performance groups in many smaller 'burbs. If entertainment includes alcohol, then be aware that Wm County is 'damp' (not a dry county, but some minor restrictions on booze).

* Housing Budget is up to $180,000

This is really a pretty big kicker - not that you can't get a great house for that price, just not near downtown or with a super short commute (usually). Also, have you figured in taxes (assume 2.5-3% of the value of you home each year) and HOA fees ($10 - $50 a month is typical, can be from 0 to hundreds...). If you live in the City of Austin (COA), there are some areas in south Austin that might still be in that price range, but you tend to run into neighborhoods that are not as nicely kept, no community pools, etc.

* Driving distance to Austin under 20 minutes

The city limits? or downtown? During Sunday morning, or Friday afternoon? I live in the COA and have a 6 mile drive to work (located on the same side of Austin, not downtown) and it takes me 15-20 minutes (driveway to parking spot) on a typical commute. 20 minutes is a really small area. 30 minutes expands it enormously.

* Good restaurants in area would be a plus

Austin's restaurant scene is far from internationally renown, but most areas have one or two gems for dining out.

* Just overalll nice neighborhood and good quality of life.

Most places, you'd be surprised . I assume your wife's job will be in N. Austin? RR is not a bad place to start that will me most of your criteria. The 20 minutes will be the one left out, most likely, regardless of what it says on paper. I-35 can be a bear, but depending on where you job will be (and hours) it is possible. Pflugerville is another possibility, but not familiar with the newer 'hoods that will have pools, etc.

[mark311]

It sounds like Round Rock would be a safe bet for everything that you're looking for since your price range is definitely limiting. As mentioned, driving time into Central Austin will not happen in 20 minutes with traffic and this also depends on where you end up in Round Rock as it is very spread out. I have a Round Rock address and it takes me 20 minutes just to get to the other side of Round Rock with average traffic.

I'd also check out Cedar Park. I like llkltk's recommendation of Milwood as well as some (most?) of it feeds into RRISD (if you decide to go public schools). You would already be in North Austin and a shorter drive to Central Austin, however you'd have to sacrifice a few things as the houses are built in the 80's, a bit smaller for the price, and probably wouldn't be as nice in the sidewalk/community pool areas. I think it depends on what that "20 minute" drive into Austin (where in Austin?) really means and how important it is to you. For example, if your wife is working in South Austin, I'd have a hard time sticking with Round Rock.

[jobert]

I would look at Olympic Heights in south Austin. The existing neighborhood has good schools - it zones to Baranoff ES/Bailey MS/Akins HS and the new addition zones to Baranoff ES/Bailey MS/Bowie HS. You could possibly get a new 3 bdr for around 180K, or try to pick up a resale if possible. It meets all the criteria, although I am not familiar with the Catholic school situation, though. If moving to this neighborhood, I would seriously consider public school as an option, unless you are set on the parochial route.

[NavyDad]

Consider Southwest Austin. I can help you with any questions you may have about St Gabriel's Catholic School Pre-K to 8, St Michael's Catholic Academy (SMCA), and St Catherine of Siena Catholic church in Southwest Austin? Google Map the schools and church to see how close they are to downtown Austin and drivetime! Consider the Village of Western Oaks community which may be close to your housing budget and is a short drive to the schools mentioned herein (Wm Cannon to SW Parkway to Barton Creek Blvd).