Georgetown vs Pflugerville and other parts north (Houston, Austin: apartment complexes, to rent)

[texantodd]

Ok, well I had posted before about a possible move and here I am now, moving to Austin - my transfer is confirmed, but I still haven't nailed down a place to live. I have been looking some in the Round Rock area and even came to town and drove it abit looking at some properties.

I am starting to consider other options, and so what I would like is some input from others on the other "northern reaches" of the metropolitan area of Austin, and in particular Pfluggerville and Georgetown. I am mid 30's, divorced with a teen daughter. I have looked some at schools on the greatschools.org site, but as far as the areas go can I get some input on these two (and any other reasonable northern) spots?

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by texantodd

Ok, well I had posted before about a possible move and here I am now, moving to Austin - my transfer is confirmed, but I still haven't nailed down a place to live. I have been looking some in the Round Rock area and even came to town and drove it abit looking at some properties.

I am starting to consider other options, and so what I would like is some input from others on the other "northern reaches" of the metropolitan area of Austin, and in particular Pfluggerville and Georgetown. I am mid 30's, divorced with a teen daughter. I have looked some at schools on the greatschools.org site, but as far as the areas go can I get some input on these two (and any other reasonable northern) spots?

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

- Where is your work? (near what intersection?)

- Is middle school a consideration? (or is your kid in HS?)

- Are you looking to rent or buy? (i recommend renting for min. 6 mos. fwiw.) & when you buy, how much will you be wanting to spend?

- Where are you moving from & what are your kid's interests?


If it was me & a HS girl, I'd go with Gtown over Pville....but there are 10 other HSs as good (& some better) than Gtown.

[texantodd]

Originally Posted by hound 109

- Where is your work? (near what intersection?)

- Is middle school a consideration? (or is your kid in HS?)

- Are you looking to rent or buy? (i recommend renting for min. 6 mos. fwiw.) & when you buy, how much will you be wanting to spend?

- Where are you moving from & what are your kid's interests?


If it was me & a HS girl, I'd go with Gtown over Pville....but there are 10 other HSs as good (& some better) than Gtown.

Work is between 35 and 1 on Wells Branch Parkway, but I also can work from home a significant portion of my time.

I am looking to rent to start - apartment or home. I don't expect to look to buy until I've been here at least 12-18 months to really know the town better, so buying is not really a factor in my decisions.

Moving from Midland, but spent three decades in the Houston area. Daughter is in the 8th grade and has been involved in both cheerleading and soccer over the years.

[mark311]

I would go the other direction instead of Pflugerville or Georgetown. NW Austin in the Anderson Mill/Parmer area that feeds into RRISD would be great. You would want to go up Parmer just far enough to be in RRISD for the schools around the Milwood area (still an Austin address). There are a few apartment complexes around there, but when you're ready to buy a home there are still some affordable homes right in that area as well that feed into RRISD. I don't normally drive that way, but I think Wells Branch turns into Howard then McNeil and hits Parmer directly so the commute shouldn't be too bad at all.

[mesmer]

About half the Wells Branch area feeds into Plugerville ISD (Connally HS/Westview MS - Great schools scores 4+3), but the other half feeds into Round Rock ISD (McNeil HS/Deerpark MS - Great schools scores 9+8). So it's completely possible to stay near where you work and feed into a pretty good school, but you'll need to be careful about exactly where you land so you're on the Round Rock side. Westwood/Canyon Vista in Round Rock ISD are even more highly rated (10+10) but slightly further away to the west - still an easy commute though.

I can't tell if you're making this assumption, but don't rely on city boundaries to tell you what ISD you're in - The boundaries for schools are all over the place. Giant chunks of RRISD aren't in Round Rock, and chunks of Pflugerville ISD aren't in Pflugerville. If I were in your shoes, I would start by picking out the top high schools for your daughters needs, and work backwards to find a place to live. You're working far enough north that it would difficult to screw up your commute too badly as long as you're living north of 183 or so.

[robino2001]

Originally Posted by mark311

I don't normally drive that way, but I think Wells Branch turns into Howard then McNeil and hits Parmer directly so the commute shouldn't be too bad at all.

You're right... it's a super easy drive except for making the turn from SB Parmer onto EB McNeil in the mornings during the HS rush can be a pain. That light backs up considerably and the left hand turn only lasts so long. Otherwise, it's a solid thought.

[riaelise]

I live in Pflugerville, so I guess I'm biased. I really like Gtown, but Pf IMO is better commute-wise. You can totally avoid I-35 to get to work, which I don't think you can do living in Gtown and working at Wells Branch. Despite its rapid growth, Pville is still safe, affordable, and has pretty good governmental leadership fwiw. I'd recommend the neighborhoods of Blackhawk, Falcon Pointe, Greenridge, Estates at Rowe Lane. All feed into recognized middle and high school. Boundaries change all of the time, but these areas have always zoned to the better Pf schools.

[Trainwreck20]

It depends a lot on what you are looking for - Georgetown will definitely be a bit quieter than Pflugeville, but also a noticeably longer commute. G'town just recently opened their second HS, so that is a bit of an unknown at this point (I don't even think they have 'populated' all the grades yet), but the school system has been consistently good over the years. When you are not commuting, traffic will be a fraction of what you see in RR/PV (or on the NW side, for that matter) and there is still more of a 'town' feel to G'town with more local workers, whereas PV and RR have almost been consumed by Austin. If you are looking for a more urban setting, then I would lean toward NW or some areas of RR, though, as G'town may be a bit too rural still for some people's tastes.

[riaelise]

TW, I have to disagree - Pf has not been consumed by Austin. It is not merely a 'suburb of Austin'. It has a distinct German culture (though it is far less German today and diverse) and still has a "townish" feel to it, depending on where you live.

Digressing here, but I don't really understand the constant Pf snubbing on this forum at all. All someone needs to do is ask, "Blah Blah or Pflugerville" and most of the posts will tell them to live in Blah Blah.

What is so bad about Pflugerville that people have to keep referring folks to Round Rock, Georgetown, or NW Austin? All of those places are nice, yes, but so is Pflugerville. It has a rich history, a historic area, a lake, and amenities. It's chock full o' new home subdivisions and older homes just like Round Rock. It still has a fairly low crime rate, even with the population increase. The schools are hit and miss just like RRISD. There are many RRISD schools that aren't better, but because they're RRISD by default they're good? I honestly can't tell the real difference in feel when I cross the street from my NE Pflugerville home to Round Rock.

Here's a nice little write up about Pf and all of the other suburbs:

Census data shed more light on growth in Austin suburbs | www.statesman.com

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Digressing here, but I don't really understand the constant Pf snubbing on this forum at all. All someone needs to do is ask, "Blah Blah or Pflugerville" and most of the posts will tell them to live in Blah Blah.

What is so bad about Pflugerville that people have to keep referring folks to Round Rock, Georgetown, or NW Austin? All of those places are nice, yes, but so is Pflugerville. It has a rich history, a historic area, a lake, and amenities. It's chock full o' new home subdivisions and older homes just like Round Rock. It still has a fairly low crime rate, even with the population increase. The schools are hit and miss just like RRISD. There are many RRISD schools that aren't better, but because they're RRISD by default they're good? I honestly can't tell the real difference in feel when I cross the street from my NE Pflugerville home to Round Rock.

The OP asked about other areas north, and is working at Wells Branch. I don't think it's much of a stretch to offer up the options that are Northwest. The part of Pflugerville ISD that Wells Branch is in is not great. The part of RRISD nearest to Wells Branch is pretty decent. Nobody has bashed Pflugerville ISD (they're doing a good job with what money they have since they're getting screwed by the state formula) but you can't honestly pretend that Connally is a great school.

The OP also mentioned possibly renting an apartment, and unless I'm mistaken, there are many more apartment complexes NW that feed into the best RRISD schools than there are apartments in Pflugerville that feed into the best Pflugerville schools. At least that what google maps show. Someone could move into Riata with two days notice and be in Westwood with a ten minute commute to Wells Branch. I'm not saying that's something the OP should do, but failing to post it as an option would be doing them a disservice.