Thoughts on Austin after four weeks (Round Rock, Georgetown: appointed, transplants, affordable apartment)

[jco]

Come tomorrow, I'll have been in Austin for four weeks. Since I take so much info from this board, I thought I'd share my (newby) comments about Austin.

First off, we are really glad that we moved to Austin. We're a young family, husband in commercial construction, and I have a couple art-related side businesses. I work from home, so I get to stay here with my toddler during the day. We came from Phoenix, and I formerly lived in Southern California and Washington State, so everything seems to be compared to these places. We also considered moving to Raleigh and visited there a week last summer.

Okay, I'm a firstborn, so this will all be categorized!

Traffic
Traffic is worse than I expected, but nowhere near as bad as any of the places I've lived. I think what makes it easier to deal with here is that everything is closer in, so yes, you're stuck in traffic, but you exit fifteen minutes later. It's different than being in gridlock for an hour like the other places I've lived. People seem to be a lot more polite on the road here. When I turn my signal on, the car next to me actually lets me in!

Housing
If you're like me, you've been looking on austinhomesearch.com and craigslist for houses for months. I came here thinking that I'd be able to get a lot more for a lot less a lot closer in. One thing I didn't factor in was the property taxes (and no income tax does NOT make up for this!). Our house in AZ is valued at 235k and we paid 1,800/year. We almost put an offer on a house in Wells Branch worth 170-180k and would have had to pay 4,600/year. I wish we'd been a little more realistic about this when we came.

Friendliness
We're renting in a very rich area of Austin (it's odd that it's such an affordable apartment among all these multi-million dollar homes), and I have to say that people in west Austin are rude! During the first week or two, I thought everyone was crazy for saying that Austin people are friendly. Once we started hanging out in central and south Austin, though, we came to see what everyone was talking about. One thing that has truly surprised me is how friendly people are towards my son. I never realized that I walked around feeling like my little toddler was a bother to everyone until I came here and saw how understanding and accepting people are of kids.

There are some people who clearly do not want anymore growth in Austin, but for the most part, people are friendly towards transplants! If anything, I think people from California would have the hardest time as there seems to be more distaste for Californians that anyone. Still, I think the negative comments would be few and far between!

N, S, E, or W
North feels like a suburb. I've heard that the arboretum area is supposed to be like a new downtown, which it may be someday, but it'll never be AUSTIN downtown IMHO. If you're going to Austin because you love Austin culture, north isn't for you. The houses are much more affordable, though, so if that is your goal, then north may be for you! We liked Wells Branch and Bratton Hills. Stay away from Quail Creek (I believe that's the neighborhood).

South Austin seems to carry the most Austin vibe you're going to get for housing under 200k. There are some really crummy neighborhoods in South Austin, though. There are also some very nice neighborhoods near central market of Ben White. It seemed that south of William Cannon sort of lost that vibe, though, and transitions into suburbia the further south you go. We liked Western Trails, Cherry Creek (some streets), and West Gate.

I love the hill country here in west Austin, and there seem to be some nice established neighborhoods I'd move into if we could afford them! There are lots of tree lined streets here, which I love. I do not enjoy the people or the feeling of competition in the Westlake area, though. It feels very much like Scottsdale to me, except that I believe people in Westlake actually do have money, whereas many in Scottsdale are in serious debt. I hang out at coffee shops and bookstores in the west a lot, though, and I have to say that I'm surprised at how the teenagers are for the most part respectful and concerned about their grades.

I'm still unsure of what to say about East Austin. I was more frightened driving around Rundberg west of the 35 than I was east of the 35! Mueller seems to be a very nice development. The neighborhood directly south of Mueller also seems very nice and has a lot of pride of ownership. It's clear that lots of investors have come in and flipped houses. We saw a lot of good deals in east Austin, but three or four nicely flipped houses doesn't change an entire street. I got the impression that people living east of the 35 were welcoming the gentrification with open arms, but this is simply not the case. We've actually made friends with people who live in three of the newer communities there, and vandalism is a big concern. There is an overall resistance on the part of many towards what people are trying to do there. There are a lot of houses you'll see listed as "Hyde park type" home just east of the 35. They may look good in the pictures, but the neighborhoods are nowhere near as nice. Some houses have been torn down and replaced by McMansions way to big for the lot and the community, and they just look odd IMO.

Burbs
We decided against moving to the suburbs regardless of how big a house we could get! We love Austin and felt it was lost in the burbs. Out of Cedar Park, Round Rock, Pflugerville, and Buda, we would live in Buda or Round Rock over the other two. I can't entirely put it into words, but Pflugerville seems to be headed south. We've been to Cedar Park three times. I was expecting this great, beautiful suburb, but was really disappointed. I thought at first that it's just because we only drove around the 183, so we ventured into the other areas of Cedar Park. I just can't identify any sort of character. Round Rock seemed to have a little more going for it. Brushy Creek is very nice, and reminded me a lot of North Raleigh. We'd go for Buda simply because of its proximity to south Austin and the fact that it still feels a bit like the city. If a big house, safe community, good schools, and distance from city life are your top concerns, then I can see why you would move to any of these cities.

Jobs
Being in art, it seemed that once I changed my location on my website to Austin, I had instant credibility among other artists. I literally had three new designers hire me in the first two weeks, and all of them commented on how much they love Austin. So, if you're in the art or music business, you're respected just for living here!

Commercial construction seems to still be doing well, as does the tech industry. I was a teacher before I had my son, and I can say that I'd rather have taught here! Things do seem to be more test-driven here, though, which I think is sad.

Cost of Living
I did the cost of living comparisons for Phoenix and Austin. They said the cost of living in Austin is much lower, but I haven't found this to be true. Our car insurance is higher (and we lived in the state with the most car theft!!!), the cable, phone, and internet is higher. We're not sure about electricity until summer hits. Food costs are way higher. (I won't even go into my rant about how gross a certain monopolizing grocery store is.) There is no state income tax, though, and water is less expensive. I'm sure, though, that the cost of living is truly lower than many other metropolitan areas.

Culture
I've heard some say that Austin is the Seattle of the South, and I can see why they say that. It's much smaller and sunnier, though! I love that there are things about Austin that are uniquely Austin. People have a real pride in their city, and are generally more involved and knowledgeable about what goes on here. My realtor said that people try to make it seem like it's a big city, but he says it's just a big old overgrown country town. I think I agree with him. I wonder how much of its flavor will be lost by people moving here just to get a bigger house on more land. I don't get the impression from transplants that they came here because they like the culture of the city, which I think is sad. My husband was a native to Phoenix, always had great pride in being so, but in the last few years he seemed not to care for it anymore. He said it grew to fast and just wasn't the same place anymore. Phoenix grew so much that it seemed to lose its culture, and I just hope that doesn't happen here! Overall, I can see why Austinites have a lot of pride in their city!

[jimmyjack]

Why that's a right good take JC! I don't much care for the Westside myself as folks have got a little snooty over there, although there are a few holdouts down in Cuernavaca. If people don't like gentrification it's nothin personal, for a lot of them if the property taxes go up, they can'f afford to live there anymore and have to move.

Welcome to Austin, I think you'll like it here.

[Mike78613]

Thanks for you input; but may I ask what parts of Cedar Park did you drive through?

IMHO CP is not all that big and does feel like you can miss it really quick. I mean if you was on old hwy183, then yea, its not the greatest but if you was to stroll a cruise down Lakeline Blvd, Cypress Creek through Deer Creek or even down hwy1431 you can see what kind of access you'd have getting to Lake Travis.
Since you mentioned you’re from Phoenix, boats are pretty popular out there, right?
I know when I sold my 22' ski boat, some nice folks from Phoenix drove to Austin and purchased it. I never have seen a family so happy about a boat purchase. Not sure if you guys enjoy lakes or boating, but CP really is a nice city and big bonus if your lake or water rats .

When we first moved to Austin, we lived in Round Rock (1996). Still had a small town feel then and Dell Computers (HQ) did not exist. Now the drive to Louis Henna or to visit my buddies off hwy79 (still in round rock / over by the new HEB), I just hate the drive. It so big and crowded. Round Rock once to me was a very nice, quite community. I think Cedar Park, Leander and Georgetown are better IMHO.
You’re right about N. Austin being more conservative. I still to this day find it hard to find nice folks to BS with really trust them or can see if they can be good trustful friends. Even being a Pop Warner football coach, it was hard to get parents to socialize but the parents do raise some wonderful kids here. Very talented young’ins and making sure they keep active (general thing here in Texas anyways). I feel it's usually and "hi" or Bye" to our neighbors.

[hts]

Interesting observations and thanks for sharing. We currently live in DC (N. VA), but have also lived in the Triangle (moved there from DC shortly after 9/11, Chapel Hill to be specific), then relo'd to Phoenix (Anthem), and then back to DC!

Now we're torn between going back to Anthem or making the move to Austin. Time will tell I reckon'.

[behindthesun]

Wow great review! You gave me some really good insight jco.

Cheers!

[atlanta hope]

Wow, you sure took some time to type all that out! Thanks for sharing.

So have you determined what neighborhoods you are targeting to move to?

[orngkat]

I have lived here forever but I think you have laid out a very good analysis for a newcomer. I have never understood the appeal of West Austin even for wealthy people. Save for a few neighborhoods like Tarrytown, there is no sense of community. Just a lot of upscale homes, subdivisions and shopping centers scattered about with no real town center.

[achtungpv]

Wow. Those are some spot on insights in just 4 weeks. You're right about Rundberg west of 35, it's a crime central in Austin but gets less press since it's not east of 35.

[love roses]

I thought it was a good post too, but have to disagree with Pflugerville heading South. In fact, especially along I30, lots of new business is moving in.

[atlanta hope]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Wow. Those are some spot on insights in just 4 weeks. You're right about Rundberg west of 35, it's a crime central in Austin but gets less press since it's not east of 35.

Where is that exactly? I've never heard of it...