Best suburb of Austin? (San Antonio, Round Rock: to rent, houses, neighborhood) - Texas (TX) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

TexasHorseLady · 01-31-2010, 06:31 PM

Okay, Georgetown is a real possibility for you; you can get all of those things, either in Georgetown or right down the road, plus you have access to the Goodwater Trail. Depending on where you work, and where in Georgetown you live, and which route you take, and what time you're going to work, it could be a 45 minute to an hour commute to downtown, though.

What kind of law are you talking about? What that is could help determine how likely you are to be downtown (there are law offices down there, of course, but when I was a legal assistant lo these many years ago, neither of our offices was downtown).

If you're open to living closer in, there are some other possibilities, and there's always the Barton Creek Greenbelt to hike in!

llkltk · 01-31-2010, 07:24 PM

I wouldn't move to Georgetown if you are trying to keep your commute down. SW Austin or Westlake would be a good area for you. Close proximity to the city, only about a 25-30 minute commute. Georgetown will take you far longer to the city.

CT_trackstar · 01-31-2010, 07:47 PM

Yeah it sounds like Georgetown is going to be too far. So a little closer would be better, but I still need top notch schools and would like a nice town center.

TexasHorseLady · 01-31-2010, 08:08 PM

Okay, SW Austin is not going to have a town center - downtown Austin IS the town center for SW Austin.

Round Rock has a nice little town center, and it's between Georgetown and Austin (in fact, in some places it's hard to tell where Round Rock leaves off and Austin begins. There are some nice neighborhoods in Round Rock, as well.

Westlake is close in, and has excellent schools - not sure about the town center thing again (if we're talking about the same thing), as that seems to be important to you. Not sure if you could find what you're looking for in your price range there, though.

taempls · 01-31-2010, 08:10 PM

Steiner Ranch has all of what you mentioned and a bunch of Yankees too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CT_trackstar

Considering relocating to Austin. I don't know much about the surrounding area. We're looking for a suburb with great schools, family-friendly neighborhoods, and low crime, preferably with a nice town center (not strip malls and big box stores). Newer homes, preferably without HOA, but that's not a dealbreaker.

And, how out of place would us yankees feel/be treated?

TIA

shankaupas · 01-31-2010, 08:51 PM

Could you expand on what you are looking for in a town center. As THL mentioned, Round Rock has a downtown/town center but people don't really hang out there too often. We go there ocassionally to eat at one of our favorite cajun restaurants and there are a couple of festivals/parades each year but that is about it. In your price point you can get quite a bit of house in any of the towns and suburbs surrounding Austin. West and Southwest tend to be a little more expensive than North and Northwest. Commuting to downtown will probably be easier from the South than from the North but if you are used to a 1 hour commute then someplace like Round Rock shouldn't be a problem for you. It typically takes 30 to 45 minutes to commute from Round Rock to the downtown area.

triwing · 01-31-2010, 11:59 PM

I wouldn't recommend Georgetown.

TopSecretAdam · 02-01-2010, 07:27 AM

hmmmm, I am partial to SW austin. The part of south west austin where it starts getting into the hill country, then it leaves austin and all of a sudden it's wide open, and there are places to go hiking and running everywhere. It's called dripping springs. Im not suggesting though you look there. It does offer quiet a bit of good schooling. However your drive into downtown Austin in rush hours might turn you off as it would be close to 50 mins. Give or take 5.

We live in a sub with lots over one acre each. HOA is like all others, but I dont mind them. It's very liberal. 700 a year. I woudlnt say there is MUCH of a town center IN dripping springs, but Bee Cave which I LOVE is just a short drive with all the things you would want. Big Box and Boutiques. It's very quiet out there in Dripping, plus it's not in Austin. Everything is so close, the river, san antonio, wimberly, you name it... it's all in a 20 minute or more drive. Love it...

The locals are very friendly and they are so welcoming to have new folks move in. Were getting an HEB in and there is a home depot. It's growing.... but its just perfect for us.

mark311 · 02-01-2010, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CT_trackstar

Yeah it sounds like Georgetown is going to be too far. So a little closer would be better, but I still need top notch schools and would like a nice town center.

You definitely have the same wants as most people coming from the North East from what I've seen because it must be what they're use to up there. As others have stated, most of the suburbs have just been built up in the past 20 years here. This means that they all have or will have big box stores soon. The shops in the few little town centers that are still surviving are having trouble competing with the big box stores, so I don't think there are any "town center"s where you can go to a local grocery and do all of your shopping for example. (This is a U.S. trend of course). There are a few restaurants worth going to and maybe an antique shop or book store, but if you live in an Austin suburb, you will need to frequent some big box stores in my opinion.

Parts of central Autin have everything that you're looking for except for the price range/size of house. If you can live with big box stores and town centers that shut down at 6:00pm aside from a couple restaurants then you will be able to meet all your other requirements in a suburb like Georgetown or Round Rock. Steiner Ranch actually might be a pretty good fit as others have suggested. They do have a strip mall with local type shops in the community, but it's a bit of drive out there. The schools and the housing fit the bill there.

Austin97 · 02-01-2010, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark311

You definitely have the same wants as most people coming from the North East from what I've seen because it must be what they're use to up there. As others have stated, most of the suburbs have just been built up in the past 20 years here. This means that they all have or will have big box stores soon. The shops in the few little town centers that are still surviving are having trouble competing with the big box stores, so I don't think there are any "town center"s where you can go to a local grocery and do all of your shopping for example. (This is a U.S. trend of course). There are a few restaurants worth going to and maybe an antique shop or book store, but if you live in an Austin suburb, you will need to frequent some big box stores in my opinion.

Parts of central Autin have everything that you're looking for except for the price range/size of house. If you can live with big box stores and town centers that shut down at 6:00pm aside from a couple restaurants then you will be able to meet all your other requirements in a suburb like Georgetown or Round Rock. Steiner Ranch actually might be a pretty good fit as others have suggested. They do have a strip mall with local type shops in the community, but it's a bit of drive out there. The schools and the housing fit the bill there.

There are neighborhoods like northwest hills that kind of have a town center. Anderson lane has a lot of local stores, but it still has big parking lots so it isnt really walkable. People dont hang out much.

Our downtown friends call central austin (allandale, hyde park, etc) the suburbs