relocate from NYC metro area to Austin (Round Rock, Cedar Park: transplants, house)

[dragondad]

My wife and I try to find the nice alternative and move out of the NYC metro, currently, we live at long island, I have to spend 40 minutes one way commute to work, the house price is about 450K when we bought at 2004, now worth about 400K, property tax at 8.5K level.
The only thing I can proud of is the public school system, we paid lots of money, but the school is top.
We are really tired of the fast pace here, with the traffic jam everyday, plus the 6 month long winter. Looking for the suggestion about how to relocate to Austin area.

1. job prospect, I am senior software engineer, c, c++, Java, linux, and some database, no much of hardware. My wife is a nail specialist, own a small nail shop here.
2. school district, I searched this forum, most people pointed that Leander and Round rock are good school, any more details, please.
3. commute, I found most of the job is at research blvd or Austin downtown, some other area has relatively fewer job, could some one give me more idea of what is most possible place for a software engineer to land a job. If I buy a home at Leander, it will take how long to drive to research blvd.
4. climate, is there any special attention should be paid for this part, like check the roof, siding.
Thanks.

[shankaupas]

There are software jobs all over town. My husband is also a software engineer and has worked in both Southwest and Northwest Austin. The Austin metro is a heavy commuter city and it is not uncommon for people to commute 30 to 45 minutes to work. That being said, you will probably want to try and live in the general area where you will work. Both the Round Rock and Leander School Districts are highly rated and looking at these areas as a starting point is not a bad idea. But don't rule out other areas of the Metro like Southwest Austin. But to give you a starting point, you might want to look at neighborhoods in the LISD and RRISD including: Great Hills, Red Oaks, Avery Ranch, Ranch at Brushy Creek, Walsh Ranch, Mayfield Ranch, Behrens Ranch, Steiner Ranch, and River Place. There are many others to consider as well.

Can you also give us an idea about the type of home you might be looking for? How many bedrooms and bathrooms, what size, how old, 1 story or 2 story. Do you want to live in a community with pools and parks?

Research is also 183 which runs through Cedar Park. I believe alot of the Software Jobs you would be looking at would be in the vicinity of the Arboretum. The distance between Cedar Park to the Arboretum is about 8 miles.

[LeoZ]

Just to add to the above poster's comment; if you are considering looking into Cedar Park and LISD, then I would personally recommend CPHS. Vista Ridge HS is also pretty decent. The other two high schools in the district would be Rouse and Vandegrift, both of which are really new and don't have too many rankings out yet. I hope I don't offend anyone if I cast a vote against Leander High. Had a few friends who went there, and they rarely had anything good to say about it.
Round Rock ISD is always rated very well, especially Westwood HS. Either Round Rock or Cedar Park would put you within 30 to 45 minutes (depending on traffic) of downtown, and closer to Northwest Austin, which is considered kind of the high-tech corridor of the city. Depending where you are in Leander (which is more rural), it could be over an hour or more.
Being as the metro area is still somewhat on the small side (but growing rapidly), they've just now put in a commuter rail line that runs from all the way up in Leander, down through Cedar Park, and all the way into downtown. The Red Line runs in the mornings and afternoons, and might benefit you for commuting.
Good luck with your move, here or anyplace else.

[Exiled Texan]

I moved from NYC to Austin. Lived in the city, worked a high stress job. Moved to Austin. My psyche has improved, but took a 50%+ pay cut in the process. Still working on adjusting to the new budget. It frustrates me that Austin is not as "cheap" as many on here proclaim (at least not anywhere with a commute I can tolerate). Avoid getting a job downtown as living options are more expensive there. The jobs in your field are scattered throughout the area. Good luck.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by dragondad

My wife and I try to find the nice alternative and move out of the NYC metro, currently, we live at long island, I have to spend 40 minutes one way commute to work, the house price is about 450K when we bought at 2004, now worth about 400K, property tax at 8.5K level.
The only thing I can proud of is the public school system, we paid lots of money, but the school is top.
We are really tired of the fast pace here, with the traffic jam everyday, plus the 6 month long winter. Looking for the suggestion about how to relocate to Austin area.

1. job prospect, I am senior software engineer, c, c++, Java, linux, and some database, no much of hardware. My wife is a nail specialist, own a small nail shop here.
2. school district, I searched this forum, most people pointed that Leander and Round rock are good school, any more details, please.
3. commute, I found most of the job is at research blvd or Austin downtown, some other area has relatively fewer job, could some one give me more idea of what is most possible place for a software engineer to land a job. If I buy a home at Leander, it will take how long to drive to research blvd.
4. climate, is there any special attention should be paid for this part, like check the roof, siding.
Thanks.

For good software engineers, salaries in NYC arent comparably higher. Good software engineers in austin can make 120K and maybe 150 in NYC or the bay area.

I would recommend living as central as you can afford. If you live north you will have a 1 hour commute if you ever have a job south.

I would try to stay within or near the boundaries of I35 to the east, 183 to the north, 360 to the west and 71/290 to the south.

[nomore07]

Originally Posted by dragondad

1. job prospect, I am senior software engineer, c, c++, Java, linux, and some database, no much of hardware. My wife is a nail specialist, own a small nail shop here.

Competition for software jobs is fierce due to the large pool of local college students, massive influx into the area, and offshoring. It is even more difficult if you do not have internal connections locally.

[shankaupas]

Originally Posted by nomore07

Competition for software jobs is fierce due to the large pool of local college students, massive influx into the area, and offshoring. It is even more difficult if you do not have internal connections locally.

According to my husband, it is more difficult at the entry to mid level software positions with all the available talent such as college students and offshoring. It is much less competitive at the senior positions where knowledge and talent is still a premium.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by shankaupas

According to my husband, it is more difficult at the entry to mid level software positions with all the available talent such as college students and offshoring. It is much less competitive at the senior positions where knowledge and talent is still a premium.

I agree. If the OP is truly a "senior" level programmer - he will have a better time looking for work. It still won't be easy. But if the OP said he had three years of Java, I'd say there is little hope because there are so many people here with that level of skill.

[dragondad]

Thanks for all of your reply, I get the basic idea, the life won't be easy anywhere.
I have couple of more questions.
1. how the property tax was caculated at Austin area?
2. is there a good public transportation system available for commuter? Is HOV (carpool) lane available for certain highway?
3. since I never live in Southern state, is the Austiner has the open mind to new comer, or in general, they don't care, this is more important for my kids, since they grow up in a very friendly neighborhood (which is surprise, but true, most of my neighbor are senior couple, and Italian).
Thanks for your patient to read through all of my questions, please kindly give me all of your suggestions.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by dragondad

Thanks for all of your reply, I get the basic idea, the life won't be easy anywhere.
I have couple of more questions.
1. how the property tax was caculated at Austin area?

It's a complex system of several different taxing entities like school district, city, county, etc. But you can pretty much count on somewhere between 2.5-3.5% of your home's value per year. That's a safe estimate, it should be a little less in most circumstances. Values are determined by an appraisal board, and supposedly based on market conditions.

2. is there a good public transportation system available for commuter? Is HOV (carpool) lane available for certain highway?

Unfortunately, no on both counts. Public transport (bus) is OK in the central city, but that won't cut it for most people living in the metro... since most employment is still out of the central part of the city.

No HOV lanes at all in Austin. I don't mind so much the lack of highways, in fact I think that is mostly positive for urban development. But the highways we do have SHOULD have HOV lanes, and they don't.

3. since I never live in Southern state, is the Austiner has the open mind to new comer, or in general, they don't care, this is more important for my kids, since they grow up in a very friendly neighborhood (which is surprise, but true, most of my neighbor are senior couple, and Italian)

It's Austinite, but YES the city is friendly and very open to newcomers. It's full of transplants from everywhere. You will feel welcome, but the people are very different than NYC or anywhere on the East coast. This will take time to adjust to! A few may complain about influx of people from California, but it's a tiny few and is somewhat in jest anyway.