I just want to get some feedback about living in Austin.

Things I'd like to know:

Where to live/rent/own? (Capitol Area or nearby preferred 10-15 minute radius)
Areas to avoid trafficwise/crimewise or otherwise?
Other recommendations besides tourist stuff.

Thanks,

 

Capitol area is most expensive.
Avoid the eastern parts for crime. IH-35 is the most jammed, but I'm not sure if the new toll roads alleviated some of that, since I don't need them to get to work.

Have you been around these parts before? Best part of Austin is living 10 min away from some great driving roads in the hill country.

 

I've lived in Houston most of my life and have traversed the Hill County roads on more than a few occasions. (Yes, I'm jealous of the roads).

 

Cool thanks for the details, checking out some home searches now to see what's what.

 

when are you moving, and why?

im planning on making the move about the middle of may.

 

KEITH you no that i dont want to drive all the way to there to fix your car

Did you find out what was wrong in the rear-end?

 

On that note, there aren't many rotary specialty shops around here, no professional engine builders that I know of. There's Protech and MZM, but people either love or hate them. For general maintenance and other thing on RX-7s, JC Auto in Round Rock is a good place. The head mech, John Long, is Mazda-everything certified including rotaries, but I'm not sure he builds engines.

 

Struhall: When = undefined, possibly soon or not at all. Lori (my s.o.) maybe getting a promotion to a job at the main office near the capitol (she works for the state). Nothing is for certain, but we have to prepare for such a case.

Chuck: LOL, I'd have to start flying you up instead of driving... hehehe. As far as the problems, not exactly, I lifted it up and spun it and it was still happeneing.. the wheels turned without much issue and didn't seem to have a "lot" of play, maybe 1-2 inches of turn before the shaft started to spin. I crawled all around and couldn't find any wear spots at all. I'm thinking it has to be that main U-joint on the shaft or something.

 

Never lived there, but I have heard it is a consentual opinion it would be an upgrade from Houston. Austin is one of those places you almost never hear anything negative about it.

 

Yup, I agree, there are many things cool about Austin (not that there aren't some cool things here too) of course moving there would be less of a choice than a neccessity. I really don't have to be persuaded as much as I need a local guide. hehehe..

Ok, round 2 Austinites.... we are looking for homes with 1 to 10 acres now, but still within 30 miles of capitol. Now looking on the map is easy enough to locate town names and such, but what do the locals recommend, do any of you live "out of town" or know of areas about 20-30 miles out that might have some nice acreage?

 

look into dripping springs,lots of land for sale ,its hill country and i think its still around 30miles from austin but not really sure.i tried looking for a house there with acreage also but alot of places were way out of my budget,i moved to georgetown 30min north of austin and its great,4 acre lot in a comunity with lots of trees and wildlife ,deer,rabbits,turkey etc... are everywhere in my front yard and back.very relaxed .this town is great also to look into.

 

Acreage is getting pricey within that range. I know Dripping Springs prices have gone up dramatically in the last 2 years alone and with 290W being only 2 lanes each way traffic is pretty bad to get into town. I cant speak for Georgetown but to me that is waaayyy outside Austin so if you were to work downtown your commute would be pretty rough too. I live in S Austin near Oak Hill and although I could only afford ~1/3 acre (but lots of trees) I love my neighborhood and Im about 5 minutes from downtown with no traffic or ~ 30 minutes from downtown with traffic. Also Im close to ~5 disc golf courses, dozens of parks, Barton creek and greenbelt trails, Lake Austin boat launch, UT, 6th street, etc.. I love Austin but i hate how much its growing (ive been here ~14 years) and wish people would stop moving here --period! Rotary owners are, of course, welcomed!

 

leander/cedar park/liberty hill is a nice area, a bit far from downtown but the toll roads and such have helped that a bit. I'd definitely shoot for either southwest, or northwest, stay away from northeast/southeast. oh, and ditto "everyone moving here" sentiment, this place was a lot cooler before all the people came from cali or wherever and tried to make it like the place they left. It really is a nice place to live compared to other major cities however, still has a pseudo small town feel coupled with high tech living etc. Oh, and we have the best car club in town, perhaps in Texas

 

Also look at BOOSTLOGIC (in austin)...there are some rotary lovers that work there....talk to a guy named LINO. He ******* rocks!

 

Oh yeah... feel free to throw zip codes at me.. searching for homes online is easier with those it seems as well.

 

they're a poopra shop, but I met lino once and he was cool, still would like to hear his ported FC someday lol

 

I agree about staying off I-35 for your communte if at all possible. I'm on the road by 6am and it's still busier than hell that early. The one week I did 8-5 it was unbearable.

Kyle and Buda are both growing nice area South of Austin but there's no alternative roads to I-35 yet. Dripping Springs, Bee Caves and West Lake Hills are nice areas, but might cost a bit more. Pfluggerville is what I refer to as 'suburbia hell'. All you can see for miles upon miles is roof tops, and depending on the subdivision you can be looking at 8+ miles to get to the Interstate. Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander are all a good drive from downtown. However, most car type events happen in those 3 areas (from my experience). I've got coworkers in both Manor and Oak Hill, both are nice areas also, a bit closer to downtown also.

One thing you might not know is both Travis and Williamson counties have visual and sniffer test inspections. Hays has just visual, and I can't speak for the others.

Where are you going to be working at?

 

Well folks, false alarm, she passed on the job because we just aren't ready to sell the house just yet. Maybe in a year or so we will think about it again. Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

Thanks DrKilljoy for this post as I may be moving to Austin the middle of May will be working at Austin-Bergstrum Airport and thanks for all the info from the local guys.